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H I S T O R 1^ 



T 



MORRO\A^ COUNTY 



OHIO, 



, Containino a brief History of the State of Ohio, from ih earliest settlement to the present time, embrac- 
ing its topography, geological, physical and climatic features ; its agricultural, stock-growing, 
railroad interests, etc. ; a History of Morrow County, giving an account of its 
aboriginal inhabitants, early settlement by the whites, pioneer ificidents, 
its growth, its improvements.^ organization of the county, its 
judicial and political history, its business and indus- 
tries, churches, schools, etc. ; Biographical 
Sketches ; Portraits of some of 
the Early Settlers and 
\ Prominent Men, 

\ etc.. etc. 



XIiXiTJSTI^J^T:E]ID. 



CHICAGO: 
O. l/bASKIN & CO., HISTORICAL PUBLISHERS, 

i86 Dearhorn Street. 
1880. 





~j\ 



<S »i^ 



PREFACE 



^j^r^^'oR several months past, our historians, W. H. Pkrrin and J. H. Battle, have been 
X^- actively engaged in compiling the history of Morrow County, upon the pages of 
4\g) which much time and labor have been expended. They have traced the tedious 
journey of the pioneer from homes of comfort and refinement in the older settled States to the 
unbroken wilds of the West. They have noted the rearing of cabins, the clearing of the for- 
ests, the privations of the early settlements, the heroic fortitude with which the pioneer sur- 
mounted these obstacles, and the patient toil tliat has •' made the wilderness to rejoice and 
blossom as the rose ; " they have marked the coming of the schoolmaster, and that greater 
teacher, the faithful minister of the cross ; the rise of the school house and church, and their 
great influence in molding society. This work has been undertaken in the belief that there is 
a proper demand that the events which relate to the early times should find a permanent 
record, and with what fidelity to focts, and with what patience of research the task has been 
accomplished, is left to the judgment of a discriminating public, in whose keeping the 
traditions of that day remain, and for whom the work was undertaken. We have 
availed ourselves of such historical manuscripts and published records as were found, but our 
chief resource for information has been the traditions that have been handed down from one 
generation to another. These we have generally been able to verify from other sources, but 
m some not essential particulars, we have been obliged to depend upon tradition alone, and 
may thus have sanctioned some errors. These, it is believed, will be found of trifling impor- 
tiinve. and the favorable judgment of the public obtained upon the essential correctness and 
completeness of this volume as a history of Morrow County. 

We desire in this connection to thank the citizens everywhere in the county who have so 
cordially aided our historians in gathering the materials for this volume, and to acknowledge 
our indebtedness to the gentlemen who were associated with them in the various parts of the 
work ; to Rev. H. Shedd, Dr. D. L. Swixgley, and others whose names appear witth heir 
contributions. 

August. 1880. THE PUBLISHERS. 



hi »>- 



,^ g) 



L. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 

PAGE. 

CHAPTKB I.— Introductory— Topography— Geology— Primi- 
tive Races — Antiquities — Indian Tribes 11 

CHAPTEK II.— Explorations in the West 19 

CHAPTER III.— English Explorations— Traders— French and 
Indian War in the West — English Possession 37 

CHAPTER IV.— Pontiac's Conspiracy— Its Failure— Bouquet's 
Expedition — Occupation liy the English 48 

CHAPTER V. — American Exploration — Dunmore's War — Cam- 
paign of George Rogers Clarke — Land Troubles — Spain in 
the Revolution — Murder of the Moravian Indians 52 

CHAPTER VI. — American Occupation— Indian Claims— Early 
Land Companies — Compact of 1787— Organization of the 
Territory — Early American Settlements in the Ohio Val- 
ley — First Territorial Officers — Organization of Counties... 60 

CHAPTER VII.— Indian War of 1795— Harmar's Campaign— 
St. Clair's Camjpaigu — Wayne's Campaign— Close of the 
War 73 

CHAPTER VIII.— Jay's Treaty— The Question of State Rights 
and National Supremacy — Extension of Ohio Settlements — 
Land Claims— Spanish Boundary Question 79 

CHAPTER IX. — First Territorial Representatives in Congress 
— Division of the Territory — Formation of States — Marietta 
Settlement — Other Settlements — Settlements in the West- 
ern Reserve — Settlement of the Central Valleys — Further 
Settlements in the Reserve and elsewhere S5 

CHAPTER X.— Formation of the State Government— Ohio a 
Slate — The State Capitals — Legislation — The " Sweeping" 
Resolutions 121 

CHAPTER XI.— The War of 1812— Growth of the State— Canal, 
Railroads and Other Improvements — Development of 
State Resources 127 

CHAPTER XII.— Jlexican War— Continued Growth of the 
State— War of the Rebellion— Ohio's Part in the Conflict... 132 

CHAPTER XIII.— Ohio in the Centennial— Address of Edward 
D. Mansfield, LL. D., Philadelphia, August 9, 1876 138 

CHAPTER XIV.— Education— Early School Laws, Notes, Insti- 
tutions and Educational Journals — School System — School 
Funds — Colleges and Universities 148 

CHAPTER XV.— Agriculture— Area of the State— Early Agri- 
culture in the West — Markets — Live Stock — Nurseries, 
Fruits, Etc — Cereals, Root and Cucurbitaceous Crops — Agri- 
cultural Implements — Agricultural Societies — Pomological 
and Horticultural Societies '... 151 

CHAPTER XVI.— Climatology— Outline— Variation in Ohio- 
Estimate in Degrees^Amount of Variability 103 



PART II 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 

FAGE. 

CHAPTER I. — I.NTHonucTioN.— Physical Featuros— Forests- 
Story of the Rocks — Diftcrent Shales— Drift, etc.— County 
Boundaries — Geoponcis — Stock Raising — Fine Sheep — Ma- 
terial Resources — Quarries, etc lUS 

CHAPTEK II.— Pre-Histobic Races- Their Works— Indian 
Occupation — The Palefaces — Erection of the County — 
Growth of County Bu.siness — Early Newspapers and Editors 
—A Frontier Philanthropist 197 

CH.'VPTER III. — The Professions. — Early Lawyers — Courts — 
The Present Bar — Pioneer Physicians — Modern Practice — 
Medical Society — Churches and Schools — Politics — Kail- 
roads — Their Invention — Roads in the County 220 

CHAPTER IV.— War Rbcord.— I'atrioU of '76— Indian Stnig- 
gles — 1812 Soldiers — War with Mexico — Soldiers from Mor- 
row Covinty — The Late Rebellion — Sketches of Different 
Regiments — Drafts, etc 257 

CHAPTER V. — GiLEAD TowNSHi p. — Topographical — Boundaries 
— Settlement— Pioneer Industries— Social Eijuality — Prog- 
ress — Towns Laid Out — Christianity — Schools Established 
— Temperance Movement — Underground Railway 289 

CHAPTEK VI.— Mount Gilead.— The County Seat— Popula- 
tion, Records, etc. — Additions to the Town — Advantage of 
Location — Business Enterprises— Banks — The Press — Edu- 
cational and Religious — Shorfline— Cemeteries — Levering 
Station 303 

CHAPTER VII.— CARDiXiioN Township.— Introduction— The 
Bunker Settlement — Other Pioneers — The Village — Its Im- 
provements — Indian Traditions — Schools of Township and 
Village— Schoolhuuses 318 

CHAPTER VIII.— ViLLAiiE OF Cardingtom.- The C, C. & C. 
Railroad — Growth of the Village — Municipal Activity — 
Mercantile and Manufacturing Enterprises — Religious and 
Benevolent Societies — Burying Grounds 332 

CHAPTER IX.— Chester Township.— Introduction and Topog- 
raphy — Advent of the Whites— Early Buildings and Im- 
l>rovements — "Tpwus and their Growth — Chesterville in the 
New County — Christianity — Schools, etc.... 350 

CHAPTER X.— Westiiei.d Township.— Topographical and 
Descriptive — Coming of the Pioneers — Cnpt. Drake — The 
Aborigines and their Peculiarities — Early Improvements — 
Johnny Applesi^ed — A Pioneer Incident — Manufactures — 
Religious and Educational 373 

CHAPTER XL— North Bi.oomfiei.d Tow.vshi p.— Topography 
^Obcupation by the Whitts — Progress and Development— 
Religious— Education— .School Statistics — Post Office — 
Roads, etc.— Towns Laid Out— Their Business and Growth. 390 






.-S" 



CONTEXTS. 



I'AOE. 

CHAPTKR XII.— Washinqton Township.— Introductory- 
Physical Kenturcs— Coming of the Pioneers— Indians— Tan- 
yardrt— Mills and Distilleries— Uiidergrovind Railroad— 
Iberia— Edncational— Ohio Central College— Churches a98 

CIIM'TKn XIII.— Franklin Tc.wNSHii'.-Roundaries and To- 
pography —Karly Settlement— Pioneer Features— Improvi- 
uii-iits- Stores and Merchants — K^rly Society— Churches 
and Preachers — The Schoolmaster— Kducational Statis- 
tics *11 

CIlAPTEll XIV. — Peru Township. — Description and Topog- 
raphy— Tlie Different Settlements— Streams-Bridge Inci- 
dent— Village— Churches and Karly Preachers— Schools- 
Additional Pioneers— Sulphur Springs— Relics, etc 428 

CH.APTER XV.— CoNOBKSs Township.— lis Physical Geography 
—Water Courses— Pop\ilation— The Pioneers— Early Prog- 
ress iind Improvement — Indians — Education — First Schools 
—Statistics— Religious— Towns 439 

(IIAPTER XVI.— South Bi.oomfiki.d Tow.nship.— Geological, 
etc.— E irly Settlement— Incidents — Township Organization 
7-Pioneer Industries— Miscell-ineous-Religious — Educa- / 
tional — Early Teachers — Towns, etc 418 

CHAPTER XVII.— Harmony Township.- Topography and 
Pliysical Features— The Pioneers— Their Occupation of the 
Country— Social Life— Religious— Early Preachers — Educa- 
tional—Pioneer Schoolhouses — Statistics 46.5 

(HAPTKR XVIII.— Canaan Township.— Topography— Mound 
Builders— Their Relics and Fortifications— The Whites— 
An Incident — Indians — Their Intercourse with the Whites 
— Hardships — Mills, etc. — Pioneer Schools and Churches... 474 

CII.APTER XIX.— Perry Township. — Introduction— Descrip- 
tion and Boundaries — Pioneer Settlements — Remarkable 
Tree — Indians — Imi>rovements — A Soldier of Napoleon — 
Christianity and Pioneer Preachers — Educational — Towns, 
etc 483 

CH.M'TER XX. — Bbnnini;ton Township.— Topographical and 
bi-scriptive — Early Settlements — Growth and Improvements 
— Incidents — Churches — Early Preacliers — Schools and 
Schoolhouses 491 

I'H.VPTER XXI. — Troy Township — Description — Its Streams 
anil Drainage— Cliaraeter of Soil, etc. — Early Settlement — 
Pioneer Industries — Religion — Churches and Schools — Sta- 
tistics — Villages 504 



CHAPTER XXII -Lincoln Tow.ssiiip.-Topographical, etc.— 
Th<» Early Settlement— Progress and Improvements— Town- 
ship Organization— First Roads and Mills— Religion and 
Education— Pedagogues 509 

PAET 111. 



Biographies Too Late For Alphabetical Insertion. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Bennington Township 

Cardington Township 

Chester Township 

Congress Township. 



7.52 

662 

590 

681 

Canaan Township 717 

Franklin Township 772 

-^Gilead Township 519 

Harmony Township 702 

Lincoln Township 761 

North Bloomtield Township 620 

Perry Township 798 

Peru Township 651 

South Bloomtield Township -VT 660 

Troy Township 835 

Washington Township 742 

-/.Westfield Township .v632 

ILLUSTRATIOXS. 

PORTKAIT.S. 
^uld, James 387 

Blue, J. G 369 

■Bartlett, AV. F 297. 

•Buck, J. T 261 

•Crane, E.J 333 

^Ccok, W. P 405 

.Dunn, A. K 207 

•Levering, Allen 225 

Lefever, George 315 

'Lord, R. E 351 

McClure, P. C 4-23 

'Mozier, L. D 189^ 

/Newson, Abraham '243 

Sweetland, Artemas 271' 

VIEWS. 

Morrow County Court House i 171 




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HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



INTRODUCTOIIY 



CHAPTER I, 

-TOPOGRAPHY -GEOLOGY —PRIMITIVE- 
TRIBES. 



-RArE?. — ANTIQUITIES — INDIAN 



THE present State of Ohio, coniprisinu' an 
extent of country 210 miles north and .south, 
220 miles east and west, in length and breadth — 
25,570,96!) acres — is a part of the Old Northwest 
TeiTitory. This Territory embraced all of the 
present States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, 
Wisconsin and so much of Minnesota as lies east 
of the Mississippi liiver. It became a corporate 
existence soon after the formation of the Virginia 
Colony, and when that colony took on the dignity 
of State government it became a county thereof, 
whose exact outline was unknown. The county 
embraced in its limits more tenitory than is com- 
prised in all the New England and Middle States, 
and was the largest county ever known in the 
United States. It is watered by the finest system 
of rivere on the globe ; while its inland seas are 
without a i)arallel. Its entire southern boundary 
is traversed by the beautiful Ohio, its western by 
the majestic Mississippi, and its northern and a 
part of its eastern are bounded by the fresh-water 
lakes, whose clear waters preserve an even temper- 
ature over its entire surface. Into these reservoirs 
of commerce flow innumerable streams of limpid 
water, which come from glen and dale, from 
mountain and valley, from forest and prairie — all 
avenues of health, commerce and prosperity. 
Ohio is in the best part of this territory — south 
of its river are tro])ical heats ; nortli of Lake Erie 
are polar snows and a polar climate. 

The territory com])rised in Ohio has always re- 
mained the same. Ohio's history differs somewhat 
from other States, in that it was never under Ter- 
ritorial government. When it was created, it was 
made a State, and did not pass through the stage 
incident to the most of other States, /. e., exist as 
a Territory before being advanced to the powers of 



a State. Such was not the case with the other 
States of the West ; all were Ten-itories, with Terri- 
torial forms of government, ere they became States. 

Ohio's boundaries are, on the north. Lakes Erie 
and Michigan ; on the west, Indiana ; on the south, 
the Ohio River, separating it from Kentucky; 
and, on the east, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. 
It is situated between 38° 25' and 42° north 
latitude ; and 80° 30' and 84° 50' west longitude 
from Cireenwich, or 3° 30' and 7° 50' west i'rom 
Wa.shington. Its greatest length, from nt)rth 
to south, is 210 miles; the extreme width, from 
ea.st tc» west, 220 miles. Were this an exact out- 
line, the area of the State would be 46,200 square 
miles, or 29,568,000 acres ; as the outhnes of the 
State are, however, rather in-egular, the area is 
estimated at 39,964 S(iuare miles, or 25,576,960 
acres. In the last census — 1870 — the total num- 
ber of acres in Ohio is given as 21,712,420, of 
which 14,469,132 acres are improved, and 6,883,- 
575 acres are w-todland. By the la.st statistical 
report of the State xVuditor, 20,965,371 i{ acres are 
reported as taxable lands. This omits many acres 
untaxaltle for various reasons, which would make the 
estimate, 25,576.960, nearly correct. 

The face of the country, in Ohio, taken as a 
whole, presents the appearance of an extensive 
monotonous plain. It is moderately undidating 
but not moun^ainous, and is excavated in places by 
the streams coursing over its surface, whose waters 
have forced a way for themselves through cliffs of 
sandstone rock, leaving abutments of this material 
in bold outline. There are no mountain ranges, 
geological uplifts or peaks. A low ridge enters the 
Stated near the northeast corner, anderos.ses it in a 
southwesterly direction, emerging near the inter- 
section of tlio 40tli deoTce of north latitude with 



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12 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



till' wrstorn linuiidiU'v of the State. This "(livi(lt>" 
separates the lake amlOhii) Hiver waters, and luahi- 
taiiis an elevation of a little more than thirteen 
luiiidred leet above the level (if the oeean. The 
hiuhest |tart. is in Uiehland ('nunty, at tlu^ south- 
ea.st corner, where the elevation is 1,.")I)(> feet. 

North <if this rid^e the .snriaee is generally level, 
with a gentle inclination toward the lake, the ine- 
(jnalities of the .surface being caused by the .streams 
which empty into the lake. The central part of 
()hii> is almost, in general, a level plain, about one 
thousand fe(>t above the level of the sea, .slightly 
inclining southward. The Southern part of the 
State is rather hilly, the valleys growing deeper as 
they incline toward the great valley of tlu^ Ohio, 
which is sevi'ral hundred feet below the general 
level of the i^tate. In the southern counties, the 
surface is generally diversified by the iiie(|ualities 
jiroduced by the excavating power of the Ohio 
Hiver and its tributaries, exercised through long 
jieiiods of time. There are a few prairies, or plains, 
in the central and northwestern ])arts of the State, 
but over its greater portion originally existed im- 
mense growths of timber. 

The " divide,"' or water-shed, referred to, between 
the waters of ]jake Erie and the Ohio River, is 
less elevated in Ohio than in New York and Penn- 
sylvania, though the difference is small. To a per- 
son pa.ssing over the State in a balloon, its surface 
presents an unvarynig plain, wliile, to one sailing 
down the Ohio Kiver, it appears mountainous. 
On this river are bluflfs ranging from two hundred 
and fifty to six hundred feet in height. As one 
ascends tin; tributaries of the* river, these bluffs 
diminish in height until they become gentle undu- 
lations, whilt! toward the sources of the streams, 
in the central part of the State, the banks often 
become low and marshy. 

The jn-incipal rivers are the Ohio, Muskingum, 
Scioto and .Miami, on the southern slope, emptying 
into the Ohio ; on the northern, the Maumee, 
Sandusky, Huron and Cuyahoga, emptying into 
Lake Erie, and, all but the first named, entirely in 
Ohio. 

The Ohio, the chief river of the State, and from 
which it derives its name, with its tributaries, drains 
a country whose area is ovi-r two hundred thousand 
S(piare miles in extent, and extending from the 
water-shed to Alabama. The river was first dis- 
covered by La Salle in IGOi), and was by him nav- 
igated as far as tlu> Falls, at Louisville, Ky. It is 
formed by the junction of the Alleghany and 
INIonongahela rivers, in Pennsylvania, whose waters 



unite at Pittsburgh. The entire length of the 
river, from its source to its mouth, is 950 miles, 
though by a straight line from Pittsburgh to Cairo, 
it is only (!1 5 miles. Its current is very gentle, 
hardly thre«^ miles per hour, the descent being only 
five inches per mile. At high stages, the rate of 
the current increases, and at low stages decreases. 
Sometimes it is barely two miles per hour. The 
average range between high and low water mai-k is 
fifty feet, although several times the river has risen 
more than sixty feet above low water mark. At 
the lowest stage of the river, it is fordable many 
places between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. The 
river abounds in islands, some of which are exceed- 
ingly fertile, and noted in the history of the West. 
Others, known as "tow-heads," are .simply deposits 
of sand. 

The Scioto is one of the largest inland streams 
in the State, and is one of the most beautiful riv- 
ers. It rises in Hardin County, flows .southeast- 
erly to Columbus, where it receives its largest 
affluent, the Olentangy ar Whetstone, after which 
its direction is southei'ly until it enters the Ohio at 
Portsmouth. It flows through one of the rich- 
est valleys in the State, and has for its compan- 
ion the Ohio and Erie Canal, for a distance of 
ninety miles. Its tributaries are, besides the Wlaet- 
stone, the Darby, Walnut and Paint Creeks. 

The Muskingum Hiver is formed by the junc- 
tion of the Tuscarawas and Waldhoning Rivers, 
which rise in the northern part of the State and 
unite at Coshocton. From the junction, the river 
flows in a .southeastern course about one hundred 
miles, through a rich and populous valley, to the 
Ohio, at IMarietta, the oldest settlement in the 
State. At its outlet, the M uskingum is over two 
hundred yards wide. By improvements, it has 
been made navigable ninety-five miles above IMari- 
etta, as far as Dresden, where a side cut, three 
miles long, unites its w^aters with those of the Ohio 
Canal. All along this stream exist, in abundant 
profusion, the remains of an ancient civiliza- 
tion, whose history is lost in the twilight of antii[- 
uity. Exten.sive mounds, earthworks and various 
fortifications, are everywhere to be found, inclosing 
a nuite history as silent as the race that dwelt here 
and left these traces of their evistence. The same 
may be said of all the other valleys in Ohio. 

The jMiami River — the scenes of many exploits 
in jiioneer days — rises in Handin County, near the 
headwaters of the Scioto, and runs southwesterly, 
to the Ohio, passing Troy, Dayton and Hamilton. 
It is a bt^autiful and rajiid stream, flowing through 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



13 



a highly productive ami populous valley, in which 
limestone and hard timber are abundant. Its total 
length is about one hundred and fifty miles. 

The Maumee is the largest river in the northern 
part of Ohio. It rises in Indiana and flows north- 
easterly, into Lake Erie. About eighty miles of 
its course are in Ohio. It is navigable a:i far as 
Perrysburg, eighteen miles from its mouth. The 
other rivers north of the divide are all small, 
rapid-running streams, affording a large amount of 
good water-power, much utilized by mills and man- 
ufactories. 

A remarkable feature of the topography of 
Ohio is its almost total absence of natural lakes or 
ponds. A few very small ones are found near the 
water-shed, but all too small to be of any practical 
value save as watering-places for stock. 

Lake Erie, wdiich forms nearly all the noi'thern 
boundary of the State, is next to the last or lowest 
of America's " inland seas." It is 290 miles long, 
and 57 miles wide at its greatest part. There are 
no islands, except in the shallow water at the west 
end, and veiy few bays. The greatest depth of 
the lake is off Long Point, where the water is 312 
feet deep. The shores are principally drift-clay or 
hard-pan, upon which the waves are continually 
encr(jaching. At Cleveland, from the first sur- 
vey, in 1796, to 1842, the encroachment was 218 
feet along the entire city front. The entire coast 
is low, seldom rising above fifty feet at the water's 
edge. 

Lake Erie, like the others, has a variable sur- 
face, rising and falling with the seasons, like great 
rivers, called the " annual fluctuation," and a gen- 
eral one, embracing a series of years, due to mete- 
orological causes, known as the " secular fluctua- 
tion." Its lowest known level was in February, 
1819, rising more or less each year, until June, 
1838, in the extreme, to six feet eight inches. 

Lake Erie has several excellent harbors in Ohio, 
among which are Cleveland, Toledo, Sandusky, 
Port Clinton and Ashtabula. Valuable improve- 
ments have been made in some of these, at the 
expense of the General Government. In 1818, 
the first steamboat was launched on the lake. 
Owing to the Falls of Niagara, it could go no 
farther east than the outlet of Niagara River. 
Since then, however, the opening of the Welland 
Canal, in Canada, allows vessels drawing not more 
than ten feet of water to pass from one lake to 
the other, greatly facilitating navigation. 

As early as 183G, Dr. S. P. Hildreth, Dr. John 
Locke, Prof. J. H. Riddle and Mr. I. A. Lapluini, 



were appointed a committee by the Legislature of 
Ohio to report the " best method of obtaining a 
complete geological survey of the State, and an 
estimate of the probable cost of the same." In the 
preparation of their report, Dr. Hildreth examined 
the coal-measures in the southeastern part of the 
State, Prof Riddle and Mr. Lapham made exam- 
inations in the western and northern counties, 
while Dr. Locke devoted his attention to chemical 
analyses. These investigations resulted in the 
presentation of much valuable information con- 
ceining the mineral resources of the State and in 
a plan for a geological survey. In accordance 
with the recommendation of this Committee, the 
Legislature, in 1837, passed a bill appropriating 
$12,000 for the prosecution of the work during 
the next year. The Geological Coi-ps appointed 
consisted of W. W. Mather, State Geologist, with 
Dr. Hildreth, Dr. Locke, Prof. J. P. Kirtland, J. 
W. Foster, Charles Whittlesey and Charles Briggs, 
Jr., Assistants. The results of the first year's 
work appeared in 1838, in an octavo volume of 134 
pages, w4th contributions fi-om Mather, Hildreth, 
Briggs, Kirtland and Whittlesey. In 1838, the 
Legislature ordered the continuance of the work, 
and, at the close of the year, a second report, of 
286 pages, octavo, was issued, containing contribu- 
tions from all the members of the survey. 

Succeeding Legislatures failed to provide for a 
continuance of the work, and, save that done by 
private means, nothing was accomplished till 
1869, when the Legislature again took up the 
work. In the interim, individual enterprise had 
done much. In 1841, Prof. James Hall passed 
through the State, and, by his indentification of 
several of the formations with those of New York, 
for the first time fixed their geological age. The 
next year, he issued the first map of the geology 
of the State, in common with the geological maps 
of all the region between the Alleghanies and the 
Mississippi. Similar maps were published by Sir 
Charles Lyell, in 1845; Prof. p]dAvard Hitchcock, 
in 1853, and by J. Mareon, in 1856. The first 
individual map of the geology of Ohio was a veiy 
small one, published by Col. Whittlesey, in 1848, 
in Howe's History. In 1856, he published a 
larger map, and, in 1865, another was issued by 
Prof. Nelson Sayler. In 1867, Dr. J. S. Newberry 
published a geological map and sketch of Ohio in 
the Atlas of the State issued by H. S. Stebbins. 
Up to this time, the geological knowledge was very 
general in its character, and, consequently, errone- 
ous in many of its details. Other States had been 



1£ 



14 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



aci-uratt'ly i^iirveyetl, yet. Ohio roniaincd a kind of 
tfrr(( iiicni/iiitd, of nhifh the goolony was less 
kuowu than any ]iart of the Minoundini;- area. 

In 18(j!», the Lojiishitun; a])]iroiiiiaU'<l. for a new 
survey. S13, !'<)(> for its sii])]M>rt durinu ttne year, 
and a]t]>ointed Dr. Newberry Chief (J eolo<iist ; K. 
B. Anchews, Edward Orton and J. H. Kliiii)hirt 
were appointed Assistants, and T. (j. W'orniley, 
Chemist. The resuU. of the first years work 
was a vohune of 1»U pages, octavo, published in 
ISTO. 

This report, accompanied by maps and charts, 
for the first time accurately defined the geological 
iurmations as to age and area. Evidence was given 
which set at rest (piestions of nearly thirty years' 
standing, and estal)lished the fiict that Ohio in- 
cludes nearly double the number oi" formations bc- 
f ire supposed to exi.st. Since that date, the sur- 
veys have been regularly nuide. Each county is 
being surveyed by itself, and its fiirmation ac- 
curately detennined. Elsewhere in thcjse pages, 
these results are given, and U) them the reader is 
refeiTed fi)r the specific geology of the county. 
Only general results can be noted here. 

(jn the general geological map of the State, are 
two sections of the State, taken at each northern 
and southern extremity. These show, with the 
uiaj), the general outline of the geological features 
of Ohio, and are all that can be given here. Both 
sections show the geneVal arrangements of the 
formation, and prove that they lie in sheets resting 
one upon another, but not horizontally, as a great 
arch traverses the State from Cincinnati to the 
lake shore, between Toledo antl Sandusky. Along 
this line, which (!Xtends southward to Nashville, 
Teiin., all the rocks are raised in a ridge or fold, 
once a low mountain chain. In the lapse of 
ages, it has, however, been lixtensively worn 
away, and now, along a large })art of its course, 
the strata which once arched over it are re- 
moved from its summit, and are found resting in 
ri'gular order on either side, dip))ing away from its 
axis. Where the ridge was highest, the erosion 
has been greatest, that being the reason why the 
oldest rocks are ex])osed in the region about Cin- 
cinnati. By following tlu( line of this great arch 
from Cincinnati northward, it will be seen that the 
Helderbcrg limestone ( No. 4), midway ot the State, 
is still unbroken, and .stretches from side to side ; 
while the Oriskany. the Cornifemus, the Hamilton 
and the Huron formations, though generally re- 
moved from the crown of the arch, still remain 
over a limited area near Bellefontaine, where they 



form an island, which proves the former continuity 
of the strata which compose it. 

On the east side of the great anticlinal axis, the 
rocks dip down into a basin, which, for several 
hundred miles north and south, occupies the inter- 
val between the Nashville and Cincinnati ridge and 
the first- fold of the Alleghany JMountains. In 
this basin, all the strata form trough-like layers, 
their edges outcropping eastward on the flanks 
of the Aileghanies, and westward along the anti- 
clinal axis. As they dip from this margin east- 
ward toward the center of the trough, near its 
middle, on tin; eastern border of the State, the 
older rocks are deeply buried, and the surfiice is 
here underlaid by the highest and most recent of 
our rock formations, the coal measures. In the 
northwestern corner of the State, the strata dip 
northwest from the anticlinal and pass under the 
jVIichigan coal basin, |)recisely as the same forma- 
tions east of the anticlinal dij) beneath the Alle- 
ghany coal-field, of which Ohio's coal area forms a 
part. 

The rocks underlying the State all belong to 
three of the great groups which geologists liave 
termed " systems," namely, the Silurian, Devonian 
and Carboniferous. Kach of these are again sub- 
divided, for convenience, and numbered. Thus 
the Silurian sy.stem includes the Cincinnati group, 
the Medina and Clinton groups, the Niagara 
group, and the Salina and Water-Line groups. 
The Devonian system includes the Ori.skany saiul- 
stone, the Carboniferous limestone, the Hamilton 
grou]), the Huron shale and the Erie shales. The 
Carboniferous system includes the Waverly group, 
the Carboniferous Conglomerate, the Coal Meas- 
ures and the Drift. This last includes the surface, 
and has been di\lded into six parts, numbering 
from the lowest, viz.: A glacialed surface, the Ola- 
cial Drif^, the Erie Clays, the Forest Bed, the Ice- 
berg Drift and the Terraces or Beaches, which 
mark intervals of stability in the gradual recession 
of the water surface to its jiresent level. 

'' The history we may learn from these forma- 
tions," says the geologist, '' is something as fol- 
lows : 

'• First. Subsecpient to tin; Tertiary was a period 
of continual elevation, during which the tojHig- 
raphy of the country was much the same as now, 
the draining streams following, the lines they now 
do, but cutting down their beds until they flowed 
sometimes two hundred feet lower than they do at 
present. In the latter part of this period of ele- 
vation, glaciers, desceiuling from the Canadian 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



15 



islands, excavated and occupied the valleys of the 
pjOAt lakes, and covered the lowlands down nearly 
to the Ohio. 

"Second. By a depression of the land and ele- 
vation of temperature, the glaciers retreated north- 
ward, leaving, in the interior of the continent, a 
great basin of fresh water, in which the Krie clays 
were deposited. 

"^T/iird. This water was drained away until a 
broad land surface was exposed within the drift 
area. Upon this surface grew forests, largely of 
red and white cedar, inhabited by the elephant, 
mastodon, giant beaver and other large, now ex- 
tinct, animals. 

'^Fourth. The submergence of this ancient land 
and the spreading over it, by iceberg agency, of 
gravel, .sand and bowlders, distributed ju.^t as ice- 
bergs now spread their loads broadcast over the 
sea bottom on the banks of Newfoundland. 

'■'•Fifth. The gradual draining-off of the waters, 
leaving the land now as we find it, smoothly cov- 
ered with all the layers of the drift, and well pre- 
pared for human occupation." 

" In six days, the Lord made the heavens and 
the earth, and rested the seventh day," records the 
Scriptures^ and, when all was done, He looked 
u])on the work of His own hands and pronounced 
it " good." Surely none but a divine, onmipotent 
hand could have done all this, and none can study 
the " work of His hands" and not marvel at its 
completeness. 

The ancient dwellers of the Mississippi Valley 
will always be a subject of great interest to the 
anti([uarian. Who they were, and whence they 
came, are still unanswered (questions, and may 
remain so for ages. All over this valley, and, 
in fact, in all parts of the New World, evidences 
of an ancient civilization exist, whose remains are 
now a wonder to all. The aboriginal races could 
throw no light on these questions. They had 
always seen the remains, and knew not Avhcncc 
they came. Explorations aid but little in the solu- 
tion of the problem, and only conjectui-e can be 
entertained. The remains found in Ohio equal 
any in the Valley. Indeed, some of them are vast 
in extent, and consist of forts, fortifications, moats, 
ditches, elevations and mounds, embracing many 
acres in extent. 

'•It is not yet determined," says Col. Charles 
Whittlesey, "whether we have discovered the first 
or the original people who o(;cupied the soil of 
Ohio. Modern investigations are bringing to light 
evidences of earlier races. Since the presence of 



man has been established in Europe as a cotempor- 
ary of the fossil elephant, mastodon, rhinoceros 
and the horse, of the later drift or glacial period, 
we may reasonably anticipate the presence of man 
in America in that era. Such jn-oofs are already 
known, but they are not of that conclusive charac- 
ter which amounts to a demonstration. It is, how- 
ever, known that an ancient people inhabited Ohio 
in advance of the red men who were found here, 
three centuries since, by the Spanish and French 
explorers. 

" Five and six hundred years before the an-ival 
of Columbus," says Col. Charles Whittle-sey, "the 
Northmen sailed frt)ni Norway, Iceland and Green- 
land along the Atlantic coast as far as Long Lsland. 
They fmuid Indian tribes, in what is now New En- 
gland, closely resembling those who lived ujion the 
coast and the St. Lawrence when the French and 
English came to possess these regions. 

'' These red Indians had no traditions of a prior 
people ; but over a large jiart of the lake country 
and the valley of the Mississippi, earth-works, 
mounds, pyramids, ditches and forts were discov- 
ered — the work of a more ancient race, and a peo- 
ple far in advance of the Indian. If they were 
not civilized, they were not barbarians. They 
were not mere hunters, but had fixed habitations, 
cultivated the soil and were possessed of consider- 
able mechanical skill. We know them as the 
Moil 11(1- Bin'/dcr.'i, because they erected over the 
mortal remains of their principal men and women 
menuu'ial mounds of earth or unhewn stone — of 
which hundreds remain to our own day, so large 
and high that they givt; rise to an impression of 
the numbers and energy of their builders, such as 
we receive from the pyramids of Egypt." 

Might they not have been of the same race and 
the same civilization ? Many competent authori- 
ties conjecture they are the work of the lost tribes 
of Israel ; but the best they or any one can do is 
only conjecture. 

'' In the burial-mounds."" continues Col. Whit- 
tlesey, ■•there are always portions of one or more 
human skeletons, generally partly consumed by 
fire, with ornaments of stone, bone, shells, mica 
and copper. The largest mound in Ohio is near 
jMiamisburg, Montgomery County. It is the 
second largest in the West, being nearly seventy 
feet high, originally, and about eight hundred feet 
in circumference. This would give a superficial 
area of nearly four acres. In 18(j4, the citizens 
of Miamisburg sunk a shaft from the summit to 
the natural surface, without findiuii' the bones 



16 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



(ir aslics (if the urcat man 1i>r 'wluiiu it was 
iiitondod. The cx]»l(irati()ii lias cousiderahly 
lowered the mound, it being now about sixty loot 
in height. 

'' Fort Aneient, on the Ijittlo JMiami, is a good 
.'ijK'cinien of the niiHtary defenses of the Mound- 
liuilders. It is well loeated on a long, high, nar- 
row, preeijiitous ridge. The parapets are now 
from ten to eighteen feet high, and its perimeter 
is sutheient to hold twi'uty tlum.sand lighting men. 
Another {)rominent exam])le of their works exists 
near Newark, ]jicking County. This collection 
presents a groat variety of ligurcs, circles, rectan- 
gles, octagons and ])aiallel banks, or highways, 
covering more than a thousand acres. The county 
fair-ground is permanently located within an 
aneient circle, a ((uarter of a mile in diameter, 
with an embankment and interior ditch. Its high- 
est place was over twenty feet from the top of the 
moat to the bottom of the ditch." 

One of the most curious-shaped works in this 
county is known as the "Alligator," from its sup- 
])osed resemblance to that creature. When meas- 
ured, several years ago, while in a got»d state of 
preservation, its dimensions W'erc two hundred 
and ten feet in liMigth, average width over sixty 
feet, and height, at the highest point, seven feet. 
Jt appears to be mainly comj^osed of clay, and is 
overgrown with grass. 

Speaking of the writing of these people, Col. 
Whittlesey says : '' There is no evidence that they 
had alphabetical characters, picture-writing or 
hieroglyphics, though they must have had some 
mode of recording events. Neither is there any proof 
that they nsed domestic animals for tilling the soil, 
or for the purpose of erecting the imposing earth- 
works they have left. A very coarse cloth of 
hemp, flax or nettles has been found on their 
burial-hearths and aiound skeletons not consumed 
by fire. 

" The most extensive earthworks occupy many 
of the sites of modein towns, and are always in 
the vicinity of excellent land. Those about the 
lakes are generally irregular earth forts, while 
those about the rivers in the southern part of the 
State are generally altars, pyramids, circles, cones 
and rectangles of earth, among which fortresses or 
strongholds are exceptions. 

" Those on the north may not have been cotem- 
porary or have been built by the same peo])le. 
They are far less prominent or extensive, which 
indicates a people less in nnmbers as well a,s indus- 
try, and whose principal occupation was war among 



themselves or against their neighbors. This style 
of works extends eastward along the south shore 
of Lake Ontario, through New York. In Ohio, 
there is a space along the water-shed, between the 
lake and the Ohio, where there are few, if any, 
ancient earthworks. It appears to have been a 
vacant or neutral ground between different nations. 

" 'i'lie Indians of the North, di-essed in skins, 
cultivated the soil very sparingly, and manufactured 
no woven cloth. On Lake Superior, there are 
ancient copper mines wrought by the Mound- 
Huilders over fifteen hundred years ago." Copper 
tools are occasionally found temj^ered sufficiently 
hard to cut the hardest rocks. No knowledge of 
such tempering exists now. The Indians can give 
no more knowledge of the ancient mines than they 
can of the mounds on the river bottoms. 

" The Indians did not occupy the aneient earth- 
works, nor did they construct such. They were 
i'ound as they are now — a hunter race, wholly 
averse to labor. Their abodes were in rock shel- 
ters, in caves, or in temporary sheds of bark and 
boughs, or skins, easily moved from place to place. 
Like most savage races, their habits are unchange- 
able ; at least, the example of white men, and 
tlieir eiforts during three centuries, have made 
little, if any, impression." 

When white men came to the territory now em- 
braced in the State of Ohio, they found dwelling 
here the Iroquois, Delawares, Shawanees, Miamis, 
Wyandots and Ottawas. Each nation was com- 
posed of several tribes or clans, and each was 
often at war with the others. The first mentioned 
of these occupied that part of the State whose 
northern boundary was Lake Erie, as fir west as 
the mouth of the Cuyahoga lliver, wliere the city 
of Cleveland now is ; thence the boundary turned 
southward in an irregular line, until it touched the 
Ohio River, up wdiich stream it continued to the 
Pennsylvania State line, and thence northward to 
the lake. This nation w^re the implacable foes of 
the French, owing to the fact that Champlain, in 
1009, made war against them. They occupied a 
large part of New York and Pennsylvania, and 
were the most insatiate compierors among the 
aborigines. When the French first came to the 
lakes, these monsters of the wilderness Avcrc engaged 
in a Avar against their neighbors, a war that ended 
in their concjuering them, possessing their terri- 
tory, and absorbing the remnants of the tribes into 
their own nation. At the date of Champlain's 
visit, the southern shore of Lake Erie was occupied 
by the Eries, or, as the orthography of the word is 



~ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



17 



sometimes given, Erigos, or Errienous.* About 
forty years afterward, the Iroquois ( Five Nations) 
fell upon them with such fury and in such force 
that the nation was annihilated. Those who 
escaped the slaughter were absorbed among their 
c(in(|uerors, but allowed to live on their own lands, 
paying a sort of tribute to the Iro(juois. This was 
the policy of that nation in all its conquests. A 
few years after the conquest of the Eries, the 
Inxpiois again took to the war-path, and swept 
thn)ugh Ohio, Indiana and lUiuois. even attacking 
the Mississippi tribes. But for the intervention 
and aid of the French, these tribes would have 
shared the fate of the Hurons and Eries. Until 
the year 1700, the Irocjuois held the south shore 
of Lake Erie so firmly that the French dared not 
trade or travel along that side of the lake. Their 
missionaries and traders penetrated this part of 
Ohio as early as 1650, but generally suffered 
death for their zeal. 

Having completed the conquest of the Hurons 
or Wyandots, about Lake Huron, and murdered 
the Jesuit missionaries by modes of torture which 
only they could devise, they permitted the residue 
of the Hurons to settle around the west end of 
Lake Erie. Here, with the Ottawas, they resided 
when the whites came to the State. Their country 
was bounded on the south by a line running 
through the central part of Wayne, Ashland, 
Richland, Crawford and Wyandot Counties. At 
the western boundary of this county, the line di- 
verged northwesterly, leaving the State near the 
northwest corner of Fulton County. Their north- 
ern boundary was the lake ; the eastern, the Iro- 
quois. 

The Delawares, or " Lenni Lenapes," whom the 
Tro(pi()is had subjugated on the Susquehanna, were 
assigned by their conquerors hunting-grounds on 
the 3Iu.skingum. Their eastern boundary was the 
country of the Iroquois (before defined), and their 
northern, that of the Hurons. On the west, they 



* Father Louis Hennepin, in his work published in 1684, thus 
alludes to the Erii s : •' These good fathers," referring to the 
priests, " were great friends of the Hurons, who told them that the 
Iroquois went to war beyond Virjiinia, or Now Sweden, near a lake 
which they called '' Erige,' or 'Erie,' which signifies 'the cat,' or 
' nation of the cat,' and because these savages brought captives from 
this nation in returning to their cantons along this lake, the 
Hurons named it, in their language, ' Eriye,' or ' Erike,' ' the lake of 
the cat,' and which our Canadians, in softening the word, have 
called ' Lake Erie.' " 

Charlevoix, writing in 1721, says: "The name it bears is that 
of an Indian nation of the Huron ( Wyandot) language, which was 
formerly seated on its banks, and who have been entirely destroyed 
by the Iroquois. Erie, in that language, signifies 'cat,' and, in 
some acounts, this nation is called the ' cat nation.' This name, 
probably, comes from the large numbers of fhat animal found in 
this region." 



extended as far as a line drawn from the central 
part of Richland County, in a semi-circular direc- 
tion, south to the mouth of Leading Creek. Their 
southern boundary was the Ohio River. 

West of the Delawares, dwelt the Shawanees, a 
troublesome people as neighbors, whether to whites 
or Indians. Their country was bounded on the 
north by the Hurons, on the east, by the Dela- 
wares ; on the south, by the Ohio River. On the 
west, their boundary was determined by a line 
drawn southwesterly, and again southeasterly — 
semi-circular — from a point on the southern 
boundary of the Hurons, near the southwest corner 
of Wyandot County, till it intersected the Ohio 
River. 

All the remainder of the State — all its western 
part from the Ohio River to the IMichigan line — 
was occupied by the Miamis, Mineamis, Twigtwees, 
or Tawixtawes, a powerful nation, whom the Iro- 
quois were never fully able to subdue. 

These nations occupied the State, partly by per- 
mit of the Five Nations, and partly by inheritance, 
and, though composed of many tribes, were about 
all the savages to be found in this part of the 
Northwest. 

No sooner had the Americans obtained control 
of this country, than they began, by treaty and 
purchase, to acquire the lands of the natives. 
They could not stem the tide of emigration ; peo- 
ple, then as now, would go West, and hence the 
necessity of pcaceftilly and rightfully accjuiring the 
land. " The true basis of title to Indian territory 
is the right of civilized men to the soil for pur- 
poses of cultivation." The same maxim may be 
applied to all uncivilized nations. When acquired 
by such a right, either by treaty, purchase or con- 
quest, the right to hold the same rests with the 
power and development of the nation thus jjossess- 
ing the land. 

The English derived title to the territory 
between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi partly 
by the clauu that, in discovering the Atlantic coast, 
they had possession of the land from '-ocean to 
ocean," and partly by the treaty of Paris, in Feb- 
ruary, 1763. Long before this treaty took place, 
however, she had granted, to individuals and colo- 
nies, extensive tracts of land in that part of Amer- 
ica, based on the right of discovery. The French 
had done better, and had ac((uire(l title to the land 
by discovering the land itself and by consent of 
the Indians dwelling thereon. The right to pos- 
sess this country led to the French and Indian 
war, ending in the supremacy of the English. 



18 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



The Five Nations claimed the territory in (|ue.s- 
tion by right (»f con(|uest, and, though professing 
frienilship to the EugUsh, watched them with jeal- 
ous eyes. In 1084, and again in 172G, that con- 
teileracy made cessions of lands to the Knglish, 
and these treaties and cessions of lands were re- 
garded a.s sutticu'nt title by the English, and were 
insisted cm in all subsequent treaties with the 
Western Nations. The following statements were 
collected by (^il. Charles Whitvlesey, which 
show the jjvincipal treaties made with the red men 
wherein land in Ohio was ceded by them to the 
whites: 

In September, 17-<), the Iroqunis, or Six Na- 
tions, at Albany, ceded all their claims west of 
Lake Erie and sixty miles in Avidth along the 
south shore of Lakes Erie and Ontario, from the 
Cuyahoga to the Oswego River. 

In 1744, this same nation made a treaty at 
Lanca.stcr, Penn., and ceded to the English all 
their lands "that may be within the colony of 
Virginia." 

In 17.")2, this nation and other Western tribes 
made a treaty at Logstown, Penn., wherein they 
contirmed the Lancaster treaty and consented to 
the settlements south of the Ohio River. 

February 13, 17(33, a treaty was made at Paris, 
France, between the French and English, when 
Canada and the eastern half of the 3Iississii)|)i 
Valley were ceded to the Knglish. 

In 178.3, all the territory south of the Lakes, 
and ea.st of the ^Mississippi, was ceded by England 
to America — the latter country then obtaining its 
independence — by which means the country was 
gained by America. 

October 24, 1784, the Six Nations made a 
treaty, at Fort Stanwix. N. Y., with the Ameri- 
cans, and ceded to tluMii all the country claimed 
by the tribe, west of Pennsylvania. 

In 1785, the Chippewas, Delawares, Ottawas, 
and Wyandots ceded to the United States, at 
Fort Mcintosh, at the mouth of the Big Beaver, 
all their claims east and south of tin; " Cayahaga," 
the Portage I'ath, and the Tuscarawas, to Fort 
Laurens ( Bolivar), thence to Loramie's Fort (in 
Shelby County ; ; thince along the Portage Path to 
the St. Marys River and down it to the "Omee."' 
or Maumee, and along the lake shore to t!ie 
'•Cayahaga.' 

January 3, 178(i. the Shawanees, at Fort Fin- 
ney, near the mouth of the Great Miami (not 
owning the land on the Scioto occupied l)y them), 
were allotted a tract at the heads of the two 



Miamis and the Wabash, west of the Chippewas, 
Delawares and Wyandots. 

February 9, 1789, the Irocjuois made a treaty 
at Fort Ilarmar, wherein they confirmed the Fort 
Stanwix treaty. At the same time, the Chippewas, 
Ottawas, Delawares, and Wyandots — to which the 
Sauks and Pottawatomies assented — confirnu'd the 
treaty made at Fort Mcintosh. 

Period of war now existed till 1795. 

August 3, 1795, Gen. Anthony Wayne, on 
behalf of the United States, made a treaty with 
twelve tribes, confirming the boundaries estab- 
lished by the Fort Harniar and Fort Mcintosh 
treaties, and extendetl the l)oundary to Fort Re- 
covery and the mouth of the Kentucky River. 

In June, 1796, the Senecas, represented by 
Brant, ceded to the Connecticut Land Company 
tlieir rights east of the Cuyahoga. 

In 1805, at Fort Industry, on the Maumee, the 
Wyandots, Delawares, Ottawas, Chip])ewas, Shawa- 
nees, Menses, and Pottawatomies relincpiished all 
their lands west of the Cuyahoga, as far west as 
the western line of the Reserve, and south of the 
line fi'om Fort Lattrens to Loramie's Fort. 

July 4, 18(»7, the Ottawas. Chippewas, Wyan- 
dots, and Pottawatomies, at Detroit, ceded all that 
part of Ohio north of the Maumee River, with 
part of jNIichigan. 

November 25, 1808, the same tribes with the 
Shawanees, at Brown.stone, Mich., granted the 
Government a tract of land two miles wide, fi'om 
the west line of the Reserve to the rapids of the 
Maumee, for the purpose of a road through the 
Black Swamp. 

September 18, 1815, at Springwells, near De- 
troit, the Chippewas, Ottawas, l'otta\vatomies,AVy- 
andots, Delawares, Seneeas and IMiamis, having 
been engaged in the war of 1812 on the British 
side, were confined in the grants made at Fort 
Mcintosh and Greenville in 1785 and 1795. 

September 29, 1817, at the rapids of the 
^laumee, the Wyandots ceded their lands west of 
the line of 1805, as far as Loramie's and the St. 
]\lary's River and north of the Maumee. The 
PottaAA'atomies, Chippewas, and Ottawas ceded the 
territory west of the Detroit line of 1807, and 
north of the Maumee. 

October (j, 1818, the Miamis, at St. Mary's, 
made a treaty in which they surrendered the re- 
maining Indian territory in Ohio, north of the 
Greenville treaty line and west of St. Mary's River. 

The luimerous treaties of peace with the West- 
ern Indians for the delivery of prison'ers were — 






l±. 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



19 



one by Gen. Forbes, at Fort Dii Quesne (Pitts- 
burgb), in ^758; one by Col. Bradstreet, at Erie, 
in August, lT()-t; one by Col. Bo(juet, at the 
mouth of the Waklhoning, in November, 17(3-1 ; 
ill May, 17()5, at Johnson's, on the Mohawk, and 
at Philadelphia, the same year; in 1774, by Lord 
Dunniore, at Camp Charlotte, Pickaway County. 
By the treaty at the Maumee Rapids, in 1817, 
reserv'ations were conveyed by the United States 
to all the tribes, with a view to induce them to 
cultivate the soil and cease to be hunters. These 
were, from time to time, as the impracticability of 
the plan became manifest, purchased by the Gov- 
ernment, the last of these being the Wyandot 
Reserve, of twelve miles square, around Upper 
Sandusky, in 1842. closing out all claims and com- 
posing all the Indian difficulties in Ohio. The 
open war had ceased in 1815, with the treaty of 
Ghent. 

" It is estimated that, from the French war of 
1754 to the battle of the Maumee Rapids, in 
1794, a period of forty years, there had been at 
least 5,000 people killed or captured west of the 



Alleghany Mountains. Eleven organized military 
expeditions had been carried on against the West- 
ern Indians prior to the war of 1812, seven regu- 
lar engagements fought and about twelve hundred 
men killed. More whites were slain in battle than 
th(M-e were Indian braves killed in military expedi- 
tions, and by private raids and murders ; yet, in 
1811, all the Ohio tribes combined could not mus- 
ter 2,000 warriors." 

Attempts to determine the number of persons 
comprising the Indian tribes -in Ohio, and their 
location, have resulted in nothing better than 
estimates. It is supposed that, at the commence- 
ment of the Revolution, there were about six 
thousand Indians in the present confines of the 
State, but their villages were little more than 
movable camps. Savage men, like savage beasts, 
are engaged in continual migrations. Now, none 
ai'e left. The white man occupies the home of 
the red man. Now 

" The verdant hills 
Are covered o'er with growing grain, 
And white men till the soil, 
Where once the red man used to reign." 



CHAPTER II 



EARLY EXPLORATIONS IN THE WEST. 



WHEN war, when ambition, when avarice 
fail, religion pushes onward and succeeds. 
In the discovery of the New World, wherever 
man's aggrandizement was the paramount aim, 
failure was sure to follow. Wlien this gave way, 
the followers of the Ooss, whether Catholic or 
Pi'otestant, came on the field, and the result before 
attempted soon appeared, though in a different way 
and through different means than those supposed. 
The first permanent efforts of the white race to 
penetrate the Western wilds of the New World 
preceded any permanent English settlement north 
of the Potomac. Years before the Pilgrims 
anchored their bark on the cheerless shores of Cape 
CV)d, -'the Roman Catholic Church had been jdaij;- 
ed by missionaries fi'om France in the Eastern 
moiety of Maine; and LeCaron, an ambitious 
I'^'anciscan. the companion of Champlain, had passed 
into the hunting-grounds of the Wyandots, and, 
bound by the vows of his life, had, on foot or pad- 
dling a bark canoe, gone onward, taking alms of the 
savages until he reached the rivers of Lake 



Huron." This was in 1(515 or 1616, and only 
eight years after Champlain had sailed up the wa- 
ters of the St. Lawrence, and on the foot of a bold 
cliff laid the foundation of the present City of 
Quebec. From this place, founded to hold the 
country, and to perpetuate the religion of his King, 
went forth those emissariesof the Cross, whose zeal 
has been the admiration of the world. The French 
Colony in Canada was suppressed soon after its es- 
tablishment, and for five years, until 1622, its im- 
munities were enjoyed by the colonists. A grant 
of New France, as the country was then known, was 
made by Louis XIII to Richelieu, Cham])lain, 
Razilly and others, who, immediately after the res- 
toration of Quebec by its English conquerors, entered 
u])on the control and government of their province. 
Its limits embraced the whole basin of the St. 
Lawrence and of such other rivers in New France 
as flowed directly into the sea. While away to 
the south on the Gulf coast, was also included a 
country rich in foliage and claimed in virtue of 
the unsuccessful efforts of Coligny. 



20 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Kvliiiitius yaw] :is iinuh as commercial prosperity 
hail iiiHiKiieeil France to obtain anil retain tlie de- 
pi-mloncy ot Canada. The cumniercial monopoly 
of a privilejxed company could not foster a 
colony; the climate wa.s too vigorous i'or agricult- 
lue, and, at tir*it then' was little else except relit;- 
ioiisenlliusiasm to give vitality to the province. 
Chaniplain had been touched by the simplicity of 
the ( )rdrr of St. Francis, and had selected its priests 
to aid him in his work. JJut another order, more 
in favor at the Court, was interested, and succeed- 
ed in excluding the mendicant order from the New 
World, established themselves in the uew domain 
and, by thus enlarging the borders of the French 
King, it became entrusted to the Jesuits. 

This •• Society of Jesus," founded by Loyola 
when Calvin's Institutes first saw the light, saw an 
uneipialed djiportunity iji the conversion of the 
heathen in tlie Western wilds; and, as its mem- 
bers, jiledged to obtain power only by influence of 
mind over mind, sought the honors of opening the 
way^ there was no lack of men ri'ady for the work 
'flirough them, the motive jxiwer in opening the 
wilds of the Northwest was religion. "Religious 
enthusia.sm,' says BancroU, "colonized New Kng- 
land, and religious enthusia.sm f()uiided Montreal, 
made a compiest of the wilderness about the upper 
lakes, and explored the Mis.si.ssippi."' 

Through the.se priests — increa.sed in a few years 
to fifteen — a way was made ac-rt»ss the West from 
Quebec, above the regions of the lakes, below 
which they dared not go for the relentless Mohawks. 
To the northwest of Toronto, near the Lake Iro- 
quois, a bay of Lake Huron, in September, 1G34, 
they raisfd the fin-<t humlde house of the Society of 
Jesus anmng the Hurons. Through them they 
learned of the great lakes beyond, and resolved 
one day to explore them and carry the Go.spel of 
])eace to the heathen on their shores. Before this 
could be done, many of them were called upon U) 
give up their lives at the martyr's stake and re- 
ceive a martyr's crown. But one by one they 
went on in their good work. If one fell by hun- 
ger, cold, cruelty, or a terrible death, others stood 
ready, and carrying their lives in their hands, 
estal)li.-<lH'd other mis.sions about the ea.stern shores 
of liake Huron and its adjacent waters. The 
Five Nations were for many years hostile toward 
the French and murdiTeil them and their red 
allies whenever ojiportunity pre.senti'd. For a 
(piarter of century, they retarded the advance of 
the mi.'^sionaries, and then only after wearied with 
a long struggle, in which they began to see their 



power declining, did they relinquish their warlike 
propensities, and allow the Jesuits entrance to their 
country. While this was going on, the traders 
and Jesuits had penetrated farther and farther 
westward, until, when jieace was declared, they 
had seen the southwestern .shores of liake Superior 
and the northern shores of Lake iMichigan, called 
by them Lake Illinois.* In August, 1(>54, two 
young adventurers penetrated the wilds bordering 
on the.se western lakes in company with a band of 
Ottawas. Returning, they tell of the wonderful 
country they have seen, of its vast forests, its 
almndance of game, its mines of copper, and ex- 
cite in their comrades a desire to see and explore 
such a country. They tell of a vast expanse of 
land before them, of the powerful Indian tribes 
dwelling there, and of their anxiety to become an- 
nexed to the Frenchman, of whom they have 
heard. The request is at once granted. Two 
missionaries, Gabriel Dreuillettes and Leonard 
Gareau, were selected as envoys, but on their way 
the fleet, propelled by tawny rowers, is met by a 
wandering band of Mohawks and by them is dis- 
persed. Not daunted, others stood ready to go. 
The lot fell to Rene Mesnard. He is charged to 
visit the wilderness, select a suitable place for a 
dwelling, and found a mission. With only a short 
warning he is ready, "trusting," he says, "in the 
Providence which feeds the little birds of the 
desert and clothes the wild flowers of the forest." 
In October, 1G60, he reached a bay, which he 
called St. Theresa, on the south shore of Lake 
Superior. After a residence of eight months, he 
yielded to the invitation of the Hurons who had 
taken refuge on the Lsland of St. iNIichael, and 
bidding adieu to his neophytes and the French, he 
departed. AVhile on the way to the Bay of Che- 
goi-me-gon, probably at a portage, he became 
separated from his companion and was never after- 
ward heard of Long after, his cassock and his 
breviary were kept as amulets among the Sioux. 
Difficulties now arose in the management of the 
colony, and for awhile it was on the verge of dis- 
solution. The King sent a regiment under com- 
mand of the aged Tracy, as a safeguard against 
the Iroquois, now proving themselves enemies to 

* Mr. C. W. Biitterfleld, author of Crauford's Camjuwj)i, and 
good authority. Siiys: "John Nicholet, a Frenchman, h'lt Qiiehec 
and Three Rivers in the summer of 1034, and visited the Humns on 
(Jeoreian Bay, the Ohippcwas at the Sault Ste. Marie, and the W'in- 
nebagoes in Wiitconsin, returning to Quebec in the summer of l(i35. 
Tliis waa the first wliite mnn to see any part of the Northwest 
Territory. In 1C41, two Jesiut priests were at the Sault Ste. Marie 
for a brief time. Then two French traders reached Lake Sujierior, 
and after them came that tide of emigration on which the French 
haaed their claim to the country." 



\ 



4^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



21 



the French. Aceouipanying him were Courcelles, 
as Governor, and M. Talon, wlio subsequently fig- 
ures in Northwestern history. By 16(J5, affairs 
were settled and new attempts to found a mission 
amoiii;- the lake tribes were projected. 

" With better hopes — undismayed by the sad 
fate of their predecessors" in August, Claude 
Allouez embarked on a mission by way of Ottawa 
to the Far West. Early in September he reached 
the rapids "through which rush the waters of the 
lakes to Huron. Sailing by lofty sculptured rocks 
and over waters of crystal purity, he reached the 
(Jhippewa village just as the young warriors wei*e 
bent on organizing a war expedition against the 
Sioux. Commanding peace in the name of his 
King, he called a council and offered the commerce 
and protection of his nation. He was obeyed, and 
soon a chapel arose on the shore of the bay, to 
which admiring crowds from tlie south and west 
gathered to listen to the story of the Cross. 

The scattered Hurons and Ottawas north of 
Lake Superior ; the Pottawatomies from Lake Mich- 
igan; the Sacs and Foxes frcmi the Far West; the 
Illinois from the prairies, all came to hear him, and 
all besought him to go with them. To the last 
nation Allouez desired to go. They told him of a 
'\great river that flowed to the sea, "and of ''their 
vast prairies, where herds of buffalo, deer and 
other animals grazed on the tall grass." "Their 
country," said the missionary, "is the best field 
for the Gospel. Had I had leisure, I would have 
gone to their dwellings to see with my own eyes 
all the good that was told me of them." 

He remained two years, teaching the natives, 
studying their language and habits, and then 
returned to Quebec. Such was the account that 
he gave, that in two days he was joined by 
Louis Nicholas and was on his way back to his 
mission. 

Peace being now established, more missionaries 
came from France. Among them were Claude 
Dablon and James Marquette, both of whom went 
on to the mission among the Chippewas at the 
Sault. They reached there in 1668 and found 
Allouez busy. The mission was now a reality and 
given the name of St. Mary. It is often written 
"Sault Ste. Marie," after the French method, and 
is the oldest settlement by white men in the bounds 
of the Northwest Territory. It has been founded 
over two hundred years. Here on the inhospitable 
northern shores, hundreds of miles away from 
friends, did this triumvirate employ themselves in 
extendinir their religion and the influence of their 



King. Traversing the shores of the great lakes 
near them, they pass down the western bank of 
Lake Michigan as far as Green Bay, along the 
southern shore of Lake Superior to its western ex- 
tremity, everywhere preaching the story of Jesus. 
" Though suffering be their lot and martyrdom 
their crown," they went on, (jnly conscious that 
they were laboring for their Master and would, in 
the end, win the crown. 

The great river away to the West of which they 
heard so much was yet unknown to them. To ex- 
})lore it, to visit the tribes on its banks and preach 
to them the Gospel and secure their trade, became 
the aim of ]Mar(|uette, who originated the idea of 
its discovery. While engaged at the mission at the 
Sault, he resolved to attempt it in the autumn of 
166i). Delay, however, intervened — for Allouez 
had exchanged the mission at Che-goi-me-gon for 
one at Green Bay, whither Marquette was sent. 
While here he employed a young Illinois Indian 
to teach liim the language of that nation, and there- 
by prepare himself for the enterprise. 

Continued commerce with the Western Indians 
gave protection and confirmed their attachment. 
Talon, the intendant of the colony of New France, 
to further spread its pijwer and to learn more of the 
country and its inhabitants, convened a congress 
of the Indians at the Falls of St. Mary, to which 
he sent St. Lusson on his behalf. Nicholas Perrot 
sent invitations in every direction for more than a 
hundred leagues round about, and fourteen nations, 
among them Sacs, Foxes and Miamis, agreed to be 
present by their embassadors. 

The congress met on the fijurth day of June, 
1671. St. Lusson, through Allouez, his interpre- 
ter, announced to the assembled natives that they, 
and through them their nations, were placed under 
the protection of the French King, and to him 
were their furs and peltries to be traded. A cross 
of cedar was raised, and amidst the groves of ma- 
ple and of pine, of elm and hemlock that are so 
strangely intermingled on the banks of the St. 
Mary, the whole company of the French, bowing 
before the emblem of man's redemption, chanted to 
its glory a hymn of the seventh century : 

"The banners of heaven's King advance; 
The mysteries of the Cross shines forth."* 

A cedar column was planted by the cross and 
marked with the lilies of the Bourbons. The 
power of France, thus uplifted in the West of 
which Ohio is now a part, was, however, not destined 



* Bancroft. 



p- 



.£ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



to ciKlnn'. and tlio ambition of it.s luoiiarehs was 
to liavo oiilv a jtartial tiiltillnii'iit. 

Till' saiiu' year that tlu' roiiiiivss was lu-ld, Mar- 
(|iu'tti! had t'oiiiuk'd a luissioii amonu- the Iluron.s 
at I'oint St. liiiiaco. on the nintiiu-nt north of the 
peninsuhi of Mic-hitian. Ahhoudi the clijuato 
was scveiv, and vi'iictation stanc. yet Hsh al)oiindcd, 
and at this estabUshnu'nt. lonu,- maintained as a 
key to further explorations, prayer and jtraise were 
heard daily for many years. Here, also, Maniuette 
trained a footini; amonu; the fonnders of .Michiuan. 
While he wa.s doing this, Allouez and Dal)lon were 
ex])lorin,ii' eountries south and we.st, _<>oinir as far as 
the .Ma.M-outins and Kiekapoos on the Milwaukee, 
and the .Miamis at the head of Lake Michigan. 
Allouez eontinuedeven as tar as the Sacs and Foxes 
on tlu! river which bears their name. 

The discoviTV of the Missi.ssippi, heightened by 
these explorations, was now at hand. The enter- 
prise, projected by Mar(|uette, was received with 
favor by .M. Talon, who desired thus to ])erpetuate 
his rule in New France, now drawing to a close. 
He was joined by Joliet, of Quebec, an emissary 
of his King, commi.ssioned by royal magnate to 
take po.s.session of the country in the name of the 
French. Of him but little else is known. This 
one excursion, however, gives him immortality, 
and as long as time shall last, his name and that of 
Mar(|uette will endure. When Marquette made 
kn<iwn his intention to the Pottawatomies, they 
were tilled with wonder, and endi-avored to dis- 
suade him from his purpose. "Those distant na- 
tions," said they, " never .spare the .strangers; the 
(ireat River abounds in monsters, ready to swal- 
low both men and canoes; there are great cataracts 
and rapids, over which you will be dashed to 
pieces; the excessive lieats will cause your death." 
• I shall gladly lay down my life for the salvation 
of souls,' repliiid the good man; and the docile 
nation joined liim. 

On the !>th day of June, 1(573, they reached 
the village on Fox Kiver, where were Kiekapoos, 
Ma.scoutins and Mianiis dwelling together on an 
expanse of lovely prairie, dotted here and thereby 
groves of magnificent trees, and where was a 
cro.ss garlanded by wild flowers, and bows and ar- 
rows, and skins and l)elts, offerings to the Great 
Manitou. Allouez had been here in one of hi.s 
wanderings, antl. as was his wont, had left this 
enibleui iif his faith. 

Assembling the natives, Manjuette said, '• My 
companion is an envoy of France to di.scover new 
countries; and I am an embas.sador from God to 



pres- 
The 



enlighten them with the Gospel." Offerinj 
ents, he begged two guides for the morrow 
Indians answered courteously, and gave in 
return a mat to serve as a couch during the long 
voyage. 

Farly in the morning of the next day, the 10th 
of June, with all nature in her lirightest robes, 
these two men, with five Frenchmen and two Al- 
gonquin guides, set out on their journey. Lifting 
two canoes to their shoulders, they ((uickly cross 
the narrow portage dividing the Fox from the 
Wisconsin River, and prepare to embark on its 
clear waters. "Uttering a special prayer to the 
Immaculate Virgin, they leave the stream, that, 
flowing onward, could have borne their greetings 
to the castle of Quebec. 'The guides returned," 
says the gentle Manpiette. 'leaving us alone in 
this unknown land, in the hand of Providence. 
France and (Miristianity stood alone in the valley 
of the Mississippi. Knibarking on the broad 
Wisconsin, the discoverers, as they sailed west, 
went solitarily dow-n the stream between alternate 
prairies and hillsides, beholding neither man nor 
the wonted beasts of the forests; no sound bn)ke 
the silence but the ripple of the canoe and the 
lowing of the buffiilo. In seven days, 'they en- 
tered happily the Great River, with a joy that 
could not be expressed ; ' and the two birehbark 
canoes, raising their happy sails under new skies 
and to unknown breezes, floated down the calm 
magnificence of the ocean stream, over the broad, 
clear sand-bars, the resort of innumerable water- 
Ibwl — gliding past islets that swelled from the 
bosom of the stream, with, their tutifs oi' massive 
thickets, and between the wild plaiiis of Illinois 
and Iowa, all garlanded with majestic forests, or 
checkered by island groves and the open vastness 
of the prairie."* 

Continuing on down the mighty stream, they 
saw no signs of human life until the 25th of 
June, when they discovered a small foot-path on the 
west bank of the river, landing away into the 
prairie. Leaving their companions in the canoes, 
Marquette and Joliet followed the path, resolved 
to brave a meeting alone with the savages. After 
a walk of six miles they came in sight of a village 
on the banks of a river, while not far away they 
discovered two others. The river was the '• Mou- 
in-gou-e-na," or Moingona, now corrupted into 
Des Moines. These twi) men, the first of their 
race who ever trod the soil west of the Great 



"^ e^PV 



:>L 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



River, commended themselves to God, and, uttering 
a loud cry, advanced to the nearest village. 
The Indians hear, and thinking their visitors 
celestial beings, four old men advance with rever- 
ential mien, and offer the pipe of peace. " We 
are Illinois," said they, and they offered the calu- 
met. They had heard of the Frenchmen, and 
welcomed them to their wigwams, followed by the 
devouring gaze of an astonished crowd. At a 
great council held soon after, Marquette published 
to them the true God, their Author. He also 
spoke of his nation and of his King, who had 
chastised the Five Nations and commanded peace. 
He questioned them concerning the Great River 
and its tributaries, and the tribes dwelling on its 
banks. A magnificent feast was spread before 
them, and the conference continued several days. 
At the close of the sixth day, the chieftains of the 
tribes, with numerous trains of warriors, attended 
the visitors to their canoes, and selecting a peace- 
pipe, gayly comparisoned, they hung the sacred 
calumet, emblem of peace to all and a safeguard 
among the nations, about the good Father's neck, 
and bid the strangers good speed. "I did not 
fear death," writes Marquette; -"I should have 
esteemed it the greatest happiness to have died 
for the glory of God." On their journey, they 
passed the perpendicular rocks, whose scvilptured 
sides showed them the monsters they should meet. 
Farther down, they pass the turgid flood of the 
Missouri, kn(^>wn to them by its Algonquin name, 
Pekitanoni. Resolving in his heart to one day 
explore its flood, Marquette rejoiced in the new 
World it evidently could open to him. A little 
farther down, they pass the bluffs where now is a 
mighty enqiorium, then silent as when created. In 
a little less than forty leagues, they pass the clear 
waters of the beautiful Ohio, then, and long after- 
ward, known as the Wabash. Its banks were in- 
habited by numerous villages of the peacefiil 
Shawanees, who then quailed under the incursions 
of the dreadful Iroquois. As they go on down the 
mighty stream, the canes become thicker, the insects 
more fierce, the heat more intolerable. The prairies 
and tlieir cool breezes vanish, and forests of white- 
wood, admirable for their vastness and height, crowd 
close upon the pebbly shore. It is observed that the 
Chickasaws have guns, and have learned how to 
use them. Near the latitude of 38 degTees, they 
encounter a great village, who.se inhabitants pre- 
sent an inhospitable and warlike fi'ont. The pipe 
of peace is lield aloft, and instantly the savage foe 
drops his arms and extends a friendly greeting. 



Remaining here till the next day, they are escorted 
for eight or ten leagues to the village of Akansea. 
They are now at the limit of their voyage. The 
Indians speak a dialect unknown to them. The 
natives show furs and axes of steel, the latter prov- 
ing they have traded with Europeans. The two 
travelers now learn that the Father of Wa- 
ters went neither to the Western sea nor to the 
Ilorida coast, but straight south, and conclude not 
to encounter the burning heats of a tropical clime, 
but return and find the outlet again. They 
had done enough now, and must report their dis- 
covery. 

On the 17th day of July, 1673, one hundred 
and thirty-two years after the disastrous journey 
of J)e Soto, which led to no permanent results, 
jMar(]uette and Joliet left the village of Akansea 
on their way back. At the 38th degree, they en- 
counter the waters of the Illinois which they had 
before n(jticed, and which the natives told them 
afforded a nmch shorter route to the lakes. Pad- 
dling up its limpid waters, they see a country un- 
surpassed in beauty. Broad prairies, beautiful up- 
lands, luxuriant groves, all mingled in excellent 
harmony as they ascend the river. Near the head 
of the river, they pause at a great village of the 
Illinois, and across the river behold a rocky prom- 
ontory standing boldly out against the landscape. 
The Indians entreat the gentle missionary to re- 
main among them, and teach them the way of life. 
He cannot do this, but promises to return when he 
can and instruct them. The town was on a plain 
near the present village of TTtica, in La Salle 
County, 111., and the rock was Starved Rock, 
afterward noted in the annals of the Northwest. 
One of the chiefs and some young men conduct 
the party to the Chicago River, where the present 
mighty city is, from where, continuing their iour- 
ney along the western shores of the lake, they 
reach Green Bay early in September. 

The great valley of the West was now open. 
The '-Messippi" rolled it;s mighty flood to a south- 
ern sea, and must be sully explored. Marquette's 
health had keenly suffered by the voyage and lie 
concluded to remain here and rest. Joliet hasten- 
ed on to Quebec to report his discoveries. During 
the journey, each had preserved a description of 
the route they had pas.sed over, as well as the 
country and its inhabitants. While on the way 
to Quebec, at the foot of the rapids near Montreal, 
by some means one of Joliet's canoes became cap- 
sized, and by it he lost his box of papers and two 
of his men. A greater calamity could have 



§) 



24 



HlSTOliY OF OHIO. 



In 



letter to Gov, 



hardly happened liini. 
Frontenae, JoUet says: 

'' I had escaped every peril from the Indians ; I 
had passed I'orty-two rajtids, and was on the ])oint 
ot'disembarkinu, full of joy at the success of so 
long and difficult an enterprise, when my canoe 
capsized after all the danuer seenu'd over. I lost 
my two men and box of ])apers within siuht of the 
French settlements, which I had left almost two 
years before. Nothing remains now to mo but 
my life, and the ardent desire to employ it iu any 
service you may please to direct."' 

Wlu'u Joliet made known his discoveries, a 
Te Ih um was chanted in the Cathedral at Quebec, 
and all Canada was filled with joy. The news 
cntssed the ocean, and the French saw in the vista 
of coming years a vast dependency arise in the val- 
ley, partially explored, which was to extend her 
domain and enrich her treasury. Fearing F]n- 
gland might ])roKt by the discovery and claim the 
country, she att('ni])ted as far as possible to })reveut 
the news from becoming general. J(tliet was re- 
warded by the gift of the Island of Anticosti, in 
the 8t. Lawrence, while Marijuette, conscious of 
his service to his Master, was content with the 
salvation of souls. 

.Manpu'tte, left at Green Bay, suffered long with 
his malady, and was not permitted, until the au- 
tunni of the following year (1G74), to return and 
teach the Illinois Indians. With this purpose in 
view, he left ( ireen Bay on the 25th of October 
with two Frenchmen and a number of Illinois and 
Pottawatomie Indians for the villages on the 
Chicago and Illinois Kivers. Entering Lake 
Michigan, they encountered adverse winds and 
waves and were more than a month on the way. 
Going some distance up the Chicago River, they 
found >lar<|uette too weak to proceed farther, his 
malady having assumc'd a violent form, and land- 
ing, they erected two huts and prepared to pass 
the winter. The good missionary taught the na- 
tives here daily, in spite of his afflictions, while 
his comi)aninns supplied him and themselves with 
food by fishing and hunting. Thus the winter 
wore away, and Marquette, renewing his vows, pre- 
pared to go on to the village at the foot of the 
rocky citadel, where he had been two years before. 
On the VM\ of March, 1(175, they left their huts 
and, rowing on up the Chicago to the portage be- 
tween that and \\w. Desplaines, embarked on their 
way. Amid the incessant rains of spring, they 
were rapidly borne down that stream to the Illi- 
nois, on whose rushing flood they floated to the 



object of their destination. At the great town the 
missionary was received as a heavenly messenger, 
and as he preached to them of heaven and hell, 
of angels and demons, of good and bad deeds, 
they regarded him as divine and besought him to 
remain among them. The town then contained an 
immense concourse of natives, drawn hither by the 
reports they heard, and assembling them before him 
on the plain near their village, where now are pros- 
porous farms, he held before their astonished gaze 
four large j»ictures of the Holy \'irgin, and daily 
harangued them on the duties of Christianity and 
the necessity of conforming their conduct to the 
words they heard. His strength was fast declining 
and warned him he could not long remain. Find- 
ing he must go, the Indians furnished him an 
escort as far as the lake, on whose turbulent waters 
he embarked with his two faithful attendants. 
They turned their canoes for the Mackinaw 31 is- 
sion, which the afflicted missionary hoped to reach 
before death came. As they coasted along the 
eastern shores of the lake, the vernal hue of May 
began to cover the hillsides with robes of green, 
nowdhnmed to the eye of the departing Father, who 
became too weak to view them. Hy the 19th of 
the month, he could go no farther, and recpiested 
his men to laud and build him a hut in which he 
might pass away. That done, he gave, with great 
composure, directions concerning his burial, and 
thanked God that he was permitted to die in the 
wilderness in the midst of his work, an unshaken 
believer in the faith he had so earnestly preached. 
As twilight came on, he told his weary attendants 
forest, promising that when death should come he 
would call them. At an early hour, on the morn- 
ing of the 20th of IMay, 1075, they heard a feeble 
voice, and hastening to his side found that the gen- 
tle spirit of the good missionary had gone to heav- 
en. His hand grasped the crucifix, and his lips 
bore as their last sound the name of the Virgin. 
They dug a grave near the banks of the stream 
and buried him as he had recjuestcd. There in a 
lonely wilderness the peaceful soul of Marquette 
had at last found a rest, and his weary labors closed. 
His companions went on to the mission, where 
the news of his death caused great sorrow, for he 
was one beloved liy all. 

Three years after his burial, the Ottawas. hunting 
in the vicinity of his grave, dett-rmined to carry 
his bones to the mission at their home, in accor- 
dance with an ancient custom of their tribe. Hav- 
ing o]»eiu'd the grave, at whose head across had 
been planted, they carefully removed the bones and 



:t 



1^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



cleaning- them, a funeral procession of thirty canoes 
bore them to the Mackinaw Mission, singing the 
songs he had taught them. At the shores of the 
mission the bones were received by the priests, and, 
with great ceremony, buried under the floor of the 
rude chajiel. 

While Marquette and Joliet were exploring the 
head-waters of the '-Great River," another man, 
fearless in purpose, pious in heart, and loyal to 
his country, was living in Canada and watching 
the operations of his fellow countr^nuen with 
keen eyes. When the French first saw the in- 
hospitable shores of the St. Lawrence, in 1535, 
under the lead of Jacques Cartier, and had opened 
a new country to their ci'own, men were not 
lacking to further extend the discovery. In 1608, 
Champlain came, and at the foot of a cliif on that 
river founded Quebec. Seven years after, he 
I)r()ught four RecoUet monks ; and through them 
and the Jesuits the discoveries already narrated 
occurred. Champlain died in 1685, one hundred 
years after Cartier's first visit, but not until he 
had explored the northern lakes as far as Lake 
Huron, on whose rocky shores he, as the progenitor 
of a mighty race to follow, set his feet. He, with 
others, held to the idea that somewhere across the 
country, a river highway extended to the Western 
ocean. The reports from the missions whose 
history has been given aided this belief; and not 
until Mar([uette and Joliet returned was the delu- 
sion in any way dispelled. Before this was done, 
however, the man to whom reference has been 
made, Robert Cavalier, better known as La Salle, 
had endeavored to solve the mystery, and, while 
living on his grant of laud eight miles above 
jMontreal, had indeed effected important discoveries. 

La Salle, the next actor in the field of explor- 
ation after Champlain, was born in 1643. His 
father's family was among the old and wealthy 
burghers of Rouen, France, and its members 
were frecjuently entrusted with important govern- 
mental positions. He early exhibited such traits 
of character as to mark him among his associates. 
Coming from a wealthy family, he enjoyed all the 
advantages of his day, and received, for the times, 
an excellent education. He was a Catholic, 
though his subsequent life does not prove him 
to have been a religious enthusiast. From some 
cause, he joined the Order of Jjoyola, but the cir- 
cumscribed sphere of action set for him in the 
order illy concurred with his independent dis- 
position, and led to his separation from it. This 
was eftected, however, in a good spirit, as they 



considered him fit for a difierent field of action 
than any presented by the order. Having a 
brother in Canada, a member of the order of St. 
Sulpice, he determined to join him. By his 
connection with the Jesuits he had lost his share 
of his father's estate, but, by some means, on his 
death, which occurred about this time, he was 
given a small share; and with this, in 1666, 
he arrived in Montreal. All Canada was alive 
with the news of the explorations; and La 
Salle's mind, actively grasping the ideas he 
afterward carried out, began to mature plans for 
their perfection. At Montreal he found a semi- 
nary of priests of the St. Sulpice Order who were 
encouraging settlers by grants of land on easy 
terms, hoping to establish a barrier of settlements 
between themselves and the Indians, made ene- 
mies to the French by Champlain's actions when 
founding Quebec. The Superior of the seminary, 
learning of La Salle's arrival, gratuitously offered 
him a grant of land on the St. Lawrence, eight 
miles above Montreal. The grant, though danger- 
ously near the hostile Indians, was accepted, and 
La Salle soon enjoyed an excellent trade in furs. 
While employed in developing- his claim, he learned 
of the great unknown route, and burned with a 
desire to solve its existence. He applied himself 
closely to the study of Indian dialects, and in 
three years is said to have made great progress 
in their language. While on his farm his 
thoughts often turned to the unknown land away 
to the west, and, Hke all men of his day, he 
desired to explore the route to the Western sea, 
and thence obtain an easy trade with China and 
Japan. The " Great River, which flowed to the 
sea," must, thought they, find an outlet in the 
Gulf of California. While musing on these 
things, Marquette and Joliet were preparing to 
descend the Wisconsin; and La Salle himself 
learned from a wandering band of Senecas that a 
river, called the Ohio, arose in their country and 
flowed to the sea, but at such a distance that it 
would require eight months to reach its mouth. 
This must be the Great River, or a part of it : 
for all geographers of the day considered the 
Mississippi find its tributary as one stream. Plac- 
ing great confidence on this hypothesis, La Salle 
repaired to Quebec to obtain the sanction 
of Gov. Courcelles. His plausible statements 
soon won him the Governor and M. Talon, and 
letters patent were issued granting the exploration. 
No pecuniary aid was offered, and La Salle, hav- 
ing expended all his means in improving his 



>^ 



26 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



estate, was obliged to sell it to procure the 
ncressury outtit. The SiijKinor of the seiuinary 
bt'iiig favorably disj)osed toward hiiu, purcluused 
the greater part of his iinprovt-nn'iit, and realiz- 
ing '2,S(H) livres, he i)nrihased four eanoes and the 
necessary sup))lies for the expedition. The semi- 
nary was, at tile same tinu', preparing for a similar 
exploration. The priests of this order, emulating 
the Jesuits, iiad established missions on the north- 
ern shore of Lake Ontario. Hearing of populous 
tribe.s still furtlier west, they re.^olved to attempt 
their conversion, and deputized twoof their number 
I'or the jiurpose. On going to Quebec to procure 
the necessary supj)lii's, they were advised of La 
Salle's expedition down the Ohio, and resolved to 
unite themselves with it. La 8alle did not alto- 
gether favor their attempt, as he believed the 
.Jesuits already had the field, and would not care 
to have any aid from a rival order. His dispo- 
sition also would not well brook the part they 
assumed, of asking him to be a co-laborer rather 
than a leader. However, the expeditions, merged 
into one body, left the mission on the St. Law- 
rence on the (ith of July, lt»l)l>, in .seven canoes. 
The party nund)ered twenty-four persons, who 
were aciomiianied by two canoes filled with 
Indians who had visited La Salle, and who now 
acted ;us guides. Their guides led them up the 
St. Lawrence, over the expan.se of Lake Ontario, 
to their village on the banks of the Genesee, 
where they expected to find guides to lead them 
on to the ()hiii. As La Salle oidy ])artially under- 
stood their language, he was com))elled to confer 
with them by means of a Jesuit stationed at the 
village. The Indians refu.sed to furnish him the 
expected aid, and even burned before his eyes a 
pri.soner, the only one who could give him any 
knowledge he desired. He surmised the Jesuits 
were at the V)ottom of the matter, fearful lest the 
disciples of St. Sul])ice should gain a foothold in 
the west. He lingvri'd here a nionth, with the 
hope of accomplishing his object, when, by chance, 
there came by an Ir(ii|Uois Indian, who assured 
them that at his colony, near the head of the lake, 
they coidd find guides; and ofl'ered to conduct 
them thitlicr. Coming along the southern shore 
of the lake, they pa.ssed, at its western extremity, 
tht! mouth of the Niagara liiv(>r, where they heard 
for the first tinx! the thunder of the mii:lity cata- 
ract between the two lakes. At the village of the 
Iroipiois they met a friendly reception, and were 
infornieil l)y a Shawanese prisoner that they could 
reach the Ohio in six week.s' time, and that he 



would guide them there. While preparing to 
commence the journey, they heard of the mi.ssions 
to the northwest, and the priests resolved to go 
there and convert the natives, and find the river 
by that route. It appears that Louis Joliet met 
them here, on his return from visiting the copper 
mines of Lake Su])erior, under command of M. 
Talon He gave the priests a map of the country, 
and informed them that the Indians of those 
regions were in great need of spiritiuil advisers. 
This strengthened their intention, though warned 
by La Salle, that the Jesuits were undoubtedly 
there. The authority for Joliet's visit to them 
here is not clearly given, and nuiy not be true, 
but the same letter which gives the account oi' 
the discovery of the Ohio at this time by La Salle, 
states it as a fact, and it is hence inserted. The 
missionaries and La Salle separated, the former to 
find, as he had predicted, the followers of Loyola 
already in the field, and not wanting their aid. 
Hence they return I'rom a fruitless tour. 

La Salle, now left to hiuuself and just recovering 
from a violent fever, went on his journey. From 
the paper from which the.se statements are taken, 
it appears he went on to Onondaga, where he pro- 
cured guides to a tributary of the Ohio, down 
which he proceeded to the principal stream,.A>n 
whose bosom he continued his way till he came to 
the falls at the present city of Louisville, Ky. It 
has been asserted that he went on down to its 
mouth, but that is not well authenticated and is 
hardly true. The statement that he went as far as 
the falls is, doubtless, correct. He states, in a letter 
to Count Frontenac in l(iT7, that he discovered 
the Ohio, and that he descended it to the falls. 
Moreover, Joliet, in a measure his rival, for he was 
now preparing to go to the northern lakes and 
from them search tlie river, made two maps repre- 
senting the lakes and the Mississippi, on both of 
which he states that La Salle had discovered the 
Ohio. Of its course beyond the falls, La Salle 
(h)es not seem to have learned anything definite, 
hence his discovery did not in any way settle the 
great (pie.stion, and elicited but little comment. 
Still, it .stimulated La Salle to more effort, and 
while musing on his jilans, Joliet and Manpiette 
pu.sh on from (Jreen Bay, and discover the rivt'r 
and a.scertain the general course of its outlet. On 
Joliets return in KiT'i, he seems to drop from 
further notice. ( )thcr and more venturesome souls 
were ready to finish the work begun by himself 
and the zealous .Alarqiu'tte, wlio. left among the 
far-away nations, laid down his life. The spirit of 



HISTORY OP^ OHIO. 



29 



La Salle was equal to the enterprise, and as he now 
had returned from one voyage of discovery, he 
stood ready to solve the mystery, and gain the 
country for his King. Before this could be ac- 
cnnij)lishod, however, he saw other things must be 
done, and made preparations on a scale, for the 
time, truly marvelous. 

(/ount Froutenac, the now (rovernor, had no 
SDonor established himself in power than he gave a 
searching glance ovi>r the new realm to see if any 
uiidtneloped resources lay yet unnoticed, and what 
country yet remained open. He learned from the 
exploits of La Halle on the Ohio, and from Joliet, 
now returned from the West, of that immense 
country, and resolving in his mind on some plan 
whereby it could be formally taken, entered 
heartily into the plans of La Salle, who, anxious to 
solve the mystery et)ncerning the outlet of the 
Great River, gave him the outline of a plan, saga- 
cious in its conception and grand in its compre- 
htmsion. La Salle had also informed him of the 
endeavors of the English on the Atlantic coast to 
divert the trade with the Indians, and partly to 
counteract this, were the plans of La Salle adopted. 
They were, briefly, to build a chain of forts from 
('anada, or New France, along the lakes to the 
Mississippi, and on down that river, thereby hold- 
ing the country by power as well as by discovery. 
A fort w;\s to be built on the Ohio as soon as the 
means could be obtained, and thereby hold that 
country by the same policy. Thus to La Salle 
alone may be ascribed the bold plan of gaining the 
whole West, a plan only thwarted by the force of 
arms. Through the aid of Frontenac, he was 
given a proprietary and the rank of nobility, and 
on his jiroprietary was erected a fort, which he, in 
honor of his (jovernor, called Fort Frontenac. It 
stood on the site of the present city of Kingston, 
Canada. Through it he obtained the trade of the 
Five Nations, and his fortune was so far assured. 
He next repaired to France, to perfect his arrange- 
ments, secure his title and obtain means. 

On his return he built the fort alluded to, and 
prepared to go on in the prosecution of his plan. 
A civil discord arose, however, which for three 
years ])revailcd, and seriously threatened his 
projects. As soon as he could extricate himself, 
he again repaired to France, receiving additional 
encouragement in money, grants, and the exclusive 
privilege of a trade in buffalo skins, then consid- 
ered a source of great wealth. On his return, he 
was accompanied by Henry Tonti, son of an illus- 
trious Italian nobleman, who had fled from his 



own country during one of its political revolutions. 
Coming to France, he made himself famous as the 
founder of Tontine Life Insurance. Henry Tonti 
possessed an indomitable will, and though he had 
suffered the loss of one of his hands? by the ex- 
plosion of a grenade in one of the Sicilian wars, 
his courage was undaunted, and his ardor un- 
dimmed. La Salle also bi'ought recruits, mechanics, 
sailors, cordage and sails for rigging a ship, and 
merchandise for traific with the natives. At 
Montreal, he secured the ser\^^ces of M. La Motte, a 
person of much energy and integrity of character. 
He also secured several missionaries before he 
reached Fort Frontenac. Among them were 
Louis Hennepin, Gabriel Ribourde and Zenabe 
Membre. All these were Flemings, all llecollets. 
Hennepin, of all of them, proved the best assist- 
ant. They arrived at the fort early in the autumn 
of 1678, and preparations were at once made to 
erect a vessel in which to navigate the lakes, and 
a fort at the mouth of the Niagara River. The 
Seneeas were; rather adverse to the latter proposals 
when La jMotte and Hennepin came, but by 
the eloquence of the latter, they were pacified 
and rendered friendly. After a number of vexa- 
tious delays, the vessel, the Griffin, the first on the 
lakes, was built, and on the 7th of August, a year 
after La Salle came here, it was launched, passed 
over the waters of the northern lakes, and, after a 
tempestuous voyage, landed at Green Bay. It was 
soon after stored with furs and sent back, while 
La Salle and his men awaited its return. It was 
never afterward heard of. La Salle, becoming 
impatient, erected a fort, pushed on with a 
part of his men, leaving part at the fort, 
and passed over the St. Joseph and Kankakee 
Rivers, and thence to the Illinois, down whose 
flood they proceeded to Peoria Lake, where 
he was obliged to halt, and return to Canada 
for more men and supplies. He left Tonti 
and several men to complete a fort, called 
Fort " Crevecoeur " — broken-hearted. The Indians 
drove the French away, the men mutinied, and 
Tonti was obliged to flee. When La Salle returned, 
he found no one there, and going down as far as 
the mouth of the Illinois, he retraced his steps, to 
find some trace of his garrison. Tonti was found 
safe among the Pottawatomies at Green Bay, and 
Hennepin and his two followers, sent to explore 
the head-waters of the Mississippi, were again 
home, after a captivity among the Sioux. 

La Salle renewed his force of men, and the third 
time set out for the outlet of the Great River. 



V 



30 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Ho Ifft {\iiuula early in Di'cc'nil)or, Ui81, ami by 
Ki'hniaiv <>, 1(I<S2, reatlu'd tln' majestic flood of 
tilt' luiiility stream. On the l!4tli, they aseemled 
the Chickasaw Hlufts, ami, while waitinii' to timl 
a sailor who hail strayed away, erected Fort Prud- 
homme. They passed several liidiaii villaj;es fur- 
ther down the river, in some of which they met 
with no littlo opposition. Proceeding onward, ere- 
long they encountered the tide of the sea, and 
April (!, they emerged on the broad bo.som of the 
(Julf, "tossing its restless billows, limitless, voice- 
less and lonely as when born of chaos, without a 
sign of life." 

Coasting about a short time on the shores of 
the(iulf, the party returned until a sufficiently 
dry place was n-ached to effect a landing. Here 
anotlier cro.ss was rai.sed, also a column, on which 
was inscribed these words: 

" Loiis i,K GR.vNn, Roi de Fbance et de Navarke, 
RKii.NE; Lk Neuvieme, Avkil, 1G82.'" * 

" The whole party," says a " proces verbal," in 
the archives of France, " chanted the Te JJciim, 
the Exandiaf and the Dominc salv)tni fac Rrgcni, 
and t\en after a salute of fire-arms and cries of 
Vice U; R(tt\ La Salle, standing near the column, 
said in a loud voice in French : 

''In the name of the most high, mighty, invin- 
(■il)le and victorious l^rince, Louis the Great, by 
the grace of (}od, King of France and of Navarre, 
Fourteenth of that name, tliis ninth day of April, 
one thousand six hundred and eighty two, I, in 
virtue t)f the conmiission (»f His Majesty, which I 
hold in my hand, and which may be seen by all 
whom it may concern, have taken, and do now 
take, in the name of His Majesty and of his suc- 
cessors to the crown, pij.ssession of this country of 
Louisiana, the seas, liarbor, ports, bays, adjacent 
straights, and all the nations, people, provinces, cities, 
towns, villages, mines, minerals, tisheries, streams 
andrivers, comprised in the extent of said Louisiana, 
irom the north of the great rivi'r 8t. Loui.s, other- 
wise called the Ohio, Alighin, Sipore or Chukago- 
jia, and this with the consent of the Chavunons, 
Chickachaws, and other people dwelling tlierein, 
with whom we have made alliance; as also along 
the river Colljcrt or Mississijipi, and rivi'rs which 
discharge thcm.^elves therein from its source beyond 
theKi(Uisor Nadouessious, and this with their 
consent, and with the consent of tlie Illinois, Mes- 
igameas, Natchez, Koroas, which are the most con- 
siderable nations dwelling therein, with whom also 

• Louis the Great, King of FraDce and of Navarre, reigning the 
ninth duy of April, lt;82. 



we liave made alliance, either by ourselves orothers 
in our behalf, as far as its mouth at the sea or 
(lulf of Mexico, ab(Uit the twenty-seventh degi'ee 
of its elevation of the North Pole, and also to the 
mouth of the River of Palms; u]M)n the a.ssurance 
which we liave received from all these nations that 
we are the first Europeans who have descended or 
ascended the river Colbert, hereby protesting 
against all those who may in future undertake to 
invade any or all of these countries, peoples or 
lands, to the ])rt_yudice of the right of His JNLijesty, 
acijuired by the consent of the nations herein 
named." 

The whole assembly responded with shouts and 
the salutes of fire-arms. The Sieur de La Salle 
caused to be planted at the foot of the column a 
plate of lead, on one side of which was inscribed 
the arms of France and the following Latin inscrip- 
tion : 

Robertvs Cavellier, cvm Domino de Tonly, Legato, 
R. P. Zenobi Mciiibro, Recollecto, et, Viginti Gallis 
Prinios Hoc Flvinen imle ab iliiieorvm Pago, enavigavit, 
ejvsqve o.stiviu fecit Pervivviii, nono Aprilis ci.) ioc 
LXXXII. 

The whole proceedings were acknowledged be- 
fore La Metaire, a notary, and the conijuest was 
considered complete. 

Thus was till! foundation of France laid in the 
new republic, and thus did she lay claim to the 
Northwest, which n(jw includes Ohio, and the 
county, wlu)se history this book per})etuates. 

La Salle and his party returned to Canada .soon 
after, and again that country, and France itself, 
rang with anthems of exidtatiim. He went on to 
France, where lie received the highest honors. 
He was given a fleet, and sailors as well as colon- 
ists to return to the New World l»y wayof a south- 
ern voyage, ex})ecting to find the mouth of the 
Mississippi by an ocean course. Sailing past the 
outlets, lie was wrecked on the coast of Texas, and 
in his vain endeavors to find the river or return to 
Canada, he became lost on the ])laiiis of Arkansas, 
where he, in llJST, was basi'ly murdered by one of 
hisfjllowers. " Youaredown now,(iran(l Bashaw." 
exclaimed his slayer, and despoiling his remains, the v 
left them to be devoured by wild bea.sts. Tosucli 
an ignominious end came this daring, bold advtii- 
turer. Alone in the wilderness, he was left, with 
no monument but the vast realm he had discov- 
ered, on whose bosom he was left without cover- 
ing and without protection. 

" For force of will and vast conception ; for va- 
rious knowledge, and (juick adaptation of his genius 



>?• 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



31 



to untried circumstances; for a sublime magnani- 
mity, that resigned itself to the will of Heaven, 
and yet triumphed over affliction by energy of 
purpose and unfaltering hope — he had no superior 
among his countrymen. He had won the affec- 
tions of the governor of Canada, the esteem of 
Colbert, the confidence of Seignelay, the favor of 
Louis XIV. After the beginning of the coloniza- 
tion of Upper Canada, he perfected the discovery 
of the Mississippi from the Falls of St. Anthony 
to it.s mouth ; and he will be remembered through 
all time as the father of colonization in the great 
central valley of the West."* 

Avarice, passion and jealousy were not calmed by 
the blood of La Salle. All of his conspirators per- 
ished by ignoble deaths, while only sjcven of the six- 
teen succeeded in continuing the journey vintil 
they reached Canada, and thence found their way 
to France. 

Tonti, wholaad been left at Fort St. Louis, on 
" Starved Rock" on the Illinois, went down in 
search of his beloved commander. Failing to find 
him, he returned and remained here until 1700, 
thousands of miles away from friends. Then he 
went down the Mississippi to join D'Iberville, who 
had made the discovery of the mouth of the Mis- 
sissippi by an ocean voyage. Two years later, he 
went on a mission to the Chickasaws, but of his 
subsequent history nothing is known. 

The West was now in possession of the French. 
La Salle's plans were yet feasible. The period of 
exploration was now over. The great river and 
its outlet was known, and it only remained for that 
nation to enter in and occupy what to many a 
Frenchman was the " Promised Land." Only 
eighteen years had elapsed since Marquette and 
Joliet had descended the river and shown the 
course of its outlet. A spirit, less bold than La 
Salle's would never in so short a time have pene- 
trated for more than a thou.sand miles an unknttwn 
wilderness, and solved the mystery of the world. 

When Joutol and his companions reached France 
in 1688, all Europe was on the eve of war. Other 
nations than the French wanted part of the New 
World, and when they saw that nation greedily 
and rapidly accumulating territory there, they en- 
deavored to stay its progress. The league of Augs- 
burg was formed in 1687 by the princes of the Em- 
pire to restrain the ambition of Louis XIV, and 
in 1688, he began hostilities by the capture of 
Philipsburg. The next year, England, under the 

* Uancioft. 



lead of William III, joined the alliance, and Louis 
found himself comjjelled, with only the aid of the 
Turks, to contend against the united forces of the 
Empires of England, Spain, Holland, Henmark, 
Sweden and Norway. Yet the tide of battle wa- 
vered. In 1689, the French were defeated at 
Walcourt, and the Turks at Widin; but in 1690, 
the French were victorious at Charleroy, and the 
Turks at Belgrade. The next year, and also the 
next, victory inclined to the French, but in 1693, 
Louvois and Luxemberg were dead and Namur 
surrendered to the allies. The war extended to the 
New World, where it was maintained with more 
than equal success by the French, though the En- 
glish population exceeded it more than twenty to one. 
In 1688, the French were estimated at about 
twelve thousand souls in North America, while the 
English were more than two hundred thousand. 
At first the war was prosecuted vigorously. In 
1689, De. Ste. Helene and D'Iberville, two of the 
sons of Chai'les le Morne, crossed the wilderness 
and reduced the English forts on Hudson's Bay. 
But in August of the same year, the Iroquois, the 
hereditary foes of the French, captured and burned 
Montreal. Frontenac, who had gone on an ex- 
pedition against New York by sea, was recalled. 
Fort Frontenac was abandoned, and no French 
posts left in the West between Trois Rivieres and 
Mackinaw, and were it not for the Jesuits the en- 
tire West would now have been abandoned. To 
recover their influence, the French planned three 
expeditions. One resulted in the destruction of 
Schenectady, another, Salmon Falls, and the third, 
Casco Bay. On the other hand, Nova Scotia was 
reduced by the colonies, and an expedition against 
M(mtreal went as far as to Lake Champlain, where 
it failed, owing to the dissensions of the leaders. 
Another expedition, consisting of twenty-four ves- 
sels, arrived before Quebec, which also failed 
through the incompetency of Sir William Phipps. 
During the succeeding years, various border con- 
flicts occurred, in all of which border scenes of 
savage cruelty and savage ferocity were enacted. 
The peace of Ryswick, in 1697, closed the war. 
France retained Hudson's Bay, and all the places 
of which she was in possession in 1688; but the 
boundaries of the English and French claims in 
the New World were still unsettled. 

The conclusion of the conflict^ left the French 
at liberty to pursue their scheme of colonization 
in the Mississippi Valley. In 1698, D'Iberville 
was sent to the lower province, which, erelong, 
was made a separate independency, called Louisiana. 



33 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Forts were erected on IMobile Bay, and the division 
of the territory betwcscn the Freneh and the 
Spaniards was settled. Tr(ml)le existed between 
tht! French and thi; (Miiekasaws, endiujj; in the 
eruel deaths of many of tlie leaders, in the 
IVuitless endeavors of the Canadian and Lonisi- 
anian lorees eoniliininii- against the Chiekasaws. 
For many years the confliet raued, with nne(|ual 
sueeesses, until the Indian j)o\ver iiave way before 
superior military tactics. In the end, New Orleans 
w;\8 founded, in 17 IS, and the French power 
secured. 

Before this wiis consummated, however, France 
became entan;jled in another war against tlie 
allied powers, endinjj; in her defeat and the loss 
of Nova Scotia, Hudson's Bay and Newfound- 
land. The peace of Utrecht closed the war 
in 1713. 

Tlie French, weary with prolonged strife, 
adopted the ])lan, more peaceful in its nature, of 
giving out to distinguislu-d men the monopoly of 
certain districts in the fur trade, the most pros- 
perous of any avocation then. Crozat and 
('adillac — the latter the founder of Detroit, in 
17'>1 — were the chief ones concerned in this. 
The founding of the villages of Kaskaskia, Ca- 
hokia, \'incennes, and others in the Mississippi 
and Wabash Valleys, led to the rapid develop- 
ment, iiccording to the French custom of all 
these parts of the West, while along all the chief 
water-courses, other trading posts and forts were 
established, rapidly fulfilling the hopes of La 
SalU", broached so many years before. 

The French had, at the b(!ginning of the 
eighteenth century, four principal routes to their 
Western towns, two of which passed over the soil 
of Ohio. The first of these was the one followed 
by .Mar((uette and Joliet, by way of the Lakes to 
(jrreen IJay, in Wisconsin; thence across a portage 
to the Wisconsin River, down which they floated 
to the Mississijipi. On their return they came 
up the Illinois Kivcr, to the site of Chicago, 
whence Joliet returned to Quebec by the Lakes. 
La Salle's route was first by the Lakes to the St. 
Josephs River, which he followed to the portage 
to the Kankakee, and thence downward to the 
Mississippi. On his second and third attempt, 
he crossed the lf)W('r jieniiisula of Michigan to 
the Kankakee, and again traversed its waters to 
the Illinois. The third route was established 
ab(»ut 171 •!. It followe<l the southern shores of 
liak(' Krie to the month of the Maumee River; 
following this stream, the voyagers went on to the 



junction between it and the St. Mary's, which 
they followed to the"Oubache" — Wabash — and 
then to the French villages in Vigo and Knox 
Counties, in Indiana. Vincennes was the oldest 
and mo.st im])ortant one here. It had been 
founded in 1702 by a French trader, and was, at 
the date of the establishment of the third route, 
in a ])rosperous condition. For many years, the 
traders crossed the plains of Southern Illinois to 
the French towns on the bottoms opposite St. 
Louis. They were afraid to go on down the 
" Waba " to the Ohio, as the; Indians had fi'ight- 
ened them with accounts of the great monsters 
below. Finally, some adventurous spirit went 
down the river, found it emptied into the Ohio, 
and solved the problem of the true outlet of the 
( )hio, heretofof e supposed to be a tributary of the 
Wabash. 

The fourth route was from the southern shore 
of Lake Eric, at Prestpieville, over a portage of 
fifteen miles to the head of French Creek, at 
Waterford, Penn.; thence down that stream to the 
Ohio, and on to the Mississippi. Along all these 
routes, ports and posts were carefully maintained. 
Many were on the soil of Ohio, and were the first 
attempts of the white race to possess its domain. 
Many of the ruins of these posts are yet found on 
the southern shore of Lake Frie, and at the 
outlets of streams flowing into the lake and the Ohio 
River. The jirincipal forts were at Mackinaw, at 
Pres(jueville, at the mouth of the St. Joseph's, on 
Starved Rock, and along the Father of Waters. 
Yet another power was encroaching on them: a 
sturdy race, clinging to the inhospitable Atlantic 
shores, were condng over the mountains. The 
murmurs of a conflict were already heard — a con- 
flict that would change the fate of a nation. 

The French were ejftending their explorations 
beyond the Mississippi; they were also forming a 
political organization, and increasing their influence; 
over the natives. Of a ])a.*sive nature, however, 
their power and their influence could not with- 
stand a more aggressive nature, and they were 
obliged, finally, to give way. They had the 
fruitful valleys of the AVest more than a century ; 
yet they developed no resources, opened no mines 
of wealth, and left the country as passive as they 
found it. 

Of the growth of the West under French ruK", 
but little else remains to be said. The stunly 
Anglo-Saxon race on the Atlantic coast, and their 
progenitors in England, l)egan, now, to turn their 
attention to this vast country. The voluptuousness 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



33 



of the French court, their nejilect of the true 
basis of wealtli, agriculture, and the repressive 
tendencies laid on the colonists, led the latter to 
adopt "a hunter's life, and leave the country unde- 
veloped and ready for the people who claimed the 
country from '*sea to sea." Their explorers were 
now at work. The change was at hand. 

Occasional mention has been made in the his- 
tory of the State, in preceding pages, of settle- 
ments and trading-posts of the French traders, 
ex})lorers and missionaries, within the limits of 
Ohio. The French were the first white men to 
occupy the northwestern part of the New World, 
and though their stay was brief, yet it opened the 
way to a sinewy race, living on the shores of the 
Atlantic, who in time came, saw, and conquered 
that part of America, making it what the people 
of to-day enjoy. 

As early as 16G9, four years before the discov- 
ery of the Mississippi by Joliet and Marquette, 
La iSalle, the famous explorer, discovered the Ohio 
lliver, and paddled down its gentle current as far 
as the falls at the present city of Louisville, but he, 
like others of the day, made no settlement on its 
banks, only claiming the country for his King by 
virtue of this discovery. 

Early in the beginning of the eighteenth cent- 
ury, French traders and voyagers passed along the 
southern shores of Lake Erie, to the mouth of the 
Maumee, up whose waters they rowed their bark 
canoes, on their way to their outposts in the Wa- 
bash and Illinois Valleys, established between 
l(>75 and 1700. As soon as they could, without 
danger from their inveterate enemies, the Iro([uois, 
masters of all (he lower lake country, erect a 
trading-post at the mouth of this river, they did 
so. It was made a depot of considerable note, 
and was, probably, the first permanent habitation 
of white men in Uliio. It remained until after 
the peace of 1703, the termination of the French 
and Indian war, and the occupancy of this country 
by the English. On the site of the French trading- 
post, the British, in 1794, erected Fort Miami, 
which they garrisoned until the country came 
under the control of Americans. Now, Maumee 
City covers the ground. 

The French had a trading-post at the mouth of 
the Huron lliver, in what is now Erie County. 
When it was built is not now known. It was, how- 
ever, probably one of their early outposts, and 
may have been built before 1750. They had an- 
other on the shore of the bay, on or near the site 
of Sandusky City. Both this and the one at the 



mouth of the Huron River were abandoned before 
the war of the Ilevolution. On Lewis Evan's map 
of the British Middle Colonies, published in 1755, 
a French fort, called " Fort Junandat, built in 
1754," is marked on the east bank of the San- 
dusky River, several miles below its mouth. Fort 
Sandusky, on the western bank, is also noted. 
Several Wyandot towns are likewise marked. But 
very little is known concerning any of these 
trading-posts. They were, evidently, only tempo- 
rary, and were abandoned when the English came 
into possession of the country. 

The mouth of the Cuyahoga River was another 
important place. On Evan's map there is marked 
on the west bank of the Cuyahoga, some distance 
from its mouth, the words '■'French Hoiise,^' doubt- 
less, the station of a French trader. The ruins 
of a house, found about five miles from the mouth 
of the river, on the west bank, are supposed to 
be those of the trader's station. 

In 1780, the Moravian missionary, Zeisberger, 
with his Indian converts, left Detroit in a vessel 
called the Mackinaw, and sailed to the mouth of 
the Cuyahoga. From there they went up the 
river about ten miles, and settled in an abandoned 
Ottawa village, where Independence now is, which 
place they called " Sainfs Rest." Their stay was 
liricf, for the following April, they left for the 
Huron River, and settled near the site of Milan, 
Erie County, at a locality they called New Salem. 

There are but few records of settlements made 
by the French until after 1750. Even these can 
hardly be called settlements, as they were simply 
trading-posts. The French easily affiliated with 
the Indians, and had little energy beyond trading. 
They never cultivated fields, laid low forests, and 
subjugated the country. They wei'e a half-Indian 
race, so to speak, and hence did little if anything 
in developing the West. 

About 1749, some English traders came to a 
place in what is now Shelby County, on the 
banks of a creek since known as Loramie's 
Creek, and established a trading-station with the 
Indians. This was the first English trading-place 
or attempt at settlement in the State. It was here 
but a short time, however, when the French, hear- 
ing of its existence, sent a party of soldiers to the 
Twigtwees, among whom it was founded, and de- 
manded the traders as intruders upon French ter- 
ritory. The Twigtwees refusing to deliver up 
their friends, the French, assisted by a large party 
of Ottawas and Chippewas, attacked the trading- 
house, probably a block-house, and, after a severe 



34 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



battle, captured it. Tlio traders were taken to 
Canada. Tliis i'ort was called by the Knglish 
'• IMtkawillany," from whkh ''l*i((ua'' is probaMy 
diTived. About tlu' time that Keiitueky was S( t- 
tled, a Canadian Frenchman, named Lorauiie, 
established a store on the site of the old fort. He 
was a bitter enemy of the Americans, and for a 
loiii:; time Loramie's store was the headquarters of 
mischief toward the settlers. 

The French had the faculty of endearint; them- 
selves to the Indians by their easy assimilation of 
their habits; and, no doubt, Loramie was ecpial to 
any in this respect, and hence piiued great influ- 
ence over them. Col. Johnston, many years an 
Indian Aii'ent from the United States amon<f the 
Western tribes, stated that he ha<l otVen seen the 
"Indians burst into tears when speaking' t>f the 
times when their French father had dominion 
over them; and their attachment always remained 
unabated. ' 

So miu-h influence had Loramie with the In- 
dians, that, when Cren. Clarke, from Kentucky, 
invaded the Miami A^alley in 1782, his attention 
was attracted to the spot. He came on and burnt 
the Indian settlement here, and destroyed the store 
of the Frenchman, selling his goods among the 
men at auction. Loramie fled to the Shawanees, 
and, with a colony of that nation, emigrated west 
of the Mississip])i, to the Spanish possessions, 
where he again began his life of a trader. 

In 1704, during the Indian war, a fort was 
built on the site of the store by Wayne, and 
named Fort Loramie. The last officer who had 
command here was Capt. Butler, a nejdiew of 
Col. liichard Butler, who fell at St. Clairs defeat. 
While here with his family, he lost an interesting; 
boy, aliout eight years of age. About his grave, 
the sorrowing father aiid mother built a sidjstantial 
jticket-fence, planted honeysuckles over it, which, 
long after, remained to mark the grave of the 
Soldier's boy. 

The site of Fort Loramie was always an im- 
portant point, and was one of the places defined 
on the boundary line at the Greenville treaty. 
Now a barn covers the spot. J 

At the junction of the Auglaize and Maumee 
Rivers, on the site of Fort Defiance, built by (Jen. 
Wayne in 17i>4, was a settlement of tradi'rs, 
established some time before the Indian war 
bi-gan. ''On the high ground extending irom the I 
3Liumee a quarter of a mile up the Auglaize, I 
about two hun<lrcd yards in width, was an open j 
si)ace, on tho west and south of which were oak | 



woods, with hazel undergrowth. Within this 
opening, a few hundred yards above the ])oint, on 
the steep bank of the Auglaize, were five or six 
cabins and log houses, iidiabited princi})ally by 
Indian traders. The most northerly, a large 
hewed-log house, divided below into three apart- 
ments, was occupied as a warehouse, store and 
dwelling, by (rcorge Ironside, the most wealthy 
and influential of the traders on the point. Next 
to his were the houses of Pirault (Pero) a French 
baker, and IMcKenzie, a Scot, who, in addition to 
nunvhandising, followed the occupation of a silver- 
smith, exchanging with the Indians his brooches, 
ear-drops and other silver ornaments, at an 
enormous ]irofit, for skins and furs. 

Still further up were several other fami- 
lies of French and Knglish; and two Ameri- 
can prisoners, Henry Ball, a soldier taken in St. 
Clairs defeat, and his wife, Polly Meadows, 
captured at the same time, were allowed to live 
here and pay their masters the price of their 
i-ansom — he, by boating to the rapids of the Mau- 
mee, and she by washing and sewing. Fronting 
the hou.se of Ironside, and about fifty yards from 
the bank, was a small stockade, inclosing two 
hewed-log houses, one of which was occupied by 
James Uirty (a brother of Simon), the other, 
occasionally, by Elliott and McKee, British 
Indian Agents living at Detroit."* 

The post, cabins and all they contained fell 
under the C(mtrol of the Americans, when the 
Briti.sh evacuated the shores of the lakes. 
While they existed, they were an undoubted 
source of Indian discontent, and had much to do 
in prolonging the Indian war. The country 
hereabouts did not. settle until some time after 
the creation of the State government. 

As soon as the French learned the true source 
of the Ohio and Wabash Rivers, both were made 
a highway to convey the products of their hunt- 
ers. In coursing down the Ohio, they made 
trading-places, or dej)Ot.s, where they ccudd obtain 
furs of the Indians, at accessible points, generally 
at the mouths of the rivers emptying into the 
Ohio. One of these old forts or trading-])laces 
stood about a mile and a half south of the outlet 
of the Scioto. It was here in 174(1; but when 
it was erected no one could tell. The locality 
must have been pretty well known to the whites, 
however; for, in 1785, three years before the 
settlement of JMarietta was made, four families 



♦Narrative of 0. M. Spencer. 



:%r 



-^ 



HISTORY OF OjIO. 



35 



made an ineffectual attempt to settle near the same 
place. They were from Kentucky, but were 
driven away by the Indians a short time after 
they arrived, not being allowed to build cabins, 
and had only made preparations to plant corn 
and other necessaries of life. While the men 
were encamped near the vicinity of Piketown, 
in Pike County, when on a hunting expedition, 
they were sui'prised by the Indians, and two of 
them slain. The others hastened back to the 
encampment at the mouth of the Scioto, and 
hurriedly gathering the families together, fortu- 
nately got them on a flat-boat, at that hour on its 
way down the river. By the aid of the boat, 
they were enabled to reach Maysville, and gave 
up the attemjDt to settle north of the Ohio. 

The famous "old Scioto Salt Works," in Jack- 
son County, on the banks of Salt Creek, a tributary 
of the Scioto, were long known to the whites before 
any attempt was made to settle in Ohio. They 
were indicated on the maps published in 1755, 
They were the resort, for generations, of the In- 
dians in all parts of the West, who annually came 
here to make salt. They often brought white 
prisoners with them, and thus the salt works be- 
came known. There were no attempts made to 
settle here, however, until after the Indian war, 
which closed in 1795. As soon as peace was as- 
sured, the whites came here for salt, and soon after 
made a settlement. Another early salt spring 
was in what is now Trumbull County. It is also 
noted on Evan's map of 1755. They were occu- 
pied by the Indians, French, and by the Americans 
as early as 178(1, and perhaps earlier. 

As early as 17(51 Moravian missionaries came 
among the Ohio Indians and began their labors. 
In a few years, under the lead of Eevs. Fredrick 
Post and John Heckewelder, permanent stations 
were established in several parts of the State, chief- 
ly on the Tuscarawas Kiver in Tuscarawas County. 
Here were the three Indian villages — Shoenburn, 
Guadenhutten and Salem. The site of the first is 
about two miles south of New Philadelphia ; Gna- 
denhutten was seven miles further south, and about 
five miles still on was Salem, a short distance from 
the present village of Port Washington. The first 
and last named of these villages were on the west 
side of the Tuscarawas River, near the margin of 
the Ohio Canal. Gnadenhutten was on the east 
side of the river. It was here that the brutal 
massacre of these Christian Indians, by the rangers 
under Col. Williamson, occurred March 8, 1782. 
The account of the massacre and of these tribes 



appears in these pages, and it only remains to 
notice what became of them. 

The hospitable and friendly character of these 
Indians had extended beyond their white breth- 
ren on the Ohio. The American people at large 
looked on the act of Williamson and his men as an 
outrage on humanity. Congress felt its influence, 
and gave them a tract of twelve thousand acres, 
embracing their former homes, and induced them 
to return from the northern towns whither they had 
fled. As the whites came into the country, their 
manners degenerated until it became necessary to 
remove them. Through Gen. Cass, of Michigan, 
an agreement was made with them, whereby Con- 
gress paid them over S6,000, an annuity of $400, 
and 24,000 acres in some territory to be designated 
by the United States. This treaty, by some means, 
was never effectually carried out. and the princi- 
pal part of them took up their residence near a 
Moravian missionary station on the River Thames, 
in Canada. Their old churchyard still exists on 
the Tuscarawas River, and here rest the bones of 
several of their devoted teachers. It is proper 
to remark here, that Mary Heckewelder. daughter 
of the missionary, is generally believed to have 
been the first white child born in Ohio. How- 
ever, this is largely conjecture. Captive women 
among the Indians, before the birth of Mary 
Heckewelder, are known to have borne children, 
which afterward, with their mothers, were restored 
to their friends. The assertion that Mary 
Heckewelder was the fir.st child born in Ohio, is 
therefore incorrect. She is the first of whom any 
definite record is made. 

The>;e outposts and the Gallipolis settlement are 
about all that are known to have existed prior to the 
settlement at Marietta. About one-half mile below 
Bolivar, on the western line of Tuscarawas County, 
are the remains of Fort Laurens, erected in 1778 
by a detachment of 1,000 men under Gen. Mc- 
intosh, from Fort Pitt. It was, however, occu- 
pied but a short time, vacated in August, 1770. as 
it was deemed untenable at such a distance from 
the frontier. 

During the existence of the six years' Indian 
war, a settlement of French emigrants was made 
on the Ohio River, that deserves notice. It illus- 
trates very clearly the extreme ignorance and 
credulity prevalent at that day. In May or June 
of 1788, Joel Barlow left this country for Europe, 
" authorized to dispose of a very large body of 
land in the West. " In 1790, he distributed pro- 
posals in Paris for the disposal of lands at five 



-^v 



36 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



.sliillin-^s per aero, wliich, says Volncy, " promised 
a climate lu-altliy and delijihtful ; scarcely such a 
tliiiii:; as a fnist in the winter ; a river, called by 
way (if eminence ' The Beautiful, ' aboundintr in 
tish of an emirmous size ; ma<;niticent furests (if a 
tree iiom which suijar flows, and a shrub which 
yields candles ; venison in abundance ; no military 
enrollments, and no (juarters to lind for soldiers." 
l*urcha.'<crs became numerous, individuals and 
whole families sold their property, and in the 
coui-se of 17'Jl many embarked at the various 
French sea-ports, each with his title in his pocket. 
Five hundred settlers, amon.i;- whom were many 
wood carvers and liuilders to His Majesty, King of 
France, coachmakers, friseurs and peruke uuikers, 
and other artisans and artistes, e(|ually well fitted 
for a frontier life, arrived in the United States in 
17!n-02, ami acting without concert, traveling 
without knowledge of the language, customs and 
roads, at last managed to reach the spot designated 
for their residence. There they learned they had 
been cruelly deceived, and that the titles they held 
were worthless. Without food, shelterless, and 
danger closing around them, they were in a position 
that none but a Frenchnum could be in without 
despair. Who brought them thither, and who was 
to blame, is yet a disputed point. Some affirm 
that those to whom large grants of land were nuide 
when the Ohio Company procured its charter, were 
the real instigators of the movement. They failed 
to 'pay for their lands, and hence the title reverted 
to the (rovernment. This, coming to thi> ears of 
the poor Frenchmen, rendered their situation more 
distressing. They never paid for their lands, and 
only through the clemency of Congress, who after- 
ward gave them a grant of land, and confirmed 
them in its title, were they enabled to secure a foot- 
hold. Whatever doubt there may be as to the 



causes of these people being so grossly deceived, 
tliere can be none regarding their sufferings. They 
had followed a jack-o-lantern into the howling 
wilderness, and must work or starve. The land 
upon which tliey had been located was covered 
with immense forest trees, to level which the coacli- 
makers were at a loss. At last, hojiing to con(juer 
by a coup demaiu, they tied ropes to the branches, 
and while a dozen pulled at them as many fi'll at 
the trunk with all sorts of edged tools, and thus 
soon brought the monster to the earth. Yet he 
was a burden. He was down, to be sure, but as 
much in the way as ever. Several loji})ed off" tlie 
branches, others dug an immense trench at his side, 
into which, with might and main, all rolled the 
large log, and then buried liim from sight. They 
erected their cabins in a cluster, as they had seen 
them in their own native land, thus affording some 
protection from marauding bands of Indians. 
Though isolated here in the lonely wilderness, and 
nearly out of funds with which to purchase pro- 
visions from descending boats, yet once a week 
they met and drowntsd care in a merry dance, 
gr(!atly to the w'ondermcnt of the scout or lone 
Indian who chanced to witness their revelry. 
Though their vivacity could work wonders, it would 
not pay for lands nor buy provisions. Some of those 
at Gallipolis (for such they called their settlement, 
from Gallia, in France) went to Detroit, some to 
Kaskaskia, and s(mie bought land of the Ohio 
Company, who treated them liberally. Congress, 
too, in 1795, being informed of their sufferings, 
and how they had been deceived, granted them 
24,0(10 acres ()p])osite Little Sandy lliver, to which 
grant, in 179S, 12,000 acres mor(> were added. 
The tract has since been known as French (xrant. 
The settlement is a curious episode in early AVest- 
ern history, and deserves a place in its annals. 




-^ g) 



I. 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



37 



CHAPTER 111. 

ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS— TRADERS— FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR IN THE WEST — ENGLISH 

POSSESSION, 



A S has been noted, the French title rested on 
i\ the discoveries of their missionaries and 
traders, upon the occupation of the country, and 
upon the construction of the treaties of liyswick, 
Utreclit and Aix la Chapelle. The English 
claims to the same region were based on the fact 
of a prior occupation of the corresponding coast, 
on an opposite construction of the same treaties, 
and an alleged cession of the rights of the 
Indians. The rights acquired by discovery were 
conventional, and in equity were good only 
between European powers, and could not affect the 
rights of the natives, but this distinction was dis- 
regarded by all European powers. The inquiry of 
an Indian chief embodies the whole controversy: 
" Where are the Indian lands, since the French 
claim all on the north side of the Ohio and the 
Knglish all on the sovith side of it?" 

The English charters expressly granted to^all 
the original colonies the country westward to the 
South Sea, and the claims thus set up in the West, 
though held in abeyance, were never relinquished. 
The primary distinction between the two nations 
governed their actions in the New World, and led 
finally to the supremacy of the English. They 
were fixed agi'icultural communities. The French 
were mere trading-posts. Though the French 
were the prime movers in the exploration of the 
West, the English made discoveries during their 
occupation, however, mainly by their traders, who 
penetrated the Western wilderness by Avay of the 
Ohio River, entering it from the two streams which 
uniting form that river. Daniel Coxio, in 1722, 
published, in London, "A description of the 
Knglish province of Carolina, by the Spaniards 
called Florida, and by the French called La Louis- 
iane, as also the great and famous river jMescha- 
cebe, or Mississippi, the five vast navigable lakes 
of fresh water, and the parts adjacent, together 
with an account of the commodities of the growth 
and production of the said province." The title 
of this work exhibits very clearly the opinions of 
the P]nglish people respecting the West. As early 
as iTjoO, Charles I granted to Sir Robert Heath 
" All that part of America lying between thirty- 



one and thirty-six degrees north latitude, from sea 
to sea," out of which the limits of Carolina were 
afterward taken. This immense grant was con- 
veyed in 1G38, to the Earl of Arundel, and after- 
ward came into the possession of Dr. Daniel Coxie. 
In the prosecution of this claim, it appeared that 
Col. Wood, of Virginia, from 1G54 to 16(3-1, ex- 
plored several branches of the Ohio and '' Mescha- 
cebe," as they spell the Mississippi. A Mr. Need- 
ham, who was employed by Col. Wood, kept a 
journal of the exploration. There is also the ac- 
count of some one who had explored the Missis- 
sippi to the Yellow, or Missouri River, before IGTG. 
These, and others, are said to have been there 
when La Salle explored the outlet of the Great 
River, as he found tools among the natives which 
were of European manufacture. They had been 
brought here by English adventurers. Also, when 
Iberville was colonizing the lower part of Louis- 
iana, these same persons visited the Chickasaws 
and stirred them up against the French. It is also 
stated that La Salle found that some one had been 
among the Natchez tribes when he returned from 
the discovery of the outlet of the Mississippi, and 
excited them against him. There is, however, no 
good authority for these statements, and they are 
doubtless incorrect. There is also an account that 
in 1678, several persons went from New England 
as far south as New Mexico, " one hundred and 
fifty leagues beyond the Meschacebe," the narrative 
reads, and on their return wrote an account of the 
expedition. This, also, cannot be traced to good 
authority. The only accurate account of the 
Phiglish reaching the West was when Bienville 
met the British vessel at the "I]nglish Turn," 
about 1700. A few of their traders may have 
been in the valley west of the Alleghany Mount- 
ains before 1700, though no reliable accounts are 
now found to confirm these suppositions. Still, 
from the earliest occupation of the Atlantic Coast 
by the English, they claimed the country, and, 
though the policy of its occupation rested for a 
time, it was never fully abandoned. Its revival 
dates from 1710 properly, though no immediate 
endeavor was made for many years after. That 



:v 



^ 



as 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



year, Alexander Spottswood was made Governor of 
\''iri;inia. No sooner did he assume the functions 
(if ruler, than, exstinii his eye over his dominion, he 
saw the jjreat West beyond the Alleghany Mount- 
ains unoeeui)ied by the Knglish. and rapidly tilling 
with the French, who he observed were irradually 
c-oufining the Knglish to the Atlantic Coast. His 
l)roplu'tic eye saw at a jrlancc the aninuis of the 
whole scheme, and he determined to act promptly 
on the defensive. Through his reinvsentarion, the 
\'ir-iinia Assembly was induced to make an appro- 
priation to defray the expense of an exploration of 
the mountains, and see if a suitable pass could not 
then be found where they could be crossed. The 
Governor led the expedition in person. The pass 
was discovered, a route marked out for future em- 
igrants, and the party returned to Williamsburg, 
there the Governor established the order of the 
•• Knights of the Golden Horseshoe," presented 
his report to the Colonial Assembly and one to his 
King. In each report, he exposed with great bold- 
ness the scheme of the French, and advised the 
building of a chain of forts across to the Ohio, and 
the formation of settlements to counteract them. 
The British Government, engrossed with other 
matters, neglected his advice. Forty years after, 
liny remembered it, only to I'egret that it was so 
t houghtlessly disregarded. 

Individuals, hf)wever, profited by his advice. By 
\~'MK traders began in earnest to cross the mount- 
ains and gather from the Indians the stores beyond. 
They now began to adopt a system, and abandoned 
the heretofore renegade habits of those who had 
superseded them, many of whom never returned to 
the Atlantic Coast. In 1742, John Howard de- 
.><ei'Mded the Ohio in a skin canoe, and, on the 
.^Iississip|li was taken prisoner by theFrench. His 
eaptivity ditl not in the least deter others from 
coming. Indeed, the date of his voyage was the 
(•iiinniencemeiit of a vigorous trade with the In- 
dians by the English, who cro.ssed the Alleghanies 
by the route discovei'ed by Gov. Spottswood. In 
1 74S, Conrad Wciser, a German of Herenberg, who 
had ac([uired in early life a knowledge of the Mo- 
hawk tongue by a residence among them, was sent 
on an embassy to the Shawanees on the Ohio. He 
went as far as Logstown.a Shawanee village on the 
north bank of the Ohio. abo\it seventeen niiles be- 
low the site of I'ittslmrgh. Here he met the chiefs 
in coun.-^el. and secured their promise of aid against 
the French. 

The principal ground of the claims of the 
Engli.sh in the Northwest was the treaty with the 



Five Nations — the TriK|Uois. This powerful eonfed- 
eration claimed the jurisdiction over an immense 
extent of country. Their jtolicy diftered considera- 
bly from other Indian tribes. They were the only 
confederation which attempted any ibrm of gov- 
ernment in America. They were often tenned the 
'• Six Nations." as the entrance of another tribe 
into the confederacy made that rmmber. They 
were the con(iuerors of nearly all tribes from Lower 
Canada, to and beyond the Mississippi. They only 
exacted, however, a tribute from the conquered 
tribes, leaving them to manage their own internal 
affairs, and stipulating that to them alone did the 
right of cession belong. Their country, under 
these claims, embraced all of America north of the 
Cherokee Nation, in Virginia; all Kentucky, and 
all the Northwest, save a district in Ohio and Indi- 
ana, and a small section in Southwestern Illinois, 
claimed by the Miami Confederacy. The Iroquois, 
or Six Nations, were the terror of all other tribes. 
It was they who devastated the Illinois country 
about Rock Fort in 1680, and caused wide-spread 
alarm among all the Western Indians. In 1(>S4, 
Lord Howard, Governor of Virginia, held a treaty 
with the Iroquois at Albany, when, at the request 
of Col. Duncan, of New York, they placed them- 
selves under the protection of the English. They 
ma(Jfe a deed of sale then, by treaty, to the British 
Government, of a vast tract of country south and 
east of the Illinois River, and extending into Can- 
ada. In 1721), another deed was drawn up and 
signed by the chiefs of the national confederacy by 
which their lands were conveyed in trust to 
England, " to be protected and defended by His 
^hijcsty. to and for the use of the grantors and 
their heirs."* 

If the Six Nations had a good claim to the West- 
ern country, there is but little doubt but England 
was justified in defending their country again.st the 
French, as, by the treaty of LTtrecht, they had 
agreed not to invade the lands of Britains Indian 
allies. This claim was vigorously contested by 
France, as that country claimed the Iroquois had 
no lawful jurisdiction over the West. In all the 
di.sputes, the interests of the contending nations 
was, however, the paramount consideration. The 
rights of the Indians W(>re little regarded. 

The British also purchasi'd land by tlie treaty 
of Lancaster, in 1744, wherein they agreed to pay 
the Six Nations for land .settled unlawfully in 
Pennsylvania, Virginia and jNIaryland. The In- 



* Annals of the West. 



£ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



39 



dians were given goods and gx)ld amounting to 
near a thousand pounds sterling. They were also 
promised the protection of the English. Had this 
latter provision been faithfully carried out, much 
blood would have been saved in after years. The 
treaties with the Six Nations were the real basis 
of the claims of Great Britain to ihe West ; claims 
that were only settled by war. The Shawanee In- 
dians, on the Ohio, were also becoming hostile to 
the English, and began to assume a threatening- 
exterior. Peter Chartiez, a half-breed, residing in 
Philadelphia, escaped from the authorities, those 
by whom he was held for a violation of the laws, 
and joining the Shawanees, persuaded them to join 
the French. Soon after, in 17-43 or 1744, he 
placed himself at the head of 400 of their war- 
riors, and lay in wait on the Alleghany River for 
the provincial traders. He captured two, exhib- 
ited to them a captains commission fi"om the 
French, and seized their goods, worth £1,600. 
The Indians, after this, emboldened by the aid 
given them by the French, became more and more 
hostile, and Weiser was again sent across the mount- 
ains in 1748, with presents to conciliate them and 
sound them on their feelings for the rival nations, 
and also to see what they thought of a settlement 
of the English to be made in the West. The visit 
of Conrad Weiser was successful, and Thomas Lee, 
with twelve other Virginians, among whom were 
Lawrence and Augustine Washington, brothers of 
George Washington, formed a company which 
they styled the Ohio Company, and, in 1748, peti- 
tioned the King for a grant beyond the mountains. 
The monarch approved the petition and the gov- 
ernment of A'^irginia was ordered to grant the Com- 
pany 500,000 acres within the bounds of that 
colony beyond the Alleghanies, 200,000 of which 
wei'c to be located at once. This provision was to 
hold good for ten years, free of quit rent, provided 
the Company would settle 100 families within 
seven years, and build a fort sufficient for their 
protection. These terms the Company accepted, 
and sent at once to London for a cargo suitable for 
the Indian trade. This was the beginning of 
Fnglish Companies in the West ; this one forming 
a jirominent part in the history of Ohio, as will 
be seen hereafter. Others were also formed in 
Virginia, whose object was the colonization of the 
West. One of these, the Loyal Company, received, 
on the 12th of June, 1749, a grant of 800,000 
acres, from the line of Canada on the north and 
west, and on the 29th of October, 1751, the Green- 
briar Company received a grant of 100,000 acres. 



To these encroachments, the French were by no 
means blind. They saw plainly enough that if 
the English gained a foothold in the West, they 
would inevitably endeavor to obtain the country, 
and one day the issue could only be decided by 
war. A'^audreuil, the French Governor, had long 
anxiously watched the coming struggle. In 1774, 
he wrote home representing the conse(|uences that 
would surely come, should the English succeed in 
their plans. The towns of the French in Illinois 
were producing large amounts of bread-stuffs and 
provisions which they sent to New Orleans. These 
provinces were becoming valuable, and must not be 
allowed to come under control of a rival power. 
In 1749, Louis Celeron was sent by the Governor 
with a party of soldiers to plant leaden plates, suit- 
ably inscribed, along the Ohio at the mouths of 
the principal streams. Two of these plates were 
afterward exhumed. One was sent to the iMary- 
land Historical Society, and the inscription'*' deci- 
phered by De Witt Clinton. On these plates was 
clearly stated the claims of France, as will be seen 
from the translation below. 

F]ngland"s claim, briefly and clearly stated, read 
as follows: "That all lands, or countries west- 
ward from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea, 
between 48 and 34 degrees of North Latitude, 
were expressly included in the grant of King 
James the First, to divers of his subjects, so long- 
time since as the year 1606, and afterwards con- 
firmed in the year 1620 ; and under this grant, 
the colony of Virginia claims extent so far west 
as the South Sea, and the ancient colonies of Mass- 
achusetts Bay and Connecticut, were by their 
respective charters, made to extend to the said 
South Sea, so that not only the right to the sea 
coast, but to all the Inland countries from sea to 
sea, has at all times been asserted by the Crown of 
England."! 

To make good their titles, both nations were now 
doing their utmost. Professedly at peace, it only 
needed a torch applied, as it were, to any point, to 
instantly precipitate hostilities. The French were 

* The following is the traiislation of the insicriplion of the plate 
found at Venango : " In the year 1749, reign of Louis XV, King of 
France, we, Celeron, commandant of a detiichmeiit by Monsieur 
the Marquis of Gallisoniere, Commander-in-chief (jf New France, 
to establish tranquillity in certain Indian villages in these Cantons, 
have buried this plate at the confluence of the Toraclakoin, this 
twenty-ninth of July, near the River Ohio, otherwise Beautiful 
River, as a monument of renewal of possession which we have taken 
of the said river, and all its tributaries; and of all the land on both 
sides, as far as the sources of said rivers ; inasmuch as the preceding 
Kings of France have enjoyed it, and maintained it by th'ir arms 
and by treaties; especially by those of Ryswick, Utrecht, and Aix 
La Chapelle." 

i Colonial Records of Pennsylvania. 



-^ 



40 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



busily ciigaficd oroctintj: forts from the pouthern 
shori's (if Lake Erie to the Ohio, and on down in 
tlie llHnois Valley ; up at Detroit, and at all its 
])osts, ])rej)aration.s were constantly ,<;oin,i>; on for the 
t-risis, now sure to come. The issue between the 
two jroverinnents was now fully made up. It ad- 
mitted of no compromise but the sword. To that, 
however, neither power desired an immediate ap- 
peal, ami both sought rather to establish and fortity 
their interi'sts, and to conciliate the Indian tribes. 
The Kndish, throuirh the Ohio Company, sent out 
Christopher CJist in the fall of IT.")!*, to exjtlore the 
regions west of the mountains. He was instructed 
to examine the passes, trace the courses of the 
rivers, mark the falls, seek for valuable lands, ob- 
serve the streuL^th, aiid to conciliate the friendship 
of the Indian tribes. lie was w'ell fitted for such 
an I'uterprise. Hardy, sagacious, bold, an adejit in 
Indian character, a hunter by occupation, no man 
was better qualifie'd than he for such an undertak- 
ini^. He visited Loustown, where he was jealou.sly 
received, pa.ssed over to the ^luskingum River and 
\'alley in Ohio, where he found a villajxe of Wyan- 
dots, divided in sentiment. At this villai^e he met 
Croi:an, another e([ually famous frontiersman, who 
had been sent out by Pennsylvania. Together 
they held a council with the chiefs, and received 
a.ssurancc of the friendship of the tribe. This 
done, they pa.ssed to the Shawnee towns on the 
Sciot(», received their assurances of friendship, and 
went on to the Miami Valley, which they cro.ssed, 
remarking in Crogan's journal of its great fertili- 
ty. They math; a raft of logs on which they 
cros.sed the Great ^liami, visited I'iqua, the chief 
town of the I'ickawillanies, and here made treaties 
with the Weas and Piankeshaws. While here, a 
dej)utation of the Ottawas visited the Miami Con- 
federacy to induce them to unite witli the French. 
They were repulsed througli the influence of the 
English agents, the Miamis sending (Jist word that 
they would '• stand like the mountains. " Crogan 
now returned and published an account of their 
wanderings. Gist followed the 3Iiami to its 
mouth, pa.ssed down the Ohio till within fifteen 
miles of the fdls, then returned by way of the 
Kentucky River, over the highlands of Kentucky 
to \'irginia, arriving in May, 17")!. lie had 
visited the Mingoes, Delawares, Wyandots, Shawa- 
nees and Miamis, proposed a union among these 
tribes, and aj)])ointed a grand council to meet at 
Ijogstown t(t form an alliance among themselves 
and with Virginia. Ills journey was marvelous 
ibr the day. It was extremely hazardous, as he 



was part of the time among liostile tribes, who 
could have ca})tured him and been well rewarded 
by the French Governinent. But Gist knew how 
to act, and was successful. 

Whih; Gist was doing this, some English traders 
established themselves at a place in what is now 
known as Shelby County, Ohio, and opened a 
store for the purpose of trading with the Indians. 
This was clearly in the limits of the AVest, claimed 
by the French, and at once aroused them to action. 
The fort or stockade stood on the banks of Loramie's 
Creek, about sixteen miles northwest of the present 
city of Sydney. It received the name Loramie 
from the creek by the French, which received 
its name in turn from the French trader of 
that name, who had a trading-post on this 
creek. .Loramie had fled to the Spanish country 
west of the Mississippi, and for many years 
was a trader there ; his store being at the junc- 
tion of the Kansas and Mi.ssouri, near the present 
city of Kansas City, Mo. When the English 
traders came to Loramie's Creek, and erected 
their trading-place, they gave it the name of Pick- 
awillany, from the tribe of Indians there. The 
Miami confederacy granted them this privilege 
as the result of the presents broughtby Crogan and 
Gist. It is also asserted that Andrew Montour, 
a half-breed, son of a Seneca chief and the famous 
Catharine Montour, who was an important flic- 
tor aflerward in the English treaties with the 
Indians, was with them, and by his influence did 
much to aid in securing the privilege. Thus was 
established the first P^nglish trading-post in the 
Northwest Territory and in Ohio. It, however, 
enjoyed only a short duration. The French could 
not endure so clear an invasion of their country, 
and gathering a force of Ottawas and Chippewas, 
now their allies, they attacked the stockade in 
June, 1752. At first they demanded of the Miamis 
the surrender of the fort, as they were the real 
cause of its location, having granted the English 
the privilege. The Miamis not only refused, but 
aided the British in the defense. In the battle that 
ensued, fourteen of the IMiamis were slain, and all 
the traders captured. One account says they were 
burned, another, and probably the correct one, 
states that they wero taken to Canada as prisoners 
of war. It is probable the traders were fi-om l*enn- 
sylvania, as that commonwealth made the Miamis 
presents as condolence for their warriors that were 
slain. 

Blood had now been shed. The opening gun of 
the French and Indian war had been fired, and both 



"'S e) 



\ 



HISTOEY OF OHIO. 



41 



nations became more deeply interested in affairs in 
the West. The Ijnglish were determined to secure 
additional title to the West, and, in 1752, sent 
Me.s.srs. Fry, Lomax and Patton as commissioners 
to Logstown to treat with the Indians, and confirm 
the Lancaster treaty. They met the Indians on 
the Dth of June, stated their desires, and on the 
11th received their answer. At first, the sav- 
ages were not inclined to recognize the Lancaster 
treaty, but agreed to aid the English, as the French 
had already made war on the Twigtees (at Picka- 
willany), and consented to the establishment of a 
fort and trading-post at the forks of the Ohio. 
This was not all the Virginians wanted, however, 
and taking aside Andrew Montour, now chief of the 
Six Nations, persuaded him to use his influence 
with the red men. By such means, they were in- 
duced to treat, and on the 13th they all united in 
signing a deed, confirming the Lancaster treaty in 
its full extent, consenting to a settlement southwest 
of the Ohio, and covenanting that it should not be 
disturbed by them. By such means was obtained 
the treaty with the Indians in the Ohio Valley. 

All this time, the home governments were en- 
deavoring to out-maneuver each other with regard 
to the lands in the West, though there the outlook 
only betokened war. The French understood bet- 
ter than the English how to manage the Indians, 
and succeeded in attaching them firmly to their 
cause. The English were not honest in their 
actions with them, and hence, in after years, the 
massacres that followed. 

At the close of 1752, Gist was at work, in con- 
formity with the Lancaster and Logstown treaties, 
laying out a fort and town on Chartier's Creek, 
about ten miles below the fork. Eleven families 
had crossed the mountains to settle at Gist's resi- 
dence west of Laurel Hill, not far from the Yough- 
iogheny. Goods had come from England for the 
Ohio Company, which were carried as far West as 
Will's Creek, where Cumberland now stands ; and 
where they were taken by the Indians and traders. 

On the other hand, the French were gathering 
cannon and stores on Lake Erie, and, without 
treaties or deeds of land, were gaining the good 
will of the inimical tribes, and preparing, when all 
was ready, to strike the blow. Their fortifications 
consisted of a chain of forts from Lake Erie to 
till! Ohio, on the border. One was at Presque Isle, 
on the site of Erie ; one on French Creek, on the 
site of Waterford, Penn.; one at the mouth of 
French Creek, in Venango County, Penn.; while 
opposite it was another, effectually commanding 



that section of country. These forts, it will be 
observed, were all in the limits of the Pennsyl- 
vania colony. The Governor informed the Assem- 
bly of their existence, who voted £600 to be used 
in purchasing presents for the Indians near the 
forts, and thereby hold their friendship. A^irginia, 
also, took similar measures. Trent was sent, with 
guns and ammunition and presents, to the friendly 
tribes, and, while on his mission, learned of the 
plates of lead planted by the French. In October, 
1753, a treaty was consummated with representa- 
tives of the Iroquois, Delawares, Shawanees, Twig- 
twees and Wyandots, by commissioners from 
Pennsylvania, one of whom was the philosopher 
Franklin. At the conferences held at this time, 
the Indians complained of the actions of the 
French in forcibly taking possession of the dis- 
puted country, and also bitterly denounced them 
for using rum to intoxicate the red men, when 
they desired to gain any advantage. Not long- 
after, they had similar grounds of complaint against 
the English, whose lawless traders cared for nothing 
but to gain the furs of the savage at as little ex- 
pense as possible. 

The encroachments of the French on what was 
regarded as English territory, created intense feel- 
ing in the colonies, especially in Virginia. The 
purpose of the French to inclose the English on 
the Atlantic Coast, and thus prevent their extension 
over the mountains, became more and more ap- 
parent, and it was thought that this was the open- 
ing of a scheme already planned by the French 
Court to reduce all North America under the do- 
minion of France. Gov. Dinwiddle determined 
to send an ambassador to the French posts, to as- 
certain their real intentions and to observe the 
amount and disposition of their forces. He selected 
a young Virginian, then in his twenty-first year, 
a surveyor by trade and one well qualified for the 
duty. That young man afterward led the Ameri- 
can Colonies in their struggle for liberty. George 
Washington and one companion, Mr Gist, suc- 
cessfully made the tiip, in the solitude of a severe 
winter, received assurance from tiie French com- 
mandant that they would by no means abandon 
their outposts, and would not yield unless com- 
pelled by force of arms. The commandant was 
exceedingly polite, but firm, and assured the young- 
American that "we claim the country on the Ohio 
by virtue of the discovery of La Salle (in 1699) 
and will not give it up to the English. Our orders 
are to make prisoners of every Englishman found 
trading in the Ohio Valley." 



-^ 



42 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Durini; Washington's absence steps were taken 
t(i lortity the point formed by the jinu-tion of tlie 
Mononyahehi and AUenhany ; and when, on his 
retnrn, he met seventeen horses htaded with mate- 
rials and stores for a iort at the forks of the Ohio, 
and, soon after, some faniihes going out to settle, 
he knew the defense had begun. As soon as 
Washington made his rei)ort, (,iov. Dinwiddie 
wrote to the lioard of Trade, stating that the 
French were building a fort at Venango, and that, 
in MarcJi, twelve or fifteen hundred men would 
be ready to descend the river with their Indian 
allies, for which jjurpose three hundred canoes had 
been collected ; and that Logstown was to be made 
hcadijuarters, while forts were to be built in other 
places. He sent e.Kjiresses to the (iovernors of 
IVnnsylvania and New York, ap])nsing them of the 
nature of affairs, and calling upon them for assist- 
ance. He al.so raised two companies, one of which 
wa.s raised by Washington, tlie other by Trent. 
The one under Trent was to be raised on the 
trontiers, and was, as soon as possible, to repair to 
the Fork and erect there a fort, begun by the Ohio 
Company. Owing to various conflicting oj)inions 
between the Governor of l\'nnsylvaMia and his 
Assembly, and the conference with the 8ix Nations, 
held by New Vork, neither of those provinces put 
forth any vigorous measures until stirn^d to action 
by the invasions on the frontiers, and until directed 
by the Earl of llolderness. Secretary of State. 

The tort at Venango was finished by the French 
in April, 17.")4. All along the creek resounded 
the dang of arms and the preparations for war. 
New York and Pennsylvania, though inactive, 
and debating whether the French really had in- 
vaded Fnglish territory or not, sent aid Iq the 
Old Dominion, now all alive to the con((uest. The 
two companicsliadbccn increased to six; Washing- 
ton was raised to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, 
and made second under command of Joshua 
l*'ry. Ten caiuion, lately from F^ngland, were for- 
wardi'd from Alexandria; wagons were got ready 
to carry westward ])rovisions and stores througli 
the heavy spring roads; and everywhere men were 
enlisting under the King's promise of two liuudred 
thousand acres of land to those who would go. 
They were gathering along Will's Creek and far 
beyond, while Trent, who had come for more men 
and supplies, left a little ))and of forty-one men, 
working away in hunger and want at the Fork, to 
which both nations were looking with anxious eyes. 
Though no enemy was near, and only a few Indian 
scouts were seen, keen eyes had observed tlu; low 



fortifications at the Fork. Swift feet had borne 
the news of it up the valley, and though Ensign 
Ward, left in command, felt himself secure, on the 
17th of April he saw a sight that made liis heart 
sick. Sixty batteaux and three hundred canoes 
were coming down the Alleghany. The com- 
mandant sent him a summons, which evaded no 
words in its meaning. It was useless to contenil, 
that evening he supped with his conqueror , the 
next day he was bowed out by the polite French- 
man, and with his mc'U and tools marched up the 
jMouongahela. The first birds of spring were fill- 
ing the air with their song ; the rivers rolled by, 
swollen by April showers and melting snt)Avs; all 
nature was putting on her robes of green ; and the 
fortress, which the English had so earnestly strived 
to obtain and fortify, was now in the liands of the 
French. Fort Du Quesne arose on the incomplete 
fortifications. The seven years' war that followed 
not only affected America, but spread to all quar- 
ters of the world. The war made England a great 
imperial power ; drove the French from Asia and 
America; dis])elled the brilliant and extended 
scheme of Louis and his voluptuous empire. 

The active field of operations was in the Canadas 
principally, and along the western borders of Penn- 
sylvania. There were so few people then in the 
present confines of Ohio, that only the possession 
of the country, in common with all the West, 
could be the aninms of the conflict. It so much 
concerned this part of the New World, that a brief 
resume of the war will be necessary to ftilly under- 
stand its history. 

The fall of the post at the fork of the Ohio, Fort 
Du Quesne, gave the French control of the West. 
Washington went on with his few militia to re- 
take the post. Though he was successful at first, 
he was in the etid defeated, and surrendered, 
being allowed to return with all his munitions of 
war. The two governments, though trying to 
come to a peaceful solution of the question, were 
getting ready for the conflict. France went stead- 
ily on, though at one time England gave, in a 
measure, her consent to allow the French to retain 
all tlie country west of the Alleghanies and south 
of the lakes. Had this been done, what a difterent 
future would have been in America ! Other des- 
tinies were at work, however, and the plan fell 
stillborn. 

pjugland sent Gen. Braddock and a fine force 
of men, who marched directly toward the post on 
the Ohio. His ill-fated expedition resulted only 
in the total defeat of his army, nud his own death. 



:^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



43 



Washington saved a remnant of the army, and 
made his way back to the colonies. The En- 
ulish needed a leader. They next planned four 
campaigns; one against Fort Du Quesne; one 
against Crown Point; one against Niagara, and 
one against the French settlements in Nova Scotia. 
Nearly every one proved a failure. The English 
were defeated on sea and on land, all owing to the 
incapacity of Parliament, and the want of a suit- 
able, vigorous leader. The settlements on the front- 
iers, now exposed to a cruel foe, prepared to defend 
themselves, and already the signs of a government 
of their own, able to defend itself, began to 
appear. They received aid from the colonies. 
Though the French were not repulsed, they and 
their red allies found they could not murder with 
impunity. Self-preservation was a stronger incen- 
tive in conflict than aggrandizement, and the 
cruelty of the Indians found avengers. 

The great Pitt became Prime Minister June 29, 
1757. The leader of the English now appeared. 
The British began to regain their losses on sea and 
land, and for them a brighter day was at hand. 
The key to the West must be retaken, and to Gen. 
Forbes was assigned the duty. Preceding him, 
a trusty man was sent to the Western Indians 
at the head-waters of the Ohio, and along the Mo- 
nongahela and Alleghany, to see if some compro- 
mise with them could not be made, and their aid 
secured. The French had been busy through their 
traders inciting the Indians against the English. 
The lawless traders were another source of trouble. 
Caring nothing for either nation, they carried on a 
distressing traffic in direct violation of the laws, 
continually engendering ill-feeling among the na- 
tives. "Your traders," said one of them, "bring- 
scarce anything but rum and flour. They bring 
little powder and lead, or other valuable goods. 
The rum ruins us. We beg you would prevent 
its coming in such quantities by regulating the 
traders. * * * These wicked whisky sell- 
ers, when they have got the Indians in liquor, make 
them sell the very clothes off their backs. If this 
practice be continued, we must be inevitably ruined. 
We most earnestly, therefore, beseech you to remedy 
it. ' ' They complained of the French traders the same 
way. They were also beginning to see the animus 
of the whole conflict. Neither power cared as 
much for them as for their land, and flattered and 
bullied by turns as served their purposes best. 

The man selected to go upon this undertaking 
was Christian Frederic Post, a Moravian, who had 
lived among the Indians seventeen years, and mar- 



ried into one of their tribes. He was amissionary, 
and though obliged to cross a country whose everv 
stream had been dyed by blood, and every hillside 
rung with the death-yell, and grown red with the 
light of burning huts, he went willingly on his way. 
Of his journey, sufferings and doings, his own 
journal tells the story. He left Philadelphia on the 
15th of July, 1758, and on the 7th of August 
safely passed the French post at Venango, went on 
to Big Beaver Creek, where he held a conference 
with the chiefs of the Indians gathered there. It 
was decided that a great conference should be 
held opposite Fort Du Quesne, where there were 
Indians of eight nations. "We will bear you in 
our bosoms," said the natives, when Post expressed 
a fear that that he might be delivered over to the 
French, and royally they fulfilled their promises. 
At the conference, it was made clear to Post that 
all the Western Indians were wavering in their 
allegiance to the French, owing largely to the fail- 
ure of that nation to fulfill their promises of aid to 
prevent them from being deprived of their land by 
the Six Nations, and through that confederacy, by the 
English. The Indians complained bitterly, more- 
over, of the disposition of the whites in over-run- 
ning and claiming their lands. "Why did you not 
fight your battles at home or on the sea, instead of 
coming into our country to fight them ? " they 
asked again and again, and mournfully shook their 
heads when they thought of the future before them. 
" Your heart is good," said they to Post. " You 
speak sincerely; but we know there is always a great 
number who wish to get rich ; they have enough ; 
look ! we do not want to be rich and take away 
what others have. The white people think we 
have no brains in our heads ; that they are big, 
and we are a handful ; but remember when you 
hunt for a rattlesnake, you cannot always find it, 
and perhaps it will turn and bite you before you see 
it."* When the war of Pontiac came, and all 
the West was desolated, this saying might have 
been justly remembered. After concluding a peace. 
Post set out for Philadelphia, and after incredi- 
ble hardships, reached the settlement uninjured 
early in September. His mission had more to do 
than at first is apparent, in the success of the 
English. Had it not been for him, a second Brad- 
dock's defeat might have befallen Forbes, now on 
his way to subjugate Fort Du Quesne. 

Through the heats of August, the army hewed its 
way toward the West. Early in September it 



♦Post's Journal. 



44 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



n;ulud Raystown, wliitlicr Wasliiujxtoii liad ln'on 
onk'ivd witli his truttjjs. Sickness had j)rc'vc'iitt'd 
him from boim:; hero ahvady, Two officers wore 
sent out to rooonuoitor the tort, who returned and 
gave a very good account of its condition. Gen. 
Forbes desired to know more of it, and sent out 
3Iaj. Grant, witli 800 men, to gain more compU'to 
knowlctlge. Maj. (Irant, su)iposing not nioretlian 
liUO soldiers to he iu tlio fort, marched near it and 
maile a feint to draw them out, and engage them 
in battle. He was gr'eatly misini'onned as to thi; 
strength of the French, and in the engagement 
that followed he w'as badly beaten — 27i) of his men 
killed, 42 wounded, and several, including himself, 
takt-n prisoners. The French, elated with their 
victory, attacked the main army, but were repulsed 
and obliged to retreat to the fort. The army con- 
tiiuied on its march. On the 24th of November 
they readied Turtle Creek, Avhere a council of war 
was held, and where Gen. Forbes, who had been so 
ill as to be carried on a litter from the start, de- 
clared, with a mighty oath, he WMjuld sleep that 
night in the ibrt, or in a worse place. The Indi- 
ans had, lutwever, carried the news to the French 
that the English were as plenty as the trees of the 
woods, and in their fright they set fire to the fort in 
the night and left up and down the Ohio River. 
The next morning the Phiglish, who had heard the 
e.\plo.sion of the magaziiu", and seen the light of 
the burning walls, marclu'd in and took peaceable 
jiosscssion. A small fortification was thrown up 
on the bank, and, in honor of the great English 
statesman, it was called Fort J*itt. Col. Hugh Mer- 
cer was left in connuand, aiul the main body of the 
army marclu'd back to the settlements. It reached. 
I'hiiadelphia January 17, iToK. On the 11th of 
March, Gen.' Fnrbes died, and was buried in the 
chancel of Christ's Church, in that city. 

Post Wiis now sent on a mi.ssion to the Six Na- 
tions, with a report of the treaty of Eiiston. He 
wits again instrumental in preventing a coalition of 
the Indians and the French. Indeed, to this ob- 
scure jNIoravian missionary belongs, in a large 
measure, the honor of the capture of F(nt J)u 
Quesne, for by his influence had the Indians beer) 
restrained from attacking the army on its nuirch. 

The garris(.n, on leaving the fort, went up and 
dnwn the ( )hi(i, part to Presrpie I.sle by laml, part to 
Knrt \ euango, while some of them went on down 
the Ohio nearly to the Mississippi, and there, in 
what is now Ma.ssac County, 111., erected a fort, 
called by t^lieni Fort ]SIa.ssac. It was afterward 
named by many Fort .Miussacre, from the erroneous 



supposition that a garrison had been massaci"ed 
there. 

The French, though deprived of the key to 
the West, went on preparing stores and ammunition, 
expecting to retake tin; fort in the sj)ring. Refore 
they could do this, however, other places demanded 
their attention. 

The success of the campaign of 175S opened 
the way Ibr the consummation of the great scheme 
of Pitt — the complete reduction of Canada. Three 
expeditions were planned, by which Canada, 
already well nigh annihilated and suffering for 
food, was to be subjugated. On the west, J*rideaux 
was to attack Niagara ; in the center, Amherst was 
to advance on Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; on 
the east, Wolfe was to besiege Quebec. All these 
points gained, the three armies were to be united 
iu the center of the province. 

Amherst appeared before Ticonderoga July 22. 
The French blew up their works, and retired 
to Crown Point. Driven from there, they re- 
treated to Isle Aux Nois and entrenched them- 
selves. The lateness of the season prevented fur- 
ther action, and Andierst went into winter quar- 
ters at Crown Point. Early in June, Wolfe 
appeared before Quebec with an army of 8,000 
men. On the night of September 12, he silently 
ascended the river, climbed the heights of Abra- 
ham, a spot considered impregnable by the 
French, and on the sunnnit fornu'd his army of 
5,000 men. IMontcalm, the Frenc^h commander, 
was comp(!lled to give battle. The Rritish col- 
unms, flushed with success, charged his half-formed 
lines, and dispersed them. 

"They fly! they fly!" heard Wolfe, just as he 
expired from the effect of a mortal wound, though 
not till he had ordered their retreat cut off', and 
exclaimed, "Now, God be praised, I die hajipy." 
Montcalm, on hearing from the surgeon that death 
would come in a few hours, said, " 1 am glad of it. 
I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." At 
five tlie next morning he died hap])}'. 

Prideaux moved up Lake Ontario, and on the 
Gth of July invested Niagara. Its capture would 
cut off the French from the west, and every en- 
deavor was made to hold it. Troops, destined to 
take the small garrison at Fort Pitt, were held to 
a.ssi.st in raising the siege of Niagara. M. do 
Aubry, commandant in Illinois, came up with 400 
men and 200,0()0 jHrnnds of flour. Cut ofl' by the 
abandonment of Fort Hu Quesne from the Ohio 
route, he ascended that river as far as the Wabash, 
thence to portiige of Fort Miami, or Fort Wayne, 



:^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



47 



down the Maumee to Lake Erie, and on to Presqu- 
viUe, or Presque Isle, over the portage to Le Boeuf, 
afed thence down French Creek to Fort Venango. 
He was chosen to lead the expedition for the relief 
of Niagara. They were pursued by Sir William 
John.son, successor to Prideaux, who had lost his 
life by the bursting of a cannon, and were obliged to 
flee. The next day Niagara, cut off from succor, 
surrendered. 

All America rang with exultation. Towns were 
bright with illuminations ; the hillsides shone with 
bonfires. From press, from pulpit, from platform, 
and from speakers' desks, went up one glad song of 
rejoicing. England was victorious everywhere. 
The colonies had done their full share, and now 
learned their strength. That strength was needed 
now, for ere long a different conflict raged on the 
soil of America — a conflict ending in the birth of 
a new nation. 

The English sent Gen. Stanwix to fortify Fort 
Pitt, still looked upon as one of the principal for- 
tresses in the West. He erected a good fortifica- 
tion there, which remained under British control 
fifteen years. Now nothing of the fort is left. No 
memorial of the British possession remains in the 
West but a single redoubt, built in 1764 by Col. 
Bouquet, outside of the fort. Even this can hardly 
now be said to exist. 

The fall of Quebec did not immediately produce 
the submission of Canada. M. de Levi, on whom 
the command devolved, retired with the French 
Army to Montreal. In the spring of 17G0, he be- 
sieged Quebec, but the arrival of an English fleet 
caused him to again retreat to Montreal. 

Amherst and Johnson, meanwhile, effected a 
union of their forces, the magnitude of whose 
armies convinced the French that resistance would 
be useless, and on the 8th of September, M. de 
Vaudreuil, the Governor of Canada, surrendered 
Montreal, Quebec, Detroit, Mackinaw and all other 
posts in Canada, to the English commander-in- 
chief, Amherst, on condition that the French in- 
habitants should, during the war, be "protected 
in the full and free exercise of their religion, and 
the full enjoyment of their civil rights, leaving 
their future destinies to be decided by the treaty 
of peace." 

Though peace was concluded in the New World, 
on the continent the Powers experienced some 
difficulty in arriving at a satisfactory settlement. 
It was finally settled by what is known in hi.story 
as the "family compact." France and Spain saw 
in the conquest the growing power of England, 



and saw, also, that its continuance only extended 
that power. Negotiations were re-opened, and on 
the 3d of November, 1762, preliminaries were 
agreed to and signed, and afterward ratified in 
Paris, in February, 1763. By the terms of the 
compact, Spain ceded to Great Britian East and 
West Florida. To compensate Spain, France 
ceded to her by a secret article, all Louisiana west 
of the Mississippi. 

The French and Indian war was now over. 
Canada and all its dependencies were now in pos- 
session of the English, who held undisputed sway 
over the entire West as far as Mississippi. It only 
remained for them to take possession of the out- 
posts. Major Robert Rogers was sent to take pos- 
session of Detroit and establish a garrison there. 
He was a partisan officer on the borders of New 
Hampshire, where he earned a name for bravery, 
but aftei'ward tarnished it by treasonable acts. On 
his way to Detroit, on the 7th of November, 1760, 
he was met by the renowned chief, Pontiac, who 
authoritatively commanded him to pause and ex- 
plain his acts. Rogers replied by explaining the 
conquest of Canada, and that he was acting under 
orders from his King. Through the influence of 
Pontiac, the army was saved from the Indians 
sent out by the French, and was allowed to pro- 
ceed on its way. Pontiac had assured his protec- 
tion as long as the English treated him with due 
deference. Beletre, the commandant at Detroit, 
refused to surrender to the English commander, 
until he had received positive assurance from his 
Governor, Vaudreuil, that the country was indeed 
conquered. On the 29th of September, the colors 
of France gave way to the ensign of Great Britain 
amid the shouts of the soldiery and the astonish- 
ment of the Indians, whose savage natures could 
not understand how such a simple act declared one 
nation victors of another, and who wondered at 
the forbearance displayed. The lateness of the 
season prevented further operations, but early the 
next spring, Mackinaw. Green Bay, Ste. Marie, St. 
Joseph and the Ouitenon surrounded, and nothing 
was left but the Illinois towns. These were se- 
cured as soon as the necessary arrangements could 
be made. 

Though the English were now masters of the 
West, and had, while many of these events nar- 
rated were transpiring, extended their settlements 
beyond the Alleghanies, they were by no means 
secure in their possession. The woods and prairies 
were full of Indians, who, finding the English like 
the French, caring more for gain than the welfare 



rv 



'.^ 



48 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



of tlic natives, boyan to exhibit impatience and re- 
siMitiueiit as they saw their lands i!;radually taken 
Ihiui tlu'Ui. Tlie Kniilish poHcy (UUeivd very 
materially from the French. The Freneh made 
the Indian, in a measnre. indejK'udent and taught 
him a desire for European goods. They also 
affiliated easily witli them, and became thereby 
strongly endeared to the savage. The French 
were a merry, easy-going race, fond of gayety and 
delighting in adventure. The English were harsh, 
stern, and made no advances to gain the friend- 
shi]> of the savage. They wanted land to cultivate 
and drctve away the Indian's game, and forced him 
farther west. " Where shall we go?" said the 
Indian, de.spondently ; "you drive us farther and 
farther west; by and by you will want all the 
lantl." And the Anglo-Saxon went sturdily on, 
paying no heed to the complaints. The French 



traders incited the Indian to resent the encroach- 
ment. " The English will annihilate you and take 
all your land," said they. "Their father, the King 
of France, had been asleep, now lie had awakened 
and was coming with a great army to reclaim Can- 
ada, that had been stolen from him while he slept." 
Discontent under such circumstances was but 
natural. Soon all the tribes, from the mountains 
to the Mississippi, were united in a plot. It was 
discovered in 1701, and arrested. The next sum- 
mer, another was detected and arrested. The 
officers, and all the people, ftiiled to realize the 
danger. The rattlesnake, though not found, was 
ready to strike. It is only an Indian discontent, 
thought the people, and they went on preparing to 
occupy the country. Th(!y were mistaken — the 
crisis only needed a leader to direct it. That 
leader appeared. 



CHAPTER IV. 

PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY— ITS FAILURE— BOUQUET'S EXPEDITION— OCCUPATION BY THE 

ENGLISH. 



PONTIAC, tlie great chief of the Ottawas, was 
iKiw about fifty years old. He had watched 
the conflict between the nations with a jealous eye, 
and as he saw the gradual gi'owth of the English 
laiiple, tlieir encroachment on the lands of the In- 
dians, their greed, and their assumption of the soil, 
his soul was stirred within him to do something 
for his people. He had been a true friend of the 
French, and had led the Indians at the defeat of 
Braddock. Amid all the tumult, he alone saw the 
true state of affiiirs. The English would inevit- 
ably crush out the Indians. To save his race he 
saw another alliance with the French was neces- 
sary, and a restoration of their power and habits 
needed. It was the plan of a statesman. It only 
failed bi!cause (jf the perfidy of the French. Matur- 
ing his ])lans late in the autumn of 1762, he sent 
mes.sengers to all the Western and Southern tribes, 
with the black wamjaim and red tomahawk, em- 
blems <if war, irnm the great Pontiac. "On a cer- 
tain day in the next year," said the messenger, "all 
the tribes are to rise, seize all the English posts, 
and then attack the whole frontier." 

The great cf)uncil of all the tribes was held at 
the river Ecorces, on the 27th of April, 176:1 
There, lx)fore the assembled chiefs, Pontiac deliv- 



ered a speech, full of eloquence and art. He 
recounted the injuries and encroachments of the 
English, and disclosed tlieir designs. The French 
king was now awake and would aid them. Should 
they resign their homes and the graves of their 
fathers without an effort? Were their young men 
no longer brave? Were they squaws? The 
Great Master of Life had chided them for their 
inactivity, and had sent his commands to drive 
the "Red Dogs" from the earth. The chiefs 
eagerly accepted the wampum and the tomahawk, 
and separated to prepare for the coming strife. 

The post at Detroit was informed of the plot 
the evening before it was to occur, by an Ojibway 
girl of great beauty, the mistress of the com- 
mander, Major Gladwin. Pontiac was foiled here, 
his treachery discovered, and he was sternly ordered 
from the conference. A regular seige followed, 
but he could not prevail. He exhibited a degree 
of sagacity unknown in the annals of savage war- 
fare, but all to no purpose ; the English were too 
strong for him. 

At all the other posts, save one, however, the 
plans of Pontiac were carried out, and atrocities, 
imheard of before in American history, resulted. 
The Indians attacked Detroit on tlu; first of IMay, 



:^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



49 



and, foiled in their plans, a siege immediately fol- 
lowed. On the 16th, a party of Indians appeared 
before the fort at Sandusky. Seven of them were 
admitted. Suddenly, while smoking, the massacre 
begins. All but Ensign Paulli, the commander, 
fall. He is carried as a trophy to Pontiac. 

At the mouth of the St. Joseph's, the mission- 
aries had maintained a mission station over sixty 
years. They gave way to an English garrison of 
fourteen soldiers and a few traders. On the 
morning of May 25, a deputation of Pottawato- 
mies are allowed to enter. In less than two min- 
utes, all the garrison but the commander are slain. 
He is sent to Pontiac. 

Near the present city of Fort Wayne, Ind., 
at the junction of the waters, stood Fort Miami, 
garrisoned by a few men. Holmes, the com- 
mander, is asked to visit a sick woman. He is 
slain on the way, the sergeant following is made 
prisoner, and the nine soldiers surrender. 

On the night of the last day of May, the wam- 
pum reaches the Indian village below La Fayette, 
Ind., and near Fort Ouitenon. The commander 
of the fort is lured into a cabin, bound, and his 
garrison surrender. Through the clemency of 
French settlers, they are received into their houses 
and protected. 

At Michilimackinac, a game of ball is projected. 
Suddenly the ball is thrown through the gate of the 
stockade. The Indians press in, and, at a signal, 
almost all are slain or made prisoners. 

The fort at Presque Isle, now Erie, was the 
point of communication between Pittsburgh and 
Niagara and Detroit. It was one of the most 
tenable, and had a garrison of four and twenty 
men. On the 22d of June, the commander, to 
save his forces from total annihilation, surrenders, 
and all are carried prisoners to Detroit. 

The capitulation at Erie left Le Boeuf with- 
out hope. He was attacked on the 18th, 
but kept off the Indians till midnight, when he 
made a successful retreat. As they passed Ve- 
nango, on their way to Fort Pitt, they saw only 
the ruins of that garrison. Not one of its immates 
had been spared. 

Fort Pitt was the most important station west 
of the AUeghanies. " Escape ! " said Turtle's 
Heart, a Delaware warrior ; " you will all be 
slain. A great army is coming." "There are 
three large English armies coming to my aid," 
said Ecuyer, the commander. " I have enough 
provisions and ammunition to stand a siege of three 
years' time." A second and third attempt was 



made by the savages to capture the post, but all to 
no avail. Baffled on all sides here, they destroy 
Ligonier, a few miles below, and massacre men, 
women and children. Fort Pitt was besieged till 
the last day of July, but withstood all attacks. 
Of all the outposts, only it and Detroit ' ere left. 
All had been captured, and the majority of the 
garrison slain. Along the frontier, the war was 
waged with fury. The Indians were fighting for 
their homes and their hunting-grounds; and for 
these they fought with the fury and zeal of 
fanatics. 

Detachments sent to aid Detroit are cut off. 
The prisoners are burnt, and Pontiac, infusing his 
zealous and demoniacal spirit into all his savage 
allies, pressed the siege with vigor. The French 
remained neutral, yet Pontiac made requisitions 
on them and on their neighbors in Illinois, issuing 
bills of credit on birch-bark, all of which were 
faithfully redeemed. Though these two posts 
could not be captured, the frontier could be 
annihilated, and vigorously the Indians pursued 
their policy. Along the borders of Pennsylvania 
and Virginia a relentless warfare was waged, 
sparing no one in its way. Old age, feeble infancy, 
strong man and gentle woman, fair girl and hope- 
ful boy — all fell before the scalping-knife of the 
merciless savage. The frontiers were devastated. 
Thousands were obliged to flee, leaving their 
possessions to the torch of the Indian. 

The colonial government, under British direc- 
tion, was inimical to the borders, and the colonists 
saw they must depend only upon their own arms 
for protection. Already the struggle for freedom 
was upon them. They could defend only them- 
selves. They must do it, too; for that defense is 
now needed in a different cause than settling dis- 
putes between rival powers. " We have millions 
for defense, but not a cent for tribute," said they, 
and time verified the remark. 

Gen. Amherst bestirred himself to aid the 
frontiers. He sent Col. Henry Bouquet, a native 
of Switzerland, and now an officer in the English 
Army, to relieve the garrison at Fort Pitt. They 
followed the route made by Gen. Forbes, and on 
the way relieved Forts Bedford and Ligonier, both 
beleaguered by the Indians. About a day's jour- 
ney beyond Ligonier, he was attacked by a body 
of Indians at a place called Bushy Run. For 
awhile, it seemed that he and all his army would 
be destroyed ; but Bouquet was bold and brave 
and, under a feint of retreat, routed the savages. 
He passed on, and relieved the garrison at Fort 



-^ 



50 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



]*itt, and thus secured it ajrainst the assaults of 
the Indians. 

The campaign had been di.sa.strous to the En- 
glish, but fatal to the plans of Pontiac. He could 
not capture Detroit, and he knew the great scheme 
must fail. The battle of Bushy Run and the 
relief of Fort Pitt closed the campaign, and all 
hope of co-operation was at an end. Circum- 
stances were combined against the confederacy, 
and it was fast falling to pieces. A proclamation 
was issued to the Indians, explaining to them the 
existing state of affairs, and slmwing to them the 
futility of their plans. Pontiac, however, would 
not give up. Again he renewed the siege of De- 
troit, and Gen. Gage, now in command of the 
army in the colonies, resolved to carry the war 
into their own country. Col. Bradstreet was or- 
dered to lead one army by way of the lakes, 
against the Northern indians, while Col. Bouquet 
was sent against the Indians of the Ohio. Col. 
Bradstreet went on his way at the head of 1,200 
men, but trusting too much to the natives and 
their promi.><es, his expedition proved largely a fail- 
ure. He relieved Detroit in August, 1 704, which 
had been confined in the garrison over fifteen 
mniiths, and dispersed the Indians that yet lay 
around the fort. But on his way back, he saw how 
the Indians had du])ed him, and that they were 
still plundering the settlements. His treaties were 
annulled by Gage, who ordered him to destroy 
their towns. The season was far advanced, his 
provisions were getting low, and he was obliged to 
return to Niagara chagrined and disappointed. 

Col. Bouquet knew well the character of the 
Indians, and shaped his plans accordingly. He 
had an army of 1 ,r)(»(l men, 500 regulars and 1,000 
volunteers. They had had experience in fighting 
the savages, and could l)e depended on. At Fort 
Louden, he heard of Bradstrect's ill luck, and saw 
through the decej)ti(in practiced by the Indians. 
He arrived at Fort Pitt the 1 7th of September, 
where he arre.stetl a deputation of chiefs, who met 
him with the same promises that had deceived 
Bradstreet. He sent one of their number back, 
threatening to ])nt to death the chiefs unless they 
all(jwed his messengers to safely pass through their 
country Uy Detroit. The decisive tone of his 
words convinced them of the fate that awaited 
them unless they complied. On the 3d of Octo- 
ber the anny left Fort ]*itt, marched down the 
river to and across the Tuscarawas, arriving in the 
vicinity of Fredrick i*ost's lat*; mission on the 17tli. 
There a conference was held with the a.ssembled 



tribes. Bouquet sternly rebuked them for their 
faithlessness, and when told by the chiefs they could 
not restrain their young men, he as sternly told 
them they were responsible for their acts. He 
told them he would trust them no longer. If they 
delivered up all their prisoners within twelve days 
they might hope for peace, otherwise there would 
be no mercy shown them. They were completely 
humbled, and, separating hastily, gathered their 
captives. On the 25tli, the army proceeded down 
to the Tuscarawas, to the junction with ^Vhite 
Woman River, near the town of Coshoctim. in 
Coshocton County, Ohio, and there made prepa- 
rations for the reception of the captives. There 
they remained until the 18th of November; from 
day to day prisoners were brought in — men, women 
and children — and delivered to their friends. M any 
were the touching scenes enacted during this time. 
The separated husband and wife met, the latter 
often carrying a child born in captivity. Brothers 
and sisters, separated in youth, met ; lovers rushed 
into each other's arms; children ft)und their 
parents, mothers their sons, fathers their daughters, 
and neighVjors those from whom they had been 
separated many years. Yet, there were many dis- 
tressing scenes. Some looked in vain for long-lost 
relatives and friends, that never should return. 
Others, that had been caj)tured in their infancy, 
would not leave their savage friends, and when 
force was used some fled away. One mother 
looked in vain for a child she had lost years be- 
fore. Day by day, she anxiously watched, but no 
daughter's voice reached her ears. One, elad in 
savage attire, was brought before her. It could 
not be her daughter, she was grown. So was the 
maiden before her. " Can not you remember some 
mark?" asked Bouquet, whose sympathies were 
aroused in this case. "There is none," said the 
anxious and sorrowful mother. " Sing a song you 
sang over her cradle, she may remember," suggested 
the commander. One is sung by her mother. As 
the song of childhood floats out among the trees 
the maiden stops and listens, then approaches. 
Yes, she remembers. Mother and daughter are 
held in a clo.se embrace, and the stern Bouquet 
wipes away a tear at the scene. 

On the 18th, the army broke up its encamp- 
ment and started on its homeward march. Boncpiet 
kept six principal Indians as hostages, and re- 
turned to the homes of the captives. The Indians 
kept their promises faithfully, and the next year 
representatives of all the Western tribes met Sir 
William Johnson, at the (rerman Flats, and made 



V 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



51 



a treaty of peace. A tract of land iu the Indian 
country was ceded to the whites for the benefit of 
those who had suffered in the late war. The In- 
dians desired to make a treaty with Johnson, 
whereby the Alleghany River should be the west- 
ern boundary of the English, but he excused him- 
self on the ground of proper 4)ower. 

Not long after this the Illinois settlements, too 
remote to know much of the struggfe or of any of 
the great events that had convulsed an empire, and 
changed the destiny of a nation, were brought 
under the English rule. There were five villages 
at this date: Kaskaskia, Cahokia, St. Philip, Vin- 
cennes and Prairie du Rocher, near Fort Chartres, 
the military headquarters of these French posses- 
sions. They were under the control or command 
of M. de Abadie, at New Orleans. They had also 
extended explorations west of the Mississippi, and 
made a few settlements in what was Spanish terri- 
tory. The country had been, however, ceded to 
France, and in February, 1764, the country was 
formally taken possession of and the present city 
of St. Louis laid out. 

As soon as the French knew of the change of 
government, many of them went to the west side of 
the river, and 'took up their residence there. They 
were protected in their religion and civil rights by 
the terms of the treaty, but preferred the rule of 
their own King. 

The British took possession of this country early 
in 1765. Gren. Grage sent Capt. Stirling, of the 
English Army, who arrived before summer, and to 
whom St. Ange, the nominal commandant, surren- 
dered the authority. The British, through a suc- 
cession of commanders, retained control of the coun- 
try until defeated by George Rogers Clarke, and 
his "ragged Virginia militia." 

After a short time, the French again ceded the 
country west of the Mississippi to Spain, and re- 
linquished forever their control of all the West in 
the New World. 

The population of Westera Louisiana, when the 
exchange of governments occurred, was estimated 
to be 13,538, of which 891 were in the IlHnois 
country — as it was called — west of the Mississippi. 
East of the river, and before the French crossed 
into Spanish country, the population was estimated 
to be about 3,000. All these had grown into 
communities of a peculiar character. Indeed, that 
peculiarity, as has been observed, never changed 
until a gradual amalgamation with the American 
people effected it, and that took more than a cen- 
tury of time to accomplish. 



The English now owned the Northwest. True, 
they did not yet occupy but a small part of it, but 
traders were again crossing the mountains, ex- 
plorers for lands were on the Ohio, and families 
for settlement were beginning to look upon the 
West as their future home. Companies were again 
forming to purchase large tracts in the Ohio coun- 
try, and open them for emigration. One thing yet 
stood in the way — a definite boundary line. That 
line, however, was between the English and the 
Indians, and not, as had heretofore been the case, 
between rival European Powers. It was necessary 
to arrange some definite boundary before land com- 
panies, who were now actively pushing their claims, 
could safely survey and locate their lands. 

Sir William Johnson, who had at previous times 
been instrumental in securing treaties, wrote re- 
peatedly to the Board of Trade, who controlled the 
greater part of the commercial transactions in the 
colonies — and who were the first to exclaim against 
extending English settlements beyond a limit 
whereby they would need -manufactures, and there- 
by become independent of the Mother Country — 
urging upon thcnn, and through them the Crown, the 
necessity of a fixed boundary, else another Indian 
war was probable. The Indians found themselves 
gradually hemmed in by the growing power of the 
Avhites, and began to exhibit hostile feelings. The 
irritation became so great that in the summer of 
1767, Gage wrote to the Governor of Pennsylvania 
concerning it. The Governor communicated his 
letter to the General Assembly, who sent repre- 
sentatives to England, to urge the immediate set- 
tlement of the question. In compliance with these 
requests, and the letters of prominent citizens, 
Franklin among the number, instructions were sent 
to Johnson, ordering him to complete the purchase 
from the Six Nations, and settle all differences. 
He sent word to all the Western tribes to meet 
him at Fort Stanwix, in October, 1768. The con- 
ference was held on the 24th of that month, and 
was attended by colonial representatives, and by 
Indians from all parts of the Northwest. It was 
determined that the line should begin on the Ohio, 
at the mouth of the Cherokee (Tennessee), thence 
up the river to the Alleghany and on to Kittan- 
ning, and thence across to the Suscjuehanna. By 
this line, the whole country south of the Ohio and 
Alleghany, to which the Six Nations had any 
claim, was transferred. Part of this land was 
made to compensate twenty-two traders, whose goods 
had been stolen in 1763. The deeds made, were 
upon the express agreement that no claims should 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



^ 



ever be based on the treaties of Lancaster, Logs- 
town, etc., and wore sii-nod by the chiefs of the Six 
Nations for tlu'iu.selve.s, their alHcs anil dependents, 
and tlie 8hawance.s, Delawarcs, ]Min;i:oes of Ohio, 
and others; though the Shawanees and Delaware 
deputies did not sign them. On this treaty, in a 
great meiusure, rest>s the title by purchase to Ken- 
tucky, Western Virginia and Western Pennsylva- 
nia. The rights of tlie Cherokees were purchased 
by Col. Donaldson, either for the King, Virginia, 
or for him.self, it is impossible to say which. 

The grant of the northern confederacy was now 
made. The white man could go in and possess 
these lands, and know that an army would protect 
him if necessary. Under such a guarantee, West- 
ern lands came rapidly into market. In addition 
to companies already in existence for the purchase 
of land, others, the most notable of these being the 
''Walpole" and the "Mis.sissippi" Land Companies, 
were formed. This latter had among its organizers 
such men as Francis Lightfoot Lee, Richard 
Henry Lee, George Washington and Arthur Lee. 
Before any of these companies, some of whom ab- 
sorbed the Ohio Company, could do anything, the 
Revolution came on, and all land transactions were 
at an end. Afler its close. Congress would not 
sanction their claims, and they fell through. This 
did not deter settlers, however, fi-om crossing the 
mountains, and setthng in the Ohio country. In 



spite of troubles with the Indians — some of whom 
regarded the treaties with the Six Nations as un- 
lawful, and were disposed to complain at the rajiid 
influx of whites — and the failure of the land com- 
panies, settlers came steadily during the decade 
from 1768 to 1778, so that by the close of that 
time, there was a large population south of the 
Ohio River ; while scattered along the northern 
banks, extending many miles into the wilderness, 
were hardy adventurers, who were carving out 
homes in the magnificent forests everywhere cov- 
ering the country. 

Among the foremost speculators in Western 
lands, was George Washington. As early as 1703, 
he employed Col. Crawford, afterward the leader in 
" Crawford's campaign," to purchase lands for him. 
In 1770, he crossed the mountains in company 
with several gentlemen, and examined the country 
along the Ohio, down which stream he pa.ssed to 
the mouth of the Great Kanawha, where he shot 
some buffalo, then plenty, camped out a few nights, 
and returned, fully convinced, it seems, that one 
day the West would be the best part of the New- 
World. He owned, altogether, nearly fifty thou- 
sand acres in the West, which he valued at S3. 33 
per acre. Had not the war of the Revolution just 
then broken out, he might have been a resident of 
the West, and would have been, of course, one of 
its most prominent citizens. 



CHAPTER V. 



AMERICAN EXPLORATIONS— DUNMORE'S WAR— CAMPAIGN OF GEORGE ROGERS CLARKE- 
LAND TROUBLES — SPAIN IN THE REVOLUTION — MURDER OF 
THE MORAVIAN INDIANS. 

MEANWHILE, Kentucky was filling with I One of the most important Western characters, 

citizens, and though considerable trouble Col. (afterward Gen.) George Rogers Clarke, had 

was fxptrienccd with the Indians, and the operations had much to do in forming its character. He 

of Col. llichard Henderson and others, who made was born November 19, 1752, in Albemarle 

unlawful treaties with the Indians, yet Daniel County, Va., and early came West. He had an 

Boone and his associates had established a unusually sagacious spirit, was an excellent sur- 

commonwealth, and, in 1777, a county was veyor and general, and took an active interest in 

formed, which, erelong, was divided into three, all State and national affairs. He understood the 

Louisville was laid f)ut on land belonging to animus of the Revolution, and was prepared to 

Tories, and an impurtaiit start made in this part do his part. Col. Clarke was now meditating a 

of the West. Fmigrants came down the Ohio move unequaled in its boldness, and one that had 

River, saw the northern shores were inviting, and more to do with the success of America in the 

sent back such accounts that the land north of the struggle for independence than at first appears, 
river rapidly grew in favor with Eastern people. ' He saw through the whole plan of the British, 



:^ 




who held all the outposts, Kaskaskia, Detroit, 
Vincennes and Niagara, and determined to circum- 
vent them and wrest the West from their power. 
The British hoped to encircle the Americans by 
these outposts, and also unite the Indians in a 
common war against them. That had been 
attempted by the French when the English con- 
quered them. Then the French had a powerful 
ally in the person of Poutiac, yet the brave front- 
iersmen held their homes in many places, though 
the Indians " drank the blood of many a Briton, 
scooping it up in the hollow of joined hands." 
Now the Briton had no Poutiac to lead the scat- 
tered tribes — tribes who now feared the unerring 
aim of a settler, and would not attack him openly — 
Clarke knew that the Delawares were divided in 
feeling and that the Shawanees were but imperfectly 
united in favor of England since the murder of 
their noted chiefs. He wa.s convinced that, if the 
British could be driven fi'om the Western posts, 
the natives could easily be awed into submission, 
or bribed into neutrality or friendship. They 
admired, from their savage views of valor, the 
side that became victorious. They cared little for 
the cause for which either side was fighting. 
Clarke sent out spies among them to ascertain the 
feasibility of his plans. The spies were gone 
from April 20 to June 22, and fully corroborated 
his views concerning the English policy and the 
feelings of the Indians and French. 

Before proceeding in the narrative of this expe- 
dition, however, it will be well to notice a few acts 
transpiring north of the Ohio River, especially re- 
lating to the land treaties, as they were not without 
effect on the British policy. Many of the Indians 
north and south of the Ohio would not recognize 
the validity of the Fort Stanwix treaty, claiming 
the Iroquois had no right to the lands, despite 
their concjuest. These discontented natives har- 
assed the emigrants in such a manner that many 
Indians were slain in retaliation. This, and the 
working of the French traders, who at all times 
were bitterly opposed to the English rule, filled the 
breasts of the natives with a malignant hate, which 
years of bloodshed could not wash out. The 
murder of several Indians by lawless whites fanned 
the coal into a blaze, and, by 1774, several retalia- 
tory murders occurred, committed by the natives 
in revenge for their fallen friends. The Indian 
slew any white man he found, as a revenge on some 
fi-iend of his slain ; the frontiersman, acting on the 
same principle, made the borders extremely dan- 
gerous to invaders and invaded. Another cause 



of fear occurred about this time, which threatened 
seriously to retard emigration. 

Pittsburgh had been claimed by both Pennsyl- 
vania and Virginia, and, in endeavoring to settle 
the dispute. Lord Dunmore's war followed. Dr. 
John Connelly, an ambitious, intriguing person, 
induced Lord Dunmore to assert the claims of Vir- 
ginia, in the name of the King. In attempting to 
carry out his intentions, he was arrested by Arthur 
St. Clair, representing the proprietors of Pennsyl- 
vania, who was at Pittsburgh at the time. Con- 
nelly was released on bail, but went at once to 
Staunton, where he was sworn in as a Justice of 
Peace. Returning, he gathered a force of one 
hundred and fifty men, suddenly took possession of 
Pittsburgh, refused to allow the magistrates to 
enter the Court House, or to exercise the functions 
of their offices, unless in conformity to his will. 
Connelly refused any terms offered by the Penn- 
sylvania deputies, kept possession of the place, 
acted very harshly toward the inhabitants, stirred 
up the neutral Indians, and, for a time, threatened 
to make the boundary line between the two colonies 
a very serious question. His actions led to hostile 
deeds by some Indians, when the whites, no doubt 
urged by him, murdered seven Indians at the 
mouth of the Captina River, and at the house of 
a settler named Baker, where the Indians were 
decoyed under promises of friendship and offers of 
rum. Among those murdered at the latter place, 
was the entire family of the famous Mingoe chief, 
Logan. This has been charged to Michael Cresap ; 
but is untrue. Daniel Greathouse had command 
of the party, and though Cresap may have been 
among them, it is unjust to lay the blame at his 
feet. Both murders, at Captina and Yellow Creek, 
were cruel and unwarranted, and were, without 
doubt, the cause of the war that followed, though 
the root of the matter lay in Connelly's arbitrary 
actions, and in his needlessly alarming the Indians. 
Whatever may have been the facts in relation to 
the murder of Logan's family, they were of such 
a nature as to make all feel sure of an Indian war, 
and preparations were made for the conflict. 

An army was gathered at Wheeling, which, 
some time in July, under command of Col. Mc- 
Donald, descended the Ohio to the mouth of Cap- 
tina Creek. They proposed to march against an 
Indian town on the Muskingum. The Indians 
sued for peace, but their pretensions being found 
spurious, their towns and crops were destroyed. 
The army then retreated to Williamsburg, having 
accomplished but little. 



54 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



The Delawaros were anxious for peace ; even the 
Minjroes, whose rehitivo-s had been shiin at Yellow 
Creek, and Captina, were restrained; but Logan, 
who had been turned to an inveterate too to the 
Amerieans, eanie suddenly upon the Monongahela 
settlements, took thirteen scalps in revenge tor the 
loss of his tauiily, returned home and expressed 
himself ready to treat with the Long Knives, the 
Virginians. Had Connelly acted properly at this 
juncture, the war might have been ended; but 
his actions only incensed both borderers and In- 
dians. So obnoxious did he become that Lord 
Dunniore lost faith in him, and severely repri- 
manded him. 

To put a stop to the dei)redations of the Indians, 
two large bodies of troops were gathered in Vir- 
ginia, one under Gen. Andrew Lewis, and one 
under command of Punmore himself Before 
the armies could meet at the mouth of the Great 
Kanawha, their objective point, Lewis' army, which 
arrived first, w;is attacked by a furious band of Dela- 
wares, Shawanees, Iroquois and Wyandots. The 
conflict was bitterly jirolonged by the Indians, who, 
under the leadership of Cornstalk, were deter- 
mined to make a devisive eflbrt, and fought till 
late at night (October lU, 1774), and then only by 
a strategic move of Lewis' command — which re- 
sulted in the defeat of the Indians, compelling them 
to cross the Ohio — was the conflict ended. Mean- 
while, Dunmores army came into the enemy's 
country, and, being joined by the remainder of 
Lewis' command, pressed forward intending to an- 
nihilate the Indian towns. Cornstalk and his 
chiefs, however, sued for peace, and the conflict 
closed. Dunmore established a camp on Sippo 
Creek, where he held conferences with the natives 
and concluded the war. When he left, the country, 
he stationed 1 OU men at the mouth of the Great 
Kanawha, a few more at Pittsburgh, and another 
corps at Wheeling, then called Fort. Fincastle. 
Dunmore intended to return to Pittsburgh the 
next spring, meet the Indians and form a definite 
peace ; but the revolt of the colonies prevented. 
However, he opened several oflices for the sale of 
lands in the West, some of which were in the limits 
of the Pennsylvania colony. This led to the old 
boundary dispute again; but before it could be 
settled, the Revolution began, and Lord Dunmore's, 
as well as almost all other land speculations in the 
AVcst, were at an end. 

Li 1775 and 1776, the chief events transpiring 
in the West relate to the treaties with the Indians, 
and the endeavor on the part of the Americans to 



have them remain neutral in the family quarrel now 
coming on, which they could not understand. The 
British, like the French, however, could not let 
them alone, and finally, as a retaliatory measure. 
Congress, under advice of Wa.shingt<jn, won some of 
them over to the side of the colonies, getting their 
aid and holding them neutral. The colonies only 
(jft'ered them rewards for prisoners ; never, like the 
British, oflering rewards for scalps. Under such 
rewards, the atrocities of the Indians in some (juar- 
ters were simply horrible. The scalp was enough 
to get a reward, that was a mark of Indian valor, 
too, and hence, helpless innocence and decrepit old 
age were not spared. They stirred the minds of 
the pioneers, who saw the protection of their fire- 
sides a vital point, and led the way to the scheme 
of Col. Clarke, who wa.s now, as has been noted, the 
leading spirit in Kentucky. He saw through the 
scheme of the British, and determined, by a quick, 
decisive blow, to put an end to it, and to cripple 
their power in the West. 

Among the acts stimulating Clarke, was the attack 
on Fort Henry, a garrison about one-half mile 
above Wheeling Creek, on the Ohio, by a renegade 
white man, Simon Girty, an agent in the employ of 
the British, it is thought, and one of tlie wor.st 
wretches ever known on the frontier. When Girty 
attacked Fort Henry, he led his red allies in regu- 
lar military fashion, and attacked it without mercy. 
The defenders were brave, and knew with whom 
they were contending. Great braveiy was displayed 
by the women in the fort, one of whom, a Miss 
Zane, carried a keg of gunpowder from a cabin 
to the fort. Though repeatedly fired at by the sav- 
ages, slie reached the fort in safety. After awhile, 
however, the efi'ect of the frontiersmen's shots began 
to be felt, and the Indians sullenly withdrew. 
Re-enforcements coming, the fort was held, and 
(xii'ty and his band were obliged to flee. 

Clarke saw that if the British once got con- 
trol over the Western Indians the scene at Fort 
Henry would be repeated, and would not likely, 
in all cases, end in favor of the Americans. With- 
out communicating any of his designs, he left Har- 
rodsburg abt)ut the 1st of October, 1777, and 
reached the capital of Virginia by November 5. 
Still keeping his mind, he awaited a favorable op- 
portunity to broach his plans to those in power, 
and, in the meanwhile, carefully watched the exist- 
ing state of feeling. When the opportunity came, 
Clarke broached his plans to Patrick Henry, Gov- 
ernor of Virginia, who at once entered warmly 
into them, recognizing their gi'eat importance. 



:v 



^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



55 



Through his aid, Clarke procured the nocessary au- 
thority to prosecute his plaus, and returned at once 
to Pittsburgh. He intended raising men about 
this post, but found them fearful of leaving their 
homes unprotected. However, he secured three 
companies, and, with these and a number of volvm- 
teers, picked up on the way down the Ohio Kiver, 
he fortified Corn Island, near the falls, and made 
ready for his expedition. He had some trouble in 
kecj)ing his men, some of those fi-om Kentucky 
refusing to aid in subduing stations out of their 
own country. He did not announce his real inten- 
tions till he had reached this point. Here Col. 
Bowman joined him with his Kentucky mihtia, 
and, on the 24th of June, 1778, during a total 
eclipse of the sun, the party left the fort. Before 
his start, he learned of the capture of Burgoyne, 
and, when nearly down to Fort Massac, he met 
some of his spies, who informed him of the exag- 
gerated accounts of the ferocity of the Long 
Knives that the French had received from the 
British. By proper action on his part, Clarke saw 
both these items of information could be made 
very beneficial to him. Leaving the river near 
Fort JNIassac, he set out on the march to Kaskas- 
kia, through a hot summer's sun, over a country 
full of savage foes. They reached the town un- 
noticed, on the evening of July 4, and, before 
the a.stonished British and French knew it, they 
were all prisoners. 31. Rocheblave, the English 
commander, was secured, but his wife adroitly con- 
cealed the papers belonging to the garrison. In 
the person of M. Gibault, the French priest, Clarke 
found a true friend. When the true character of 
the Virginians became apparent, the French w^ere 
easily drawn to the American side, and the priest 
secured the surrender and allegiance of Cahokia 
through his personal influence. M. Gibault told 
him he would also secure the post at St. Vincent's, 
which he did, returning from the mission about 
the 1st of August. During the interval, Clarke re- 
enlisted his men, formed his plans, sent his pris- 
oners to Kentucky, and was ready for future action 
when M. (jibault arrived. He sent Capt. Helm 
and a single soldier to Vincennes to hold that fort 
until he could put a garrison there. It is but 
proper to state that the English commander. Col. 
Hamilton, and his band of soldiers, were absent at 
Detroit when the priest secured the village on the 
"Ouabache." When Hamilton returned, in the 
autumn, he was greatly surprised to see the Amer- 
ican flag floating from the ramparts of the fort, 
and when approaching the gate he was abruptly 



halted by Capt. Helm, who stood with a lighted fuse 
in his hand by a cannon, answering Hamilton's 
demand to surrender with the imperative inquiry, 
"Upon what terms, sir?" "Upon the honors of 
war," answered Hamilton, and he marched in 
greatly chagrined to see he had been halted by 
two men. The British commander sat quietly 
down, intending to go ou down the river and sub- 
due Kentucky in the spring, in the mean time 
offering rewards for American scalps, and thereby 
giiining the epithet " Hair-buyer General." Clarke 
heard of his actions late in January, 1779, and, as 
he says, " I knew if I did not take him he would 
take me," set out early in February with his troops 
and marched across the marshy plains of Lower 
Illinois, reaching the Wabash post by the 22d of 
that month. The unening aim of the Westerner 
was eff"ectual. " They will shoot your eyes out,' 
said Helm to the British troops. "There, I told 
you so," he further exclaimed, as a soldier vent- 
ured near a port-hole and received a shot directly 
in his eye. On the 24th the fort surrendered. 
The American flag waved again over its ramparts. 
The "Hair-buyer General" was sent a prisoner to 
Virginia, where he was kept in close confinement 
for his cruel acts. Clarke returned to Kaskaskia, 
perfected his plans to hold the Illinois settlements, 
went on to Kentucky, from where he sent word to 
the colonial authorities of the success of his expe- 
dition. Had he received the aid promised him, 
Detroit, in easy reach, would have fallen too, but 
Gen. Green, failing to send it as promised, the capt- 
ure of that in)portant post was delayed. 

Had Clarke failed, and Hamilton succeeded, the 
whole West would have been swept, from the Alle- 
ghanies to the Mississippi. But for this small 
ainiy of fearless Virginians, the unit)n of all the 
tribes from Georgia to Maine against the colonies 
might have been effected, and the whole current 
of American history changed. America owes 
Clarke and his band more than it can ever pay. 
Clarke reported the capture of Kaskaskia and the 
Illinois country early after its surrender, and in 
October the county of Illinois was established, 
extending over an unlimited expanse of country, 
by the Virginia Legislature. John Todd was 
appointed Lieutenant Colonel and Civil Governor. 
In November, Clarke and his men received the 
thanks of the same body, who, in after years, 
secured them a grant of land, which they selected 
on the right bank of the Ohio River, opposite 
Louisville. They expected here a city would rise 
one day, to be the peer of Louisville, then coming 



'V 



a_- 



-^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



intii |ir()iiiiiu'mr as an important place. By some 
moans, their ex|iectations t'aileil, and only the 
(lilaj)i(lateil village ot" Clarkesburg perpetuates 
their lutpes. 

The eoiKjuest of Clarke changed the face of 
affairs in relation to the whole country north of 
the Ohio River, which would, in all probability, 
have been made the boundary between Canada and 
the United States. When this was proposed, the 
strenuous arguments based on this concjuest, by 
the American Coninii.ssiouers, secured the present 
boundary line in negotiating the treaty of 17i)H. 

Though Clarke had failed to capture Detroit, 
Congress saw the importance of the post, and 
resolved on securing it. Gen. McCosh, commander 
at Fort Pitt, was put in command, and $1,000,- 
000 and 3,000 men placed at his disposal. By 
some dilatiiry means, he got no further than the 
Tuscarawas lliver, in Ohio, where a half-way 
house, called Fort Laurens, for the President of 
Congress, was built. It was too far out to be of 
practicable value, and was soon after abandoned. 

Indian troubles and incursions by the British 
were the most absorbing themes in the West. 
The British went so far as Kentucky at a later 
date, while they intended reducing Fort Pitt, only 
abandoning it when learning of its strength. 
Expeditions against the Western Indians were led 
by Gen. Sullivan, Col. Daniel Broadhead, Col. 
Bowman and others, which, for awhile, silenced 
the natives and taught them the power of the 
Americans. They could not organize so readily 
as before, and began to attach themselves more 
closely to the British, or commit their depredations 
in bands, fleeing into the wilderness as soon as 
they struck a blow. In this way, several localities 
suffered, until the settlers became again exasper- 
ated; other ex])editi(jns were formed, and a second 
chastisement given. In 1781, Col. Broadhead 
led an expedition against the Central Ohio Indians. 
It did not prove so successful, as the Indians were 
led by the noted chief Brant, who, though not 
cruel, was a foe to the Americans, and assisted the 
British greatly in their endeavors to secure the West. 

Another class of events occurred now in the 
West, civil in their relations, yet destined to form 
an important part of its history — its land laws. 

It must be borne in mind, that A'irginia claimed 
the greater portion of the country north of the 
Ohio Biver, as well a.s a large part south. The 
other colonics claimed land also in the W\\st under 
the old Crown grants, which extended to the 
South or W^estern Sea. To more complicate mat- 



ters, several land companies held proprietary rights 
to portions of these lands gained by grants from 
the Crown, or from the Colonial Assemblies. 
Others were based on land warrants issued 
in 17ti3; others on selection and survey and 
still others on settlement. In this state of 
mixed affairs, it was difficult to say who held a 
secure claim. It was a (juestion whether the old 
French grants were good or not, especially since 
the change in government, and the eminent pros- 
pect of still another change. To, in some way, 
aid in settling these claims, Virginia sent a com- 
mission to the West to sit as a court and determine 
the proprietorship of these claims. This court, 
though of as doubtful authority as the claims 
themselves, went to work in Kentucky and along 
the Ohio River in 1779, and, in the course of one 
year, granted over three thousand certificates. 
These were considered as good authority for a 
definite title, and were so regarded in after pur- 
chases. Under them, many pioneers, like Daniel 
Boone, lost their lands, as all were required to 
hold some kind of a patent, while others, who 
possessed no more principle than "land-sharks" 
of to-day, acquired large tracts of land by holding 
a patent the court was bound to accept. Of all 
the colonies, Virginia seemed to have the best 
title to the Northwest, save a few parcels, such as 
the Connecticut or Western Reserve and some 
similar tracts held by New York, Massachusetts 
and New Jersey. When the territory of the 
Northwest was ceded to the General Government, 
this was recognized, and that country was counted 
as a Virginia county. 

The Spanish Government, holding the region 
west of the Mississipj)i, and a portion east toward 
its outlet, became an important but secret ally of 
the Americans. When the French revolt was 
suppressed by O'Reilly, and the Spanish assumed 
the government of Louisiana, both Upper and 
Lower, there was a large tract of country, known 
as Florida (East and West), claimed by England, 
and duly regarded as a part of her dominion. 
The boundaries had been settled when the French 
first occupied Lower Lotiisiana. The Spaniards 
adopted the patriarchal form of rule, as much as 
was consistent with their interests, and allowed the 
French full religious and civil liberty, sav(> that all 
tribunals were after the Sjianish fashion, and 
governed by Spanish rules. The Spaniards, long 
jealous of England's growing power, secretly sent 
the Governors of Louisiana word to. aid the 
Americans in their struggle for freedom. Though 






HISTORY OF OHIO. 



57 



they controlled the Mississippi River, they allowed 
an American officer (Capt. Willing) to descend the 
river in January, 1778, with a party of fifty men, 
and ravage the British shore from Manchez Bayou 
to Natchez. 

On the 8th of May, 1779, Spain declared war 
against Great Britain; and, on die 8th of July, 
the people of Louisiana were allowed to take a 
part in the war. Accordingly, Gralvez collected a 
force of 1,400 men, and, on the 7th of September, 
took Fort Manchac. By the 21st of September, 
he had taken Baton Rouge and Natchez. Eight 
vessels were captured by the Spaniards on the 
Mississippi and on the lakes. In 1780 Mobile 
fell ; in March, 1781, Pensacola, the chief British 
post in West Florida, succumbed after a long 
siege, and, on the 9th of May, all West Florida 
was surrendered to Spain. 

This war, or the war on the Atlantic Coast, did 
not immediately affijct Upper Louisiana. Great 
Britain, however, attempted to capture St. Louis. 
Though the commander was strongly suspected of 
being bribed by the English, yet the place stood 
the siege from the combined force of Indians and 
Canadians, and the assailants were dispersed. This 
was done during the summer of 1680, and in the 
'autumn, a company of Spanish and French resi- 
dents, under La Balme, went on an expedition 
against Detroit. They marched as far north as 
the British trading-post Ke-ki-ong-a, at the head 
of the Maumee River, but being surprised in the 
night, and the commander slain, the expedition 
was defeated, having done but little. 

Spain may have had personal interests in aiding 
the Americans. She was now in control of the Mis- 
sissippi River, the natural outlet of the Northwest, 
and, in 1780, began the troubles relative to the 
navigation of that stream. The claims of Spain 
were considered very unjust by the Continental 
Congress, and, while deliberating over the question, 
Virginia, who was jealously alive to her Western 
interests, and who yet held jurisdiction over Ken- 
tucky, sent through Jefferson, the Governor, Gen. 
George Rogers Clarke, to erect a fort below the 
mouth of the Ohio. This proceeding was rather 
unwarrantable, especially as the fort was built in 
the country of the Chickasaws, who had thus far 
been true friends to the Americans, and who looked 
upon the fort as an innovation on their territory. 
It was completed and occupied but a short time, 
Clarke being recalled. 

Virginia, in 1780, did a very important thing; 
namely, establishing an institution for higher edu- 



cation. The Old Dominion confiscated the lands 
of " Robert McKenzie, Henry Collins and Alex- 
ander McKee, Britons, eight thousand acres," and 
invested the proceeds of the sale in a public semi- 
nary. Transylvania University now lives, a monu- 
ment to that spirit. 

While Clarke was building Fort Jefferson, a force 
of British and Indians, under command of Capt. 
Bryd, came down from Canada and attacked the 
Kentucky settlements, getting into the country be- 
fore any one was aware. The winter before had 
been one of unusual severity, and game was ex- 
ceedingly scarce, hence the army was not prepared 
to conduct a campaign. After the capture of Rud- 
dle's Station, at the south fork of the Licking, Bryd 
abandoned any further attempts to reduce the set- 
tlements, except capturing Martin's Station, and 
returned to Detroit. 

This expedition gave an additional motive for 
the chastisement of the Indians, and Clarke, on his 
return from Fort Jefferson, went on an expedition 
against the Miami Indians. He destroyed their 
towns at Loramie's store, near the present city of 
Sydney, Ohio, and at Piqua, humbling the natives. 
While on the way, a part of the army remained 
on the north bank of the Ohio, and erected two 
block-houses on the present site of Cincinnati. 

The exploits of Clarke and his men so effectually 
chastised the Indians, that, for a time, the West 
was safe. During this period of quiet, the meas- 
ures which led to the cession of Western lands to 
the General Government, began to assume a defi- 
nite form. All the colonies claiming Western 
lands were willing to cede them to the Government, 
save Virginia, which colony wanted a large scope 
of Southern country southeast of the Ohio, as far 
as South Carolina. All recognized the justice of 
all Western lands becoming public property, and 
thereby aiding in extinguishing the debts caused by 
the war of the Revolution, now about to close. 
As Virginia held a somewhat different view, the 
cession was not made until 1783. 

The subject, however, could not be allowed to 
rest. The war of the Revolution was now drawing 
to a close ; victory on the part of the colonies was 
apparent, and the Western lands must be a part of 
the public domain. Subsequent events brought 
about the desired cession, though several events 
transpired before the plan of cession was consum- 
mated. 

Before the close of 1780, the Legislature of 
Virginia passed an act, establishing the "town of 
Louisville," and confiscated the lands of John 



:V 



58 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Connelly, who was one of its original proprietors, 
and who distinuuishiul himself in the eonimenee- 
ment of Lord Duniuore's war, and who was now a 
Tory, and doing all he could against the patriot 
cause. The proceeds of the sale of his lands were 
dividedhetwecn \'irginiaandthecounty of Jefferson. 
Kentucky, the next year, was divided into three 
cttuntii's, Jefferson, Lincoln and Fayette. Courts 
were appointed in each, and the entry and location 
of lands given into their hands. Settlers, in spite 
of Indian troubles and British intrigue, were 
yiouring over the mountains, particularly so during 
the years ITHO and ITSI. The expeditions of 
Clarke against the >Miami Indians ; Boone's cap- 
tivity, and escape from them ; their defeat when 
attacking Boonesboro, and other places — all 
(ombined to weaken their power, and teach them 
to respect a nation whose progress they could not 
stay. 

The pioneers of the We.st, obliged to depend on 
themselves, owing to the struggle of the colonies 
for freedom, grew up a hardy, self-reliant race, 
with all the vices and virtues of a border life, and 
with habits, manners and customs necessary to 
their peculiar situation, and suited to their peculiar 
taste. A resume of their experiences and daily 
lives woidd be quite interesting, did the limits of 
this history admit it here. In the part relating 
directly to this county, the reader will find such 
lives given; here, only the important events can 
be noticed. 

The last event of conserpience occurring in the 
West before the close of the Revolution, is one 
that might well have lieen omitted. Had such 
been the case, a great stain would have been spared 
the character of Western pioneers. Reference is 
made to the massacre of the Moravian Christian 
Indians. 

These Indians were of the Delaware nation 
chiefly, though other Western tribes were visited 
and many converts made. The first converts were 
made in New York and Connecticut, where, after 
a good start had been made, and a prospect of 
many souls being saved, they incurred the enmity 
of the whites, who, becoming alarmed at their suc- 
cess, persecuted them to such an extent that they 
were driven out of New York into Pennsylvania, 
where, in 1744, four years after their arrival in 
the New AVorld, they began new missions. In 
1 748, the New York and Connecticut Indians fol- 
lowed their teachers, and were among the founders 
of Friedenshutten, "Tents of Peace," a hamlet 
near Bethlehem, where their teachers were sta- 



tioned. Other hamlets grew around them, until 
in the interior of the colony, existed an Indian 
community, free from all savage vices, and grow- 
ing up in Christian virtues. As their strength 
grew, lawless whites again began to oppress them. 
They could not understand the war of 1754, and 
were, indeed, in a truly embarrassing position. 
The savages could form no conception of any cause 
for neutrality, save a secret symi)athy with the 
English; and if they could nottake nj) the hatchet, 
they were in the way, and must be removed. Fail- 
ing to do this, their nid brothers became hostile. 
The whites were but little better. The old suspi- 
cions which drove them from New York were 
aroused. They were secret Papists, in league with 
the French, and furnished them with arms and in- 
telligence; they were interfering with the li(juor 
traffic; they were enemies to the (jrovernmcnt, 
and the Indian and the white man com})ined against 
them. They were obliged to move from place to 
place; were at one time protected nearly a year, 
near Philadelphia, from lawless whites, and finally 
were compelled to go far enough West to be out 
of the way of French and English arms, or the 
Iroquois and Cherokee hatchets. They came 
finally to the Muskingum, where they made a set- 
tlement called Schonbrun, "beautiful clear spring," 
in what is now Tuscarawas County. Other settle- 
ments gathered, from time to time, ;i>< the years 
went on, till in 1772 large numbers of them were 
within the borders of the State. 

LIntil the war of independence broke out, they 
were allowed to peacefully pursue their way. When 
that came, they were between Fort Pitt and De- 
troit, one of which contained British, the other 
Americans. Again they could not understand the 
struggle, and could not take up the hatchet. This 
brought on them the enmity of both belligerent 
parties, and that of their own forest companions, 
who could not see wherein their natures could 
change. Among the most hostile persons, were 
the white renegades McKee, Girty and Elliott. 
On their instigation, several of them were slain, 
and by their advice they were obliged to leave their 
fields and homes, where they had many comforts, 
and where they had erected good chapels in which 
to worship. It was just before one of these forced 
removals that Mary, daughter of the missionary 
Heckewelder, was born. She is supposed to be 
the first white female child born north of the Ohio 
River. Her birth occurred April 1(5, 1781. It 
is but proper to say here, that it is an open ques- 
tion, and one that will probably never be decided, 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



59 



i. e. Who was the first white child born in Ohio ? 
In all probability, the child was born during the 
captivity of its mother, as history plainly shows 
that when white women were released from the 
Indians, some of them carried children born while 
among the natives. 

When the Moravians were forced to leave their 
settlements on the Muskingum, and taken to San- 
dusky, they left growing fields of corn, to which 
they were obliged to return, to gather food. This 
aroused the whites, only wanting some pretext 
whereby they might attack them, and a party, 
headed by Col. David Williamson, determined to 
exterminate them. The Moravians, hearing of their 
approach, fled, but too late to warn other settle- 
ments, and Gnadenhutten, Salem and one or two 
smaller settlements, were surprised and taken. 
Under deceitful promises, the Indians gave up all 
their arms, showed the whites their treasures, and 
went unknowingly to a terrible death. When ap- 
prised of their fate, determined on by a majority 
of the rangers, they begged only time to prepare. 
They were led two by two, the men into one, the 
women and children into another "slaughter- 
house," as it was termed, and all but two lads were 
wantonly slain. An infamous and more bloody 
(.leed never darkened the pages of feudal times ; 
a deed that, in after years, called aloud for venge- 
ance, and in some measure received it. Some of 
Williamson's men wrung their hands at the cruel 
fiite, and endeavored, by all the means in their 
power, to prevent it; but all to no purpose. The 
blood of the rangers was up, and they would not spare 
"man, woman or child, of all that peaceful band." 

Having completed their horrible work, (March 
8, 1782), Williamson and his men returned to 
Pittsburgh. Everywhere, the Indians lamented 
the untimely death of their kindred, their savage 
relatives determining on their revenge; the Chris- 
tian ones could only be resigned and weep. 

Williamson's success, for such it was viewed by 
many, excited the borderers to another invasion, 
and a second army was raised, this time to 
go to the Sandusky town, and annihilate the 
Wyandots. Col. William Crawford was elected 
leader ; he accepted reluctantly ; on the way, 
the army was met by hordes of savages on the 5th of 



June, and totally routed. They were away north, 
in what is now Wyandot County, and were obliged 
to flee for their lives. The blood of the murdered 
Moravians called for revenge. The Indians de- 
sired it ; were they not relatives of the fallen 
Christians? Crawford and many of his men fell 
into their hands ; all suffered unheard-of tortures, 
that of Crawford being as cruel as Indian cruelty 
could devise. He was pounded, pierced, cut with 
knives and burned, all of which occupied nearly a 
night, and finally lay down insensible on a bed of 
coals, and died. The savage captors, in demoniacal 
glee, danced around him, and upbraided hiui ibr 
the cruel murder of their relatives, giving him this 
only consolation, that had they captured William- 
son, he might go free, but he mu.st answer for Will- 
iamson's brutality. 

Tlae war did not cease here. The Indians, now 
aroused, carried their attack as far south as into 
Kentucky, killing Capt. Estill, a brave man, and 
some of his companions. The British, too, were 
active in aiding them, and the 1-ith of August a 
large force of them, under Girty, gathered silently 
about Bryant's Station. They were obliged to re- 
treat. The Kentuckians pursued them, but were 
repulsed with considerable loss. 

The attack on Bryant's Station aroused the peo- 
ple of Kentucky to strike a blow that would be 
felt. Gen. Clarke was put at the head of an army 
of one thousand and fifty men, and the Miami 
country was a second time destroyed. Clarke even 
went as far north as the British trading-post at the 
head of the Miami, where he captured a great 
amount of property, and destroyed the post. Other 
outposts also fell, the invading army suff"ering but 
little, and. by its decisive action, practically closing 
the Indian wars in the West. Pennsylvania suf- 
fered some, losing Hannahstown and one or two 
small settlements. Williamson's and Crawford's 
campaigns aroused the fury of the Indians that 
took time and much blood and war to subdue. The 
Revolution was, however, drawing to a close. Amer- 
ican arms were victorious, and a new nation was 
now coming into existence, who would change the 
whole current of Western matters, and make of the 
Northwest a land of liberty, equality and union. 
That nation was now on the stasje. 



D 



>?*, 



60 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



CHAPTER VI. 

AMERICAN OCCUPATION— INDIAN CLAIMS— SURVEYS — EARLY LAND COMPANIES— COMPACT 

OF 1787 — ORGANIZATION OF THE TERRITORY — EARLY AMERICAN HETTLE- 

MExNTS IN THE OHIO VALLEY — FIRST TERRITORIAL 

OFFICERS— ORGANIZATION OF COUNTIES. 



THE occupation of the West by the American, 
really dates i'roni the campaign of'Clen. (,'larke in 
1778, when he captured the British pests in the 
Illinois country, and \'incennes on the Wabash. 
Had he been properly supjiorted, he would have 
rediued Detroit, then in easy reach, and poorly de- 
feniled. As it was, however, that post remained in 
charge of tlie British till after the close of the war 
of the Revolution. They also held other lake 
posts; but these were included in the terms of 
peace, and came into the possession of the Ameri- 
cans. They were abandoned by the British as 
soon as the different conuuanders received notice 
from their chiefs, and British rule and English 
occupation ceased in that part of the New World. 

The war virtually closed by the surrender of 
Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Va., October 19, 
1781. The struggle was prolonged, however, by 
the British, in the vain hope that they could re- 
trieve the disaster, but it was only a useless waste 
of men and mont-y. America would not be sub- 
dued. "If we arc to be taxed, we will be repre- 
sented," said they, "else we will be a free govern- 
ment, and regulate our own taxes." In the end, 
they were free. 

Provisional articles of peace between the United 
States and Great Britain were signed in Paris on 
the ;^()th of November, 1782. This was f(»llowed 
by an armistice negotiated at Versailles on the 20th 
of January, 178:^; and finally, a definite treaty of 
peace was concluded at Paris on the 3d of the next 
Septemljcr, and ratified by Congress on the 4th of 
January, 1784. By the second article of the defi- 
iiite treaty of 1783, the boundaries of the United 
States were fixed. A glance at the maj) of that 
day shows the boundary to have been a.s follows: 
Beginning at Passaniaipioddy Bay, on the coast of 
Maine, the line ran north a little above the forty- 
tilth parallel oj" latitiule, when it diverged southwest- 
erly, irregularly, until it reached that parallel, when 
it followed it until it reached the St. Lawrence River. 
It followed that river to Lake Ontario, down its 
center; up the Niagara River ; through Lake Erie, 



up the Detroit River and through Lakes Huron and 
Superior, to the northwest extremity of the latter. 
Then it pursued another irregular western course 
to the Lake of the Woods, when it turned south- 
ward to the Mississippi River. The commissioners 
insisted that should be the western boundary, as 
the lakes were the northern. It followed the Mis- 
sissippi south until the mouth of Red River was 
reached, when, turning east, it followed almost a 
direct line to the Atlantic Coast, touching the 
coast a little north of the outlet of St. John's 
River. 

From this outline, it will be readily seen what 
boundary the United States possessed. Not one- 
half of its present domain. 

At this date, there existed the original thirteen 
colonies : Virginia occupying all Kentucky and 
all the Northwest, save about half of Michigan and 
Wisconsin, claimed by Massachusetts; and the upper 
part of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and the lower 
part (a narrow strip) of Michigan, claimed by Con- 
necticut. Georgia included all of Alabama and 
Mississippi. The Spaniards claimed all Florida 
and a narrow part of lower Georgia. All the coun- 
try west of the Father of Waters belonged to Spain, 
to whom it had been secretly ceded when the fam- 
ily compact was made. That nation controlled the 
Mississippi, and gave no small uneasiness to the 
young government. It was, however, happily set- 
tled finally, by the sale of Louisana to the United 
States. 

Pending the settlement of these questions and 
the formation of th > Federal Union, the cession of 
the Northwest by \'irginia again came before 
Congress. That body found itself unable to fulfill 
its promises to its soldiers regarding laiul, and 
again urged the Old Dominion to cede the Terri- 
tory to the General (jiovernment, for the good of 
all. Congress forbade settlers from occupying the 
Western lands till a definite cession had been 
made, and the title to the lands in question made 
good. But speculation was stronger than law, 
and without waiting for the slow processes of courts. 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



61 



the adventurous settlers were pouring into the 
country at a rapid rate, only retarded by the rifle 
and scalping-knife of the savage — a temporary 
check. The policy of allowing any parties to obtain 
land from the Indians was strongly discouraged 
by Washington. He advocated the idea that only 
the General Grovernment could do that, and, in a 
letter to James Duane, in Congress, he strongly 
urged such a course, and pointed out the danger 
of a border war, unless some such measure was 
stringently followed. 

Under the circumstances. Congress pressed the 
claims of cession upon Virginia, and finally in- 
duced the Dominion to modify the terms proposed 
two years before. On the 20th of December, 
1783, Virginia accepted the proposal of Congress, 
and authorized her delegates to make a deed to 
the United States of all her right in the territory 
northwest of the Ohio. 

The Old Dominion stipulated in her deed of 
cession, that the territory should be divided into 
States, to be admitted into the Union as any other 
State, and to bear a proportionate share in the 
maintenance of that Union; that Virginia should 
be re-imbursed for the expense incurred in subduing 
the British posts in the territory; that the French 
and CaTiadian inhabitants should be protected in their 
rights ; that the grant to Gen. George Rogers Clarke 
and his men, as well as all other similar grants, 
should be confirmed, and that the lands should be 
considered as the common property of the United 
States, the proceeds to be applied to the use of the 
whole country. Congress accepted these condi- 
tions, and the deed was made March 1, 1784. 
Thus the country came from under the dominion 
of Virginia, and became common property. 

A serious difliculty arose about this time, that 
threatened for awhile to involve England and 
America anew in war. Virginia and several 
other States refused to abide by that part of the 
treaty relating to the payment of debts, especially 
so, when the British carried away quite a number 
of negroes claimed by the Americans. This re- 
fusal on the part of the Old Dominion and her 
abettors, caused the English to retain her North- 
western outposts, Detroit, Mackinaw, etc. She 
held these till 178(), when the questions were 
finally settled, and then readily abandoned them. 

The return of peace greatly augmented emigra- 
tion to the West, especially to Kentucky. When 
the war closed, the population of that county (the 
three counties having been made one judicial dis- 
trict, and Danville designated as the seat of gov- 



ernment) was estimated to be about twelve thousand. 
In one year, after the close of the war, it increased 
to 30,000, and steps for a State government were 
taken. Owing to the divided sentiment among its 
citizens, its perplexing questions of land titles 
and proprietary rights, nine conventions were held 
before a definite course of action could be reached. 
This prolonged the time till 1792, when, in De- 
cember of that year, the election for persons to 
form a State constitution was held, and the vexed 
and complicated questions settled. In 1783, the 
first wagons bearing merchandise came across the 
mountains. Their contents were received on flat- 
boats at Pittsburgh, and taken down the Ohio to 
Louisville, which that spring boasted of a store, 
opened by Daniel Broadhead. The next year, 
James Wilkinson opened one at Lexington. 

Pittsburgh was now the principal town in the 
West. It occupied the same position regarding 
the outposts that Omaha has done for several years 
to Nebraska. The town of Pittsburgh was laid 
out immediately after the war of 1764, by Col. 
Campbell. It then consisted of four squares about 
the fort, and received its name from that citadel. 
The treaty with the Six Nations in 17G8, con- 
veyed to the proprietaries of Pennsylvania all the 
lands of the Alleghany below Kittanning, and all 
the country south of the Ohio, within the limits of 
Penn's charter. This deed of cession was recog- 
nized when the line between Pennsylvania and 
Virginia was fixed, and gave the post to the Key- 
stone State. In accordance with this deed, the 
manor of Pittsburgh was withdrawn from market 
in 1769, and was held as the property of the Penn 
family. When Washington visited it in 1770, it 
seems to have declined in consequence of the 
afore-mentioned act. He mentions it as a "town of 
about twenty log houses, on the Monongahela, 
about three hundred yards from the fort." The 
Penn's remained true to the King, and hence all 
their land that had not been surveyed and returned 
to the land office, was confiscated by the common- 
wealth. Pittsburgh, having been surveyed, was 
still left to them. In the spring of 1784, Tench 
Francis, the agent of the Penns, was induced to 
lay out the manor into lots and offer them for sale. 
Though, for many years, the place was rather un- 
promising, it eventually became the chief town in 
that part of the West, a position it yet holds. In 
1786, John Scull and Joseph Hall started the 
Pittsburgh Guzottc^ the first paper published west 
of the mountains. In the initial number, appeared a 
lengthy article from the pen of H. H. Brackenridge, 



\: 



£ 



62 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



afterward one of the most prominent members 
of tlie Pennsylvania bar. Ho had located in 
Pitt.sbiiruh in 17H1. His letter >iives a most hope- 
ful j)rospoct in store for the future eity, and is a 
liighly descriptive article of the Western country. 
It is yet preserved in the "Western Annals," and 
is well worth a perusal. 

ruder the act of peace in 1783, no provision was 
made by the British for their allies, especially the 
Six Nations. The question was ignored by the 
English, and was made a handle by the Americans 
in gaining them to their cause before the war had 
fully clo.sed. The treaties made were regarded by 
the Indians as alliances only, and when the- En- 
glish left the country the Indians began to assume 
rather a hostile bearing. This excited the whites, 
and for a while a war with that formidable con- 
federacy \v;i.s inmiinent. Better councils prevailed, 
and Congress wisely ado])ted the policy of acquiring 
their lands by purcha.se. In accordance with this 
policy, a treaty was made at Fort Stanwix with 
the Six Xations, in October, 178-t. By this treaty, 
all lands west of a line drawn from the mouth of 
Oswego Creek, about four miles east of Niagara, 
to the mduth of Buffalo Creek, and on to the 
northern boundary of Pennsylvania, thence west 
along that boundary to its western extremity, 
thence south to the f)hio River, should be ceded 
to the United States. ( They claimed west of this line 
by con(piest. ) The Six Nations were to be secured 
in the lands they inhal)ited, reserving only six miles 
scpiare around Oswego fort for the support of the 
same. By this treaty, the indefinite claim of the 
Six Nations to the West was extinguished, and the 
question of its ownership .settled. 

It was now occupied by other Western tribes, 
wlio did not recognize the Iroquois claim, and who 
would not yield without a purchase. Especially 
was this the ca.se with those Indians living in the 
northern part. To get pos.session of that country 
by the .same i)rocess, the United States, through 
its commissioners, held a treaty at Fort Mcintosh 
on the 21st of January, 1785. The Wyandot, 
Delaware, (^hijipewa and Ottawa tribes were pres- 
ent, and, througli their chiefs, .sold their lands to 
the (rovc^rnment. 'I'he Wyandot and Delaware 
nations were given a reservation in the north part 
of Ohi<», where they were to be protected. The 
others were allotted reservations in Michigan. To 
all wasgiven conqtlete control of their lands, allow- 
ing them to i)unish any white man attempting to 
settle thereon, and guaranteeing them in their 
rijrhts. 



By such means Congress gained Indian titles to 
the vjist realms north of the Ohio, and, a few 
months later, that legislation was commenceil that 
should determine the mode of its disposal and the 
plan of its settlements. 

To facilitate the settlement of lands thus acquired, 
Congrc!Ss, on May 20, 1785, pa,sse(l an act for dispos- 
ing of lands in the Northwest Territory. Its main 
provisions were ; A surveyor or surveyors should be 
appointed from the States ; and a geographer, and 
his assistants to act with them. The surveyors 
were to divide the territory into townships of six 
miles square, by lines running due north and 
south, and east and west. The starting-place 
was to be on the Ohio River, at a point where the 
southern and western boundaries oi' Pennsylvania 
intersected. This would give the first range, and 
the first township. As soon as seven townships were 
surveyed, the maps and plats of the same were to 
be sent to the Board of the Treasury, who would 
record them and pnxx'cd to place the land in the 
market, and so on with all the townships as fast as 
they could be prepared ready for sale. Each town- 
ship was to be divided into thirty-six sections, or 
lots. Out of these sections, numbers 8, 11, 20 and 
29 were reserved for the use of the Government, 
and lot No. 1(5, for the establishment of a common- 
school fund. One-third of all mines and minerals was 
also reserved for the United States. Three townships 
on Lake Erie were reserved for the use of ofiicers, 
men and others, refugees from Canada and from 
Nova Scotia, who were entitled to grants of land. 
The Moravian Indians were also exempt from 
molestation, and guaranteed in their homes. Sol- 
diers' claims, and all others of a like nature, were 
also recognized, and land reserved for them. 

Without waiting for the act of Congress, settlers 
had been pouring into the country, and, when or- 
dered by Congress to leave undisturbed Indian 
lands, refused to do so. They went into the In- 
dian country at their peril, however, and when 
driven out by the Indians could get no redress 
from the (lovernment, even when life was lost. 

The Indians on the Wabash made a treaty at 
Fort Finney, on the Miami, January HI, 178(!, 
promising allegiance to the United States, and were 
allowed a reservation. This treaty did not include 
the Piankeshaws, as was at first intended. These, 
refusing to live peaceably, stirred up the Shawa- 
nees, who began a series of predatory excursions 
against the settlements. This led to an expedition 
against them and other restless tribes. Gen. Clarke 
commanded part of the army on that expedition. 



V 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



05 



but got no farther than Vincennes, when, owing to 
the discontent of his Kentucky troops, he was 
obUged to return. Col. Benjamin Logan, how- 
ever, marched, at the head of four or five hundred 
mounted riflemen, into the Indian country, pene- 
trating as far as the head- waters of Mad River. 
He destroyed several towns, much corn, and took 
about eighty prisoners. Among these, was the 
chief of the nation, who was wantonly slain, 
greatly to Logan's regret, who could not restrain 
his men. His expedition taught the Indians sub- 
mission, and that they must adhere to their con- 
tracts. 

Meanwhile, the difficulties of the navigation of 
the Mississippi arose. Spain would not relinquish 
the right to control the entire southern part of the 
river, allowing no free navigation. She was secretly 
hoping to cause a revolt of the Western provinces, 
especially Kentucky, and openly favored such a 
move. She also claimed, by conquest, much of the 
land on the east side of the river. The slow move- 
ments of Congress; the failure of Virginia to 
properly protect Kentucky, and the inherent rest- 
lessness in some of the Western men, well-nigh 
precipitated matters, and, for a while, serious results 
were imminent. The Kentuckians, and, indeed, 
all the people of the West, were determined the 
river should be free, and even went so far as to 
raise a regiment, and forcibly seize Spanish prop- 
erty in the West. Great Britain stood ready, too, 
to aid the West should it succeed, providing it 
would make an alliance with her. But while the 
excitement was at its height, Washington coun- 
seled better ways and patience. The decisive tone 
of the new republic, though almost overwhelmed 
with a burden of debt, and with no credit, debarred 
the Spanish from too forcible measures to assert 
their claims, and held back the disloyal ones from 
attempting a revolt. 

New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut ceded 
their lands, and now the United States were ready 
to fulfill their promises of land grants, to the sol- 
diers who had preserved the nation. This did 
much to heal the breach in the West, and restore 
confidence there; so that the Mississippi question 
was overlooked for a time, and Kentucky forgot her 
animosities. 

The cession of their claims was the signal for 
the formation of land companies in the East; com- 
panies whose object was to settle the Western coun- 
try, and, at the same time, enrich the founders of 
the companies. Some of these companies had been 
formed in the old colonial days, but the recent war 



had put a stop to all their proceedings. Congress 
would not recognize their claims, and new com- 
panies, under old names, were the result. By such 
means, the Ohio Company emerged fi'om the past, 
and, in 1786, took an active existence. 

Benjamin Tujjper, a Revolutionary soldier, and 
since then a government surveyor, who had been 
west as far as Pittsburgh, revived the question. 
He was prevented from prosecuting his surveys by 
hostile Indians, and returned to Massachusetts. 
He broached a plan to Gen. Rufus Putnam, as to 
the renewal of their memorial of 1783, which re- 
sulted in the publication of a plan, and inviting all 
those interested, to meet in Fel)ruary in their re- 
spective counties, and choose delegates to a con- 
vention to be held at the " Bunch-of-grapes Tav- 
ern." in Boston, on the first of March, 1786. On 
the day appointed, eleven persons appeared, and 
by the 3d of March an outline was drawn up, and 
subscriptions under it began at once. The leading- 
features of the plan were : » A fund of $1 ,000,000, 
mainly in Continental certificates, was to be raised 
for the purpose of purchasing lands in the Western 
country; there were to be 1,000 shares of $1,000 
each, and upon each share $10 in specie were to 
be paid for contingent expenses. One year's inter- 
est was to be appropriated to the charges of making 
a settlement, and assisting those unable to move 
without aid. The owners of every twenty shares 
were to choose an agent to represent them and 
attend to their interests, and the agents were to 
choose the directors. The plan was approved, and 
in a year's time from that date, the Company was 
organized."* 

By the time this Company was organized, all 
claims of the colonies in the coveted territory wei-e 
done away with by their deeds of cession, Connect- 
icut being the last. 

While troubles were still existing south of the 
Ohio River, regarding the navigation of the Mis- 
sissippi, and many urged the formation of a sepa- 
rate, independent State, and while Congress and 
Washington were doing what they could to allay 
the feeling north of the Ohio, the New England 
associates were busily engaged, now that a Com- 
pany was formed, to obtain the land they wishes! 
to purchase. On the 8tli of March, 1787, a meet- 
ing of the agents chose Gen. Parsons, Gen. Put- 
nam and the Rev. Mannasseh Cutler, Directors for 
the Company. The last selection was quite a 
fitting one for such an enterprise. Dr. Cutler was 



= Historical Collections. 



L^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



an accomplished scholar, an excellent gentleman, 
and a tinu believer in freedom. In the choice of 
him as the agent of the (\)mpany, lies the fact, 
though unforeseen, of the beginning of anti-slavery 
in America. Through him the famous " com])act 
of ITS", " the true corner-stone of the Northwest, 
originated, ami by him was safely passed. He 
was a good •' wiri'-imller,"' too, and iji this had an 
advantage. Mr. llutchins was at this time the 
geographer for the United States, and was, prob- 
ably, the best-posted man in America regarding 
the West. Dr. Cutler learned from him that the 
most desirable portions were on the Muskingum 
River, north of the Ohio, and was advised by him 
to buy there if he couki. 

Congress wanted money badly, and many of the 
members favored the plan. The Southern mem- 
bers, generally, were hostile to it, a.s the Doctor 
wouhl listen to no grant which did not embody 
the New England ideas in the charter. These 
members were finally won over, some bribery be- 
ing used, and some of their favorites made officers 
of the Territory, whose formation was now going 
on. This took time, liowever, and Dr. Cutler, be- 
coming impatient, declared they would purchase 
from some of the States, who held small tracts in 
various parts of the West. This intimation brought 
the tardy ones to time, and, on the 23d of July, 
Congress authorized the Treasury Board to make 
the contract. On the 2Gth, Messrs. Cutler and 
Sargent, on behalf of the Company, stated in 
writing their conditif)ns; and on the 27th, Con- 
gress referred their letter to the Board, and an 
order of the same date wa.s obtained. Of this Dr. 
Cutler's journal says: 

''By this grant we obtained near five millions 
of acres of land, amounting to $:->,5(l0,(»()() ; ] ,500,- 
000 acres for the Ohio Company, and the remainder 
for a private speculation, in which many of the 
principal characters of America are concerned. 
Without connecting this peculation, similar terms 
and advantages for the Ohio Company could not 
have been obtained."' 

Messrs. Cutler and Sargent at once closed a ver- 
bal contract with the Treasury Board, which was 
executed in form on the 27th of the next Octo- 
ber.* 

By this contract, the vast region bounded on the 
south by the Ohio, west by the Scioto, east by the 
seventh range of townships then surveying, and 
north by a due west line, drawn from the north 

* Laud Laws. 



boundary of the tenth township from the Ohio, 
direct to the Scioto, was sold to the Ohio associ- 
ates and their secret copartners, for $\ per acre, 
subject to a deduction of one-third for bad lands 
and other contingencies. 

The whole tract was not, however, paid for nor 
taken by the Company — even their own portion of 
a million and ahalf acres, and extending west to the 
eighteenth range of townships, was not taken ; and 
in 1792, the boundaries of the purchase proper 
were fixed as follows: the Ohio on the south, the 
seventh range of townships on the east, the six- 
teenth range on the we.st, and a line on the north 
so drawn as to make the grant 750,000 acres, btv 
sides reservations ; this grant being the portion 
which it was originally agreed the Company' might 
enter into at once. In addition to this, 214,285 
acres were granted as army bounties, under the 
resolutions of 1779 and 1780, and 100,000 acres 
as bounties to actual settlers; both of the latter 
tracts being within the original grant of 1787, and 
adjoining the purchase as before mentioned. 

While these things were progressing. Congress 
Wiis bringing into form an ordinance for the gov- 
ernment and social organization of the North- 
west Territory. Virginia made her cession in 
March, 1784, and during the month following the 
plan for the temporary government of the newly 
acquired territory came under discussion. On the 
19th of Apiil, Mr. Spaight, of North Carolina, 
moved to strike fr(im the plan reported by Mr. 
Jefferson, the emancipationist of his day, a provis- 
ion for the prohibition of slavery north of the Ohio 
after the year 1800. The motion prevailed. From 
that day till the 23d, the plan was discussed and 
altered, and finally passed unanimously with the ex- 
ception of South Carolina. The South would have 
slavery, or defeat every measure. Thus this hide- 
ous monster early began to assert himself. By the 
proposed plan, the Territory was to have been 
divided into States by parallels of latitude and merid- 
ian lines. This division, it was thought, would make 
ten States, whose names were as follows, beginning 
at the northwest corner, and going southwardly : 
Sylvania, Michigania, Cheresonisus, A.ssenispia, 
Metropotamia, Illinoia, Saratoga, Washington, 
Polypotamia and J*elisipia.* 

A more serious difficulty existed, however, to 
this plan, than its catalogue of names — the number 
of States and tht'ir boundaries. Theroot of the evil 
was in the resolution pa.ssed by Congress in October, 

* Spark's Washington. 



77 



1£ 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



67 



1 TSO, which fixed the size of the States to be formed 
from the ceded hinds, at one hundred to one hundred 
and fifty miles square. The terms of that resolu- 
tion being called up both by Virginia and Massa- 
chusetts, further legislation was deemed necessary 
to change them. July 7, 1786, this subject came 
up in Congress, and a resolution passed in favor of 
a division into not less than three nor more than 
five States. Virginia, at the close of 1788, assented 
to this proposition, which became the basis upon 
which the division should be made. On the 29th 
of September, Congress having thus changed the 
plan for dividing the Northwestern Territory into 
ten States, proceeded again to consider the terms of 
an ordinance for the government of that region. At 
this juncture, the genius of Dr. Cutler displayed 
itself A graduate in medicine, law and divinity ; 
an ardent lover of liberty ; a celebrated scientist, 
and an accomplished, portly gentleman, of whom 
the Southern senators said they had never before 
seen so fine a specimen from the New England colo- 
nies, no man was better prepared to form a govern- 
ment for the new Territory, than he. The Ohio 
Company was his real object. He was backed by 
them, and enough Continental money to purchase 
more than a million acres of land. This was aug- 
mented by other parties vmtil, as has been noticed, 
he represented over five million acres. This would 
largely reduce the public debt. Jefferson and Vir- 
ginia were regarded as authority concerning the 
land Virginia had just ceded to the General Gov- 
ernment. Jefferson's policy was to provide for the 
national credit, and still check the growth of slavery. 
Here was a good opportunity. Massachusetts 
owned the Territory of Maine, which she was crowd- 
ing into market. She opposed the opening of 
the Northwest. This stirred Virginia. The South 
caught the inspiration and rallied around the Old 
Dominion and Dr. Cutler. Thereby he gained the 
credit and good will of the South, an auxiliary he 
used to good purpose. Massachusetts could not 
vote against him, because many of the constituents 
of her members were interested in the Ohio Com- 
pany. Thus the Doctor, using all the arts of the 
lobbyist, was enabled to hold the situation. True to 
deeper convictions, he dictated one of the most com- 
pact and finished documents of wise statesmanship 
that has ever adorned any statute-book. Jefferson 
gave it the term, "Articles of Compact," and 
rendered him valuable aid in its construction. This 
" Com]mct" preceded the Federal Constitution, in 
both of which are seen Jefferson's master-mind. 
Dr. Cutler followed closely the constitution of Mas- 



sachusetts, adopted three years before. The prom- 
inent features were : The exclusion of slavery from 
the Territory forever. Provision for public schools, 
giving one township for a seminary, and every six- 
teenth section. (That gave one thirty-sixth of all 
the land for public education. j A provision pro- 
hibiting the adoption of any constitution or the 
enactment of any law that would nullify pre-exist- 
ing contracts. 

The compact further declared that " Religion, 
morality and knowledge being necessary to good 
government and the happiness of mankind, scliools 
and the means of education shall always be en- 
couraged." 

The Doctor planted himself firmly on this plat- 
form, and would not yield. It was that or nothing. 
Unless they could make the land desirable, it was 
not wanted, and, taking his horse and buggy, he 
started for the Constitutional Convention in Phil- 
adelphia. His influence succeeded. On the 13th 
of July, 1787, the bill was put upon its passage 
and was unanimously adopted. Every member 
from the South voted for it ; only one man, Mr. 
Yates, of New York, voted against the measure ; 
but as the vote was made by States, his vote was 
lost, and the " Compact of 1787 " was beyond re- 
peal. Thus the great States of the Northwest 
Territory were consecrated to freedom, intelligence 
and morality. This act was the opening step for 
freedom in America. Soon the South saw their 
blunder, and endeavored, by all their power, to re- 
peal the compact. In 1803, Congress referred it 
to a committee, of which John Randolph was 
chairman. He repoi'ted the ordinance was a com- 
pact and could not be repealed. Thus it stood, 
like a rock, in the way of slavery, which still, in 
spite of these provisions, endeavored to plant that 
infernal institution in the West. Witness the 
early days of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. But the 
compact could not be violated ; New England ideas 
could not be put down, and her sons stood ready 
to defend the soil of the West from that curse. 

The passage of the ordinance and the grant of 
land to Dr. Cutler and his associates, were soon fol- 
lowed by a request fi-om John Cleve Symmes, of 
New Jersey, for the country between the INIiamis. 
Symmes had visited that part of the West in 178G, 
and, being pleased with the valleys of the Shawa- 
nees, had applied to the Board of the Treasury for 
their purchase, as soon as they were open to set- 
tlement. The Board was empowered to act by 
Congress, and, in 1788, a contract was signed, giv- 
ing him the country he desired. The terms of his 



~<-, 



68 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



purcluuse wore similar to those of the Ohio Com- 
puny. His ajijiliration was followed by others, 
whose sueei'ssor failure will appear in the narrative. 

The New Kiiirland or Ohio Company was all 
this time busily t'n«;aiied perfeetiui: its arrange- 
ments t(» oeeupy its huuls. The Directors agreed 
to reserve "j.TlJO aeres near the eonflueiue of the 
Ohio and Muskingum for a city and commons, for 
the old ideius of the Enj;lish plan of settlin,<r a 
country yet prevailed. A meeting of the Direct- 
ors was held at Bracket's tavern, in Boston, No- 
vember 23, ITST, when four surveyors, and twen- 
ty-two attendants, boat-builders, carpenters, black- 
smiths and common workmen, numbering in all 
forty persons, were engaged. Their tools were 
purch;ised, and wagons were obtained to transport 
them across the mountains. Gen. Rufus Putnam 
was made superintendent of the company, and 
Kbenezer S])rout, of Rhode Island, Anselm Tup- 
per and .Joliii Matthews, from 3Iassachusetts, and 
R. J. Meigs, from Connecticut, as surveyors. At 
the .same meeting, a suitaltle person to instruct them 
in religion, and prepare the way to open a school 
when needed, was selected. This was Rev. Daniel 
Storey, who became the first New England minis- 
ter in the Northwest. 

The Indians were watching this outgrowth of 
affiiirs, and felt, from what they could learn in Ken- 
tucky, that they would be gradually surrounded by 
the whites. This they did not relish, by any 
means, and gave the settlements south of the Ohio 
no little uneiu^iness. It was thought best to hold 
another treaty with them. In the mean time, to 
insure peace, the Governor of Virginia, and Con- 
gress, placed troops at A'enango, Forts Pitt and 
Mcintosh, and at Miami, Vincennes, Louisville, 
and Muskingum, and the militia of Kentucky 
were held in readiness should a sudden outbreak 
occur. These measures produced no results, save 
insuring the safety of the whites, and not until 
January, IT^^O, was Clarke able to carry out his 
plans. During that month, he held a meeting at Fort 
Ilarmar,* at the mouth of the Muskingum, where 
the New England Colony expected to locate. 

The ho.stile character of the Indians did not 
deter the Ohio Company from carrying out its 
plans. In the winter of 1787, Gen. Rufus Put- 



*Fort H.irmar waBlmilt in 1785, by a detachment of United States 
aoldiere, undi;rcuinriiand of Maj. Jnhn Doughty. It was named in 
honor of Col. Josiiih liiiiiimr, to whosn- rcgimi'iit Maj. Douglity was 
attached. It was tlie first niilitwry post erected by the Americans 
wit'iin th.' limits of Ohio, exci'iit Fort I.auren8, a temporary struct- 
ure liiiilt in 1778. When Marii-ttii was foundiMl it was tlie military 
post of that part of the country, and was for many years an impor- 
tant station. 



nam and forty-seven pioneers advanced to the 
mouth of the Youghiogheny River, and began 
building a boat for transportation down the Ohio 
ill the sj)riiig. The boat was the largest craft that 
had ever descended the river, and, in allusion to 
their Pilgrim Fathers, it Wiis called the Mayflower. 
It was 45 feet long and 12 feet widt'. and esti- 
mated at 50 tons burden. Truly a formidable affair 
for the time. The bows were raking and curved 
like a galley, and were strongly timbered. The 
sides were made bullet-proof, and it was covered 
with a deck roof. Capt. Dt'vol, the first ship- 
,builder in the West, was placed in command. On 
the 2d of April, the Mayflower was launched, 
and for five days the little band of pioneers sailed 
down the Monongahela and the Ohio. and. on the 
7th, landed at the mouth of the Muskingum. 
There, opposite Fort Harmar, they chose a loca- 
tion, moored their boat for a temporary shelter, 
and began to erect houses for their occupation. 

Thus was begun the first English settlement in 
the Ohio Valley. About the 1st of July, they 
were re-enforced by the arrival of a colony from 
Massachusetts. It had been nine weeks on the 
way. It had hauled its wagons and driven its 
stock to Wheeling, where, constructing flat-boats, 
it had floated down the river to the settlement. 

In October preceding this occurrence, Arthur 
St. Clair had been appointed Governor of the Ter- 
ritory by Congress, which body also appointed 
Winthrop Sargent, Secretary, and Samuel II. 
Parsons, James M. Varnum and John Armstrong 
Judges. Subsequently Mr. Armstrong declined 
the appointment, and IMr. Symines was given the 
vacancy. None of these were on the ground 
when the first settlement was made, though the 
Judges came soon after. One of the first things the 
colony found necessary to do was to organize 
some form of government, whereby difliiculties 
might be settled, though to the credit of the colony 
it may be said, that during the first three months 
of its existence but one difference arose, and that 
was settled by a compromise.* Indeed, hardly a 
better set of men for the purpose could have been 
selected. Washington wrote concerning this 
colony : 

" No colony in America was ever settled under 
such favorable auspices as that which has com- 
menced at the jMuskingum. Information, prop- 
erty and strength will be its characteristics. I 
know many of the settlers personally, and there 

♦ "Western Monthly Magazine." 



HISTORY or OHIO. 



69 



never were men better calculated to promote the 
welfare of such a community." 

On the 2d of July, a meeting of the Directors 
and agents was held on the banks of the Mus- 
kingum for the purpose of naming the newborn 
city and its squares. As yet, the settlement had 
been merely " The Muskingum ; " but the name 
Marietta was now formally given it, in honor of 
Marie xVntoinette. The square upon which the 
blockhouses stood was called Campus Martins; 
Square No. 19, Capitolumi; Square No. 61, Ce- 
ci'lia, and the great road running through the 
covert-way, i^acra I7«.* Surely, classical scholars 
were not scarce in the colony. 

On the Fourth, an oration was delivered by 
James M. Varnum, one of the Judges, and a 
public demonstration held. Five days after, the 
Governor arrived, and the colony began to assume 
form. The ordinance of 1787 provided two dis- 
tinct grades of government, under the first of 
which the whole power was under the Governor 
and the three Judges. This form was at once 
recognized on the arrival of St. Clair. The first 
law established by this court was passed on the 
25th of July. It established and regulated the 
militia of the Territory. The next day after its 
publication, appeared the Governor's proclamation 
erecting all the country that had been ceded by 
the Indians east of the Scioto River, into the 
county of Washington. Marietta was, of course, 
the county seat, and, from that day, went on 
prosperously. On September 2, the first court 
was held with becoming ceremonies. It is thus 
related in the American Pioneer: 

''The procession was formed at the Point 
( where the most of the settlers resided), in the 
following order: The High Sheriff, with his 
drawn sword; the citizens; the officers of the 
garri.son at Fort Harmar; the members of the 
bar; the Supreme Judges; the Governor and 
clergyman ; the newly appointed Judges of the 
Court of Common Pleas, Gens. Rufus Putnam 
and Benjamin Tupper. 

''They marched up the path that had been 
cleared through the forest to Campus Martins 
Hall (stockade), where the whole countermarched, 
and the Judges (Putnam and Tupper) took their 
seats. The clergyman. Rev. Dr. Cutler, then 
invoked the divine blessing. The Sherift", C(j1. 
Ebenezer Sproat, proclaimed with his solemn ' Oh 
yes! ' that a court is open for the administration of 

*" Carey's MoBeum," Vol. 4. 



even-handed justice, to the poor and to the rich, 
to the guilty and to the innocent, without respect 
of persons ; none to be punished without a trial of 
their peers, and then in pursuance of the laws and 
evidence in the case. 

" Although this scene was exhibited thus early 
in the settlement of the West, few ever equaled it 
in the dignity and exalted character of its princi- 
pal participators. IMany of them belonged to the 
history of our country in the darkest, as well as 
the most splendid, period of the Revolutionary 
war." 

Many Indians were gathered at the same time 
to witness the (to them ) strange spectacle, and for 
the purpose of forming a treaty, though how 
far they carried this out, the Pioneer does not 
relate. 

The progress of the settlement was quite satis- 
factory during the year. Some one writing a 
letter from the town says: 

" The progress of the settlement is sufficiently 
rapid for the first year. We are continually erect- 
ing houses, but arrivals are constantly coming 
faster than we can possibly provide convenient 
covering. Our first ball was opened about the 
middle of December, at which were fifteen ladies, 
as well accomplished in the manner of polite 
circles as any I have ever seen in the older States. 
I mention this to show the progress of society in 
this new world, where, I believe, we shall vie with, 
if not excel, the old States in every accom- 
plishment necessary to render life agreeable and 
happy." 

The emigration westward at this time was, 
indeed, exceedingly large. The commander at 
Fort Harmar reported -4,500 persons as having 
passed that post between February and June, 
1788, many of whom would have stopped there, 
had the associates been prepared to receive them. 
The settlement was free from Indian depredations 
until January, 1791, during which interval it 
daily increased in numbers and strength. 

Symmes and his friends were not idle during this 
time. He had sebured his contract in October, 
1787, and, soon after, issued a pamphlet stating 
the terms of his purchase and the mode he intended 
to follow in the disposal of the lands. His plan 
was, to issue warrants for not less than one-quarter 
section, which might be located anywhere, save on 
reservations, or on land previously entered. The 
locator could enter an entire section should he de- 
sire to do so. The price was to be 60f cents per 
acre till May, 1788 ; then, till November, SI ; and 



3?- 



:v 



^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



after that time to be regiilatetl by the demand for 
land. Each piircliaser was bound to begin im- 
|>n)vement.s within two yeiirs, or forfeit one-sixth 
of the hind to wliocver would settle thereon and 
remain seven years. Military bounties might be 
taken in this, as in the purchase of the associates. 
For himself, Symmes reserved one township near 
the mouth of the Miami. On this he intended to 
build a great city, rivaling any Eastern port. He 
offered any one a lot on which to build a house, 
providing he would remain three years. Conti- 
nental certificates were rising, owing to the demand 
for land created by these two purchases, and Con- 
gress found the burden of debt correspondingly 
lessened. Symnies soon began to experience diffi- 
culty in procuring enough to meet his payments. 
He had also some trouble in arranging his boundary 
with the Board of the Treasury. These, and other 
causes, laid the foundation for another city, which is 
now what Symmes hoped his city would one day be. 

In January, 1788, IMathias Denman, of New 
Jersey, took an interest in Symmes' purchase, 
and located, among other tracts, the sections upon 
which Cincinnati has since been built. Retaining 
one-third of this purchase, he sold the balance to 
Robfcrt Patterson and John Filson, each getting 
the same share. These three, about August, agreed 
to lay out a town on their land. It was designated 
as opposite the mouth of tlie Licking River, to 
which place it was intended to open a road from 
Lexington, Ivy. These men little thought of the 
great emporium that now covers the modest site of 
this town they laid out that summer. Mr. Filson, 
who had been a schoolmaster, and was of a some- 
what poetic nature, was appointed to name the 
town. In respect to its situation, and as if with 
a prophetic perception of the mixed races that 
were in after years to dwell there, he named it Los- 
antiville,* " wliich, being interpreted," says the 
" Western Annals," "means tv'ZA^, the town; a7iti, 
oppo.><ite to ; O.S-, the mouth ; X, of Licking. This 
may well put to the blush the Campus Martinii 
of the ^Llrietta scholars, and the Fort Solon of 
the Spaniards." 

^I<'anwliil<', Symmes was bu.sy in the East, and, 
by .July, got thirty people and eight four-horse 
wagons under way for the AVest. These rtjached 
Limestone liy September, where they nutt Mr. 
Stitcs, with .several persons from Redstone. All 

• Jiuigp B\imetf, in his notes, disputes the above account of the 
origin of tbo city of Cincinnuti. Hi- Bays the name "Losantiville" 
wa8 iloterniiiied on, Ijut not adopted, wlieu the town was laid out. 
This version is jirMlialily the correct one, and will be found fully 
given In the detail' d histi ry of the settlements. 



came to Symmes' purchase, and began to look for 
homes. 

Symmes' mind was, however, ill at rest. He 
could not meet his first payment on so vast a realm, 
and there also arose a difference of opinion be- 
tween him and the Treahury Board regarding the 
Ohio boundary. Symmes wanted all the land be- 
tween the two Miamis, bordering on the Oliio, 
while the Board wished him confined to no more 
than twenty miles of the river. To this proposal 
he would not agree, as he had made sales all along 
the river. Leaving the bargain in an unsettled 
state, Congress considered itself released from all 
its obligations, and, but for the representations of 
many of Symmes' friends, he would have lost all 
his money and labor. His appointment as Judge 
was not favorably received by many, as they 
thought that by it he would actjuire unlimited 
power. Some of his associates also complained of 
him, and, for awhile, it surely seemed that ruin 
only awaited him. But he was brave and hope- 
ful, and determined to succeed. On his return 
from a visit to his purchase in September, 1788, 
he wrote Jonathan Dayton, of New Jersey, one of 
his best friends and associates, that he thought 
some of the land near the Great Miami "positively 
worth a silver dollar the acre in its present state." 

A good many changes were made in his original 
contract, growing out of his inability to meet his 
payments. At first, he was to have not less than 
a million acres, under an act of Congress passed in 
October, 1787, authorizing the Treasury Board to 
contract with any one who could pay for such 
tracts, on the Ohio and Wabash Rivers, whose 
fronts should not exceed one-third of their depth. 

Dayton and Mar.sh, Symmes' agents, contracted 
with the Board for one tract on the Ohio, begin- 
ning twenty miles up the Ohio from the mouth of 
the Great Miami, and to run back for quantity be- 
tween the Miami and a line drawn from the ()hio, 
parallel to the general course of that river. Tn 
1791, three years after Dayton and Marsh made 
the contract, Symmes found this would throw the 
jnirchase too far back from the Ohio, and ajiplied 
to (yongress to let him have all between the IMi- 
amies, running back so as to include 1,000, (KM) 
acres, which that body, on April 12, 17!>2, agreed 
to do. When the lands were surveyed, however, it 
was found that aline drawn from the head of the 
liittle Miami due west to the Great IMiami, would 
include south of it less than six hundred thousand 
acres. PiVen this Symmes could not pay for, and 
when his patent was issued in September, 1794, it 



:v^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



71 



gave him and his associates 248,540 acres, exclu- 
sive of reservatious which amounted to 63,142 
acres. This tract was bounded by the Ohio, the 
two Miamis and a due east and west Une run so 
as to inckide the desired quantity. Symmes, how- 
ever, made no further payments, and the rest of 
his purchase reverted to the United States, who 
gave those who had bought under him ample pre- 
emption rights. 

The Government was able;, also, to give him and 
his colonists but little aid, and as danger from hos- 
tile Indians was in a measure imminent (though all 
the natives were friendly to Symmes), settlers were 
slow to come. However, the band led by Mr. 
Stites arrived before the 1st of January, 1789, 
and locating themselves near the mouth of the 
Little Miami, on a tract of 10,000 acres which 
Mr. Stites had purchased from Symmes, formed 
the second settlement in Ohio. They were soon 
afterward joined by a colony of twenty-six persons, 
who assisted them to erect a block-house, and 
gather their corn. The town was named Columbia. 
While here, the great flood of January, 1789, oc- 
curred, which did much to ensure the future 
growth of Losantiville, or more properly, Cincin- 
nati. Symmes City, which was laid out near the 
mouth of the Gi'eat Miami, and which he vainly 
strove to make the city of the future. Marietta 
and Columbia, all suffered severely by this flood, 
the gi'eatest, the Indians said, ever known. The 
site of Cincinnati was not overflowed, and hence 
attracted the attention of the settlers. Denman's 
warrants had designated his purchase as opposite 
the mouth of the Licking; and that point escap- 
ing the overflow, late in December the place was 
visited by Israel Ludlow, Symmes' surveyor, Mr. 
Patterson and 3Ir. Denman, and about fouiteen oth- 
ers, who left Ma^'sville to "form a station and lay 
ofi^ a town opposite the Licking." The river was 
filled with ice "from shore to shore;" but, says 
Symmes in May, 1789, '-Perseverance triumphing 
over difficulty, and they landed safe on a most de- 
lightful bank of the Ohio, where they founded 
the town of Losantiville, which populates consid- 
erably." The settlers of Losantiville built a few 
log huts and block-houses, and proceeded to im- 
prove the town. Symmes, noticing the location, 
says: "Though they placed their dwellings in the 
most marked position, yet they suffered nothing 
from the freshet." This would seem to give cre- 
dence to Judge Burnett's notes regarding thp origin 
of Cincinnati, who states the settlement was made 
at this time, and not at the time mentioned when 



Mr. Filson named the town. It is further to be 
noticed, that, before the town was located by Mr. 
Ludlow and Mr. Patterson, Mv. Filson had been 
killed by the Miami Indians, and, as he had not paid 
for his one-third of the site, the claim was sold to 
Mr. Ludlow, who thereby became one of the origi- 
nal owners of the place. Just what day the town 
was laid out is not recorded. All the evidence 
tends to show it must have been late in 1788, or 
early in 1789. 

While the settlements on the north side of the 
Ohio were thus progressing, south of it fears of the 
Indians prevailed, and the separation sore was 
kept open. The country was, however, so torn by 
internal factions that no plan was likely to suc- 
ceed, and to this fact, in a large measure, may be 
credited the reason it did not secede, or join the 
Spanish or French fiiction, both of which were 
intriguing to get the commonwealth. During 
this year the treasonable acts of James Wilkinson 
came into view. For a while he thought success 
was in his grasp, but the two governments were at 
peace with America, and discountenanced any such 
efforts. Wilkinson, like all traitors, relapsed into 
nonentity, and became mistrusted by the govern- 
ments he attempted to befi-iend. Treason is al- 
ways odious. 

It will be borne in mind, that in 1778 prepa- 
rations had been made for a treaty with the Indi- 
ans, to secure peaceful possession of the lands 
owned in the West. Though the whites held 
these by purchase and treaty, yet many Indians, 
especially the AV abash and some of the Miami In- 
dians, objected to their occupation, claiming the 
Ohio boundary as the original division line. Clarke 
endeavored to obtain, bj' treaty at Fort Harmar, 
in 1778, a confirmation of these grants, but was 
not able to do so till January, 9, 1789. Rep- 
resentatives of the Six Nations, and of the Wyan- 
dots, Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawato- 
mies and Sacs, met him at this date, and confirmed 
and extended the treaties of Fort Stanwix and 
Fort Mcintosh, the one in 1784, the other in 
1785. This secured peace with the most of them, 
save a few of the Wabash Indians, whom they 
were compelled to conquer by arms. When this 
was accomplished, the borders were thought safe, 
and Virginia proposed to withdraw her aid in sup- 
port of Kentucky. This opened old troubles, and 
the separation dogma came out afresh. Virginia 
offiered to allow the erection of a separate State, 
providing Kentucky would assume part of the old 
debts. This the young commonwealth would not 



7) fV 



liv 



72 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



do, and sent a remonstrance. Virginia withdrew 
the proposal, and ordered a ninth convention, 
which succeeded in evolving a plan whereby Ken- 
tucky took her place among the free States of the 
Union. 

North of the Ohio, the prosperity continued. 
In 17S1), llev. Daniel Story, who had been ap- 
pointed missionary to the West, came out as a 
teai-her of the youth and a preacher of the Gospel. 
Dr. I'utler hud preceded him, not in the capacity 
of a minister, though he had j)rcached ; hence Mr. 
Story is truly the iirst missionary from the Prot- 
estant Church who came to the Ohio Valley in 
that capacity. When he came, in 1789, he found 
nine associations on the Ohio Company's purchase, 
comprising two hundred and fifty persons in all ; 
and, by the close of 1790, eight settlements had 
been made: two at Belpre (belle prairie), one at 
Newbury, one at Wolf Creek, one at Duck Creek, 
one at the mouth of Meigs' Creek, one at Ander- 
.sons Bottom, and one at Big Bottom. An ex- 
tended sketch of all these settlements will be found 
farther on in this volume. 

Symmes had, all this time, strenuously endeav- 
ored to get his city — called Cleves City — favorably 
noticed, and filled with people. He saw a rival in 
Cincirmati. That place, if made military head- 
quarters to protect the Miami Valley, would out> 
rival his town, situated near the bend of the 
Miami, near its mouth. On the 15th of June, 
Judge Symmes received news that the Wabash 
Indians threatened the Miami settlements, and as 
he had received only nineteen men for defense, he 
applied for more. Before July, Maj. Doughty 
arrived at the "Slaughter House" — as the Miami 
was sometimes called, owing to previous murders 
that had, at former times, occurred therein. 
Through the influence of Symmes, the detach- 
ment laniled at the North Bend, and, for awhile, 
it was thought the fort would be erected there. 
This was what Symmes wanted, as it would 
secure him the headrjuarters of the military, and 
aid in getting the headquarters of the civil gov- 
ernment. The truth was, however, that neither 
the proposed city on the Miami — North Bend, as 
it afterward became known, from its location — or 
South Bend, could ccmipete, in point of natural 
advantages, with the plain on which Cincinnati is 
built. Had Fort Washington been built elsewhere, 
after the close of the Indian war, nature would 
have asserted her advantages, and insured the 
growth of a city, where even the ancient and mys- 
terious dwellers of the Ohio had reared the earthen 



walls of one of their vast temples. Another fact 
is given in relation to the erection of Fort AVash- 
ington at Losantiville, which partakes somewhat of 
romance. The Major, while waiting to decide at 
which place the fort should be built, happened to 
make the acquaintance of a black-eyed beauty, the 
wife of one of the residents. Her husband, notic- 
ing the aftair, removed her to Losantiville. The 
3Iajor followed ; he told Symmes he wished to see 
how a fort would do there, but promised to give his 
city the preference. He found the beauty there, and 
on his return Symmes could not prevail on him to 
remain. If the story be true, then the importance 
of Cincinnati owes its existence to a trivial circum- 
stance, and tlie old story of the ten years' war 
which terminated in the downfall of Troy, which 
is said to have originated owing to the beauty of 
a Spartan dame, was re-enacted here. Troy and 
North Bend fell because of the beauty of a wo- 
man ; Cincinnati was the result of the downfall of 
the latter place. 

About the first of January, 1790, Grovernor St. 
Clair, with his officers, descended the Ohio Biver 
from Marietta to Fort Washington. There he es- 
tablished the county of Hamilton, comprising the 
immense region of country contiguous to the 
Ohio, from the. Hocking River to the Great 
Miami; appointed a corps of civil and military 
officers, and established a Court of Quarter Ses- 
sions. Some state that at this time, he changed 
the name of the village of Losantiville to Cin- 
cinnati, in allusion to a society of that name 
wliich had recently been formed among the officers 
of the Bevolutionary army, and established it as 
the seat of justice for Hamilton. This latter fact 
is certain; })ut as regards changing the name of 
the village, there is no good authority for it. With 
this importance attached to it, Cincinnati began at 
once an active growth, and fi-om that day Cleves' 
city declined. The next sunmier, frame houses 
began to appear in Cincinnati, while at the same 
time forty new log cabins appeared about the 
fort. 

On the 8th of January, the Governor arrived at 
the falls of the Ohio, on his way to establish a 
government at Vincennes and Kaskaskia. From 
Clarkesville, he dispatched a messenger to Major 
Hamtramck, commander at Vincennes, with 
speeches to the various Indian tribes in this part 
of the Northwest, who had not fully agreed to the 
treaties. St. Clair and Sargent followed in a few 
days, along an Indian trail to Vincennes, where he 
organized the county of Knox, comprising all the 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



73 



country along the Ohio, from the Miami to the 
Wabash, and made Vincennes the county seat. 
Then they proceeded across the lower part of Illi- 
nois to Kaskaskia, where he established the county 
of St. Clair (so named by Sargent ), comprising all 
the country from the Wabash to the Mississippi. 
Thus the Northwest was divided into three coun- 
ties, and courts established therein. St. Clair 
called upon the French inhabitants at Vincennes 
and in the Illinois country, to show the titles to 
their lands, and also to defray the expense of a 
survey. To this latter demand they replied through 
their priest, Pierre Gibault, showing their poverty, 
and inability to comply. They were confirmed in 
their grants, and, as they had been good friends to 
the patriot cause, were relieved fi'om the expense 
of the survey. 

While the Governor was managing these affairs, 
Major Hamtramckwas engaged in an effort to con- 
ciliate the Wabash Indians. For this purpose, he 
sent Antoine Gamelin, an intelligent French mer- 
chant, and a true friend of America, among them to 
carry messages sent by St. Clair and the Govern- 
ment, and to learn the^ sentiments and dispositions. 
Gamelin performed this important mission in the 
spring of 1790 with much sagacity, and, as the 



French were good friends of the natives, he did 
much to conciliate these half-hostile tribes. He 
visited the towns of these tribes along the Wabash 
and as far north and east as the Miami village, 
Ke-ki-ong-ga — St. Mary's — at the junction of the 
St. Mary's and Joseph's Rivers (Fort Wayne). 

Gamelins report, and the intelligence brought by 
some traders from the Upper Wabash, were con- 
veyed to the Governor at Kaskaskia. The reports 
convinced him that the Indians of that part of the 
Northwest were preparing for a war on the settle- 
ments north of the Ohio, intending, if possible, to 
drive them south of it; that river being still consid- 
ered by them as the true boundary. St. Clair left 
the administration of affairs in the Western counties 
to Sargent, and returned at once to Fort Washing- 
ton to provide for the defense of the frontier. 

The Indians had begun their predatory incur- 
sions into the country settled by the whites, and 
had committed some depredations. The Kentuck- 
ians were enlisted in an attack against the Scioto 
Indians. April 18, Gen. Harmar, with 100 
regulars, and Gen. Scott, with 230 volunteers, 
marched from Limestone, by a circuitous route, to 
the Scioto, accomplishing but little. The savages 
had fled. 



CHAPTER A^II. 



THE INDIAN WAR OF 



1795— HARMAR'S CAMPAIGN— ST. CLAIR'S CAMPAIGN— WAYNE'S 
CAMPAIGN— CLOSE OF THE WAR. 



A GREAT deal of the hostility at this period 
was directly traceable to the British. They 
yet held Detroit and several posts on the lakes, in 
violation of the treaty of 1783. They alleged as 
a reason for not abandoning them, that the Ameri- 
cans had not fulfilled the conditions of the treaty 
regarding the collection of debts. Moreover, they 
did ill they could to remain at the frontier and en- 
joy the emoluments derived from the ftir trade. 
That they aided the Indians in the conflict at this 
time, is undeniable. Just hoic, it is difficult to 
t;ay. But it is well known the savages had all the 
ammunition and fire-arms they wanted, more than 
they could have obtained from American and 
French renegade traders. They were also well 
supplied with clothing, and were able to prolong 
the war some time. A great confederation was on 
the eve of formation. The leading spirits were 



Cornplanter, Brant, Little Turtle and other noted 
chiefs, and had not the British, as Brant said, 
"encouraged us to the war, and promised us aid, 
and then, when we were driven away by the Amer- 
icans, shut the doors of their fortresses against us 
and refused us food, when they saw us nearly con- 
quered, we would have effected our object." 

McKee, Elliott and Girty were also actively en- 
gased in aidino; the natives. All of them were in 
the interest of the British, a fact clearly proven 
by the Indians themselves, and by other traders. 

St. Clair and Gen. Harmar determined to send 
an expedition against the Maumee towns, and se- 
cure that part of the country. Letters were sent 
to the mihtia officers of Western Pennsylvania, 
Virginia and Kentucky, calling on them for militia 
to co-operate with the regular troops in the cam- 
paign. According to the plan of the campaign, 



74 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



.'U)() militia were to rendezvous at Fort SteUben 
1 JeffV'rsonville), inarfli tluMui' to Fort Knox, at 
\'iutounos, and join Maj. Uauitranu-k in an expe- 
dition up the Wabash ; 7<><» were to rendezvous at 
Fort Washington to join the regular army against 
the Maiinur towns. 

While St. Clair was forniing his army and ar- 
ranging for the eanjj)aign, three expeditions were 
si'ut out against the Miami towns. One against 
the .Miami villages, not far from the Wabasli, was 
led by (Jen. llarmar. He had in liis army about 
fourteen hundred men, regulars and militia. These 
two parts of the army eould not be made to affili- 
ate, and, as a eousecjuenee, the expedition did little 
l)ey(>nd burning the villages and destroying corn. 
The militia would not .submit to discipline, and would 
not serve under regular officers. It will be seen 
what this spirit led to when St. Clair went on his 
march soon atlor. 

The Indians, emboldened by the meager success 
of Harniar's command, continued their depreda- 
ilations against the Ohio settlements, destroying 
the comnuinity at Big Bottom. To hold them in 
check, and also punish them, an army under Charles 
Scott went against the Wabash Indians. Little 
was done here but destroy towns and the standing- 
corn. In July, another army, under Col. Wilkin- 
.son, was sent against the Eel Iliver Indians. Be- 
coming entangled in ext«n.sive morasses on the 
river, the army became endangertid, but was finally 
I'Xtricated, and accomplished no more than either 
the other armies before it. As it w;us, however, the 
three expeditions directed against the Miamis and 
Shawanees, served only to exasperate them. The 
burning of their towns, the destruction of their 
corn, and the captivity of their women and chil- 
dren, only aroused them to more desperate eiforts 
to defend their country and to harass their in- 
vaders. To accomplish this, the chiefs of the 
Miamis, Shawanees and the Delawares, Little 
Turtle, Blue Jacket and Buckongahehis, were en- 
gaged in forming a confederacy of all the tribes of 
the Northwest, strong enough to drive the whites 
beyond the Ohio. Pontiac had tried that befon;, 
even when he had open allies aiuong the French. 
Tlu> Indians now had secret allies among the Brit- 
ish, yet, in the end, they did not succeed. While 
they were ])reparing for the contest, St. Clair was 
gathering his forces, intending to erect a chain of 
forts from the Ohio, by way of the Miami and 
-Maumee valleys, to the lakes, and therel)y effect- 
ually hold the savages in cheek. Washington 
warmly seconded this plan, and designated the 



junction of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's Rivers as 
an important post. This had been a fortification 
almost from the time the English held the valley, 
and only needed little work to make; it a formid- 
able fortress. Grcn. Knox, the Secretary of War, 
also fav(,)red the plan, and gave instructions con- 
cerning it. I'uder these instructions. St. Clair 
organized his forces as raj)idly as he could, although 
the numerous drawbacks almost, at times, threat- 
ened the defeat of the campaign. Through the 
summer the arms and accouterments of the army 
were put in readiness at Fort Washington. Many 
were found to be of the poorest quality, and to be 
badly out of repair. The militia came poorly 
armed, under the impression they were to be jiro- 
vided with arms. While waiting in camp, habits 
of idleness engendered themselves, and drunken- 
ness followed. They continued thidr accustomed 
freedom, disdaining to drill, and refused to submit 
to the regular officers. A bitter spirit broke out 
between the regular troops and the militia, which 
none could heal. The insubordination of the mi- 
litia and their officers, caused them a defc;at after- 
ward, which they in vain attempted to fasten on 
the busy General, and the regular troops. 

The army was not ready to move till September 
17. It was then 2,300 strong. It then moved 
to a point upon the Great Miami, where they 
erected Fort Hamilton, the first in the proposed 
chain of fortresses. After its completion, they 
moved on forty -four miles farther, and, on the 12th 
of October, began the erection of Fort Jeffers(m, 
about si.x: miles south of the present town of Green- 
ville, Darke County. On the 24th, the army again 
took up its line of march, through a wilderness, 
marshy and boggy, and full of savage foes. The 
army I'apidly declined undisr tlu; hot sun ; even the 
commander was suffering from an indisposition. 
The militia deserted, in companies at a time, leav- 
ing the bulk of the work to the regular troops. 
By the 3d of November, the army reacdied a 
.stream twelve yards wide, which St. Clair sup- 
posed to be a branch of the St. Mary of the jMau- 
mee, but which in reality was a tributary of the 
Wabixsh. Upon the banks oi' that stream, the 
army, now about fourteen hundred strong, en- 
camped in two lines. A slight protectictn was 
thrown up as a safeguard against the Indians, who 
were known to be in the neighborhood. The Gen- 
eral intended to attack them next day, but. about 
half an hour before sunrise, just after the militia 
had been dismissed from parade, a sudden attack 
was made upon them. The militia were thrown 



:v 



.^ 



HISTOKY or OHIO. 



75 



into confusion, and disregai'ded the command of 
the officers. They had not been sufficiently di-illed, 
and now was seen, too late and too plainly, the evil 
effects of their insubordination. Through the 
morning the battle waged furiously, the men falling 
by scores. About nine o'clock the retreat began, 
covered by Maj. Cook a"nd his troops. The re- 
treat was a disgraceful, precipitate flight, though, 
after f lur miles had been passed, the enemy re- 
turned to the work of scalping the dead and 
wounded, and of pillaging the camp. Through 
the day and the night their dreadful work con- 
tinued, one squaw afterward declaring "her arm 
was weary scalping the white men." The army 
reached Fort Jefferson a little after sunset, having 
thrown away much of its arms and baggage, though 
the act was entirely unnecessary. After remain- 
ing here a short time, it was decided by the officers 
to move on toward Fort Hamilton, and thence to 
Fort Washington. 

The defeat of St. Clair was the most terrible re- 
verse the Americans ever suffiired from the Indi- 
ans. It was greater than even Braddock's defeat. 
Ilis army consisted of 1,200 men and 86 officers, 
of whom 71-4 men and 63 officers were killed or 
wounded. St. Clair's army consisted of 1,400 
men and 86 officers, of whom 890 men and 16 
officers were killed or wounded. The comparative 
effiicts of the two engagements very inadequately 
represent the crushing eff"ect of St. Clair's defeat. 
An unprotected fi-ontier of more than a thousand 
miles in extent was now thrown open to a foe made 
merciless, and anxious to drive the whites from the 
north side of the Ohio. Now, settlers were scat- 
tered along all the streams, and in all the forests, ex- 
posed to the cruel enemy, who stealthily approached 
the homes of the pioneer, to murder him and his 
family. Loud calls arose from the people to defend 
and protect them. St. Clair was covered with abuse 
for his defeat, when he really was not alone to blame 
for it. The militia would not be controlled. Had 
Clarke been at their head, or Wayne, who succeeded 
St. Clair, the result might have been different. As 
it was, St. Clair resigned ; though ever after he en- 
joyed the confidence of Washington and Congi'ess. 

Four days after the defeat of St. Clair, the army, 
in its straggling condition, reached Fort Washing- 
ton, and paused to rest. On the 9th, St. Clair 
wrote fully to the Secretary of AVar. On the 12th, 
Gen. Knox communicated the information to Con- 
grciss, and on the 26th, he laid before the Presi- 
dent two reports, the second containing sugges- 
tions regarding future operations. His sugges- 



tions urged the establishment of a strong United 
States Army, as it was plain the States could not 
control the matter. He also urged a thorough 
drill of the soldiers. No more insubordination 
could be tolerated. General Wayne was selected 
by Washington as the commander, and at once pro- 
ceeded to the task assigned to him. In June, 1792, 
he went to Pittsburgh to organize the army now 
gathering, which was to be the ultimate argu- 
ment with the Indian confederation. Through the 
summer he Wiis steadily at work. "Train and dis- 
cipline them for the work they are meant for," 
wrote Washington, '-and do not spare powder and 
lead, so the men be made good marksmen." In 
December, the forces, now recruited and trained, 
gathered at a point twenty-two miles below Pitts- 
burgh, on the Ohio, called Legionville, the army 
itself being denominated the Legion of the United 
States, divided into four sub-legions, and provided 
with the proper officers. Meantime, Col. ^^'ilkinsc)n 
succeeded St. Clair as commander at Fort Wash- 
ington, and sent out a force to examine the field of 
defeat, and bury the dead. A shocking sight met 
their view, revealing the deeds of cruelty enacted 
upon their comrades by the savage enemy. 

While Wayne's army was drilling, peace meas- 
ures were pi'essed forward by the United States 
with equal perseverance. The Ii'oquois were in- 
duced to visit Philadelphia, and partially secured 
from the general confederacy. They were wary, 
however, and, expecting aid from the British, held 
aloof. Brant did not come, as was hoped, and it 
was plain there was intrigue somewhere. Five 
independent embassies were sent among the West- 
ern tribes, to endeavor to prevent a war, and win 
over the inimical tribes. But the victories they 
had won, and the favorable whispers of the British 
agents, closed the ears of the red men, and all 
propositions were rejected in some form or other. 
All the embassadors, save Putnam, suffered death. 
He alone was able to reach his goal — the Wabash 
Indians — and effect any treaty. On the 27th of 
December, in company with Heckewelder, the Mo- 
ravian missionary, he reached Vincennes, and met 
thirty-one chiefs, representing the Weas, Pianke- 
shaws, Kaskaskias, Peorias, Illinois, Pottawatomies, 
Mascoutins, Kickapoos and Eel River Indians, and 
concluded a treaty of peace with them. 

The fourth article of this treaty, however, con- 
tained a provision guaranteeing to the Indians 
their lands, and when the treaty was laid before 
Congress, February 13, 1793, that body, after 
much discussion, refiised on that account to ratify it. 



:V 






HISTORY OF OHIO. 



A groat council of the Imliaiis was to be held 
at Auulaizc (luiiii-;- the autumn of 171»2, when 
the assemlilod nation.s were to discuss fully their 
iiieaus of defense, and determine their future line 
of action. The council met in October, and was 
the lartj;est Indian gathering of the time. The 
chiefs of all the tribes of the Northwest were there. 
The representatives of the seven nations of Canada, 
were in attendance. Cornplanter aiul forty-eight 
chiefs of the New York (Six Nations) Indians re- 
paired thither. " Besides these," said Cornplanter, 
"there were so many nations we cannot tell the 
names of them. There were three men fi'om the 
Gora nation; it took them a whole season to come; 
and," continued he, "twenty-seven nations fi'om 
beyond Canada were there." The (|uestion of 
peace or war was long and earnestly debated. Their 
future was solemnly discussed, and around the 
council fire native eloquence and native zeal 
shone in all their simple strength. One nation 
after another, through their chiefs, presented their 
views. The deputies of the Six Nations, who had 
been at Philadelphia to consult the "Thirteen 
Fires," made their rej)ort. The Western bound- 
ary was the princij)al question. The natives, with 
one accord, declared it must be the Ohio River. 
An address was prepared, and st'ut to the President, 
wherein their views were stated, and agreeing to 
abstain from all hostilities, until they could meet 
again in the spring at the raj)ids of the Maumee, 
and there considt with their white brothers. They 
desired the President to send agents, "who are 
men of honesty, not proud land-jobbers, but men 
who love and desire peace." The good work of 
Penn was evidenced here, as they desired that the 
embassadors "be accompanied by some Friend or 
Quaker." 

The armistice they had promised was not, how- 
ever, faithfully kept. On the Gth of November, 
a detachment of Kentucky cavalry at Fort St. 
Clair, about twenty-five miles above Fort Hamil- 
ton, w;is attiicked. The commander, INIa). Adair, 
Wits an excellent officer, well versed in Indian tac- 
tics, and defeated the savages. 

'i'liis infraction of their promises did not deter 
the Cniti'd States from taking measures to meet 
the Indians at the rapids of the Maumee " when 
the leaves were fully out." For that })urpose, the 
President selected as commissioners, Charles Car- 
roll and Charles Thomp.son, but, as they declined 
the nomination, he appointed Benjanun Lincoln, 
Heverly Uandoli»h and Timothy I'ickering, the 1st 
of March, ITIKJ, to attend the convention, which, 



it was thought best, should be held at the San- 
dusky outpost. About the last of April, these 
commissioners left I'liiladclphia, and, late in May, 
reached Niagara, where they riiinained guests of 
Lieut. Gov. Simcoe, of the British Government. 
This officer gave them all the aid hi; could, yet it 
was soon made plain to them that he would not 
object to the confederation, nay, even rather fav- 
ored it. They speak of his kindness to them, in 
grateful terms. Gov. Simcoe advised the Indians 
to make peace, but not to give up any of their 
lands. That was the pith of the whole matter. 
The British rather claimed land in New York, 
under the treaty of 1783, alleging the Americans 
had not fully complied with the terms of that 
treaty, hence they were not as anxious for peace 
and a peaceful settlement of the difficult boundary 
(question as they sometimes re])rescnted. 

By July, "the leaves were fully out," the con- 
ferences among the tribes were over, and, on the 
15th of that month, the commissioners met Brant 
and some fifty natives. In a strong speech. Brant 
set forth their wislies, and invited them to accom- 
pany him to the place of holding the council. The 
Indians were rather jealous of Wayne's continued 
preparations for war, hence, just before setting out 
for the Maumee, the commissioners sent a letter to 
the Secretary of War, asking that all warlike 
demonstrations cease until the result of their mis- 
sion be known. 

On 21st of July, the embassy reached the head 
of the Detroit River, where their advance was 
checkiid by the British authorities at Detroit, com- 
pelling them to take up their abode at the house 
of Andrew Elliott, the famous renegade, then a 
British agent under Alexander McKee. McKee 
was atteiuling the council, and the comniissioneivs 
addressed him a note, borne by Elliott, to inform 
him of their arrival, and asking when they could 
be received. Elliott returned on the 21>th, bring- 
ing with him a deputation of twenty chiefs from 
the council. The next day, a conference was held, 
and the chief of the Wyaiulots, Sa-wagh-da-wunk, 
presented to the cimimi.ssioners, in writing, their 
explicit demand in regard to the boundary, and 
their purposes and powers. "The Ohio must be 
the boundary," said he, " or blood will flow." 

The commi.s.sioners returned an answer to the 
proposition brought by the chiefs, recaj)itulating 
the treaties already made, and denying the Ohio 
as the boundary line. On the 16th of August, 
the council sent them, by two AVyandot runners, 
a final answer, in which they recapitulated their 



"^ 



1£ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



77 



former assertions, and exhibited great powers of 
reasoning and clear logic in defense of their po- 
sition. The commissioners reply that it is inipos- 
ble to accept the Ohio as the boundaiy, and declare 
the negotiation at an end. 

This closed the efforts of the Government to ne- 
gotiate with the Indians, and there remained of 
necessity no other mode of settling the dispute 
]»ut war. Liberal terms had been offered them, 
but nothing but the boundary of the Ohio Kiver 
woidd suffice. It was the only condition upon 
which the confederation would lay down its arms. 
" Among the rude statesmen of the wilderness, 
there was exhibiti'd as pure patriotism and as lofty 
devotion to the good of their race, as ever won ap- 
plause among civilized men. The white man had, 
ever since he came into the country, been encroach- 
ing on their lands. He had long occupied the 
regions beyond the mountains. He had crushed 
the conspiracy formed by Pontiac, thirty years be- 
fore. He had taken possession of the common 
hunting-ground of all the tribes, on the faith of 
treaties they did not acknowledge. He was 
now laying out settlements and building forts in 
the heart of the country tp which all the tribes 
had been driven, and which now was all they could 
call their own. And now they asked that it should 
be guaranteed to them, that the boundary which 
tliey had so long asked for should be drawn, and 
a final end be made to the continual aggressions of 
the whites ; or, if not, they solemnly determined to 
stake their all, against fearful odds, in defense of 
their homes, their country and the inheritance of 
their children. Nothing could be more patriotic 
than the position they occupied, and nothing could 
be more nol)le than the declarations of their 
council."'* 

They did not know the strength of the, whites, 
and based their success on the victories already 
gained. They hoped, nay, were promised, aid from 
the British, and even the Spanish had held out to 
them assurances of help when the hour of conflict 
came. 

The Americans were not disposed to yield even 
to the confederacy of the tribes backed by the two 
rival nations, forming, as Wayne characterized it, a 
" hydra of British, Spanish and Indian hostility.'' 
On the 16th of August, the commissioners re- 
ceived the final answer of the council. The 17th, 
they left the mouth of the Detroit River, and the 
2!*>d, arrived at Fort Erie, where the.y immediately 

* Anuals of the West. 



dispatched messengers to Gen. Wayne to inform 
him of the issue of the negotiation. Wayne had 
spent the winter of 1792-9;>, at Legionville, in col- 
lecting and organizing his army. April 30, 1793, 
the army moved down the river and encamped at 
a point, called by the soldiers "Hobson's choice," 
because from the extreme height of the river they 
were prevented from landing elsewhere. Here 
Wayne was engaged, during the negotiations for 
]»eace, in drilling his soldiers, in cutting roads, and 
collecting supplies for the army. He was ready 
for an immediate campaign in case the council 
failed in its object. 

While here, he sent a letter to the Secretary of 
War, detailing the circumstances, and suggesting 
the probable course he should follow. He re- 
mained here during the summer, and, when apprised 
of the issue, saw it was too late to attempt the 
campaign then. He sent the Kentucky militia 
home, and, with his regular soldiers, went into 
winter quarters at a fort he built on a tributary 
of the Great Miami. He called tlie fort Green- 
ville. The present town of Greenville is near the 
site of the fort. During the winter, he sent a de- 
tachment to visit the scene of St. Clair's defeat. 
They found more than six hvmdred skulls, and 
were obliged to "scrape the bones together and 
carry them out to get a place to make their beds. " 
They buried all they could find. Wayne was 
steadily preparing his forces, so as to have every- 
thing ready for a sure blow when the time came. 
All his information showed the faith in the British 
which still animated the doomed red men, and 
gave them a hope that could end only in defeat. 

The conduct of the Indians fully corroborated 
the statements received by Gen. Wayne. On the 
iJOth of June, an escort of ninety riflemen and 
fifty dragoons, under command of Maj. McMahon, 
was attacked under the walls of Fort Recovery by 
a force of more than one thousand Indians under 
charge of Little Turtle. They were repulsed and 
badly defeated, and, the next day, driven away. 
Their mode of action, their arms and ammunition, 
all told plainly of British aid. They also ex- 
pected to find the cannon lost by St. Clair Novem- 
ber 4, 1791, but which the Americans had secured. 
The 26tb of July, Gen. Scott, with 1,000 
mounted men from Kentucky, joined Gen. Wayne 
at Fort Greenville, and, two days after, the legion 
moved forward. The 8th of August, the army 
reached the junction of the Auglaize and Mau- 
mee, and at once proceeded to erect Fort Defiance, 
where the waters meet. The Indians had abandoned 



>> 



78 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



thAr towns on tlio approach of the army, and 
wnv coiijiiviiatiiin further northward. 

Wliile onuajivd on Foi-t DetianLO, Wayne 
received c-ontiniial and full rejutrts of the Indians — 
of their aid ironi Detroit and eLsewhere; of the 
naime of the liround. and the eircunistanees, 
favoralile or unfavorable. From all he could 
learn, and eonsiderinji' the .spirits of his army, 
now thoroughly disciplined, lie determined to 
march forward and settle matters at once. Yet, 
true to his own instincts, and to the measures of 
peace so forcibly taught by Washington, he sent 
riiristopher >liller, who had been naturalized 
aiuoni;- the Shawanees, and taken prisoner by 
Waynes spii's, as a messenger of peace, offering 
terms of friendship. 

rnwilling to waste time, the troops began to 
move forward the lilth of August, and the next 
day met ^liller with the message that if the Amer- 
icans would wait ten days at Auglaize the Indians 
would decide for peace or war. Wayne knew too 
well the Indian character, and answered the mes- 
.sage l>v simply marching on. The 18th, the legion 
had advanced forty-one miles from Auglaize, and, 
being near the long-looked-for foe, began to take 
some measures f )r })rotection, should they be at- 
tacked. A slight breastwork, called Fort Deposit, 
was erected, wherein most of their heavy baggage 
was jihuH'd. They remained here, building their 
Works, until the 2tHh, when, storing their baggage, 
the army began again its marcli. After advancing 
about five miles, they met a large force of the ene- 
my, two thousand strong, who fiercely attacked 
them. Wayne was, however, prepared, and in the 
short battle that ensued they were routed, and 
large numbers slain. The American loss was A^ery 
slight. The hf)rde of savages were put to flight, 
leaving the Americans A-ictorious almost under 
the walls of the British garrison, under Maj. 
Campbell. This officer sent a letter to Gen. 
Waync!, asking an explanation of his conduct in 
fighting so near, and in such evident hostility to 
the British. Wayne replied, telling him he was 
in a country that did not belong to him, and one 
he was not autliorizi-d to hold, and also charging 
him with aiding the Indians. A spirited corre- 
spondence followed, which ended in the American 
commander marching on, and dc'vastating the In- 
dian country, even burning >I( Tvee's house and 
stores under the muzzles of the English guns. 

The lllh of .Sej)tember. the army marched from 
Fort Defiance for the Miami village at the junc- 
tion of the St. Marys and St. Jo.seph Kivers. It 



reached there on the 17th, and the next day Gren. 
Wayne selected a site for a fort. The 22d of Oc- 
tober, the fort was completed, and garrisoned by a 
detachment under Maj. Ilamtranick, who gave to it 
the name of Fort Wayne. The 14th of October, 
the nu)unted Kentucky volunteers, who had be- 
come dissatisfied and mutinous, were started to 
Fort Washington, where they were immediately 
mustered out of service and discharged. The 2Sth 
of October, the legion marched from Fort \A'ayne 
to Fort Crreenville, where Gen. Wayne at once 
established his headquarters. 

The campaign had been decisive and short, and 
had taught the Indians a severe lesson. The Brit- 
ish, too, had failed them in their hour of need, and 
now they began to see they had a foe to contend 
whose resources were exhaustless. Under these 
circumstances, losing faith in the Knglish, and at 
last impressed with a respect for American power, 
after the defeat experienced at the hands of the 
''Black Snake," the various tribes made up their 
minds, by degrees, to ask for peace. During the 
winter and spring, they exchanged prisoners, and 
made ready to meet Gen. Waj'ue at Greenville, in 
June, for the purpose gf forming a definite treaty, 
as it had been agreed should be done by the pre- 
liminaries of January 24. 

During the month of June, 1795, representa- 
tives of the Northwestern tribes began to gather at 
Greenville, and, the IGth of the month. Gen. Wayne 
met in council the Delawares, Ottawas, Pottawato- 
mies and Eel River Indians, and the conferences, 
which lasted till August 10, began. The 21st 
of June, Buckongahelas arrived ; the 23d, Little 
Turtle and other Mianiis ; the 13th of July, 
Tarhe and other Wyandot chiefs ; and the IS th. 
Blue Jacket, and thirteen Shawanees and Massas 
with twenty Cliippewas. 

Most of these, as it appeared by their statements, 
had been tampered with by the English, es2»ecially 
by ]M( ]\ee, Girty and Brant, vxcn after the pre- 
liminaries of January 24,- and while; Mr. Jay was 
perfecting his treaty. They had, lutwever, all de- 
termined to make peace with the "Thirteen Fires," 
and although some dilhculty as to the ownership of 
the lands to be ceded, at one time seemed likely to 
arise, the good sense of Wayne and the leading 
chiefs prevented it, and, the 30th of July, the treaty 
was agreed to which should buiy the hatchet for- 
ever. Between that day and the 3d of August, 
it was engrossed, and, having been signed by the 
various nations upon the day last named, it was 
finally acted ui)on the 7th, and the j)resents from 






_?> 



y- 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



79 



the United States distributed. The basis of this 
treaty was the previous one made at Fort Harmar. 
The boundaries made at that time were re-affirmed ; 
tlie whites were secured on the lands now occu- 
pied by tlieni or secured by former treaties ; and 
among all the assembled nations, presents, in value 
not less than one thousand pounds, were distributed 
to each thrt)u<z:h its representatives, many thousands 
in all. The Indians were allowed to remove and 



punish intruders on their lands, and were permitted 
to hunt on the ceded lands. 

"This great and abiding peace document was 
signed by the various tribes, and dated August '.'>, 
1795. It was laid before the Senate December 9, 
and ratified the 22d. So closed the old Indian 
wars in the West.'" * 



'■ Aanaitt of the West." 



CHAPTER VIIL 

JAY'S TREATY — THE QUESTION OF STATE RIGHTS AND NATIONAL SUPREMACY — EXTENSION 
OF OHIO SETTLEMENTS— LAND CI>AIMS— SPANISH BOUNDARY QUESTION. 



WHILE these six years of Indian wars were 
in progress, Kentucky was admitted as a 
State, and l^inckney's treaty with Spain was com- 
pleted. This last occurrence was of vital impor- 
tance to the West, as it secured the free navigation 
of the Mississippi, charging only a fair price for 
the storage of goods at Spanish ports. This, 
though not all that the Americans wished, was a 
great gain in their favor, and did much to stop 
those agitations regarding a separation on the part 
of Kentucky. It also quieted affairs further 
south tlian Kentucky, in the Georgia and South 
Carolina Territory, and put an end to French 
and Spanish intrigue for the Western Territory. 
The treaty was signed November 24, 1794. 
Another treaty was concluded by Mr. John Jay 
between the two governments, Lord G-reenville 
representing the English, and Mr. Jay, the Ameri- 
cans. The negotiations lasted from April to 
November 19, 1795, when, on that day, the treaty 
was signed and duly recognized. It decided 
effectually all the questions at issue, and was the 
signal for the removal of the British troops from 
the Northwestern outposts. This was eff"ected as 
soon as the proper transfers could be made. The 
second article of the treaty provided that, " His 
Miijesty will withdraw all his troops and garrisons 
from all posts and places within the boundary 
lines assigned by the treaty of peace to the United 
States. This evacuation shall take place on or 
before the 1st day of June, 1796, and all the 
proper measures shall be taken, in the interval, by 
concert, between the Government of the United 
States and His Majesty's Governor General in 
America, for settling the previous arrangements 



which may be necessary respecting the delivery 
of the said posts; the United States, in the mean 
time, at their discretion, extending their settle- 
ments to any part within the said boundary line, 
except within the precincts or jurisdiction of any 
of the said posts. 

" All settlers and all traders within the precincts 
or jurisdiction of the said posts shall continue to 
enjoy, unmolested, all their property of every 
kind, and shall be protected therein. They shall 
be at full liberty to remain there or to remove 
with all, or any part, of their effects, or retain the 
property thereof at their discretion ; such of them 
as shall continue to reside within the said boundary 
lines, shall not be compelled to become citizens of 
the United States, or take any oath of allegiance 
to the Government thereof; but they shall be at 
full libei-ty so to do, if they think proper; they 
shall make or declare their election one year after 
the evacuation aforesaid. And all persons who 
shall continue therein after the expiration of the 
said year, without having declared their intention 
of remaining subjects to His Britannic Majesty, 
shall be considered as having elected to become 
citizens of the United States." 

The Indian war had settled all fears from that 
source ; the treaty with Great Britain had estab- 
lished the boundaries between the two countries 
and secured peace, and the treaty with Spain had 
secured the privilege of navigating the Mississippi, 
by paying only a nominal sum. It had also bound 
the people of the West together, and ended the 
old separation question. There was no danger 
from that now. Another difficulty arose, however, 
relatino' to the home rule, and the organization of 



80 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



the home tjoveruniont. There were two parties in 
the eoiiiitrv, known as Federalist and Anti-Fetleral- 
ist. One tiivored a ci-ntral liiiverniuent. whose au- 
thority shoidd ))(' supreme ; the other, only a 
eonipact, U-avini; the States supreme. The worth- 
U'ssness of the old colonial system beeame, daily, 
more apparent. While it existed no one I'elt safe. 
There was no prospeet of payiiiir the debt, and, 
hence, no credit. When Mr. Hamilton. Secretary 
of the Treasury, offered his tinancial plan to the 
country, favorini; centralization, it met, in many 
places, violent opposition. Wa.shington was strong 
enough to carry it out, and gave evidence that he 
Would do .so. When, therefore, the excise law 
pa.ssed, and taxes on whisky were collected, an 
open revolt <iccurred in Penn.sylvania. known as 
the '' Whisky Insurrection." It was put down, 
tinally. by military })ower, and the malcontents 
made to know that the United States was a gov- 
ernment, not a compact lial)le to rupture at any 
time, and by any of its members. It taught the 
entire nation a lesson. Centralization meant pres- 
ervation. Should a •• compact" form of government 
prevail, then anarchy and ruin, and ultimate sub- 
jection to some foreign power, met their view. 
That they had just fought to dispel, and must it 
all go for naught? The people saw the rulers 
were right, and gradually, over the West, spreada 
spirit antagonistic to State supremacy. It did not 
revive till J;u:kson"s tijue, when he> with an iron 
hand and iron will, crushed out the evil doctrine 
of State supremacy. It revived again in the late 
war, again to l)e cru.shed. It is to be hoped that 
ever thus will be its fate. " The Union is insepa- 
rable." .said the (lovernment, and the people echoed 
the words. 

During the war, and while all these events had 
been transpiring, .settlements had been taking place 
upon tlie Ohio, which, in their influence upon the 
Northwest, and especially upon the State, a.s .soon 
as it was created, were deeply felt. The Virginia 
and the Connecticut Ke.serves were at this time 
peopled, and. al.so. that part of the Miami Valley 
about Dayton, which city dates its origin from that 
period. 

As early as ITS?, the reserved lands of the Old 
Dominion north of the (.)hio were examined, and, 
in .\ugust of that year, entries were nuide. As 
no good title could l)e obtained from Congress at 
this time, tlie .><ettlement jiractically ceased until 
ITIHl, when the jirohiliition to enter them was 
withdrawn. As soon as that was done, surveying 
began again. Nathaniel Massie was among the 



foremost men in the survey of this tract, and lo- 
cating the lands, laid off" a town about twelve miles 
above May.sville. The place was called .Manchester, 
and yet exists. From this ])oint. .Ma.ssie continued 
through all the Indian war, desjjite the danger, to 
survey the surrounding country, and prepare it for 
settlers. 

Connecticut had, as has been stated, ceded her 
lauds, save a tract extending one hundred and 
twenty miles beyond the western boundary of 
Pennsylvania. Of this Coiniecticut Reserve, so 
far as the Indian title was extingui-slied, a survey 
was ordered in October, 1786, and an office opened 
f(»r its disposal. Part was soon sold, and, in 1792, 
half a million of acres were given to those citizens 
of Connecticut who had lost property by the acts 
of the British troops during the Revolutionary 
war at New Ijondon, New Haven and elsewhere. 
These lands thereby became known as " Fire lands " 
and the "Sufferer's lands," and were located in the 
western part of the Reserve. In May, 1795, the 
Connecticut Legislature authorized a committee to 
dispose of the remainder of the Reserve. Before 
autumn the committee sold it to a company known 
as the Connecticut Land Company for S1,2<I0,0()(), 
and about the 5th of September quit-claimed the 
land to the Company. The same day the Company 
received it, it sold 3, 000, 000 acres to John Mor- 
gan, John Caldwell and Jonathan Brace, in trust. 
Upon these quit-claim titles of the land all deeds 
in the Reserve are based. Surveys were com- 
menced in 179(1, and, by the close of the next 
year, all the land east of the Cuyahoga was divided 
into townships five miles square. The agent of the 
Connecticut Land Company was Gen. Moses Cleve- 
land, and in his honor the leading city of the Re- 
serve was named. That township and five others 
were reserved for private sale; the balance were 
disposed of by lottery, the first drawing occui-ring 
in February, 1798. 

Dayton resulted from the treaty made by Wayne. 
It came out of the l)oundary ascribed to Symmes, 
and for a wliile all such lands were not recognized 
as sold by Congress, owing to the failure of 
Symmes and his associates in paying for them. 
Thereby there existed, for a time, considerable un- 
easiness regarding the title to these lands. In 
1799, Congress was induced to i.ssue patents to the 
actual settlers, and thus .secun- tlu-m in their pre- 
emption. 

Seventeen days after Wayne's treaty, St. Clairs 
Wilkinson, Jonathan Dayton and Israel Ludlow 
contracted with Symmes for the seventh and eight h 




ranges, between Mad River and tlie Little Miami. 
Three settlements were to be made: one at the 
mouth of Mad River, one on the Little Miami, in 
the seventh range, and another on Mad River. On 
the 21st of September, 1795, Daniel C. Cooper 
started to survey and mark out a road in the pur- 
chase, and John Dunlap to run its boundai-ies, 
which was completed before October 4. On No- 
vember 4, Mr. Ludlow laid off the town of Day- 
ton, which, like land in the Connecticut Reserve, 
was sold by lottery. 

A gigantic scheme to purcha.se eighteen or 
twenty million acres in Michigan, and then pro- 
cure a good title from the Government — who alone 
had such a right to procure land — by giving mem- 
bers of Congress an interest in the investment, 
appeared shortly after Waynes treaty. When 
some of the members were approached, however, 
the real spirit of the scheme appeared, and, instead 
of gaining ground, led to the exposure, resulting 
in the rejanmanding severely of Robert Randall, 
the principal mover in the whole plan, and in its 
speedy disappearance. 

Another enterprise, equally gigantic, also ap- 
peared. It was, however, legitimate, and hence 
successful. On the 20th of February, 1795, the 
North American Land Company was formed in 
Philadelphia, under the management of such pat- 
riots as Robert Morris, John Nicholson and James 
Greenleaf. This Com])aiiy purchased large tracts 
in the West, which it disposed of to actual settlers, 
and thereby aided greatly in populating that part 
of the country. 

Before the close of 1795, the Governor of the 
Territory, and his Judges, published sixty-four 
statutes. Thirty-four of these were adopted at 
Cincinnati during June, July and August of that 
year. They were known as the Maxwell code, 
from the name of the publisher, but were passed 
by Governor St. Clair and Judges Symmes and 
Turner. Among them was that which provided 
that the common law of England, and all its stat^ 
utes, made previous to the fourth year of James 
the First, should be in full force within the Terri- 
tory. " Of the system as a whole," says Mr. Case, 
" with it,s many imperfections, it may be doubted 
that any colony, at so early a period after its first 
establishment, ever had one so good and applicable 
to all."- 

The ITnion had now safely passed through its 
most critical period after the close of the war of 
independence. The danger from an' irruption of 
its own members; of a war or alliance of its West- 



ern portion with France and Spain, and many 
other perplexing questions, were now etl'ectually 
settled, and the population of the Territory began 
rapidly to increase. Before the close of the year 
179(i, the Northwest contained over five thousand 
inhabitants, the requisite number to entitle it to 
one representative in the national Congress. 

Western Pennsylvania also, despite the various 
conflicting claims, regarding the land titles in that 
part of the State, began rapidly to fill with emigrants. 
The "Triangle" and the " Slruck District " were 
surveyed and put upon the • market under the act 
of 1792. Ti'eaties and purchases from the various 
Indian tribes, obtained control of the remainder of 
the lands in that part of the State, and, by 1796, 
the State owned all the land within its boundaries. 
Towns were laid off, land put upon the market, so 
that by the year 1800, the western part of the 
Key.stone State was divided into eight counties, viz., 
Beaver, Butler, Mercer, Crawford, Erie, \Varren, 
Venango and Armstrong. 

The ordinance relative to the survey and dis- 
posal of lands in the Northwest Territory has 
already been given. It was adhered to, save in 
minor cases, where necessity required a slight 
change. The reservations were recognized by 
Congress, and the titles to them all confirmed to 
the grantees. Thus, Clarke and his men, the 
Connecticut Reserve, the Refugee lands, the 
French inhabitants, and all others holding patents 
to land from colonial or foreign governments, were 
all confirmed in their rights and protected in their 
titles. 

Before the close of 1790, the upper North- 
western posts were all vacated by the British, 
under the terms of Mr. Jay's treaty. Wayne at 
once transferred his headcpiarters to Detroit, where 
a county was named for him, including the north- 
western part of Ohio, the northeast of Indiana, 
and the whole of IMichigan. 

The occupation of the Territory by the Ameri- 
cans gave additional impulse to emigration, and a 
better feeling of s(!curity to emigrants, who fol- 
lowed closely U})on the path of the army. Na- 
thaniel Massic, who has already been noticed as 
the founder of Manchester, laid out the town of 
Chillicothe, on the Scioto, in 1790. Before the 
clo.se of the year, it contained several stores, 
shops, a tavern, and was well populated. With 
the increase of settlement and the security guar- 
anteed by the treaty of Greenville, the arts of 
civilized life began to appear, and their influence 
upon pioneers, especially those born on the frontier, 



84 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



boLraii to manifest itself. Bi-ttcr ilwc'lliuj;.s, schools, 
churtht's, dress aud mauiiers prevailed. Life 
Ijegan to assume a reality, and lost much of 
that recklessness engendered l)y the liabits of a 
I'rontier life. 

Cleveland, Ciiuinnati, the !Mianii, the Mus- 
kinii'um and the Scioto Valleys were tilling; with 
jicople. Cinciiniati had more than one hundred 
log caliins, twelve or tiftei'U I'ranie houses and a 
jioj)ulation of nrore than six hundnd persons. In 
1 Tito, the tii-st house of worship i\>v tlie Presby- 
terians in that city was built. 

Before the close of the same year, Manchester 
contained over thirty families ; emigrants from 
^'irginia were going up all the valleys from the 
Ohio; and Ebent-zer Zane had opened a bridle- 
path from the Ohio Kiver, at Wheeling, across the 
country, by Chillicothe, to Limestone, Ky. The 
next year, the United States mail, for the first 
time, traversed this route to the West. Zane was 
given a section of land for his path. The popu- 
lation of the Territory, estimated at from five to 
eight thousand, was chiefly distributed in lower 
valleys, bordering on the Ohio River. The French 
still occujiied the Illinois country, and were the 
principal inhabitants about Detroit. 

South of the Ohio River, Kentucky was pro- 
gressing favorably, while the " Southwestern Ter- 
ritory," ceded to the United States by North 
Carolina in 1790, had so rapidly populated that, 
in 179!), a Territorial form of government was 
allowed. The ordinance of 1787, save the clause 
prohibiting slavery, w^a« adopted, and the Territory 
named Tennessee. On June (5, 179(), the Terri- 
tory contained more than seventy-five thousand 
inhabitants, and was admitted into the Union as a 
State. Four years after, the census showed a 
population of 105,002 souls, including 13,584 
slaves and persons of color. The same year 
Tennessee became a State, Samuel Jackson and 
Jonathan Sharple.ss erected the Red.stone Pa])er 
Mill, four miles east of Brownsville, it being the 
first manufactory of the kind west of the Alle- 
ghanies. 

In the month of December, 1796, Gen. Wayne, 
who had done so m\uh for the development of the 
West, while on his way from Detroit to Philadel- 
jiliia, was attacked with sickness and died in a 
cabin near Erie, in the north part of Pennsylvania. 
He was nearly fifty-one years old, and was one of 



the bravest officers in the Revolutionary war, and 
one of America's truest patriots. In 1809, his 
remains were removed from Erie, by his sou, Col. 
Isaac Wayne, to the Radnor churchyard, near the 
place of his birth, and an elegant monument erected 
on his tomb by the Pennsylvania Cincinnati So- 
ciety. 

After the death of Wayne, Gen. Wilkinson was 
appointed to the conmumd of the Western army. 
While he was in command, Carondelet, the Spanish 
governor of West Florida and Tiouisiaiia. made one 
more effort to separate the Union, and set up either 
an independent government in the West, or, what 
was more in accord with his wishes, effect a 
union with the Spanish nation. In June, 1797, 
he sent Power again into the Northwest and into 
Kentucky to sound the existing feeling. Now, 
however, they were not easily won over. The 
home government w'as a certainty, the breaches had 
been healed, and Power was compelled to abandon 
the mission , not, however, until he had received a 
severe reprimand from many who saw through liis 
plan, and openly exposed it. His mission closed 
the efforts of the Spanish authorities to attemj)t 
the dismemberment of the UTnion, and showed 
them the coming downfall of their power in Amer- 
ica. They were obliged to surrender the jjosts 
claimed by the United States under the treaty of 
1795, and not many years after, sold their Amer- 
ican po.ssessions to the United States, rather than 
see a rival I^uropean power attain control over them. 

On the 7th of April, 1798, Congress passed an 
act, appointing Winthrop Sargent, Secretary of the 
Northwest Territory, Governor of the Territory of 
the Missis.'^ippi, formed the same day. In 1801, 
the boundary between America ami the Spanish pos- 
sessions was definitely fixed. The S]ianisli retired 
from the disputed territory, and henceforward thi'ir 
attempts to dissolve the American Union ceasi'd. 
The seat of the ]Mississij)pi Territory was fixed at 
Loflus Heights, six miles north of the thirty-first 
degree of latitiule. 

The appointment of Sargent to the charge of the 
Southwest Tc-rritory, led to the choice of William 
Henry Harrison, who had been aid-de-camp to 
Gen. Wayne in 1794, and who.se character stood 
very high among the people of the West, to the 
Secretaryship of the Northwest, which jilace he held 
until appointed to represent that Territory in Con- 
gress. 



"^ 



HISTOKY OF 01110. 



85 



CHAPTER IX. 

FIRST TERRITORIAL REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS— DIVISION OF THE TERRITORY— FORMA- 
TION OF STATES— MARIETTA SETTLEMENT— OTHER SETTLEMENTS— SETTLEMENTS IN 
THE WESTERN RESERVE — SETTLEMENT OF THE CENTRAL VALLEYS- 
FURTHER SETTLEMENTS IN THE RESERVE AND ELSEWHERE. 



THE ordinance of 1787 provided that as soon 
as tliere were 5,000 persons in tlie Territory, 
it was entitled to a representative assembly. On 
October 29, 1798, Governor St. Clair gave notice 
by proclamation, that the required population ex- 
isted, and directed that an election be held on the 
third Monday in December, to choose representa- 
tives. These representatives were required, when 
assembled, to nominate ten persons, whose names 
were sent to the President of the United States, 
who selected five, and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate, appointed them for the legislative 
council. In this mode the Northwest passed into 
the second grade of a Territorial government. 

The re])resentatives, elected under the proclama- 
tion of St. Clair, met in Cincinnati, January 22, 
1799, and under the provisions of the ordinance 
of 1787, nominated ten persons, whose names were 
sent to the President. On the 2d of March, he 
selected from the list of candidates, the names of 
Jacob Burnet, James Findlay, Henry Vander- 
burgh, Robert Oliver and David Vance. The 
next day the Senate confirmed their nomination, 
and the first' legislative council of the Northwest 
Territory was a reality. 

The Territorial Legislature met again at Cincin- 
nati, September 10, but, for want of a quorum, 
was not organized until the 24th of that month. 
The House of Representatives consisted of nine- 
teen members, of whom seven were from Hamilton 
County, four from Ross — erected by St. Clair in 
1798; three from Wayne — erected in 1796; two 
from Adams — erected in 1797; one from Jeffer- 
son — erected in 1797 ; one from Washington — 
erected in 1788; and one from Knox — Indiana 
Territory. None seem to have been present from 
St. Clair County (Illinois Territory). 

After the organization of the Legislature, Gov- 
ernor St. Clair addressed the two houses in the Rep- 
resentatives' Chamber, recommending such meas- 
ures as, in his judgment, were suited to the con- 
dition of the country and would advance the safety 
and prosperity of the people. 



The Legislature continued in session till the 19th 
of December, when, having finished their business, 
they were prorogued by the Governor, by their 
own request, till the first Monday in November, 
1800. This being the first session, there was, of 
necessity, a great deal of business to do. The 
transition from a colonial to a semi-independent 
form of government, called for a general revision 
as well as a considerable enlargement of the stat- 
ute-book. Some of the adopted laws were re- 
pealed, many others altered and amended, and a 
long list of new ones added to the code. New 
offices were to be created and filled, the duties at- 
tached to them prescribed, and a plan of ways and 
means devised to meet the increased expenditures, 
occasioned by the change which had now occurred. 

As Mr. Burnet was the only lawyer in the Legis- 
lature, much of the revision, and putting the laws 
into proper legal form, devolved upon him. He 
seems to have been well fitted for the place, and 
to have performed the* laborious task in an excel- 
lent manner. 

The whole number of acts passed and approved 
by the Governor, was thirty-seven. The most im- 
portant related to the militia, the administration of 
justice, and to taxation. During the session, a bill 
authorizing a lottery was passed by the council, 
but rejected by the Legislature, thus interdicting 
this demoralizing feature of the disposal of lands 
or for other purposes. The example has always been 
followed by subsetjuent legislatures, thus honorably 
characterizing the xVssembly of Ohio, in this re- 
spect, an example Kentucky and several other 
States might well emulate. 

Before the Assembly adjourned, they issued a 
congratulatory address to the people, enjoining 
them to " Inculcate the principles of humanity, 
benevolence, honesty and punctuality in dealing, 
sincerity and charity, and all the social afiections." 
At the same time, they issued an address to the 
President, expressing entire confidence in the wis- 
dom and purity of his government, and their 
warm attachment to the American Constitution. 



86 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Tlio vtili- (111 this address proved, however, that the 
dirt'ereiu-i's of njiiiiiun agitatiiii; the Eastern States 
had penetrated the West. Eleven Representatives 
voted for it, and tive against it. 

One of tlie important duties that devolved on 
this Legislature, was the election of a delegate to 
Congre.ss. As soon as the Governor's proclama- 
tion made its appearance, the election of a person 
to till that position excited general attention. Be- 
fore the meeting of the Legislature public opinion 
had settled down on William Henry Harri.son, and 
Arthur St. (Mair, Jr., who eventually were the only 
camlidates. On the 'M of October, the two houses 
met and proceeded to a choice. Eleven votes were 
cast fitr Harri.sou, and ten for St. Clair. The Leg- 
islature prescribed the form of a certificate of tlie 
election, which was given to ILirri.son, who at once 
resigned his office <is Secretary of the Territory, 
proceeded to Philadelphia, and took his seat, Con- 
gress being then in ses.sion. 

'■Though he represented the Territory but one 
year, "' says Judge Burnett, in his notes, " he ob- 
tained some important advantages for his constitu- 
ents. He introduced a resolution to sub-divide 
the surveys of the public lauds, and to offer them 
for sale in smaller tracts ; he succeeded in getting 
that measure through both houses, in opposition to 
the interest of speculators, who were;, and who 
wished to be, the retailers of the land to the poorer 
clas.ses of the community. His proposition be- 
came a law, and was hailed as the most beneficent 
act that Congress had ever done for the Territory. 
It put in the power of every industrious man, liow- 
ever poor, to become a freeholder, and to lay a 
foumlation for the future support and comfort of 
his family. At the same session, he obtained a 
liberal extension of time for the pre-emptioners in 
th(! northern part of the Miami purchase, which 
enabled them to secure their forms, and eventually 
to become independent, and even wealthy." 

The first session, as has been noticed, closed 
December 1!). Gov. St. Clair took occasion to 
enumerate in his speech at the close of the session, 
eleven acts, to which he saw fit to apply his veto. 
These he had not, however, returned to the Assem- 
bly, and tlu'reby saved a long struggle between the 
executive and legislative branches of the Territory. 
Of the eleven acts enumerated, six related to the 
fitrmation of new counties. These were mainly 
disproved by St Clair, as he always sturdily main- 
tained that the power to erect new counties was 
vested alone in the Executive. This free exercise 
of the veto power, especially in relation to new 



counties, and his controversy with the Legislature, 
tended only to strengthen the popular discontent 
regarding the Governor, who was never fully able 
to regain the standing he held befi)re his in- 
glorious defeat in his campaign against the Indians. 

While this was being agitated, another (jucstion 
came into prominence. Ultimately, it settled the 
powers of the two branches of the government, 
and caused the removal of St. Clair, then very 
distasteful to the people. The opening of the 
present century brought it fully before the 
people, who began to agitate it in all their 
assemblies. 

The great extent of the Territory made the 
o})erations of government extremely uncertain, 
and the power of the courts practically worthless. 
Its division was, therefore, deemed best, and a 
committee was appointed by Congress to inquire 
into the matter. This committee, the Hd of 
March, 1800, reported upon the subject that, "In 
the three western counties, there has been but 
one court having cognizance of crimes in five 
years. The immunity which offenders experience, 
attracts, as to an asylum, the most vile and aban- 
doned criminals, and, at the same time, deters 
u.seful and virtuous citizens from making settle- 
ments in such society. The extreme necessity of 
judiciary attention and assistance is experienced 
in civil as well as criminal cases. The sup]>lying 
to vacant places such necessary officers as may be 
wanted, such as clerks, recorders and others of 
like kind. Is, from the impossibility of correct 
notice and information, utterly neglected. This 
Territory is exposed as a frontier to foreign nations, 
whose agents can find sufficient interest in exciting 
or fomenting insurrection and discontent, as 
thereby they can more easily divert a valuable 
trade in furs from the Ilnited States, and also have 
a part thereof on which they border, which feels 
so little the cherishing hand of their proper gov- 
ernuient, or so little dreads its energy, as to render 
their attachment perfectly uncertain and am- 
biguous. 

" The committee would further suggest, that 
the law of the 3d of March, 1791, granting land 
to certain persons in the western part of said I'er- 
ritory, and directing the laying-out of the same, 
remains unexecuted; that great discontent, in 
consequence of such neglect, is excited in those 
who are interested in the provisions of said laM's, 
which ref(uire the immediate attention of this 
Legi.slature. To minister a remedy to these evils, 
it occurs to this committee, that it is expedient 



V 



^: 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



87 



that a division of said Territory into two distinct 
and separate governments should be made ; and 
that such division be made l)y a line beginning at 
the mouth of the great Miami River, running 
directly north until it intersects the boundary 
between the United States and Canada." * 

The recommendations of the committee were 
favorably received by Congress, and, the 7th 
of May, an act was passed dividing the Ter- 
ritory. The main provisions of the act are as 
follows : 

"That, from and after the 4th of July next, 
all that part of the territory of the United States 
northwest of the Ohio River, which lies to the 
westward of a line beginning at the Ohio, opposite 
to the mouth of the Kentucky River, and running 
thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north until 
it intersects the territorial line between the United 
States and Canada, shall, for the pui'pose of tem- 
porary government, constitute a separate Territory, 
and be called tlie Indiana Territory. 

"There sliall be established within the said Ter- 
ritory a government, in all respects similar to that 
provided by the ordinance of Congress passed July 
13, 1797." t 

The act further provided for representatives, and 
for the establishment of an assembly, on the same 
plan as that in force in the Northwest, stipulating 
that until the number of inhabitants reached five 
thousand, the whole number of representatives to 
the General Assembly should not be less than seven, 
nor more than nine ; apportioned by the Governor 
among the several- counties in the new Terri- 
tory. 

The act further provided that " nothing in the 
act should be so construed, so as in any manner 
to affect the government now in force in the terri- 
tory of the United States northwest of the Ohio 
River, further than to prohibit the exercise thereof 
within the Indiana Territory, from and after the 
aforesaid 4th of July next. 

" Whenever that part of the territory of the 
United States, which lies to the eastward of a line 
beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami River, 
and running thence due north to the territorial 
line between the United States and Canada, shall 
bo erected into an independent State, and admitted 
into the Union on an ecjual footing with the orig- 
inal States ; thenceforth said line shall become and 
remain permanently, the boundary line between 
such State and the Indiana Territory." 

* American State Papers. 
fLand Laws. 



It was further enacted, " that, until it shall be 
otherwise enacted by the legislatures of the said 
territories, respectively, Chillicothe, on the Scioto 
River, shall be the seat of government of the ter- 
ritory of the United States northwest of the Ohio 
River; and that St. Vincent's, on the Wabash 
River, shall be the seat of government for the 
Indiana Territory." * 

St. Clair was continued as Governor of the old 
Territory, and William Henry Harrison appointed 
Governor of the new. 

Connecticut, in ceding her territory in the West 
to the General Government, reserved a portion, 
known as the Connecticut Reserve. When she 
afterward disposed of her claim in the manner 
narrated, the citizens found themselves without any 
government on which to lean for support. At that 
time, settlements had begun in thirty-five of the 
townships into which the Reserve had been divided ; 
one thousand persons had established homes there ; 
mills had been built, and over seven hundred miles 
of roads opened. In 1800, the settlers petitioned 
for acceptance into the Union, as a part of the 
Northwest ; and, the mother State releasing her judi- 
ciary claims, Congress accepted the trust, and 
granted the request. In December, of that year, 
the population had so increased that the county of 
Trumbull was erected, including the Reserve. 
Soon after, a large number of settlers came from 
Pennsylvania, from which State they had been 
driven by the dispute concerning land titles in its 
western part. Unwilling to cultivate land to 
which they could only get a doubtful deed, they 
abandoned it, and came where the titles were 
sure. 

Congress having made Chillicothe the capital of 
the Northwest Territory, as it now existed, on the 
8d of November the General Assembly met at that 
place. Gov. St. Clair had been made to feel the 
odium cast upon his previous acts, and, at the open- 
ing of this session, expressed, in strong terms, his 
disapprobation of the censure cast upon him. He 
had endeavored to do his duty in all cases, he said, 
and yet held the confidence of the President and 
Congress. He still held the office, notwithstanding 
the strong dislike against him. 

At the second session of the Assembly, at Chil- 
licothe, held in the autumn of 1801, so much out- 
spoken enmity wa.s expressed, and so much abuse 
heaped upon the Governor and the Assembly, that 
a law was passed, removing the capital to Cincinnati 

*Land Laws. ■ 



-^ 



88 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



airuiu. It w;i.s not dostinoil, however, that the 
'rorritorial Assembly should meet agaiu anywhere. 
The unpopularity of the Governor caused many to 
lonu; for a State tjovernment, where they could 
choose their own rulers. The unpopularity of St. 
Clair aro.se partly from the feelinj;- connected with 
liis deieat; in part irom his beinj:; connected with 
the Federal party, fast falling into disrepute; and, 
in part, from his a.ssuming powers which most 
thought he had no right to exercise, especially the 
power of subdividing the counties of the Terri- 
tory. 

The opposition, though powerful out of the 
Assembly, was in the minority there. During the 
month of December, 1801, it was forced to protest 
against a measure brought forward in the Council, 
for changing the ordinance of 1787 in such a man- 
ner as to make the Scioto, and a line drawn from 
the intersection of that river and the Indian 
boundary to the western extremity of the Reserve, 
the limits of the most eastern State, to be formed 
from the Territory. Had this change been made, 
the formation of a State government beyond the 
Ohio would have been long delayed. Against it, 
Representatives Worthington,Langham, Darlington, 
Massie, Dunlavy an<l -Morrow, recorded their pro- 
test. Not content with this, they sent Thomas 
Worthington, who obtained a leave of absence, to 
the seat of govermnent, on behalf of the objectors, 
there to protest, before Congress, against the pro- 
po.sed boundary. While Worthington was on his 
way, Massie presented, the 4th of January, 1802, 
a resolution for choosing a committee to address 
Congress in respect to the proposed State govern- 
ment. This, the next day, the House refused to 
do, by a vote of twelve to five. An attempt 
was next made to procure a cen.sus of the Ter- 
ritory, and an act for that purpose passed the 
House, but the Council postponed the considera- 
tion of it until the next session, which would com- 
mence at Cincinnati, the fourth Monday of No- 
vember. 

Meanwhile, Worthington pursued the ends of 
his mission, using his influence to effect that organ- 
ization, "which, terminating the influence of tyr- 
anny,' was to '-meliorate the circumstances of thou- 
sands, by freeing them from the d(»mination of a 
despotic chief." His efforts were successful, and, 
the 4th of March, a report was made to the 
Hou.se in favor of authorizing a State convention. 
This report was based on the assumption that there 
were now over sixty thousand inliabitants in the 
proposed boundaries, estimating that emigration had 



increased the census of 1800, which gave the Ter- 
ritory forty-five thou.sand inhabitants, to that num- 
ber. The convention was to ascertain whether it 
were expedient to form such a government, and to 
prepare a constitution if such organization were 
deemed best. In the formation of the State, a 
change in the boundaries was proposed, by which 
all the territory north of a line drawn due east 
from the head of Lake Michigan to Lake Erie was 
to be excluded fi'om the new government about to 
be called into existence. 

The committee appointed by Congress to report 
upon the feasibility of forming the State, suggested 
that Congress reserve out of every township sections 
numbered 8, 11, 2G and 29, for their own use, and 
that Section 1() be reserved for the maintenance 
of schools. The committee also suggested, that, 
''religion, education and morality being neces.sary 
to the good government and happiness of mankind, 
schools and the means of education shall be forever 
encouraged." 

Various other recommendations were given by 
the committee, in accordance with which. Congress, 
April 30, passed the resolution authorizing the 
calling of a convention. As this accorded with 
the feelings of the majority of the inhabitants of the 
Northwest, no opposition was experienced ; even 
the Legislature giving way to this embryo gov- 
ernment, and failing to assemble according to ad- 



journment. 

The convention met the 1st of November. 



Its 



members were generally Jeffersonian in their na- 
tional politics, and had been opposed to the change 
of boundaries proposed the year before. Before 
proceeding to business, Gov. St. Clair proposed to 
address them in his official character. This propo- 
sition was resisted by several of the members; but, 
after a motion, it was agreed to allow him to speak 
to them as a citizen. St. Clair did so, advising 
the postponement of a State government until the 
people of the original eastern division were plairdy 
entitled to demand it, and were not subject to be 
bound by conditions. This advice, given as it was, 
caused Jeflterson instantly to remove St. Clair, at 
which time his ofhce cea.sed.* "When the vote 
was taken," says Judge Burnet, "upon doing what 

*After this, St. Clair roturnp'i to his oW home in the Liponier 
ValUv, IVnnsylvania, where he lived willi his chililivn in aliuuHt 
abject poverty. He hail lost money in his jmblic life, as he gave 
close attention to public affairs, to the detriment of his own business. 
He presented a claim to Ooncress, afterward, for supplies funiii-lied 
to the army, but the claim was outlawed. After tryiuR in vain to 
get the claim allowed, ho returned to his home. Pennsylvania, 
le'trning of his distress, granted him an ant-.iiity of ?.'$')(), afterward 
raised to Sti'^O. He lived to enjoy this but a short time, bis death 
occurring August 31, 1818. Ho was eighty-four years of age. 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



89 



he advised tliem not to do, but one of thirty-three 
(Ephraini Cutler, of Washington County) voted 
with the Governor." 

On one point only were the proposed boundaries 
of the new State altered. 

" To every person who has attended to this sub- 
ject, and who has consulted the maps of the West- 
ern country extant at the time the ordinance of 
1787 was passed. Lake Michigan was believed to 
be, and was represented by all the maps of that 
day as being, very flir north of the position which 
it has since been ascertained to occupy. I have 
seen tlie map in the Department of State which 
was before the committee of Congress who framed 
and reported the ordinance for the government of 
the Territory. On that map, the southern bound- 
ary of Michigan was represented as being above 
the forty-second degree of north latitude. And 
there was a pencil line, said to have been made by 
the committee, passing through the southern bend 
of the lake to the Canada line, which struck the 
strait not far below the town of Detroit. The 
line was manifestly intended by the committee 
and by Congress to be the northern boundary of 
our State; and, on the principles by which courts 
of chancery construe contracts, accompanied by 
plats, it would seem that the map, and the line 
referred to, should be conclusive evidence of our 
boundary, without reference to the real position of 
the lakes. 

'•When the convention sat, in 1802, the under- 
derstanding was, that the old maps were nearly 
correct, and that the line, as defined in the ordi- 
nance, would terminate at some point on the strait 
above the Maumee Bay. While the convention 
was in session, a man who had hunted many years 
on Lake Michigan, and was well acquainted with 
its position, happened to be in Chillicothe, and, in 
conversation with one of the members, told him 
that the lake extended much farther south than 
was generally supposed, and that a map of the 
country which he had seen, placed its southern 
bend many miles north of its true position. This 
information excited some uneasiness, and induced 
the convention to modify the clause describing the 
north boundary of the new State, so as to guard 
against its being depressed below the most north- 
ern cape of the Maumee Bay."* 

With this change and some extension of the 
school and road donations, the convention agreed 
to the proposal of Congress, and, November 29, 



* Historical Transactions of Ohio. — Judgk Bi'rnett. 



their agreement was ratified and signed, as was 
also the constitution of the State of Ohio — so 
named from its river, called by the Shawanees Ohio, 
meaning beautiful — forming its southern bound- 
ary. Of this nothing need be said, save that it 
bore the marks of true democratic feeling — of full 
faith in the people. By them, however, it was 
never examined. It stood firm until 1852. when 
it was superseded by the present one, made neces- 
sary by the advance of time. 

The Greneral Assembly was required to meet at 
Chillicothe, the first Tuesday of March, 1803. 
This change left the territory northwest of the 
Ohio River, not included in the new State, in the 
Territories of Indiana and Michigan. Subse- 
quently, in 1800. Indiana was made a State, and 
confined to her present limits. Illinois was made 
a Territory then, including Wisconsin. In 1818, 
it became a State, and Wisconsin a Territory at- 
tached to Michigan. This latter was made a State 
in 1837, and Wisconsin a separate Territory, which, 
in 1847, was made a State. Minnesota was made 
a Territory the same year, and a State in 1857, 
and the five contemplated States of the territory 
were complete. 

Preceding pages have shown how the territory 
north of the Ohio River was peopled by the 
French and English, and how it came under the 
rule of the iVmerican people. The war of the 
Revolution clo.sed in 1783, and left all America in 
the hands of a new nation. That nation brought 
a change. Before the war, various attempts had 
been made by residents in New England to people 
the country west of the Alleghanics. Land com- 
panies were formed, principal among which were 
the Ohio Company, and the company of which 
John Cleves Symmes was the agent and chief 
owner. Large tracts of land on the Scioto and 
on the Ohio were entered. The Ohio Company 
were the first to make a settlement. It was or- 
ganized in the autumn of 1787, November 27. 
They made arrangements for a party of forty-seven 
men to set out for the West under the supervision of 
Gren. Rufus Putnam, Superintendent of the Com- 
pany. Early in the winter they advanced to the 
Youghiogheny River, and there built a strong boat, 
which they named '"Mayflower." It was built by 
Capt. Jonathan Devol, the first ship-builder in the 
West, and, when completed, was placed under his 
command. The boat was launched April 2, 1788, 
and the band of pioneers, like the Pilgrim Fathers, 
began their voyage. The 7th of the month, 
they arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum, 



&_ 



90 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



tlit'ir destimition, opposite Fort Harinar,* erected 
in the autuinu of 1785, by a dotaehmcnt of 
Uiiitt'd States troops, under couniiand of Maj. 
Jolin Doughty, ami, at the date of the INIayflower's 
arrival in possession of a company of soldiers. 
L'luU'r the {)rotectiou of those troops, the little baud 
(tf men I»(\<ian their labor of laying out a town, 
and eommcneed to erect houses for their own and 
subseipu'ut emiiirants' occupation. The names of 
these pioneers of Ohio, as far as can now be 
leiu'ued, are as follows: 

Gen. Putnam, Return Jonathan IMoigs, Win-^ 
throp Sargeant (Secretary of the Territory ), Judges 
Parsons and Varuum, Capt. Dana, Capt. Jonathan 
Devol, Joseph Barker, Col. Battelle, iMaj. Tyler, 
Dr. True, Capt. \Vm. Gray, Capt. Lunt, the 
Bridges, KbeneziT and Thomas Cory, Andrew Mc- 
Clnre, Wni. Ma.son, Thomas Jjord, Wm. Gridley, 
HJilbert Devol, Moody Kussels, Dea\'ens, Oakes, 
Wright, Clough, Green, Shi{)man, Dcn'anee, the 
Masons, and others, whose names are now be- 
yond recall. 

On the I'Jth of July, the first boat of families 
arrived, after a nine-weeks journey on the way. 
They had traveled in their wagons as far as Wheel- 
ing, where they built large flat-l^oats, into which 
they loaded their effects, including their cattle, and 
thence passed down the Ohio to their destination. 
The families were those of Gen. Tupper, Col. 
Ichabod Nye, Col. Cushing, Maj. Col)urn, and 
Maj. Goodal. In these titles the reader will ob- 
serve the preponderance of military distinction. 
Many of the founders of the colony had served 
with much valor in the war fctr freedom, and were 
well prepared for a life in the wilderuess. 

'I'hcy began at once the construction of houses 
from the forests about the confluence of the rivers, 
guarding their stock by day and penning it by 
night. Wolves, bears and Indians were all about 
them, and, here in the remote w'ilderness, they 
were obliged to always be on their guard. From 
the ground where they obtained the timber to erect 
their houses, they soon produced a few vegetables, 
and when the families arrived in August, they 
were able to set before them food raised for the 

♦Tho outlines of Fort Harmar formod a regular pentagon, 
embracing within the area about three-fourths of an acre. Its 
walls were fiirni-d of large horizontjtl timbers, and the bastions 
of large uprighttimbersaboutfourteen feet in height, fastenrd to each 
olhnr by Htrips cf timber, tree-niiiloil iiit.i each iiicket. In the rear 
of the fort Miij. Hoiighty lai<l out fine gardens. It continued to be 
occupied by Tuited States troops until September 17'."ii, when 
they were ordered to ("incinnati. A company, under ('apt. Haskell, 
continued to make the fort their head<|narters during tht^ Indian 
war, occaaionally ansisting the colonisb at Marietta, Belpre and 
Waterford agairiKt tliK Indians. When not needed by the troops, 
the fort was used by the people of Marietta. 



first time by the hand of American citizens in the 
Ohio Valley. One of those who came in August, 
was Mr. Thomas Guthrie, a settler in one of the 
western counties of Pennsylvania, who brought a 
bushel of wheat, which he sowed on a plat of 
ground cleared by himself, and from which that 
fall he procured a small crop of wheat, the first 
grown in the State of Ohio. 

The Marietta settlement was the only one made 
that summer in the Territory. From their arrival 
until October, when Governor St. Clair came, they 
were busily employed making houses, and prepar- 
ing for the winter. The little colony, of which 
Washington wrote so favorably, met on the 2d day 
of July, to name their newborn city and its pub- 
lic sqares. Until now it had been known as " The 
Muskingum" simply, but on that day the name 
JMarietta was formally given to it, in honor of Ma- 
rie Antoinette. The -ith of July, an ovation was 
held, and an oration delivered by James M. V'ar- 
nuin, who, with S. H. I'arsons and John Arm- 
.strong, had been a})pointed Judges of the Terri- 
tory. Tlius, in the heart of the wilderness, 
miles away from any kindred post, in the forests 
of the Great West, was the Tree of Libprty watered 
and given a hearty growth. 

On the morning of the 9th of July, Governor 
St, Clair arrived, and the colony began to assume 
form. The ordinance of 1787 had provided for 
a form of government under the Governor and 
the three Judges, and this form was at once put 
into force. The 25th, the first law relating to the 
militia was published, and the next day the Gov- 
ernor's proclamation appeared, creating all the 
country that had been ceded by the Indians, east 
of the Scioto River, into the county of Washing- 
ton, and the civil machinery was in uu)tion. From 
that time forward, this, the pioneer settlement in 
Ohio, went on prosperously. The 2d of Septem- 
ber, the first court in the Territory was held, but 
as it related to the Territory, a narrative of its pro- 
ceedings will be found in the history of that part 
of the country, and need not be repeated here. 

The 15th of July, Gov. St. Clair liad published 
the ordinance of 1787, and the commissions of 
himself and the three Judges. He also assembled 
the people of the settlement, and cx])laiiK'd to 
them tlu! ordinance in a speech of considerable 
length. Three days after, he sent a notice to the 
Judges, calling their attention to the subject of 
organizing the militia. Instead of attending to 
this important matter, and thus providing for their 
safety should trouble with the Indians arise, the 



:V 



HISTORY or OHIO. 



91 



Judges did not even reply to the Governor's letter, 
but sent him what they called a ''project" of a 
law for dividing real estate. The bill was so 
loosely drawn that St. Clair immediately rejected 
it, and set about organizing the militia himself. 
He divided the militia into two classes, "Senior" 
and ''Junior, ' and organized them by appointing 
their officers. 

In the Senior Class, Nathan Cushing was ap- 
pointed Captain; George Ingersol, Lieutenant, 
and James Backus, Ensign. 

In the eFunior Class, Nathan Goodale and Charles 
Knowls were made Captains ; Watson Casey and 
Samuel Stebbius, Lieutenants, and Joseph Lincoln 
and Arnold Colt, Ensigns. 

The Governor next erected the Courts of Pro- 
bate and Quarter Sessions, and proceeded to ap- 
])oint civil officers. Rufus Putnam, Benjamin 
Tupper and Winthrop Sargeant were made Jus- 
tices of the Peace. The lUlth of August, the day 
the Court of Quarter Sessions was appointed, 
Archibald Cary, Isaac Pierce and Thomas Lord 
were also appointed Justices, and given power to 
hold this court. They were, in fact. Judges of a 
Court of Common Pleas. Keturn Jonathan Meigs 
was appointed Clerk of this Court of Quarter 
Sessions. Ebenezer Sprout was appointed Sheriff of 
Washington County, and also Colonel of the militia; 
William Callis, Clerk of the Supreme Court; 
Kufus Putnam, Judge of the Probate Court, and 
11. J. Meigs, Jr., Clerk. Following these appoint- 
nunits, setting the machinery of government in 
njotion, St. Clair ordered that the 25th of Decem- 
ber be kept as a day of thanksgiving by the infant 
colony for its safe and propitious beginning. 

During the fall and winter, the settlement was 
daily increased by emigrants, so much so, that the 
greatest difficulty was experienced in finding them 
lodging. During the coldest part of the winter, 
when ice covered the river, and prevented navi- 
gation, a delay in arrivals was experienced, only to 
be broken as soon as the river opened to the beams 
of a spring sun. While locked in the winters 
embrace, the colonists amused themselves in vari- 
ous ways, dancing being one of the most promi- 
nent. At Christmas, a grand ball was held, at 
which there were fifteen ladies, "whose grace," 
says a narrator, "equaled any in the East." 
Though isolated in the wilderness, they knew a 
brilliant prospect lay before them, and lived on in 
a joyous hope for the future. 

Soon after their arrival, the settlers began the 
erection of a stockade fort (Campus Martius), 



which occupied their time until the winter of 
1791, During the interval, fortunately, no hos- 
tilities from the Indians were experienced, though 
they were abundant, and were frequent visitors to 
the settlement. 

From a communication in the American Pioneer, 
by Dr. S. P. Hildreth, the following description of 
Campus Martius is derived. As it will apply, in 
a measure, to many early structures for defense in 
the West, it is given entire : 

" The fort was made in the form of a regular 
parallelogram, the sides of each being 180 feet. 
At each corner was erected a strong block-house, 
surmounted by a tower, and a sentry box. These 
houses were twenty feet square below and twenty- 
four feet square above, and projected six feet be- 
yond the walls of the fort. The intermediate walls 
were made up with dwelling-houses, made of wood, 
whose ends were whip-sawed into timbers four 
inches thick, and of the requisite width and length. 
These were laid up similar to the structure of log 
houses, with the ends nicely dove-tailed together. 
The whole were two stories high, and covered with 
shingle roofs. Convenient chimneys were erected 
of bricks, for cooking, and warming the rooms. A 
number of the dwellings were built and owned by 
individuals who had families. In the west and 
south fronts were strong gateways ; and over the 
one in the center of the front looking to the Mus- 
kingum River, was a belfry. The chamber beneath 
was occupied by Winthrop Sargeant, as an office, 
he being Secretary to the Governor, and perform- 
ing the duties of the office during St. Clair's ab- 
sence. This room projected over the gateway, like 
a block-house, and was intended for the protection 
of the gate beneath, in time of an assault. At 
the outer corner of each block-house was erected a 
bastion, standing on four stout timbers. The floor 
of the bastion was a little above the lower story of 
the block-house. They were square, an<l built up 
to the height of a man's head, so that, when he 
looked over, he stepped on a narrow phitform or 
" ban((uet" running around thesides of the bulwark. 
Port-holes were made, for musketry as well as for 
artillery, a single piece of which was mounted in 
the southwest and northeast bastions. In these, 
the sentries were regularly posted every night,, as 
more convenient than the towers ; a door leading 
into them from the upper story of the block-houses. 
The lower room of the southwest block-house was 
occupied as a guard-house. 

" Running from corner to corner of the block- 
houses was a row of palisades, sloping outward, 



1)2 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



and irstiiiir on i<Umt rails. Twenty foot in advance 
of those, was a row of very stronj; and lariio jiick- 
ets, sot upright in the earth. (Jatoways tlirouyh 
these, admitted the inniato.s of the garrison. A 
low foot beyond the row of outer ])alisades wa.s 
jtlaeod a row of ahattis, made from the tops and 
branches of trees, sharpened and pointing; outward, 
.so that it would have been very difficult for an 
enemy to have penetrated within their outworks. 
The dwellinii-houscs occupied a sj)ace from fifteen 
to thirty feet each, and were sufficient for the ac- 
commodation of forty or fii'ty families, and did 
actuallv contain from two hundred to three hun- 
tlre<l persons durin;;- the Indian war. 

" Before the Indians commenced hostilities, the 
blockdiou.ses were occupied a.s follows : The south- 
west one, by the family of (Jov. 8t. Clair; the 
northeast one as ati office for the Directors of the 
(V)m{)any. The area within the walls was one 
hundred and forty-four feet S(juare, and afforded a 
tine parade ground. In the center, was a well 
ei^lity feet in depth, for the supply of water to the 
inhal)itants, in case of a siege. A large sun-dial 
stood for many years in the square, placed on a 
handsome post, and gave note of the march of 
time. 

" After the war commenced, a regular military 
corps was organized, and a guard constantly kept 
night and day. The whole establishment formed 
a very strong work, and reflected great credit on 
the head that i>lanni'd it. It was in a manner im- 
jiregnable to the attacks of Indians, and none 
l)ut a regular army with cannon could have reduced 
it. The Indians possessed no such an armament. 

" The garrison stood on the verge of that beauti- 
ful plain overlooking the Mu.skingum, on which 
are seated those celebrated remains of anti<|uity, 
erected probably for a similar purpose — the defense 
of the inhabitants. The ground descends into shal- 
low ravines on the north and south sides ; on the 
west is an abrupt descent to the river bottoms or 
alluvium, and the ea.st passed out to a level plain. 
( )n this, the ground was cleared of trees beyond 
the reach of rifle shots, so as to affi)rd no shelter 
to a hidden foe. Kxtensive fields of corn were 
grown in the midst of the standing girdled trees be- 
yond, in after years. The front wall of pali.sades 
was about one hundred and fifty yards from the 
Muskingum River. The appearance of the fort 
from without wa.s imposing, at a little di.stance re- 
.scmbling the military castles of the feudal ages. 
Between the outer palisades and the river were 
laid out neat gardens for the use of Gov. St. Clair 



and his Secretary, with the officers of the Com- 
pany. 

'•Opposite the fort, on the shore of the river, 
was built a suljstantial timber wharf, at which was 
moored a fine cedar barge for twelve rowers, built 
by Capt. Jonathan Devol, for Gen. Putnam ; a 
number of pirogues, and the light canoes of the 
country ; and last, not least, the ^Mayflower, or 
' Adventure Galley,' in which the first detach- 
ments of colonists were transported from the.^^hores 
of the ' Yohiogany ' to the banks of the Muskingum. 
In these, especially the canoes, during the war, 
most of the communications were carried on between 
the settlements of the Company and the more re- 
mote towns above on the Ohio River. Traveling 
by land was very hazardous to any but the rangers 
or spies. There were no roads, nor bridges across 
the creeks, and, for many years after the war had 
ceased, the traveling was nearly all done by canoes 
on the river."' 

Thus the first settlement of Ohio provided for 
its safety and comfort, and provided also for that 
of emigrants who came to share the toils of the 
wilderness. 

The next spring, the influx of emigration was 
so great that other settlements were determined, 
and hence arose the colonies of Belpre, Waterlbrd 
and Duck Creek, where they began to clear land, sow 
and plant crops, and build houses and stockades. 
At Belpre (French for "beautiful meadow"), were 
built three stockades, the upper, lower and middle, 
the last of which was called " Farmers' Castle," 
and stood on the banks of the Ohio, nearly oppo- 
site an island, afterward famous in Western history 
as Blennerhasset's Island, the scene of Burr s con- 
spiracy. Among the persons settling at the upper 
stockade, were Capts. Dana and Stone, Col. Bent, 
William Browning, Judge Foster, John RoAvse, 
Israel Stone and a Mr. Keppel. At the Farmers' 
Castle, were Cols. Cushing and Fisher, Maj. Has- 
kell, Aaron Waldo Putnam, Mr. Sparhawk, and, 
it is believed, George and Israel Putnam, Jr. At 
the lower, were Maj. Goodale, Col. Rice, Esquire 
Pierce, Judge Israel Loring, Deacon Miles, 3Iaj. 
Bradford and jMr. Goodenow. In the summer of 
] 789, Col. Ichabod Nye and some others, built a 
block-house at Newberry, below Belpre. Col. Nye 
sold his lot there to Aaron W. Clough, who, with 
Stephen Guthrie, Joseph Leavins, Joel Oakes, 
Eleazer Curtis, Mr. Denham J. Littleton and Mr. 
Brown, was located at that place. 

"Every exertion possible," says Dr. Tlildreth, 
who has preserved the above names and incidents, 




" for men in these circumstances, was made to se- 
cure food for future difficulties. Col. Oliver, INIaj, 
Hatfield White and John Dod<]je, of the Water- 
ford settlement, began mills on Wolf Creek, about 
three miles from the fort, and got them running; 
and these, the first mills in Ohio, were never de- 
stroyed during the subse(juent Indian w^ar, th(jugh 
the proprietors removed their fauiiles to the fort 
at IMarictta. Col. E. Sproat and Enoch Shep- 
herd bi'gan mills on Duck t^reek, three miles from 
jNIarietta, trom the completion of which th(!y were 
driven by the Indian war. Thomas Stanley be- 
gan mills fiirther up, near the Duck Creek settle 
meiit. These were likewise unfinished. The Ohio 
Company built a large horse mill near Campus 
Martius, and soon after a floating mill."' 

The autumn before the settlements at Belpre, 
Duck Creek and Waterford, were made, a colony 
was planted near the mouth of the Little INIiamt 
River, on a tract of ten thousand acres, purchased 
IromSymmes by Maj. Benjamin Stites. In the pre- 
ceding pages may be found a history of Symmes' 
purchase. This colony may be counted the second 
settlement in the State. Soon after the colony at 
Marietta was.founded, steps were taken to occupy 
separate portions of Judge Symmes' purchase, be- 
tween the Miami Rivers. Three parties were 
formed for this purpose, but, owing to various 
delays, chiefly in getting the present colony stead- 
fast and safe from future encroachments by the 
savages, they did not get started till late in the fall. 
The first of these parties, consisting of fifteen or 
twenty men, led by Maj. Stites, landed at the 
mouth of the Little Miami in November, 1788, 
and, con.structing a log fort, began to lay out a 
village, called by them Columbia. It soon gTCW 
into prcminence, and, before winter had thoroughly 
set in, they were well prepared for a frontier life. 
In the party were Cols. Spencer and Brown, Maj, 
Gano and Kibbey, Judges Goforth and Foster, 
Rev. John Smith, Francis Dunlavy, Capt. FUnn, 
Jacob White, John Riley, and ]Mr. Hubbell. 

All these were men of energy and enterprise, 
and, with their comrades, were more numerous 
than either of the other parties, who commenced 
their settlements below them on the Ohio. This 
village was also, at first, more flourishing; and, for 
two or three years, contained more inhabitants 
than any other in the Miami purchase. 

The second IMiami party was formed at Liine- 
stone, under Matthias Denham and Robert Pat- 
terson, and consisted of twelve or fifteen persons. 
They landed on the north bank of the Ohio, oppo- 



site the mouth of the Licking River, the 24th of 
December, 1788. They intended to establish a 
station and lay out a town on a plan prepared at 
Limestone. Some statements affirm that the town 
was to be called " L-os-aiUi-ville,'' by a romantic 
school-teacher named Filson. However, be this as 
it may, Mr. Filson was, unfortunately for himself, 
not long after, slain by the Indians, and, with him 
})robably, the name disappeared. He was to have 
one-third interest in the proposed city, which, 
when his death occurred, was transferred to Israel 
Ludlow, and a new plan of a city adopted. Israel 
Ludlow surveyed the proposed town, whose lots were 
principally donated to settlei's upon certain condi- 
tions as to settlement and improvement, and the 
embryo city named Cincinnati. Gov. St. Clair 
very likely had something to do with the naming 
of the village, and, by some, it is asserted that he 
changed the name from Losantiville to Cincinnati, 
when he created the county of Hamilton the en- 
suing winter. The original purchase of the city's 
site was made by Mi*. Denham. It included about 
eight hundred acres, for which he paid 5 shillings 
per acre in Continental certificates, then worth, in 
specie, about 5 shillings per pound, gross weight. 
Evidently, the original site was a good investment, 
could Mr. Denham have lived long enough to see 
its present condition. 

The third party of settlers for the Miami pur- 
chase, were under the care of Judge Symmes, 
himself They left Limestone, January 29, 1789, 
and were much delayed on their downward jour- 
ney by the ice in the river. They reached the 
'• Bend," as it was then known, early in February. 
The Judge had intended to found a city here, 
which, in time, would be the rival of the Atlantic 
cities. As each of the three settlements aspired 
to the same position, no little rivalry soon mani- 
fested itself The Judge named his proposed city 
North Bend, from the fact that it was the most 
northern bend in the Ohio below the mouth of the 
Great Kanawha. These three settlements ante- 
dated, a few months, those made near Marietta, 
already described. They arose so soon afcer, partly 
from the extreme desire of Judge Symmes to settle 
his purchase, and induce emigration here instead 
of on the Ohio Company's purchase. The Judge 
labored earnestly for this purpose and to further 
secure him in his title to the land he had acquired, 
all of which he had so far been unable to retain, 
owino; to his inability to meet his payments. 

All these emigrants came down the river in the 
flat-boats of the day, rude affairs, sotuetimes called 



^1 



£ 



1)1 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



" Arks,'' and tlu'n the only safe mode of travel in 
tlie West. 

Judi;o Syninu's inuud ho must jtrovido for the 
safety of tlie settlers on his purchase, and, after 
earni'.>^tly .solieiting Gen. llarniar, eommander of 
tlie Western posts, sueeeeded in ohtainini:; a de- 
taelunentof iorty-eight men, under Capt. Koarscy, 
to protect the improvements just commencini; on 
the Miami. This detachment reached Limestone 
in l)ecend)er, 1788. Part was at once sent for- 
ward to guard Maj. Stites and his pioneers. Judge 
Symmes and his party started in January, and, 
ahout Fehruary 2, reached Columbiji, where the 
Captain expected to find a fort erected for his use 
and shelter. The flood on the river, however, de- 
feated his purpose, and, as he was unpre])ared to 
erect another, he determined to go on down to the 
garrison at the falls at Louisville. Judge Synnnes 
was stHMiuonsly ojjposed to his conduct, as it lefb 
the colonies unguarded, but, all to ntt purjuise; the 
Captain and his command, went to Louisville early 
in ]March, and left the Judge and his settlement 
to protect themselves. Judge Symmes immedi- 
ately sent a strong letter to JNIaj. Willis, command- 
ing at the Falls, complaining of the conduct 
of Capt. Kearsey, representing the exposed situ- 
ation of the Miami settlements, stating the indi- 
cations of hostility manifested by the Indians, 
and requesting a guard to be sent to the Bend. 
This reipiest was at once granted, and En.sign 
Ijucc, with seventeen or eighteen soldiers, sent. 
They were at the settlement but a short time, 
when they were attacked by Indians, and one of 
their number killed, and four or five wounded. 
They repulsed the savages and saved the set- 
tlers. 

The site of Symmes City, for such he designed it 
should idtimately be called, was above the reach of 
water, and sufiiciently level to admit of a conven- 
ient settlement. The city laid out by Symmes 
was truly magnificent on paper, and promised in 
the future to fulfill his most ardent hopes. The 
plat included the village, and extended across the 
peninsula between the Ohio and Miami llivers. 
Each settler on this ]ilat was promised a lot if he 
would improve it, and in cimforniity to the stipu- 
lation, Juilg(! Synniies soon found a large number 
of persons applying for residence. As tlie number 
of these adventurers incre^ised, in conse(|uenc(! of 
this provision and the prot<;ction of tlu; military, 
the Judge was induced to lay out another village 
.six or seven miles up the river, which he called 
South Bend, where he disposed of some donation 



lots, but the project failing, the village site was de- 
serted, and converted into alarm. 

During all the time these various events were 
transpiring, but little trouble was experienced with 
the Indians. They were not yet disposed to evince 
hostile feelings. This would have been their time, 
but, not realizing the true intent of the whites until 
it was too late to concpier them, they allowed them 
to become ])repared to withstand a warfare, and in 
the end wereobliged to suffer their hunting-grounds 
to be taken from them, and made the homes of a 
race destined to entirely supercede them in the 
New World. 

By the means sketched in the foregoing pages, 
were the three settlements on the Miami made. By 
the time those adjacent to JNLn-ietta were well estab- 
lished, these were firmly fixed, each one striving to 
become the rival city all felt sure was to arise. For 
a time it was a matter of doubt which of the rivals, 
Columbia, North Bend or Cincinnati, would event- 
ually become the chief seat of business. 

In the beginning, Columbia, the eldest of the 
three, took the lead, both in number of its in- 
habitants and the convenience and appearance of 
its dwellings. For a time it was a flourishing place, 
and many believed it would become the great busi- 
ness town of the Miami country. That apparent 
fact, however, lasted but a short time. The garri- 
son was moved to Cincinnati, Fort Washington 
built there, and in spite of all that Maj. Stites, or 
Judge Symmes could do, that place became the 
metropolis. Fort Washington, the most extensive 
garrison in the West, was built by Maj. Doughty, 
in the summer of 178i), and from that time the 
growth and future greatness of Cincinnati were 
assured. 

The first house in the city was built on Front 
street, east of and near Main street. It was 
simply a strong log cabin, and was erected of the 
forest trees cleared away from the ground on which 
it stood. The lower part of the town was covered 
with sycamore and maple trees, and the upper with 
beech and oak. Through this dense forest the 
streets were laid out, and their corners marked on 
the trees. 

The settlements on the IMiami had become 
sufficiently numerous to warrant a separate cimnty, 
and, in .January, ITIM), (Jov. St. Clair and his 
Secretary arrived in (Mncinnati, and organized the 
county of Hamilton, so named in honor of the 
illustrious statesman by that name. It included 
all the country north of the Ohio, between the 
Miamis, as far as a line running " due east from the 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



95 



Standing Stone forks " of Big Miami to its inter- 
section with the Little Miami. The erection of 
the new county, and the appointment of Cincin- 
nati to be the seat of justice, gave the town a fresh 
impulse, and aided greatly in its growth. 

Through the summer, but little interruption in 
the growth of the settlements occurred. The 
Indians had permitted the erection of defensive 
works in their midst, and could not now destroy 
them. Thry were also engaged in traffic with the 
whites, and, though they evinced signs of discon- 
tent at their settlement and occupation of the 
country, yet did not openly attack them. The 
truth was, they saw plainly the whites were always 
prepared, and no opportunity was given them to 
plunder and destroy. The Indian would not 
attack unless success was almost sure. An oppor- 
tunity, unfortunately, came, and with it the hor- 
rors of an Indian war. 

In the autumn of 1790, a company of thirty- 
six men went from Marietta to a place on the 
Muskingum known as the Big Bottom. Here 
they built a block-house, on the east bank of the 
river, four miles above the mouth of Meigs Creek. 
They were chiefly young, single men, but little 
acquainted with Indian warfare or military rules. 
The savages had given signs that an attack on the 
settlement was meditated, and .several of the know- 
ing ones at the strongholds strenuously opposed 
any new settlements that fall, advising their post- 
ponement until the next spring, when the question 
of peace or war would probably be settled. Even 
Gen. Putnam and the Directors of the Ohio Com- 
pany advised the postponement of the settlement 
until the next spring. 

The young men were impatient and restless, and 
declared themselves able to protect their fort 
against any number of assailants. They might 
have easily done so, had they taken the necessary 
precautions ; but, after they had erected a rude 
block-house of unchinked logs, they began to pass 
the time in various pursuits ; setting no guard, and 
taking no precautionary measures, they left them- 
selves an easy prey to any hostile savages that 
might choose to come and attack them. 

About twenty rods from the block-house, and a 
little back from the bank of the river, two men, 
Francis and Isaac Choate, members of the com- 
pany, had erected a cabin, and commenced clearing 
lots. Thomas Shaw, a hired laborer, and James 
Patten, another of the associates, lived with them. 
About the same distance below the block-house 
was an old "Tomahawk Improvement" and a 



small cabin, which two men, Asa and Eleazur 
Bullard, had fitted up and occupied. The Indian 
war-path, from Sandusky to the mouth of the 
Muskingum, passed along the opposite shore of 
the river. 

" The Indians, who, during the summer," says 
Dr. Hildreth, " had been hunting and loitering 
about the Wolf Creek and Plainfield settlements, 
holding frequent and friendly intercourse with the 
settlers, selling them venison and bear's meat in ex- 
change for green corn and vegetables, had with- 
drawn and gone up the river, early in the au- 
tumn, to their towns, preparatory to going info 
winter (quarters. They very seldom entered on 
any warlike expeditions during the cold weather. 
But they had watched the gradual encroach- 
ment of the whites and planned an expedition 
against them. They saw them in fancied security 
in their cabins, and thought their capture an easy 
task. It is said they were not aware of the Big 
Bottom settlement until they came in sight of it, 
on the opposite shore of the river, in the afternoon. 
From a high hill opposite the garrison, they had a 
view of all that part of the bottom, and could see 
how the men were occupied and what was doing 
about the block-house. It was not proi ected with 
palisades or pickets, and none of the men were 
aware or prepared for an attack. Having laid 
their plans, about twilight they crossed the river 
above the garrison, on the ice, and divided their 
men into two parties — the larger one to attack the 
block-house, the smaller one to capture the cabins. 
As the Indians cautiously approached the cabin 
they found the inmates at supper. Part entered, 
addressed the whites in a friendly manner, but 
soon manifesting their designs, made them all pris- 
oners, tieing them with leather thongs they found 
in the cabin." 

At the block-house the attack was far different. 
A stout iNIohawk suddenly burst open the door, 
the first intimation the inmates had of the pres- 
ence of the foe, and while he held it open his 
comrades shot down those that were within. Rush- 
ing in, the deadly tomahawk completed the on- 
slaught. In the assault, one of the savages was 
struck by the wife of Isaac Woods, with an ax, 
but only slightly injured. The heroic woman was 
immediately slain. All the men but two were 
slain befi)re they had time to secure their arms, 
thereby paying for their failure to properly secure 
themselves, with their lives. The two excepted 
were John Stacy and his brother Philip, a lad six- 
teen years of age. John escaped to the roof, 



-^~S) 



96 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



where lie was shot by the Indians, while begging 
tor his life. The firing at the l)l(ick-h()iise alarmed 
the BuUards in their v:'abin, and hastily )»arring the 
door, and securing their annsand ammunition, they 
fled to the woods, ami t-seaped. Alter the slaughter 
was over, the Indians began to cullect thejtlunder, 
and in doing so discovered the lad Philip Stacy. 
They were about to dispatch him, but his entrea- 
ties softened the heart of one of the chiefs, who 
took him as a captive with the intention of adopt- 
ing him into his family. The savages then piled 
the dead bodies on the floor, covered them with 
other portions of it not needed for that purpose, 
and set tire to the whole. The building, being 
made of green logs, did not burn, the flames con- 
suming only the floors and roof, leaving the walls 
standing. 

Tiiere were twelve persons killed in this attack, 
all of whom were in the ])rime of life, and valuable 
aid to the settlements. They were well provided 
with arms, and had they taken the necessary pre- 
cautions, always pressed upon them when visited 
by the older ones from Marietta, they need n(jt 
have suffered so terrible a fate. 

The Indians, e.vultant over their horrible victory, 
went on to Woll'"s mills, but here they found the 
people pre|iared, and, after reconnoitering the place, 
made their retreat, at early dawn, to the great re- 
lief of the inhabitants. Their number was never 
definitely known. 

The news reached Marietta and its adjacent 
settlements .soon after the massacre occurred, and 
struck terror and dismay into the hearts of all. 
.Many had brothers and sons in the ill-fated party, 
and mourned, their lo.ss. Neither did they know 
what place would fall next. The Indian hostilities 
had begun, and they could only hope for peace 
when tlie savages were eftectually concjuered. 

The next day, Capt. Rogers led a party of men 
over to the Big Bottom. It was, indeed, a melan- 
choly sight to the poor borderers, as they knew not 
now how soon the same fate inight befall them- 
selves. The fire had so disfigured tlu-ir comrades 
that but two, Kzra Putnam and William Jones, 
were recognized. As the groun<l was frozen out- 
side, a hole was dug in the earth underneath the 
block-house floor, and the bodies consigned to one 
grave. No further attem]it was made to settle 
here till after the ])eace of 17I>5. 

The outbreak of Indian hostilities put a check 
on further ststtlement.s. Those that were estab- 
lished were put in a more active state of defense, 
and every preparation made that could be made 



for the impending crisis all felt sure must come. 
Either the Indians must go, or the whites must 
retreat. A few hardy and adventurous persons 
ventured out into the woods and made settle- 
ments, but even these were at the imminent risk 
of their lives, many of them perishing in the 
attempt. 

The Indian war that followed is given fully in 
preceding pages. It may be briefly sketched by 
stating that the first campaign, under (ten Har- 
mar, ended in the defeat of his army at the Indian 
villages on the Miami of the lake, and the rapid 
retreat to Fort Washington. St. Clair was next 
commissioned to lead an army of nearly three thou- 
sand men, but these were furiously attacked at 
break of day, on the morning of November 4, 
1791, and utterly defeated. Indian outrages 
sprung out anew after each defeat, and the borders 
were in a continual state of alarm. The most ter- 
rible sufferings were endured by prisoners in the 
hands of the savage foe, who thought to annihilate 
the whites. 

The army was at once re-organized. Gen. An- 
thony Wayne put in command by Washington, 
and a vigorous campaign inaugurated. Though 
the savages had been given great aid by the Brit- 
ish, in direct violation of the treaty of 178H, Gen. 
Wayne pursued them so vigorously that they could 
not withstand his army, and, the 2()th of August, 
1794, defeated them, and utterly annihilated their 
forces, breaking up their camps, and laying waste 
their country, in some places under the guns of 
the British forts. The victory showed them the 
hopelessness of contending again.st the whites, and 
led their chiefs to sue for peace. The British, as 
at former times, deserted them, and they were again 
alone, contending against an invincible foe. A 
grand council was held at Greenville the 3d day 
of Augu.st, 1795, where eleven of the most power- 
ful chiefs made peace with Gen. Wayne on terms 
of his own dictation. The boinulary established 
by the old treaty of Fort Mclntt)sh was confirmed, 
and extended westward from Jjoramie's to Fort 
Recovery, and thence southwest to the mouth of 
the Kentucky River. He also purchasi>d all the 
territory not before ceded, within certain limits, 
comprehendiTig, in all, about four-fifths of the State 
of Ohio. The line was long kiiown as '' The Green- 
ville Treaty line." Upon these, and a lew other 
minor conditions, the United States received the 
Indians under their protection, gave them a large 
number of presents, and practically closed the war 
with the savages. 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



97 



The only settlement of any consequence made dur- 
ing the Indian war, was that on the plat of Hamilton, 
laid out by Israel Ludlow in December, 1794. Soon 
after, Darius C. Orcutt, John Green, William Mc- 
Clennan, John Sutherland, John Torrence, Benjamin 
F.Randolph, Benjamin Davis, Isaac Wiles, Andrew 
Christy and William Hubert, located here. The 
town was laid out under the name of Fairfield, but 
was known only a short time by that name. Until 
ISO], all the lands on the west side of the Great 
Miami were owned by the General Government ; 
hence, until after that date, no improvements were 
made there. A single log cabin stood there until 
the sale of lands in April, 1801, when a company 
purchased the site of Rossville, and, in March, 
1804, laid out that town, and, before a year had 
passed, the town and country about it was well 
settled. 

The close of the war, in 1795, insured peace, 
and, from that date, Hamilton and that part of the 
Miami Valley grew remarkably fast. In 1803, 
Butler County was formed, and Hamilton made 
the county seat. 

On the site of Hamilton, St. Clair built Fort 
Hamilton in 1791. For some time it was under 
the command of Maj. Rudolph, a cruel, arbitrary 
man, who was displaced by Gen. Wayne, and who, 
it is said, perished ignobly on the high seas, at the 
hands of some Algerine pirates, a fitting end to a 
man who caused, more than once, the death of 
men under his control for minor offenses. 

On the return of peace, no part of Ohio grew 
more rapidly than the Miami \'^alley, especially 
that part comprised in Butler County. 

While the war with the Indians continued, but 
little extension of settlements was made in the 
State. It was too perilous, and the settlers pre- 
ferred the security of the block-house or to engage 
with the army. Still, however, a few bold spirits 
ventured away from the settled parts of the Terri- 
tory, and began life in the wilderness. In tracing 
the histories of these settlements, attention will be 
paid to the order in which they were made. They 
will ha given somewhat in detail until the war of 
ISl:^, after which time they become too numerous 
to follow. 

The settlements made in Washington — Marietta 
and adjacent colonies — and Hamilton Counties 
have already been given. The settlement at Gal- 
lia is also noted, hence, the narration can be re- 
sumed where it ends prior to the Indian war of 
1795. Before this war occurred, there were three 
small settlements made, however, in addition to 



those in Washington and Hamilton Counties. 
They were in what are now Adams, Belmont and 
Morgan Counties. They were block-house settle- 
ments, and were in a continual state of defense. 
The first of the.se, Adams, was settled in the winter 
of 1790-91 by Gen. Nathaniel Massie. near where' 
Manchester now is. Gen. Massie determined to 
settle here in the Virginia Military Tract — in the 
winter of 1790, and sent notice throughout Ken- 
tucky and other Western settlements that he would 
give to each of the first twenty-five families who 
would settle in the town he proposed laying out, 
one in-lot, one out-lot and one hundred acres of 
land. Such liberal terms were soon accepted, and 
in a short time thirty families were ready to go 
with him. After various consultations with his 
friends, the bottom on the Ohio River, opposite 
the lower of the Three Islands, was selected as 
the most eligible spot. Here Massie fixed his sta- 
tion, and laid off into lots a town, now called 
INIanchester. The little confederacy, with Massie 
at the helm, went to work with spirit. Cabins 
were raised, and by the middle of March, 
1791, the whole town was inclosed with strong 
pickets, with block-houses at each angle for de- 
fense. 

This was the first settlement in the bounds of 
the Virginia District, and the fourth one in the 
State. Although in the midst of a savage foe, 
now inflamed with war, and in the midst of a 
cruel conflict, the settlement at Manchester suf- 
fered less than any of its cotemporaries. This 
was, no doubt, due to the watchful care of its in 
habitants, who were inured to the rigors of a front- 
ier life, and who well knew the danger about them. 
" These were the Beasleys, Stouts, Washburns, 
Ledoms, Edgingtons, Denings, Ellisons, ITtts, 
IMcKenzies, Wades, and others, who were fully 
equal to the Indians in all the savage arts and 
stratagems of border war." 

As soon as they had completed preparations for 
defense, the whole population went to work and 
cleared the lowest of the Three Islands, and planted 
it in corn. The soil of the island was very rich, 
and produced abundantly. The woods supplied an 
abundance of game, while the river furnished a 
variety of excellent fish. The inhabitants thus 
found their simple wants fully supplied. Their 
nearest neighbors in the new Territory were at 
Columbia, and at the French settlement at Gallip- 
olis ; but with these, owing to the state of the 
country and the Indian war, they could hold little, 
if any, intercourse. 



98 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



The sta-tion being established, Massio continued 
to make locations and surveys, (treat ju'ecautions 
were necessary to avdid the Indians, and even the 
closest viiiilance did not always avail, as the ever- 
watchlul loo was always ready to spring ui>(.ii the 
settlement, could an uniiuardcd UKtnient be ob- 
served. l)iirini;' one of the sprinij months, Gen. 
Massie, Israel Donalson. William Jjytle and James 
Little, while out on a survey, were surprised, and 
Mr. Donalsou captured, the others escaping at 
great peril. Mr. Donalsou escaped during the 
march to the Indian town, and made his way to 
the town of Cincinnati, after suft'erijig great hard- 
ships, and almost perishing from hunger. In the 
spring of 1T!>3, the settlers at Manchester com- 
menced clearing the out -lots of the town. While 
doing so, an incident occurn^d, which shows the 
danger to which they were daily exposed. It is 
thus related in Howes Collections : 

'• Mr. Andrew Ellison, one of the settlers, 
cleared an out-lot innuediately adjoining the fort. 
He had completed the cutting of the timber, rolled 
the logs together, and set them on fire. The next 
morning, before daybreak, Mr. Ellison opened one 
of the gates of the fort, and went but to throw his 
logs together. By the time he had finished the 
job, a number of the heaps blazed up brightly, and, 
as he was pas.sing from one to the other, he ob- 
served, by the light of the fires, three men walking 
briskly toward him. This did not alarm him in 
the least, although, he said, they were dark-skinned 
fellows; yet he concluded they were the Wades, 
whose complexions were very dark, going early to 
hunt. He continued to right his log-heaps, until 
one of the fellows seized him by the arms, calling 
out, in broken English, ' How do ? how do? ' He 
instantly lo(»ked in their faces, and, to his surprise 
and horror, found himself in the clutches of three 
Indians. To resist was usciless. 

" The Indians (|ui(kly nu)ved off with him in 
the direction of l*aint Creek. When breakfast 
was ready, Mrs. Ellison sent one of her children 
to a.sk its father home; but he could not be found 
at the log-heaps. His absence created no immedi- 
ate alarm, as it was thought he might have started 
to hunt, after com])leting his work. Dinner-tiuu! 
arrived, and, l<]lli.son not returning, the family 
becanu" uneasy, and !)egan to suspect some acci- 
dent had happened to him. His gun-rack was 
examined, and there hung his rifles and his pouch. 
Gen. iMassie raist'd a party, made a circuit around 
the ])lace, finding, afh-r somc^ search, the trails of 
four men, one of whom had on shoes; and the 



fact that Mr. Ellison was a prisoner now became 
apparent. As it was almost night at the time the 
trail was discovered, the party returned to the 
station. Early the next morning, preparatit)ns 
were made by Gen. Massie and his i'riends to con- 
tinue the search. In doing this, they found great 
difficulty, as it was so early in the spring that the 
vegetation was not gro\?n sufficiently to show 
plainly the trail made by the savages, who took 
the precaution to keep on high and dry ground, 
where their feet would make little or no impres- 
sion. The party were, however, as unerring as a 
pack of hounds, and followed the trail to Paint 
Creek, when they found the Indians gained so 
fast on them that pursuit was useless. 

"The Indians took their prisoner to Upper 
Sandusky, where he was compelled to run the 
gantlet. As he was a large, and not very active, 
man, ht5 received a severe flogging. He was then 
taken to Lower Sandusky, and again com]ielled to 
run the gantlet. He was then takt'U to J)etroit, 
where he was ransomed by a British officer for 
$100. The officer proved a good friend to him. 
He sent him to Montreal, whence he returned 
home before the close of the summer, much to the 
joy of his family and friends, whose feelings can 
only be imagined." 

"Another incident occurred about this time," 
says the same volume, "which so aptly illustrates 
the danger of frontier life, that it w^ell deserves a 
place in the history of the settlements in Ohio. 
John and Asahel Edgington, with a comrade, 
started out on a hunting expedition toward Brush 
Creek. They cam])ed out six miles in a northeast 
direction from where West Union now stands, and 
near the site of Treber's tavern, on the road from 
Chillicothe to Maysville. They had good success 
in hunting, killing a number of deer and bears. 
Of the deer killed, they saved the skins and hams 
alone. They fleeced the bears ; that is, they cut 
oft' all the meat which adhered to the hide, with- 
out skinning, and left the bones as a skeleton. 
They hung up the })roceeds of their hunt, on a scaf- 
fold out of the reach of wolves and other wild ani- 
mals, and returned to Manchester for ])aek-liorses. 
No one returned to the canij) with tlu^ Kdgingtons. 
As it was late in l)ecemb(!r, few apprehended dan- 
ger, as the winter season was usiudly a time of re- 
])Ose from Indian incursions. When the Edgingtons 
arrived at their camp, they alighted from their 
lu)r.ses and were pre]iaring to start a fire, when a 
platoon of Indians fired upon them at a distance 
of not more than twenty paces. They had 



'.^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



101 



evidently found the results of the white men's labor, 
and expected they would return lor it, and pre- 
pared to waylay theiu. Asahel Edgington fell 
dead. John was more fortunate. The sharp 
crack of the rifles, and the horrible yells of the 
savages as they leaped from their place of ambush, 
frightened the horses, who took the track for 
home at full speed. John was very Sctive on foot, 
and now an opportunity oifered which required his 
utmost speed. The moment the Indians leaped 
I'rom their hiding-place, they threw down their 
guns and took after him, yelling with all their 
power. Edgington did not run a booty race. For 
about a mile, the savages stepped in his tracks al- 
most before the bending grass could rise. The 
uplifted tomahawk was frequently so near his head 
that he thought he felt its edge. He exerted 
himself to his utmost, while the Indians strove 
with all their might to catch him. Finally, he be- 
gan to gain on his pursuers, and, after a long race, 
distanced them and made his escape, safely reach- 
ing home. This, truly, was a most fearful and 
well-contested race. The big Shawanee chief, Capt. 
John, who headed the Indians on this occasion, 
after peace was made, in narrating the particulars, 
said, " The white man who ran away was a smart 
fellow. The white man run ; and I run. He run 
and run ; at last, the white man run clear off from 
me." 

The settlement, despite its dangers, prospered, 
and after the close of the war continued to grow 
rajtidly. In two years after peace was declared, 
Adams County was erected by proclamation of 
Gov. St. Clair, the next year court was held, and 
in 1 804, West Union was made the county seat. 

During the war, a settlement was commenced 
near the present town of Bridgeport, in Belmont 
County, by Capt. Joseph Belmont, a noted Dela- 
ware Revolutionary officer, who, because his State 
could furnish only one company, could rise no 
higher than Captain of that company, and hence 
always maintained that grade. He settled on a 
beautiful knoll near the present county seat, but 
erelong suffered from a night attack by the In- 
dians, who, though unable to drive him and his 
companions from the cabin or conquer them, 
wounded some of them badly, one or two mortally, 
and caused the Captain to leave the frontier and 
return to Newark, Del. The attack was made 
in the spring of 1791, and a short time after, 
the Captain, having provided for the safety of his 
family, accepted a commission in St. Clair's army, 
and lost his life at the defeat of the General in 



November. Shortly after the Captain settled, a 
fort, called Dillie's Fort, was built on the Ohio, 
opposite the mouth of Grave Creek. About two 
hundred and fifty yards below this fort, an old 
man, named Tato, was shot down at his cabin door 
by the Indians, just as he was in the act of entering 
the house. His body was pulled in by his daugh- 
ter-in-law and grandson, who made an heroic de- 
fense. They were overpowered, the woman slain, 
and the boy badly wounded. He, however, man- 
aged to secrete himself and afterward escaped to 
the fort. The Indians, twelve or thirteen in num- 
ber, went off unmolested, though the men in the 
fort saw the whole transaction and could have 
punished, them. Why they did not was never 
known. 

On Captina Creek in this same county, occurred, 
in May, 1794, the " battle of Captina," a fa- 
mous local skirmish between some Virginians fi-om 
Fort Baker, and a party of Indians. Though the 
Indians largely outnumbered the whites, they were 
severely punished, and compelled to abandon the 
contest, losing several of their bi'avest warriors. 

These were the only settlements made until 
1795, the close of the war. Even these, as it will 
be observed from the foregoing pages, were tem- 
porary in all cases save one, and were maintained 
at a great risk, and the loss of many valuable lives. 
They were made\n the beginning of the war,and such 
were their experiences that further attempts were 
abandoned until the treaty of Greenville was made, 
or until the prospects for peace and safety were 
assured. 

No sooner, however, had the prospect of (piiet 
been established, than a revival of emigration be- 
gan. Before the war it had been large, now it 
was largely increased. 

Wayne's treaty of peace with the Indians was 
made at Greenville, in what is now Darke County, 
the 3d of August, 1795. The number of Indians 
present was estimated at 1,300, divided among the 
principal nations as follows : 180 Wyandots, 381 
Delawares, 143 Shawanees, 45 Ottawas, 46 Chip- 
pewas, 240 Pottawatomies, 73 Miamis and Eel 
River, 12 Weas and Piankeshaws, and 10 Kicka- 
poos and Kaskaskias. The principal chiefs were 
Tarhe, Buckongahelas, Black Hoof, Blue Jacket 
and Little Turtle. Most of them had been tam- 
pered with by the British agents and traders, but 
all had been so thoroughly chastised by Wayne, and 
found that the British only used them as tools, 
that they were quite anxious to make peace with 
the " Thirteen Fires." By the treaty, former ones 



liL 



102 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



were established, the boundary lines confirmed and 
eiilaruvd, an c'Xihani;e and delivery of prisoners 
erteeted, and permanent peace assured. 

In the latter part of Septendjer, after the treaty 
of Greenville, Mr. Bedell, from New Jersey, 
selected a site for a home in what is now Warren 
County, at a place since known as " Bedell's Sta- 
tion," about a mile .south of Union V'illage. Here 
he erected a block-house, as a defense aiiainst the 
Indians, amoni;- wbom were many renegades as 
among the whites, who would not respect the 
terms of the treaty. Whether Mr. Bedell was 
alone that tidl, or whether he was joined by others, 
is not ni>w accurately known. However that may 
be, he was not long left to himself; for, ere a year 
had elapsed, cjuite a nuudjcr of settlements were 
made in this part of the Territory. Soon after 
his settlement was made, Gen. David Sutton, Capt. 
Nathan Kelley and others began pioneer life at 
Deerfield, in the same locality, and, before three 
years had gone by, a large number of New Jersey 
people were established in their homes; and, in 
18(K^, the county was formed from Hamilton. 
Among the early settlers at Deerfield, was Capt. 
Robert Benham, who, with a companion, in 1779, 
sustained themselves many days when the Captain 
had lost the use of his legs, and his companion 
his arms, from musket-l)alls tired by the hands of 
the Indians. They were with a large party com- 
manded by ]Maj. Rodgers, and were furiously 
attacked by an immense number of savages, and 
all but a few .slain. The event happened during 
the war of the Revolution, before any attempt 
was made to settle the Northwest Territory. The 
party were going down the Ohio, probably to the 
falls, and were attacked when near the site of 
Cincinnati. As mentioned, these two men sus- 
tained each other many days, the one having per- 
fect legs doing the necessary walking, carrying his 
comrade to water, driving up game for him to 
.shoot, and any other duties necessary; while the 
one who had the use of his arms could dress his 
companion's and his own wounds, kill and cook 
the game, and perform his share. They were 
rescued, finally, by a flat-b(jat, whose occupants, 
for awhile, pa.ssed them, fearing a decoy, but, 
becoming convinced that such was not the case, 
took them on down to Louisville, where they were 
nursed into perfect health. 

A settlement was made near tlie present town of 
Lebanon, the county seat of Warren County, in 
the .spring of 17!)(), by Henry Taylor, who built a 
mill one mile west of the town site, on Turtle 



Creek. Soon after, he was joined by Ichabod 
Corwin, John O.sbourn, Jacob Vorhees, Samuel 
Shaw, Daniel Bonte and a Mr. Manning. When 
Lebanon was laid out, in 1803, the two-story log 
house built in 1797 by Ichabod Corwin was the 
only building on the plat. It was occupied by 
Ephraim Hathaway as a tavern. He had a black 
horse painted' on an immense board for a sign, and 
continued in business here till 181U. The same 
year the town was laid out, a store was opened by 
John Huston, and, from that date, the growth of 
the county was very prosperous. Three years 
after, the Western Star was established by 
Judge John McLain, and the current news of 
the day given in weekly editions. It was one of 
the first newspapers established in the Territory, 
outside of Cincinnati. 

As has been mentioned, the opening of naviga- 
tion in the spring of 179(5 brought a great flood 
of emigration to the Territory. The little settle- 
ment made by Mr. Bedell, in the autumn of 1795, 
was about the only one made that fall ; others made 
preparations, and many selected sites, but did not 
settle till the following spring. That spring, colo- 
nies were planted in what are now Montgomery, 
Licking, Ross, Madison, Mahoning, Trumbull, 
Ashtabula and Cuyahoga Counties, while prepara- 
tions were in turn made to occupy additional terri- 
tory, that will hereafter be noticed. 

The settlement made in Montgomery County 
was begun early in the spring of 179G. As early 
as 1788, the land on which Dayton now stands was 
selected by some gentlemen, who designed laying- 
out a town to be named Venice. They agreed 
with Judge Symmes, whose contract covered the 
place, for the purchase of the lands. The Indian 
war which broke out at this time prevented an 
extension of settlements from the immediate 
neighborhood of the parent colonies, and the proj- 
ect was abandoned by the purchasers. Hoou after 
the treaty of 1795, a new company, compo.sed of 
Gens. Jonathan Dayton, Arthur St. Clair. James 
Wilkinson, and Col. Israel Ludlow, })urchased the 
land between the Miamis, around the mouth of 
Mad River, of Judge Symmes, and, the 4th of 
November, laid out the town. Arrangements were 
made for its settlement the ensuing spring, and 
donations of lots, wdth other privileges, were offered 
to actual settlers. Forty-si.\ persons entered into 
engagements to remove from Cincinnati to Day- 
ton, but during the winter most of them scat- 
tered in different directions, and only nineteen ful- 
filled their contracts. The fir.st families who 



made a permanent residence here, arrived on the 
first day of April, 17i)G, and at once set about 
establishing homes. Judge Symmes, however, 
becoming unable soon after to pay for his j)urchase, 
tlie land reverted to the United States, and the set- 
tlers in and about Dayton found themselves with- 
out titles to their lands. Congress, however, came 
to the aid of all such persons, wherever they had 
purchased land of Symmes, and passed a pre-emp- 
tion law, under which they could enter their lands 
at the regular government price. Some of the set- 
tlers entered their lands, and obtained titles directly 
from the I i^nited States ; others made arrangements 
with Daniel C. Cooper to receive their deeds from 
him, and he entered the residue of the town lands. 
He had been the surveyor and agent of the first 
company of proprietors, and they assigned to him 
certain of their rights of pre-emption, by which he 
became the titular owner of the land. 

When the State government was organized in 
1803, Dayton was made the seat of justice for 
Montgomery County, erected the same year. At 
that time, owing to the title question, only five 
families resided in the place, the other settlers hav- 
ing gone to farms in the vicinity, or to other 
parts of the country. The increase of the town 
was gradual until the war of 1812, when its 
growth was more rapid until 1820, when it was 
again checked by the general depression of busi- 
ness. It revived in 1827, at the commencement 
of the Miami Canal, and since then its growth has 
always been prosperous. It is now one of the 
best cities in Ohio. The first canal boats from 
Cincinnati arrived at Dayton January 25, 1829, 
and the first one from Lake Erie the 24th of 
June, 1845. In 1825, a weekly line of stages 
was established between Columbus and Cincinnati, 
via Dayton. Two days were occupied in coming 
from Cincinnati to Dayton. 

On the 18th of September, 1808, the Dayton 
Repertory was established by William McClureand 
George Smith. It was printed on a foolscap sheet. 
Soon after, it was enlarged and changed from a 
weekly to a daily, and, ere long, found a number 
of competitors in the field. 

In the lower part of Miamisburg, in this county, 
are the remains of ancient works, scattered about 
over the bottom. About a mile and a quarter 
southeast of the village, on an elevation more than 
one hundred feet above the level of the Miami, 
is the largest mound in the Northern States, ex- 
cepting the mammoth mound at Grave Creek, on 
the Ohio, below Wheeling, which it nearly equals 



in dimensions. It is about eight hundred feet 
around the base, and rises to a height of nearly 
seventy feet. When first known it was covered 
with forest trees, whose size evidenced great age. 
The Indians could give no account of the mound. 
Excavations revealed bones and charred earth, 
but what was its use, will alway;; remain a con- 
jecture. 

One of the most important early settlements 
was made co temporary with that of Dayton, in 
what is now Ross County. The same spring, 
170(), (juitc a colony came to the banks of the 
Scioto lliver, and, near the mouth of Paint Creek, 
began to plant a crop of corn on the bottom. The 
site had been selected as early as 1792, by Col. 
Nathaniel Massie* and others, who were so de- 
lighted with the country, and gave such glowing 
descriptions of it on their return — which accounts 
soon circulated through Kentucky — that portions 
of the Presbyterian congregations of Caneridge and 
Concord, in Bourbon County, under Rev. Robert 
W. Finley, determined to emigrate thither in a 
body. They were, in a measure, induced to take 
this step by their dislike to slavery, and a desire 
for freedom from its baleful influ2nces and the un- 
certainty that existed regarding the validity of the 
land titles in that State. The Rev. Finley, as a 
preliminary step, liberated his slaves, and addressed 
to Col. Massie a letter of inquiry, in December, 
1794, regarding the land on the Scioto, of which 
he and his people had heard such glowing ac- 
counts. 

"The letter induced Col. Massie to visit Mr. 
Finley in the ensuing March. A large concourse 
of people, who wished to engage in the enterprise, 
assembled on the occasion, and fixed on a day to 
meet at the Three Islands, in Manchester, and 
proceed on an exploring expedition. Mr. Finley 
also wrote to his friends in Western Pennsylvania 

* Nathaniel Massie was bom in Goochland County, Va., Decem- 
ber 28, 1703. In 1780, he engaged, for a short time, in the Revolu- 
tionary war. In 1783, he left for Kentucky, where he acted as a 
surveyor. He was afterward made a Government surveyor, and 
labored much in that capacity for early Ohio proprietors, being paid 
in lauds, the amounts graded by the danger attached to the survey. 
In 1791, he established the settlement at Manchester, and a year or 
two after, continued his surveys up the Scioto. Here he whs con- 
tinually in great danger from the Indians, but knew well how to 
guard against them, and thus preserved himself. In 1796, he estab- 
lished the t'liillicothe settlement, and made bis home in the Scioto 
Valley, being now ac extensive land owner by reason of his long 
surveying service. In 1807, he and Return J. Meigs were compet- 
itors for the office of Governor of Ohio. Meigs was elected, but 
Massie contested his eligibility to the office, on the grounds of his 
absence from the State and insufficiency of time as a resident, as 
required by the Constitution. Meigs was declared ineligible by the 
General Assembly, and Massie declared Governor. He, however, 
resigned the office at once, not desiring it. He was often Repre- 
sentative afterward. He died November 13, 1813. 



MW 



104 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



informing them of the time and place of rendez- 
vous. 

'• About sixty men met, afcordinj; to appoint- 
ment, who were divided into three eompanies, 
under Massie, Finley and Falenash. They pro- 
ceeded (III their route, without interruption, until 
they struck the falls of Faint Creek. Froceeding 
a shiirt di.xtanc-e down that .stream, they suddenly 
found thi'uisi'lves in the vicinity of some Indians 
who had fncam})ed at a place, since called Reeve's 
Cro.ssing, near the present town of Jiainbridge. 
The Indians were of tho.se who had refused to 
attend Wayne's treaty, and it was determined to 
give them battle, it being too late to retreat with 
safety. The Indians, on being att;icked, soon fled 
with the loss of two killed and .several wounded. 
One of the whites only, Joshua Robinson, was 
mortally wounded, and, during the action, a Mr. 
Armstrong, a pri.-^oner among the savages, escaped 
to his own people. The whites gathered all their 
plunder and retreated a.s far as Scioto Brush 
Creek, where they were, according to expectation, 
attacked early the next morning. Again the In- 
dians were defeated. Only one man among the 
whites, Allen (iilfillan, wa.s wounded. The party 
of whites contiiuied their retreat, the next day 
reached .Manchester, and separated for their homes. 

" After Wayne's treaty, Col. Massie and several 
of the old explorers again met at the house of 
Rev. Finley, formed a company, and agreed to 
make a .settlement in the ensuing .spring (1796), 
and raise a croj) of corn at the mouth of Paint 
Creek. According to agreement, they met at IMan- 
chester about the first of April, to the number of 
forty and upward, from Mason and Bourbon 
Counties. Among them were Joseph McCoy, 
Benjamin and William Rodgers, David Shelby, 
James Harrod, Ileury, Bazil and Reuben Abrams, 
William Jamison, James Crawford, Samuel, An- 
thony and Robert Smith, Thomas Dick, William 
and James Kerr, George and James Kilgrove, 
John Brown, Samuel and Robert Templeton, Fer- 
gu.son Mo<jre, William Nicholson and .James B. 
Finley, later a prominent local Methodi.st minister. 
On starting, they divided into two companies, one 
of which struck across the country, while the 
other came on in pirogues. The first arrived 
earliest on the spot of their intended settlement, 
and iiad eommen ed erecting log huts above the 
mouth of Faint Creek, at the 'Prairie Stati(m,' 
Ijcfore the others had come on by water. About 
three hundred acres of the prairie were cultivated 
in corn that sea.son. 



" In August, of this year — 1796 — Chillicothe* 
was laid out by Col. Massie in a dense forest. He 
gave a lot to each of the first settlers, and, by the 
beginning of winter, about twenty cabins were 
erected. Not long after, a ferry was established, 
across the Scioto, at the north end of Walnut 
street. The opening of Zane's trace produced a 
great change in travel westward, it having pre- 
viously been along the Ohio in keel-b(«its or canoes, 
or by land, over the Cumberland Mountains, 
through Crab Orchard, in Kentucky. 

" The emigrants l)rought corn-meal in their pi- 
rogues, and after that was gone, their j)rincipal 
meal, until the next summer, was that pounded in 
hominy mortars, which meal, when made into 
bread, and anointed with bear's-oil, was quite pal- 
atable. 

" When the settlers first came, whisky was $4.50 
per gallon; but, in the spring of 1797, when the 
keel-boats began to run. the Monongahela whisky- 
makers, having found a good market for their fire- 
water, rushed it in, in such (ptantities, that the 
cabins were crowded with it, and it soon fell to 50 
cents. Men, women and children, with some excep- 
tions, drank it freely, and many who had been 
respectable and temperate became inebriates. 
Many of Wayne's soldiers and camp-women .settled 
in the town, so that, for a time, it became a town 
of drunkards and a sink of corruption. There 
was, however, a little leaven, wdiich, in a few 
months, began to develop itself. 

'In the spring of 1797, one Brannon stole a 
great coat, handkerchief and shirt. He and his 
wife absconded, were pursued, caught and brought 
back. Samuel Smith was appointed Judge, a 
jury impanneled, one attorney appointed by the 
Judge to manage the prosecution, and another the 
defense ; witnesses were examined, the case argued, 
and the evidence summed up by the Judge. The 
jury, having retired a few moments, returned with 
a verdict of guilty, and that the culprit be sen- 
tenced according to the discretion of the Judge. 
The Judge soon announced that the criminal 
should have ten lashes on his naked back, or that 
he should sit on a bare pack-saddle on his pony, 
and that his wife, who was suppo.sed to have had 
some agency in the theft, should lead the pony to 
every house in the village, and proclaiu), 'This is 

*''hillicnthe ,ippear8 to have been a favorite name atiKing the 
Ttidians, as many localities were known by that name. Col. John 
Johnston says : "Chillicothe is the name of one of the principal 
tribes of the Shawanees. They would say, Chil-ircothc otany, i. e., 
Chillicothe town. The Wyandots wonid .say, tor Chillicothe town, 
Tat-a-ra-ra, Do-tia, or town at the leaning of the bank." 



"e) 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



105 



Brannon, who stole the great coat, handkerchief 
and shirt ; ' and that James B. Finley, afterward 
Chaplain in the State Penitentiary, should see the 
sentence faithfully carried out. Brannon chose 
the latter sentence, and the ceremony was faith- 
fully performed by his wife in the presence of 
every cabin, under Mr. Finley's care, after which 
the couple made off. This was rather rude, but 
effective jurisprudence. 

" Dr. Edward Tiffin and Mr. Thomas Worth- 
ington. of Berkley County, Va., were brothers-in-law, 
and being moved by abolition principles, liberated 
their slaves, intending to remove into the Ter- 
ritory. For this purpose, Mr. Wt)rthington visited 
Chillicothe in the autumn of 1797, and purchased 
several in and out lots of the town. On one of the 
former, he erected a two-story frame house, the 
first of the kind in the village. On his return, 
having purchased a part of a farm, on which his 
family long afterward resided, and another at the 
north fork of Paint Creek, he contracted with Mr. 
Joseph Yates, a millwright, and Mr. George Haines, 
a blacksmith, to come out with him the following 
winter or sprijig, and erect for him a grist and saw 
mill on his north-fork tract. The summer, fall 
and following winter of that year were marked by 
a rush of emigration, which spead over the high 
bank praii'ie, Pea-pea, Westfall and a few miles 
up Paint and Deer Creeks. 

" Nearly all the first settlers were either regular 
members, or had been raised in the Presbyterian 
(Church. Toward the fall of 1797, the leaven of 
piety retained by a portion of the first settlers be- 
gan to diffuse itself through the mass, and a large 
log meeting-house was erected near the old gi-ave- 
yard, and Rev. William Speer, from Pennsylvania, 
took charge. The sleepers at first served as seats for 
lu;arers, and a split-log table was used as a pulpit. 
Mr. Speer was a gentlemanly, moral man, tall and 
cadaverous in person, and wore the cocked hat of 
the Revolutionary era. 

"Thomas Jones arrived in February, 1798, 
bringing with him the first load of bar-iron in the 
Scioto Valley, and about the same time Maj. Elias 
Tjangham, an officer of the Revolution, arrived. Dr. 
Tiffin, and his brother. Joseph, arrived the same 
month from Virginia and opened a store not far 
from the log meeting-house. A store had been 
opened previously by John McDougal. The 17th 
of April, the lamilies of Col. Worthington and 
Dr. Tiffin arrived, at which time the first marriage 
in the Scioto Valley was celebrated.' The parties 
were George Kikore and Elizabeth Cochran. The 



ponies of the attendants were hitched to the trees 
along the streets, which were not then cleared out, 
nearly the whole town being a wilderness. Joseph 
Yates, George Haines, and two or three others, 
arrived with the families of Tiffin and Worthing- 
ton. On their arrival there were but four shingled 
roofs in town, on one of which the shingles 
were fastened with pegs. Col. Worthington's 
house was the only one having glass windows. The 
sash of the hotel windows was filled with greased 
paper. 

"Col. Worthington was appointed by (ren. Ru- 
fus Putnam, Surveyor General of the Northwest 
Territory, surveyor of a large disti-ict of Congress 
lands, on the east side of the Scioto, and Maj. 
Langham and a Mr. Matthews, were appointed to 
survey the residue of the lands which afterward 
composed the Chillicothe land district. 

"The same season, settlements were made about 
the Walnut Plains by Samuel McCulloh and 
others; Springer, Osbourn, Dyer, and Thomas and 
Elijah Chenowith, on Darly Creek ; Lambei'ts and 
others on Sippo; on Foster's Bottom, the Fosters. 
Samuel Davis and others, while the following fam- 
ilies settled in and about Chillicothe: John Crouse, 
William Keys, William Lamb, John Carlisle, John 
McLanberg, William Chandless, the Stoctons, 
Greggs, Bates and some others. 

"Dr. Tiffin and his wife were the first Metho- 
dists in the Scioto Valley. He was a local preacher. 
In the fall, Worthington's grist and saw mills on 
the north fork of Paint Creek were finished, the 
first mills worthy the name in the valley. 

" Chillicothe was the point from which the set- 
tlements diverged. In May, 1799, a post office 
was established here, and Joseph Tiffin made Post- 
master. Mr. Tiffin and Thomas Gregg opened 
taverns; the first, under the sign of Gen. Anthony 
Wayne, was at the corner of Water and Walnut 
streets; and the last, under the sign of the 'Green 
Tree,' was on the corner of }*aint and Water 
streets. In 1801, Nathaniel Willis moved in and 
established the Scioto Gazette^ probably, the sec- 
ond paper in the Territory."* 

In 18(10, the seat of government of the North- 
west Territory was removed, by law of Congress, 
from Cincinnati to Chillicothe. The sessions of 
the Territorial Assembly for that and the next 
year were held in a small two-story, hewed-log 
house, erected in 1798, by Bazil Abrams. A wing 
was added to the main part, of two stories in 



* Recollections of Hon. Thomas Scott, of Chillicothe— Howe's 
Annals of Ohio. 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



lieight. In the lower room oi' this wing, Col. 
Thomas (iihsoii. Auditor ot' the Territory, kept 
his office, and in the upper room a small family 
lived. lu the upper room of the main building 
a billiard table was kept. It was also made a re- 
sort of gamblers and disreputable characters. The 
lower room was used by the Legislature, and as a 
I'ourt room, a church or a school. In the 
war of 1S12, the building was a rendezvous and 
barracks for soldiers, and, in 1840, was pulled 
down. 

The old State House was commenced in 1800, 
and tiiiished the next year for the accommodation 
ut' tlic Legislature and the courts. It is said to 
be the first public stone edifice erected in the Ter- 
ritory. iMaj. William llutledge, a Revtdutionary 
soldier, did the mason work, and William (luthrie, 
the carpenter. In 1801, the Territorial Legislature 
held their first session in it. In it was also held 
the Constitutional Convention of Ohio, which be- 
gan its sessions the first Monday in November, 
1802. In April, 1803, the first State Legislature 
met in the house, and continued their sessions here 
until 1810. The sessions of 1810-11, and 1811- 
12, were held in Zanesville, and from there re- 
moved back to (Miillicothe and held in the old 
State IIousi; till 1S1(>, when Columbus became the 
permanent capital of the State. 

Making Chillicothe the State capital did much 
to enhance itvS growth. It was incorporated in 
1802, and a town council elected. In 1807, the 
town had fourteen stores, six hotels, two newspa- 
pers, two churches — both brick buildings — and 
over two hundred dwellings. The removal of the 
capital to Columbus checked its grctwth a little, still, 
being in an excellent country, raj)i(lly tilling <\ith 
.settlers, the town has always remained a prominent 
trading center. 

During the war of 1812, Chillicothe was made 
a rendezvous for United States soldiers, and a 
prison established, in which many British prison- 
ers were confined. At one time, a conspiracy for 
escape was discovered just in time to prevent it. 
The plan was for the prisoners to disarm the 
guard, proceed to jail, release the officers, burn the 
town, and escape to Canada. The plot was fortu- 
nately di.^closed by two senior British officers, upon 
which, a.s a measure of security, the officers and 
chief conspirators were sent to the penitentiary 
at Frankfort, Kentucky. 

Two or three miles northwest of Chillicothe, on 
a beautiful elevation, commanding an extensive 
view of the vallc^y of the Scioto, Thomas Worth- 



ington,* one of the most prominent and influential 
men of his day, afterward (Jovernor of the State, 
in 180(j, erected a large stone mansion, the wonder 
of the valley in its time. It was the most elegant 
mansion in the West, crowds coming to see it 
when it was completed. Gov. Worthington named 
the place Adena, " Paradise " — a name not then 
considered hyperbolical. The large panes of glass, 
and the novelty of papered walls especially attracted 
attention. Its architect was the elder Latrobe, of 
Washington City, from which place most of the 
workmen came. The glass was made in Pitts- 
burgh, and the fireplace fronts in l'liiladelphia,the 
latter costing seven dollars per hundred j)ounds for 
transportation. The mansion, Iniilt as it was, cost 
nearly double the expense of such structures now. 
Adena was the home of the Governor till his death, 
in 1827. 

Near Adena, in a beautiful situation, is Fruit 
Hill, the seat of Gen. Duncan McArthur,f and 
later of ex-Gov. William Allen. Like Adena, Fruit 
Hill is one of the noted places in the Scioto Val- 
ley. Many of Ohio's best men dwelt in the valley ; 
men who have been an honor and ortiameut to the 
State and nation. 

Another settlement, begun soon after the treaty 
of peace in 171>5, was that made on the Licking 
River, about four miles below the present city of 
Newark, in Licking County. In the fall of 179<j, 
John Ratclift" and Elias Hughes, while prospecting 
on this stream, found some old Indian cornfields, 
and determined to locate. They were from West- 
ern Virginia, and were true pioneers, living mainly 
by hunting, leaving the cultivation of their small 
cornfields to their wives, much after the style of 

* Gov. Worthington was born in Jefferson County, Va., about the 
year 1769. He settled in Ohio in 17!t8. Ko was a firm believer in 
liberty and came to the Tenilory aft(T lilicrating his slaves. He was 
one ot" the most efficient men of his day ; was a member of the 
Constitutional Convention, ami wa.s sent on an important mission 
to Confiiess relative to the admission of Ohio to the Union. He 
was afterward a Senator to Congress, and then Governor. On 
the expiration of his gubernatorial term, hu was appointed a mem- 
ber of the Board of Public Works, in which capacity he did nmch 
to advance the canals and railroads, and other public improve- 
ments. Ho remained in this office till his death. 

t Gen. McArlhur was born in Dutchess County, N. Y., in 1772. 
When tight years of age, his father removed to Westeru Pennsyl- 
vania. When eighteen years of age, ho served in Harmar's 
campaign. In 17ilJ, be was a very elbcient soldier among the front- 
iersmen, and gained their approbation by his bravery. In 179:i, he 
was connected with Gen. Massie, and afterward was engaged in 
land speculations and became very wealthy. He was made a mem- 
ber of the Legislature, in 1H05; in ISOi;, a Colonel, and in 1808, a 
Major Gsneial of the militia. In this capacity he was in Hull's 
surrender at Detroit. On his return ho was elected to ("ongress, 
and in 181.3 commissioned Brigadier General. He was one of the 
most efficient ofticers in the war of 1812, and held many important 
posts. After the war, he was again sent to the Legislature ; in 1822 
to Congress, and in 183(1 elected Governor of the State. By an un- 
fortunate accident in 1830, ho wa.-! maimed for life, and gradually 
declined till death came a few years after. 



1^ 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



107 



their dusky neighbors. They were both inveterate 
Indian-haters, and never allowed an opportunity to 
pass without carrying out their hatred. For this, 
they were apprehended after the treaty; but, 
though it was clearly proven they had murdered 
some inoffensive Indians, the state of feeling was 
such that they were allowed to go unpunished. 

A short time after their settlement, others joined 
them, and, in a few years, quite a colony had 
gathered on the banks of the Licking. In 1802, 
Newark was laid out, and, in three or four years, 
there were twenty or thirty families, several stores 
and one or two hotels. 

The settlement of Grranville Township, in this 
county, is rather an important epoch in the history 
of this part of the State. From a sketch pub- 
lished by Rev. Jacob Little in 1848, in Howe's 
Collections, the subjoined statements are taken: 

"In 1804, a company was formed at Granville, 
Mass., with the intention of making a settlement 
in Ohio. This, called the Scioto Company, was 
the third of that name which effected settlements 
in Ohio. The project met with great favor, and 
much enthusiasm was elicited, in illustration of 
which a song was composed and sung to the 
tune of ' Pleasant Ohio ' by the young people in 
the house and at labor in the field. We annex 
two stanzas, which are more curious than poetical : 

"'When rambling o'er these mountains 

And rocks where ivies grow 
Thick as the hairs upon your head, 

"Mongst which you cannot go — 
Great storms of snow, cold wmds that blow, 

We scarce can undergo — 
Says I, my boys, we'll leave this place 

For the pleasant Ohio. 

" 'Our precious friends that stay behind, 

We're sorry now to leave; 
But if they'll stay and break their shins, 

For them we'll never grieve. 
Adieu, my friends! — Come on, my dears, 

This journey we'll forego, 
And settle Licking Creek, 

In yonder Ohio.' " 

" The Scioto Company consisted of one hundred 
and fourteen proprietors, who made a purchase of 
twenty-eight thousand acres. In the autumn of 
1805, two hundred and thirty-four persons, mostly 
from East Granville, jNIass., came on to the pur- 
chase. Although they had been forty-two days on 
the road, their first bu.siness, on their arrival, hav- 
ing organized a church before they left the East, 
was to hear a sermon. The first tree cut was that 



by which public worship was held, which stood 
just in front of the Presbyterian church. 

On the first Sabbath, November 16, although 
only about a dozen trees had been felled, they held 
divine service, both forenoon and afternoon, on 
that spot. The novelty of worshiping in the 
woods, the forest extending hundreds of miles each 
way ; the hardships of the journey, the winter set- 
ting in, the thoughts of home, Avith all the friends 
and privileges left behind, and the impression that 
such must be the accommodations of a new country, 
all rushed on their minds, and made this a day of 
varied interest. When they began to sing, the 
echo of their voices among the trees was so differ- 
ent from what it was in the beautiftil meeting- 
house they had left, that they could no longer 
restrain their tears. They ivept when they remem- 
bered Zion. The voices of part of the choir were, 
for a season, suppressed with emotion. 

"An incident occurred, which many said Mrs. 
Sigourney should have put into verse. Deacon 
Theophilus Reese, a Welsh Baptist, had, two or 
three years before, built a cabin, a mile and a half 
north, and lived all this time without public wor- 
ship. He had lost his cattle, and, hearing a low- 
ing of the oxen belonging to the Company, set out 
toward them. As he ascended the hills overlook- 
ing the town plot, he heard the singing of the 
choir. The reverberation of the sound from hill- 
tops and trees, threw the good man into a serious 
dilemma. The music at first seemed to be behind, 
then in the tree-tops, or in the clouds. He stopped, 
till, by accurate listening, he caught the direction 
of the sound ; went on and passing the brow of 
the hill, he saw the audience sitting on the 
level below. He went home and told his wife that 
' the promise of God is a bond ' ; a Welsh proverb, 
signifying that we have security, equal to a bond, 
that religion will prevail everywhere. He said : 
' These must be good people. I am not afraid to 
go among them.' Though he could not under- 
stand English, he constantly attended the reading 
meeting. Hearing the music on that occasion 
made such an impression on his inind that, when 
he became old and met the first settlers, he would 
always tell over this story. The first cabin built 
was that in which they worshiped succeeding 
Sabbaths, and, before the close of the winter, they 
had a schoolhouse and a school. That church, in 
forty years, received more than one thousand per- 
sons into its membership. 

"Elder Jones, in 1806, preached the first ser- 
mon in the log church. The Welsh Baptist 



y- 



-5) ly 



108 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Church was organized in the cabin of David 
Thoniius Septonibcr 4, ISOS. April 21, 1827, 
the (Jranvillo ineinlKn-s were oriianized into the 
(Jraiiville Chureli, and the corner-stone of their 
house of worshiji hud September 21, 1S21). In 
the fall of 1810, the tirst Methodist sermon was 
preached here, and, soon after, a class organized. 
In 182-1, a church was built. An Episcopal 
church was organized in May, 1827, and a 
church consecrated in 1838. In 184;>, there 
were in this township 405 families, of whom 214 
sustain family worship ; 1431 persons over four- 
teen v<^'""=^ ^^1 8,0^'; *^*^' whom over 800 belong to 
church. The town had 150 families, of whom 80 
have family worship. In 1846, the township 
furnished 70 school teachers, of whom 62 prayed 
in school. In 1846, the township took 621 peri- 
odical papers, besides three small montlilies. The 
first temperance society west of the mountains was 
organized July 15, 1828, in this township; and, 
in 1831, the Congregational Church passed a by- 
law to accept no member who trafficked in or used 
ardent spirits." 

It is said, not a settlement in the entire West 
could present .so moral and upright a view as that 
of Granville Township; and nowhere could so 
perfect and orderly a set of people be found. 
Surely, the fact is argument enough in favor of 
the religion of Jesus. 

The narrative of Mr. Little also states that, 
when (iranville was first .settled, it w;us supposed 
that Worthington would be the capital of Ohio, 
between which and Zanesville, Granville would 
make a great half-way town. At this time, wild 
animals, snakes and Indians abounded, and many 
are the marvelous stories preserved regarding the 
destruction of the animals and reptiles — the 
Indians being bound by their treaty to remain 
peaceful. Space forbids their repetition here. 
Suffice it to say that, as the whites increased, the 
Indians, animals and .snakes disappeared, until 
now one is as much a curiosity as the other. 

The remaining settlement in the southwest- 
era; parts of Ohio, made immediately after the 
treaty — fall of 1705 or year of 17!)6 — was in 
what is now Madison County, about a mile north 
of where the village of Amity now stands, on the 
banks of the Hig Darby. This stream received its 
name fmrn the Indians, from a Wyandot chief, 
ncimetl DarVty, who for a long time resided upon it, 
near the rni(»n County line. In the fall of 17!>5, 
Benjamin Springer came from Kentucky and selected 
some land on the banks of the Big Darby, cleared 



the ground, built a cabin, and returned for Jiis 
family. The next spring, he brought them out, 
and began his life here. The same summer he was 
joined by William Lapin, Joshua and James Ew- 
ing and one or two otliers. 

When Sju'inger came, he found a white man 
named Jonathan Alder, who for fifteen years had 
been a captive among the Indians, and who could 
not speak a word of English, living with an Indian 
woman on the banks of Big Darby. He had been 
exchanged at Wayne's treaty, and, neglecting to 
profit by the treaty, was still living in the Indian 
style. When the whites became numerous about 
him his desire to find his relatives, and adopt the 
ways of the whites, led him to discard hi.-< scjuaw — 
giving her an unusual allowance — learn the English 
language, engage in agricultural pursuits, and be- 
come again civilized. Fortunately, he could remem- 
ber enough of the names of some of his parents" 
neighbors, so that the identity of his relatives and 
friends was easily established, and Alder became a 
most useful citizen. He was very influential with 
the Indians, and induced many of them to remain 
neutral during the war of 1812. It is stated that 
in 1800, Mr. Ewing brought four sheep into the com- 
munity. They were strange animals to the Indians. 
One day when an Indian hunter and his dog were 
passing, the latter caught a sheep, and was shot by 
Mr. Ewing. The Indian would have shot Ewing in 
retaliation, had not Alder, ,who was fortunately 
present, with much difficulty prevailed upon him 
to refrain. 

While the southern and southwestern parts of 
the State were filling with settlers, assured of safety 
by Wayne's victories, the northern and eastern 
parts became likewise the theater of activities. 
Ever since the French had explored the southern 
shores of the lake, and PJngli.sh traders had car- 
ried goods thither, it was expected one day to be 
a valuable part of the West. It will be remem- 
bered that Connecticut had ceded a large tract of 
land to the General Government, and as soon as 
the ces.sion was confirmed, and land titles became 
assured, settlers flocked thither. Even before that 
time, hardy adventurers had explored some of the 
country, and pronounced it a "goodly land," 
ready for the hand of enterprise. 

The first settlement in the Western Reserve, 
and, indeed, in the northern part of the State, was 
made at the mouth of (^onneaut* Creek, in Ash- 
tabula County, on the 4th of July, 1796. That 

*Conneaut, in the Seneca language, signifies "many fisli." 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



109 



day, the first surveying party landed at the mouth 
of this creek, and, on its eastern bank, near the 
hike shore, in tin cups, pledged — as they drank the 
limpid waters of the lake — their country's welfare, 
with the ordnance accompaniment of two or three 
fowling-pieces, discharging the re(|uired national 
salute. 

The whole party, on this occasion, numbered 
fifty-two persons, of whom two were females (Mrs. 
Stiles and Mrs. Gunnj and a child, and all deserve 
a lasting place in the history of the State. 

The next day, they began the erection of a large 
log building on the sandy beach on the east side 
of the stream. When done, it was named " Stow 
Castle," after one of the party. It was the dwell- 
ing, storehouse and general habitation of all the 
jiioneers. The party made this their headquar- 
ters part of the summer, and continued busily 
engaged in the survey of the Reserve. James 
Kingsbury, afterward Judge, arrived soon after 
the party began work, and, with his family, was 
the first to remain here during the winter follow- 
ing, the rest returning to the Ea.st, or going south- 
ward. Through the winter, Mr. Kingsbury's 
family suffered greatly for provisions, so much so, 
that, during the absence of the head of the family 
in New York for provisions, one child, born in his 
absence, died, and the mother, reduced by her suf- 
ferings and solitude, was only saved by the timely 
arrival of the husband and father with a sack of 
flour he had carried, many weary miles, on his 
back. He remained here but a short time, re- 
moving to Cleveland, which was laid out that same 
fall. In the spring of 1798, Alexander Harper, 
William McFarland and Ezra Gregory, with their 
families, started from Harpersfield, Delaware Co., 
N. Y., and arrived the last of June, at their new 
homes in the Far West. The whole population on 
the Reserve then amounted to less than one hun- 
dred and fifty persons. These were at Cleveland, 
Youngstown and at Mentor. During the summer, 
three families came to Bui'ton, and Judge Hudson 
settled at Hudson. All these pioneers suflfered 
severely for food, and from the fever induced by 
chills. It took several years to become accli- 
mated. Sometimes the entire neighborhood 
woidd be down, and only one or two, who could 
wait on the rest "between chills," were able to do 
anything. Time and courage overcame, finally. 

It was not until 1798, that a permanent settle- 
ment was made at the mouth of Couneaut Creek. 
Those who came there in 1796 went, on with their 
surveys, part remaining in Cleveland, laid out that 



summer. Judge Kingsbury could not remain at 
Conneaut, and went nearer the settlements made 
about the Cuyahoga. In the spring of 1 798, Thomas 
Montgomery and Aaron Wright settled here and 
remained. Up the stream they found some thirty 
Indian cabins, or huts, in a good state of preserva- 
tion, which they occupied until they could erect 
their own. Soon after, they were joined by others, 
and, in a year or two, the settlement was permanent 
and prosperous. 

The site of the present town of Austinburg in 
Ashtabula County was settled in the year 1799, 
by two families from Connecticut, who were in- 
duced to come thither, by Judge Austin. The 
Judge preceded them a short time, driving, in 
company with a hired man, some cattle about one 
hundred and fifty miles through the woods, follow- 
ing an old Indian trail, while the rest of the party 
came in a boat across the lake. When they ar- 
rived, there were a few families at Harpersburg ; 
one or two families at Windsor, twenty miles 
southwest; also a few families at Elk Creek, forty 
miles northeast, and at Vernon, the same distance 
southeast. All these were in a destitute condition 
for provisions. In 1800, another family moved 
from Norfolk, Conn. In the spring of 1801, sev- 
ei'al families came from the same place. Part came 
by land, and part by water. During that season, 
wheat was carried to an old mill on IClk Creek, 
forty miles away, and in some instances, half was 
given for carrying it to mill and returning it in 
flour. 

Wednesday, October 21, 1801, a church of six- 
teen members was constituted in Austinburg. 
This was the first church on the Reserve, and was 
founded by Rev. Joseph Badger, the first mission- 
ary there. It is a fact worthy of note, that in 
1802, Mr. Badger moved his family fi-om Bufllilo 
to this town, in the first wagon that ever came 
from that place to the Reserve. In 1803, noted 
revivals occurred in this part of the West, attended 
by the peculiar bodily phenomenon known as the 
" shakes " or "jerks." 

The surveying party which landed at the mouth 
of Conneaut Creek, July 4, 1796, soon completed 
their labors in this part of the Reserve, and ex- 
tended them westward. By the first of September, 
they had explored the lake coast as far west as the 
outlet of the Cuyahoga* River, then considered 



♦Cuyahoga, in the Indian language, signifies "crooked." — 
Hoji'f's Collections. 

"The Indians called the river 'Ouyahoghan-uk,' 'Lake River' 
It is, emphatically, a Lake river. It rises in lakes and empties into 
a \ake."^Alwater's Hi lory of Ohio. 



'~S> 






no 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



by all an important Western plaeo, and one des- 
tined to be a j;reat coniniereial mart. Time bas 
verified tbe propbecies, as now tlie city of Cleve- 
land ei>vers tbe site. 

As early as 1755, tbe moutb of tbe Cuyahoga 
River was laid down on tbe maps, and tbe Frencb 
bad a station here. It was also considered an im- 
portant post during tbe war of the Revolution, 
anil later, of 1S12." The British, who, after the 
Revolution, refused to abandon the lake country 
west of the Cuyahoga, occupied its shores until 
1790. Their traders bad a house in Ohio City, 
north of tbe Detroit road, on the point of the hill 
near tbe river, when the surveyors arrived in 
171M>. Wa.sbington, Jefferson, and all statesmen 
of that day, regarded the outlet of the Cuyahoga 
as an important place, and hence the early at- 
tem})t of the surveyors to reach and lay out a town, 
here. 

The corps of surveyors arrived early in Septem- 
ber, 17!H), and at once proceeded to lay out a town. 
It was named Cleveland, in honor of Gen. Moses 
Cleveland, the Land Company's agent, and for 
years a very prominent man in Connecticut, where 
he lived and died. By the 18th of October, the 
surveyors had completed the survey and left the 
])lace, leaving only Job \. Stiles and family, and 
lulward Paine, who were the only persons that 
])a.><sed tbe succeeding winter in this place. Their 
residence was a log cabin that stood on a spot of 
ground long afterward occupied by the Commercial 
Bank. Their nearest neighbors were at Conne- 
aut, where Judge Kingsbury lived; at Fort 
Mcintosh, on the .south or ea.st, at the mouth of 
Big Beaver, and at the mouth of tbe river Raisin, 
on the west. 

Tbe next season, tbe .surveying party came again 
to Cleveland, which they made their headquarters. 
Early in the spring. Judge Kingsbury came over 
from Conncaut, bringing with him Elijah Gunn, 
who had a short time before joined him. Soon 
after, Maj. Lorenzo Carter and Ezekiel Hawley 
came with their families. These were about all 
who are known to have settled in tliis place that 
summer. Tbe ne.xt year, 171'8, Rodolpbus Ed- 
wanls and Nathaniel Doane and their families set/- 
tled in Cleveland. Mr. Doane bad Ijeen ninety- 
two days on his journey from (Miatbani, Conn. In 
tbe latter part of tbe summer and fall, nearly every 
person in tbe settlement was down with the bil- 
ious fever or with the ague. Mr. Doane's family 
con.sisted of nine persons, of whom Seth, a lad six- 
teen years of age, was the only one able to care for 



them. Such was the severity of the fever, that 
any one having only the ague was deemed quite 
fortunate. Much suffering for proper food and 
medicines followed. Tbe only way the Doane 
family was supplied for twa months or more, was 
through tbe exertions of this boy, who went daily, 
after having bad one attack of the chills, to Judge 
Kingsbury's in Newburg — five miles away, where 
tbe Judge now lived — got a peck of corn, mashed it 
in a hand-mill, waited until a second attack of the 
chills passed over, and then returned. At one time, 
for several days, he was too ill to make the trip, 
during which turnips comprised the chief article 
of diet. Fortunately, Maj. Carter, having only 
the ague, was enabled with his trusty rifle and dogs 
to procure an abundance of venison and other wild 
game. His family, being sonu'wbat acclimated, 
suffered less than many others. Their situation can 
hardly now be realized. " Destitute of a physician, 
and with few medicines, necessity taught them to 
use such means as nature bad placed within their 
reach. They substituted pills from the extract of 
the bitternut bark for calomel, and dogwood and 
cherry bark for quinine." 

In November, four men, who had so far recov- 
ered as to have ague attacks no oftener than once 
in two or three days, started in the only boat for 
Walnut Creek, Penn., to obtain a winter's supply 
of flour. When below Euclid Creek, a storm 
drove them ashore, broke their boat, and compelled 
their return. During tbe winter and summer fol- 
lowing, the settlers had no flour, except that 
ground in band and coffee mills, which was, bow- 
ever, considered very good. Not all had even that. 
During tbe summer, tbe Connecticut Land Com- 
pany opened the first road on tbe Reserve, which 
commenced about ten miles south of the lake 
shore, on the Pennsylvania State line, and extended 
to Cleveland. In January, 1791), Mr. Doane 
moved to Doane's Corners, leaving only Maj. Car- 
ter's family in Cleveland, all tbe rest leaving as 
soon as they were well enough. For fifteen months, 
the JMajor and bis family were the only white per- 
sons left on tbe town site. During the spring, 
Wheeler W. Williams and Maj. Wyatt built tlie 
fir.st grist-mill on tbe Reserve, on the site of New- 
burg. It was looked upon as a very valuable acces- 
sion to the Jieigbborbood. Prior to this, each fam- 
ily had its own hand-mill in one of tbe corners of 
tbe cabin. The old mill is thus described by a 
pioneer : 

" Tbe stones wore of the common grindstone 
grit, about four inches thick, and twenty in diame- 



^ 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



Ill 



tor. The runner, or upper, was turned by hand, 
by a pole set in the top of it, near the outer edge. 
The upper end of the pole was inserted into a hole 
in a board fastened above to the joists, immedi- 
ately over the hole in the verge of the runner. 
One person fed the corn into the eye — a hole in 
the center of the runner — while another turned. 
It was very liard work to grind, and the operators 
alternately exchanged places." 

In 1800, several settlers came to the town and 
a more active life was the result. From this time, 
Cleveland began to progress. The 4th of July, 
1801, the first ball in town was held at Major 
Carter's log cabin, on the hill-side. John and 
Benjamin Wood, and R. H. Blinn were managers; 
and Maj. Samuel Jones, musician and master of 
ceremonies. The company numbered about thii'ty, 
very evenly divided, for the times, between the 
sexes. " Notwithstanding the dancers had a rough 
puncheon floor, and no better beverage to enliven 
their spirits than sweetened whisky, yet it is doubt- 
fvil if the anniversary of American independence 
was ever celebrated in Cleveland by a more joyful 
and harmonious company tlian those who danced 
the scamper-down, double-shuffle, western-swing 
and half-moon, that day, in IMaj. Carter's cabin." 
The growth of the town, fi-om this period on, re- 
mained prosperous. The usual visits of the Indi- 
ans were made, ending in their drunken carousals 
and fights. Deer and other wild animals furnished 
abundant meat. The settlement was constantly 
augmented by new arrivals, so that, by 1814:, Cleve- 
land was incorporated as a town, and, in 1836, as 
a city. Its harbor is one of the best on the lakes, 
and hence the merchandise of the lakes has always 
been attracted thither. Like Cincinnati and Chil- 
licothe, it became the nucleus of settlements in this 
part of the State, and now is the largest city in 
Northern Ohio. 

One of the earliest settlements made in the 
Western Reserve, and by some claimed as the first 
therein, was made on the site of Youngstown, Ma- 
honing County, by a Mr. Young, afterward a Judge, 
in the summer of 1796. During this summer, 
before the settlements at Cuyahoga and Conneaut 
were made, Mr. Young and Mr. Wilcott, proprie- 
tors of a township of land in Northeastern Ohio, 
came to their possessions and began the survey of 
their land. Just when they came is not known. 
They were found here by Col. James Hillman, 
then a trader in the employ of Duncan & Wilson, 
of Pittsburgh, " who had been forwarding goods 
across the country by pack-saddle horses since 



1786, to the mouth of the Cuyahoga, thence to be 
shipped on the schooner Mackinaw to Detroit. 
Col. Hillman generally had charge of all these 
caravans, consisting sometimes of ninety horses 
and ten men. They commonly crossed the Big 
Beaver four miles below the mouth of the Shc- 
nango, thence up the left bank of the Mahoning — 
called by the Indians " Malioni'" or " Mahonick.'' 
signifying the "lick" or " at the lick" — crossing 
it about three miles below the site of Youngstown, 
thence by-way of the Salt Springs, over the sites 
of Milton and Ravenna, crossing the Cuyahoga at 
the mouth of Breakneck and again at the mouth 
of Tinker's Creek, thence down the river to its 
mouth, where they had a log hut in which to 
store their goods. This hut was there when the 
surveyors came, but at the time unoccupied. At 
the mouth of Tinker's Creek were a few log huts 
built by Moravian Missionaries. These were used 
only one year, as the Indians had gone to the Tus- 
carawas River. These and three or four cabins at 
the Salt Springs were the only buildings erected 
by the whites prior to 1796, in Northeastern Ohio. 
Those at the Salt Springs were built at an early 
day for the accommodation of whites who came 
from Western Pennsylvania to make salt. The 
tenants were dispossessed in 1785 by Gen. Harmar. 
A short time ailer, one or two white men were 
killed by the Indians here. In 1788, Col. Hill- 
man settled at Beavertown, where Duncan & 
Wilson had a store for the purpose of trading 
with the Indians. He went back to Pittsburgh 
soon after, however, owing to the Indian war, and 
remained there till its close, continuing in his busi- 
ness whenever opportunity off"ered. In 1796, 
when returning from one of his trading expeditions 
alone in his canoe down the Mahoning River, he 
discovered a smoke on the bank near the present 
town of Youngstown, and on going to the spot 
found Mr. Young and Mr. Wolcott, as before men- 
tioned. A part of Col. Hillman's cargo consisted 
of whisky, a gallon or so of which he still had. 
The price of " fire-water " then was $1 per quart 
in the currency of the country, a deerskin being 
legal tender for ^1, and a doeskin for 50 cents. 
Mr. Young proposed purchasing a quart, and 
having a frolic on its contents during the even- 
ing, and insisted on paying Hillman his cus- 
tomary price. Hillman urged that inasmuch as 
they were strangers in the country, civility re- 
quired him to furnish the means for the entertain- 
ment. Young, however, insisted, and taking the 
deerskin used for his bed — the only one he had — 



:V 



:^ 



113 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



paid for his quart of whisky, and an evening's 
tri)lii- was the rosiilt. 

•Ilillman n'liiainod a few days, when they ac- 
(.•(iinpanird liiiu to Beaver Town to eelebrate the 
4tli, and then all returned, and Ilillman erected a 
ealiin on the site of Youngstown. It is not cer- 
tain that they remained here at this time, and 
hence the priority of actual settlement is generally 
conceded to Conneaut and Cleveland. The next 
year, in the fall, a Mr. Brown and one other per- 
son came to the banks of the Mahoning and made 
a permanent settlement. The same season Uriah 
Holmes and Titus Hayes came to the same locality, 
and before winter tjuite a settlement was to be seen 
here. It proceeded (juite prosperously until the 
wanton murder of two Indians occurred, which, 
for a time, greatly excited the whites, lest the In- 
dians should retaliate. Through the efforts of 
C'ol. Hillman, who had great influence with the 
natives, they agreed to let the murderers stand a 
trial. They were ac(|uitted upon some technicality. 
The trial, however, pacified the Indians, and no 
trouble came from the unwarranted and unfortu- 
nate circum-stance, and no check in the emigration 
or prosperity of the colony occurred."* 

As soon as an effective settlement had been es- 
tablished at Youngstown, others were made in the 
surrounding country. One of these was begun by 
William Fenton in 1708, on the site of the pres- 
ent town of Warren, in Trumbull County. He 
remained here alone one year, when he was joined 
by Capt. Ephraim Quimby. By the last of Sep- 
tember, the next year, the colony had increased to 
sixteen, and from that date on continued prosper- 
ously. Once or twice they stood in fear of the 
Indians, as the result of quarrels induced by 
whi.sky. Sagacious persons generally saved any 
serious outbreak and pacified the nati\'es. Mr. 
Badger, the first missionary on the Reserve, came 
to the settlement here and on the Mahoning, as 
soon as each was made, and, by his earnest labors, 
succeeded in forming churches and schools at an 
early day. He w;ls one of the most efficient men 
(>a the Reserve, and throughout his long and busy 
life, was well known and greatly respected. He 
died in lH4(j, aged eighty-nine years. 

The settlement.s given are about all that were 
made before the close of 17!>7. In following tlu^ 
narrative of these .settlements, attention is paid to 
the chronological order, as far as this can be done. 
Like those settlements already made, many which 

• BecoUeclloDB of Col. Hillman. — Howe's AnnaU. 



are given as occurring in the next year, 1798, 
were actually begun earlier, but were only tem- 
porary preparations, and were not considered as 
made until the next year. 

Turning again to the southern portion of Ohio, 
the Scioto, Muskingum and Miami Valleys come 
prominently into notice. Throughout the entire 
Eastern States they were still attracting attention, 
and an increased emigration, busily occupying their 
verdant fields, was the result. All about Chilli- 
cothe was now well settled, and, up the banks of 
that stream, prospectors were selecting sites for 
their future homes. 

In 1797, Robert Armstrong, George Skidmore, 
Lucas Sullivant, William Domigan, James Mar- 
shall, John Dill, Jacob Grubb. Jacob Overdier, 
Arthur O'Hara, John Brickell, Col. Culbertson, 
the Deardorfs, McElvains, Selles and others, came 
to what is now Franklin County, and, in August, 
Mr. Sullivant and some others laid out the town of 
Franklinton, on the west bank of the Scioto, oppo- 
site the site of Columbus. The country about this 
locality had long been the residence of the Wyan- 
dots, who had a large town on the city's site, and 
cultivated extensive fields of corn on the river bot- 
toms. The locality had been visited by the whites 
as early as 1780, in some of their expeditions, and 
the fertility of the land noticed. As soon as peace 
was assured, the whites came and began a settle- 
ment, as has been noted. Soon after Franklinton 
was established, a Mr. Springer and his son-in-law, 
Osborn, settled on the Big Darby, and, in the sum- 
mer of 1798, a .scattering settlement was made on 
Alum Creek. About the same time settlers came 
to the mouth of the Gahannah, and along other 
water-courses. F^ranklinton was the point to which 
emigrants came, and from which they always made 
their permanent location. For several years there 
was no mill, nor any such commodity, nearer than 
Chillicothe. A hand-mill was constructed in 
Franklinton, which was commonly used, unless the 
settlers made a trip to Chillicothe in a canoe. 
Next, a horse-mill was tried ; but not till 1805, 
when Col. Kilbourne built a mill at Worthington, 
settled in 1803, could any efficient grinding be 
done. In 1789, a small store was opened in Frank- 
linton, by James Scott, but, for seven or eight 
years, Chillicothe was the nearest post office. 
Often, when the neighbors wanted mail, one of 
their number was furnished money to pay the 
postage on any letters that might be waiting, and 
sent for the mail. At first, as in all new localities, 
a great deal of sickness, fever and ague, prevailed. 



"^ 



±z=±iL^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



113 



As the people became acclimated, this, however, 
disappeared. 

The township of Sharon in this county has a 
history similar to that of Granville Township in 
Licking County. It was settled by a " Scioto 
Company," formed in Granby, Conn., in the winter 
of 1801—02, consisting at first of eight associates. 
They drew up articles of association, among which 
was one limiting their number to forty, each of 
whom must be unanimously chosen by ballot, a 
single negative being sufficient to prevent an election. 
Col. James Kilbourne was sent out the succeeding 
spring to explore the country and select and pur- 
chase a township for settlement. He returned in 
the fall without making any purchase, through 
fear that the State Constitution, then about to be 
formed, would tolerate slavery, in which case the 
project would have been abandoned. While on 
this visit, Col. Kilbourne compiled from a variety 
of sources the first map made of Ohio. Although 
much of it was conjectured, and hence inaccurate, 
it was very valuable, being correct as far as the 
State was then known. 

"As soon as information was received that the 
constitution of Ohio prohibited slavery, Col. Kil- 
bourne purchased the township he had previously 
selected, within the United States military land 
district, and, in the spring of 1803, returned to 
Ohio, and began improvements. By the succeed- 
ing December, one hundred settlers, mainly from 
Hartford County, Conn., and Hampshire County, 
Mass., arrived at their new home. Obeying to the 
letter the agreement made in the East, the first 
cabin erected was used for a schoolhouse and a 
church of the Protestant Episcopal denomination ; 
the first Sabbath after the arrival of the colony, 
divine service was held therein, and on the arrival 
of the eleventh family a school was opened. This 
early attention to education and religion has left 
its favorable impress upon the people until this day. 
The first 4th of July was uniquely and appropri- 
ately celebrated. Seventeen gigantic trees, em- 
blematical of the seventeen States forming the 
Union, were cut, so that a few blows of the ax, at 
sunrise on the 4th, prostrated each succes.sively 
with a tremendous crash, forming a national salute 
novel in the world's history."'* 

The growth of this part of Ohio continued 
without interruption until the establishment of the 
State capital at Columbus, in 1816. The town was 
laid out in 1812, but, as that date is considered re- 



*Howe's CoUectiona. 



mote in the early American settlements, its history 
will be left to succeeding pages, and there traced 
when the history of the State capital and State 
government is given. 

The site of Zanesville, in Muskingum County, 
was early looked upon as an excellent place to form 
a settlement, and, had not hostilities opened in 
1791, with the Indians, the place would have been 
one of the earliest settled in Ohio. As it was, the 
war so disarranged matters, that it was not till 
1797 that a permanent settlement was effected. 

The Muskingum country was principally occu- 
pied, in aboriginal times, by the Wyandots, Dela- 
wares, and a few Senecas and Shawanees. An In- 
dian town once stood, years before the settlement 
of the country, in the vicinity of Duncan's Falls, 
in Muskingum County, from which circumstance 
the place is often called " Old Town." Near Dres- 
den, was a large Shawanee town, called Wakato- 
maca. The graveyard was quite large, and, when 
the whites fii'st settled here, remains of the town 
were abundant. It was in this vicinity that the 
venerable Maj. Cass, father of Lewis Cass, lived 
and died. He owned 4,000 acres, given him for 
his military services. 

The first settlers on the site of Zanesville were 
William McCulloh and Henry Crooks. The lo- 
cality was given to Ebenezer Zane, who had been 
allowed three sections of land on the Scioto, Mus- 
kingum and Hockhocking, wherever the road 
crossed these rivers, provided other prior claims 
did not interfere, for opening " Zane's trace." 
When he located the road across the Muskingum, 
he selected the place where Zanesville now stands, 
being attracted there by the excellent water privi- 
leges. He gave the section of land here to his 
brother Jonathan Zane, and J. Mclntire, who 
leased the ferry, established on the road over the 
Muskingum, to William McCulloh and Henry 
Crooks, who became thereby the first settlers. The 
ferry was kept about where the old upper bridge 
was afterward placed. The ferry-boat was made 
by fastening two canoes together with a stick. 
Soon after a flat-boat was used. It was brought 
from Wheeling, by Mr. Mclntire, in 1779, the 
year after the ferry was established. The road cut 
out through Ohio, ran from Wheeling, Va., to 
Maysville, Ky. Over this road the mail was car- 
ried, and, in 1798, the first mail ever carried 
wholly in Ohio was brought up from Marietta to 
McCulloh's cabin by Daniel Couvers, where, by 
arrangement of the Postmaster General, it met 
a mail from Wheeling and one from Maysville. 



-3. \ 



114 



HISTOIIY OF OHIO. 



McCulloli, who could hardly read, was authorized 
to assort the mails and send each package in its 
proper direction. For this service he received 
S'M\ per annum ; but owing to his inahility to read 
well, .Mr. Convei-s generally performed the duty. 
At that time, the mails met here once a week. 
Four years atler, the settlement had so increased 
that a regular post office was openeil, and Thomas 
Howden appt)inted IVstmaster. He kept his office 
in a wooden building near the river bank. 

Messrs. Zane and Mclntire laid out a town in 
17!H), which they called Westbourn. When the 
post office was established, it was named Zanesville, 
and in a short time the village took the same name. 
A few families settled on the west side of the river, 
.^oon after McCVdloh arrived, and a.s this locality 
grew well, not long after a store and tavern was 
openi'd here. Mr. Mclntire built a double log- 
cabin, which was used as a hotel, and in whicli 
Louis Philippe, King of France, was once enter- 
tained. Although the fare and accommodations 
were of the i)ioneer period, the honorable guest seems 
to have enjoyed his visit, if the statements of ]jewis 
Cass in his " Camp and Court of Louis Philippe" 
may be believed. 

In 1804, Muskingum County was formed by the 
Legislature, and, for a while, strenuous efforts made 
to secure the State capital by the citizens of Zanes- 
ville. They even erecti-d buildings for the use of 
the Legislature and (jlovernor, and during the ses- 
sions of 1810-11, the temj)orary seat of govern- 
ment was fixed here. When the ])ermanent State 
taj)ital was chosen in 181 (1, Zanesville was passed 
l>y, and gave up the hope. It is now one of the 
most entt-rprising towns in the Muskingum Valley. 

During the summer of 171)7, John Knoop, then 
living four miles above Cincinnati, made several 
expediti(uis up the Miami Valley and selected the 
land on which he afterward located. The next 
spring Mr. Knoop, his brother Benjamin, Henry 
(iarard, Benjamin Hamlet and John Tildus estab- 
lished a station in what is now Miami County, near 
the present town of 8taunt(jn Village. That sum- 
mt-r, .Mrs. Knooj) planted the first apple-tree in 
the .Miami* country. They all lived together for 
greatt'r safety for two years, during wJiich time 
they were occupied clearing tbeir farms and erect- 
ing dwellings. Dnring the summer, the site of 
Pi(|uaw:ussettle<l, and three young men located ata 
place known as " Freeman's Prairie." Those who 

♦Tlie woril Miami in tlio Indian tonRiic Kignified nuitlier. The 
Miami.s were the oriKinal owniTS of ihi- vulley by that name, and 
affirmed they were created there. 



settled at Piquawere Samuel Hilliard, Job Garard, 
Shadrac Hudson, Jonah Rollins, Daniel Cox, 
Thomas Ilich, and a Mr. Hunter. The la.st named 
came to the site of Piqua first in 1797, and 
selected his home. Until 1799, these named were 
the only ones in this locality ; but that year emi- 
gration set in, and very shortly occupied almost all 
the bottom land in Miami County. With the 
increase of emigration, came the comforts of life, 
and mills, stores and other necessary aids to civil- 
ization, were ere long to be seen. 

The site of Pi((ua is (juite historic, being the 
theater of many important Indian occurrences, 
and the old home of the Shawanees, of which 
tribe Tecumseh was a chief. During the Indian 
war, a fort called Fort Piqua was built, near the 
residence of Col. John Johnston, so long the faith- 
ful Indian Agent. The fort was abandoned at the 
close of hostilities. 

When the Miami Canal was opened through this 
part of the State, the country began rapidly to 
improve, and is now probably one of the best por- 
tions of Ohio. 

About the same time the IMiami was settled, a 
company of people fi-om Pennsylvania and Vir- 
ginia, who were principally of (iernian and Irish 
descent, located in Lawrence County, near the iron 
region. As soon as that ore was made available, 
that part of the State rapidly fUhnl with settlers, 
most of whom engaged in the mining and working 
of iron ore. Now it is very prosperous. 

Another settlement was made the same season, 
1797, on the Ohio side of the river, in Columbia 
County. The settlement progressed slowly for a 
while, owing to a few difficulties with the Indians. 
The celebrated Adam Poe had been here as early 
as 1782, and several localities are made locally 
fiimous by his and his brother's adventures. 

In this county, on Little Beaver Creek, near its 
mouth, the second paper-mill west of the Alle- 
ghanies was erected in 1 805-(). It was the pioneer 
enterprise of the kind in Ohio, and was named the 
Ohio I'aper-Mill. Its proprietors were John 
Bever and John Coulter. 

One of the most noted localities in the State is 
comprised in (Jreene County. Tlu; Shawanee 
town, "Old Chillicothe," was on the Little ]Miami, 
in this county, about three miles north of the site 
of Xenia. This old Indian town was, in the an- 
nals of the West, a noted place, and is fre(juently 
noticed. It is first mentioned in 1 773, by Capt. 
Thomas Bullitt, of Virginia, who boldly advanced 
alone into the town and obtained the consent of 



^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Uo 



the Indians to go on to Kentucky and make his 
settlement at the falls of the Ohio. His audaciovis 
bravery gained his request. Daniel Boone was 
taken prisoner early in 1778, with twenty-seven 
others, and kept for a time at Old Chillicothe. 
Through the influence of the British Governor, 
Hamilton, who had taken a great fancy to Boone, 
he and ten others were sent to Detroit. The In- 
dians, however, had an equal fancy for the brave 
frontiersman, and took him back to Chillicothe, 
and adopted him into their tribe. About the 1st 
of June he escaped fi'om them, and made his way 
back to Kentucky, in time to prevent a universal 
massacre of the whites. In July, 1779, the town 
was destroyed by Col. John Bowman and one 
hundred and sixty Kentuckians, and the Indians 
dispersed. 

The Americans made a permanent settlement in 
this county in 1797 or 1798. This latter year, a 
mill was erected in the confines of the county, 
which implies the settlement was made a short 
time previously. A short distance east of the 
mill two block-houses were erected, and it was in- 
tended, should it become necessary, to surround 
them and the mill with pickets. The mill was 
used by the settlers at " Dutch Station," in Miami 
County, fully thirty miles distant. The richness 
of the country in this part of the State attracted a 
great number of settlers, so that by 1803 the 
county was established, and Xenialaid out, and des- 
ignated as the county seat. Its first court house, 
a primitive log structure, was long preserved as a 
curiosity. It would indeed be a curiosity now. 

Zane's trace, passing from Wheeling to Mays- 
ville, crossed the Hockhocking* River, in Fairfield 
County, where Lancaster is now built. Mr. Zane 
located one of his three sections on this river, 
covering the site of Zanesville. Following this 
trace in 1797, many individuals noted the desira- 
bleness of the locality, some of whom determined 
to return and settle. " The site of the city had 
in former times been the home of the Wyandots, 
who had a town here, that, in 1790, contained 
over 500 wigwams and more than one 1,0(»0 souls. 
Their town was called Tarhee, or, in English, the 
Crnne-totv II, and derived its name from the princi- 

* The word Hock-hock-ing in the Delaware language signifies 
a bottle: the Shawanees have it Wea-lha-Icagk-qua sepe, ie ; bottle 
river. John White in the Amprican Pioneer says: "About seven 
miles nort'i west of Lancaster, there is a fall In the Hockhocking of 
about twmty feet. Ahovo tlie fall for a short distance, the creek 
is very narrow and straight forming a neck, while at the falls il 
suddenly widens on each sideand swells into the appearance of the 
body of a bottle. The whole, when seen from above, appears exactly 
in the shape of a bottle, and from this fact the Indians called the 
river Hock-hock-ing.'' — Howe's CoUectiom. 



pal chief of that tribe. Another portion of the 
tribe then lived at Toby-town, nine miles west of 
Tarhe-town (now Royaltown), and was govei'ned 
by an inferior chief called Toby. The chief's wig- 
wam in Tarhe stood on the bank of the prairie, 
near a beautiful and abundant spring of water, 
whose outlet was the river. The wigwams of the 
Indians were built of the bark of trees, set on 
poles, in the form of a sugar- camp, with one square 
open, fronting a fire, and about the height of a 
man. The Wyandot tribe that day numbered 
about 500 warriors. By the treaty of Greenville, 
they ceded all their territory, and the majority, un- 
der their chief, removed to Upper Sandusky. The 
remainder lingered awhile, loath to leave the home 
of their ancestors, but as game became scarce, they, 
too, left for better hunting-grounds."* 

In April, 1798, Capt. Joseph Hunter, a bold, 
enterprising man, settled on Zane's trace, on the 
bank of the prairie, west of the crossings, at a 
place since known as "Hunter's settlement." For 
a time, he had no neighbors nearer than the set- 
tlers on the Muskingum and Scioto Rivers. He 
lived to see the country he had found a wilderness, 
full of the homes of industry. His wife was the 
first white woman that settled in the valley, and 
shared with him all the privations of a pioneer 
life. 

Mr. Hunter had not been long in tlie valley till 
he was joined by Nathaniel Wilson, John and Al- 
len Green, John and Joseph McMullen, Robert 
Cooper, Isaac Shaefer, and a few others, who 
erected cabins and planted corn. The next year, 
the tide of emigration came in with great force. 
In the spring, two settlements were made in Green- 
field Township, each settlement containing twenty 
or more families. One was called the Forks of 
the Hockhocking, the other, Yankeetown. Set- 
tlements were also made along the river below 
Hunter's, on Rush Creek, Raccoon and Indian 
Creeks, Pleasant Run, Felter'sRun, at Tobeytown, 
Muddy Prairie, and on Clear Creek. In the fall, 
— 1799 — Joseph Loveland and Hezekiah Smith 
built a log grist-mill at the Upper Falls of the 
Hockhocking, afterward known as Rock Mill. 
This was the first mill on this river. In the latter 
part of the year, a mail route was established over 
the trace. The mail was carried through on horse- 
back, and, in the settlements in this locality, was 
left at the cabin of Samuel Coates, who lived on 
the prairie at the crossings <;f the river. 

♦Lecture of George Anderson. — Howe's Oolleclions. 



v> 



116 



HISTORY OF OHIO, 



In the fall of the next year, Ebenezer Zane laid 
out Lancaster, which, until ISOf), wits known as 
New Lancaster. The lots sold very rapidly, at 
SfjO each, and, in less than one year, (|uite a vil- 
laire appeared. December i), the (lovernor and 
Jiid^^t's of the Northwest Territory oriianized 
Fairtield (\)unty, and made Lancaster the county 
seat. The ne.\t year, Kev. -John Wrij^ht, (»f the 
Presbyterian Church, and lievs. Asa Sliinn and 
James Quinn, of the Methodist (Miurch, came, and 
from that time on schools and churches were main- 
tained. 

Not far from Ijanca.ster are immense mural es- 
carpments of sandstone formation. They were 
noted among the abori>;iiies, and were, probably, 
used by them as ]>laces of outlook and defense. 

The same summer Fairtield County was settled, 
the towns of Bethel and Williamsburij,', in (^ler- 
mont County, were settled and laid out, and in 
1800, the county was erected. 

A settlement was also made immediately south 
of Fairtield County, in Hocking County, by Chris- 
tian Westenhaver, a German, from near Hagers- 
town, Md. He came in the spring of 1798, and 
waa soon joined by several families, who formed 
(|uitti a settlement. The territory included in the 
county remained a part of Ross, Holmes, Athens 
and Fairtield, until 1818, when Hocking County 
was erected, and Logan, which had been laid out 
in 181(;, was made the county seat. 

The country comjtrised in the county is rather 
broken, especially along the Hockhocking River. 
This broken country was a fiivorite resort of the 
Wyandot Indians, who could easily hide in the 
numerous grottoes and ravines made by the river 
and its affluents as the water cut its way through 
the sandstone rocks. 

In 1798, soon after Zane's trace was cut through 
the country, a Mr. (Jraham located on the site of 
Cambridge, in (Juern.sey County. His wiia then 
the only dwelling between Wheeling and Zanes- 
ville, on the trace. He remained here alone about 
two years, when he was succeeded by George Bey- 
mer, from .Somers(!t, i*enn. Both these persons 
kept a tavern and ferry over Will's Creek. In 
April, ]8o:}, .Air. Reymer was .succeeded by John 
Beatty, who came from Loudon, Va. His family 
con.sisted of eleven }tersons. The Indians hunted 
in this vicinity, and were fre(|uent visitors at the 
tavern. In June, ISOO, Cambridge was laid out, 
and on the day the hits were otfered for sale, sev- 
eral families from the British Isle of Guernsi'v, 
near the coa.st of France, sto]H)ed here on their 



way to the West. They were .satisfied with the 
location and purchased many of the lots, and some 
land in the vicinity. They were soon followed by 
other families from the same place, all of whom 
settling in this locality gave the name to the county 
when it was erected in 1810. 

A settlement was made in the central part of the 
State, on Darby Creek, in Union (\)unty, in the 
summer of 1798, by James and Joshua Ewing. 
The next year, they were joined by Samuel and 
David Mitchell, Samuel Mitchell, Jr.. Samuel 
Kirkpatrick and Samuel McCulhmgh.and, in 1800, 
by George and Samuel Reed, Robert Snodgrass 
and Paul Hodgson. 

"James Kwings farm was the site of an an- 
cient and noted Mingo town, which was deserted 
at the time the Mingo towns, in what is now Logan 
County, were destroyed by Gen. Logan, of Ken- 
tucky, in. 178(). When Mr. Ewing took posses- 
sion of his farm, the cabins were still standing, 
and, among others, the remains of a blacksmith's 
shop, with coal, cinders, iron-dross, etc. Jonathan 
Alden, formerly a prisoner among the Indians, 
says the shop was carried on by a renegade white 
man, named Butler, who lived among the Mingoes. 
Flxtensive fields had formerly been cultivated in 
the vicinity of the town."* 

Soon after the settlement was established. Col. 
James Curry located here. He was quite an influ- 
ential man, and, in 1820, succeeded in getting the 
county formed from portions of Delaware, Frank- 
lin, Madison and Logan, and a part of the old In- 
dian Territory. Marysville was made the county 
seat. 

During the year 1789, a fort, called Fort Steu- 
ben, was built on the site of Steubenville, but was 
dismantled at the conclusion of hostilities in 1795. 
Three years after, Bezaleel Williams and Hon. 
James Ross, for whom Ross County was named, 
located the town of Steubenville about the old 
fort, and, by liberal offers of lots, soon attracted 
({uite a number of settlers. In 180;'), the town 
was incorporated, and then had a ]iopulation of 
several hundred persons. JeffcTson County was 
created by Gov. St. Clair, July 29, 1797, the year 
before Steubenville was laid out. It then included 
the large scope of country west of Pennsylvania ; 
east and north of a line from the mouth of the 
Cuyahoga; southwardly to the Muskingum, and 
east to the Ohio ; including, in its territories, the 
cities of Cleveland, Canton, Steubenville and War- 

* Howe's Collections. 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



119 



rcn. Onl}^ a short time, however, was it allowed 
to retain this size, as the increase in cniigration 
rendered it necessary to erect new counties, which 
was rapidly done, especially on the adoption c"thc 
State government. 

The county is rich in early history, prior to its 
settlement by the Americans. It was the home of 
the celebrated Mingo chief, Logan, who resid ^d 
awhile at an old Mingo town, a few miles below t le 
site of Steubonville, the place where the troo )s 
under Col. Willianjson rendezvoused on their i i- 
famous raid against the Mora^aan Indians ; ar d 
also where Col. Crawford and his men nn-t, wh< n 
starting on their unfortunate expedition. 

In the Reserve, settlements were often made 
remote from populous localities, in accordance wath 
the wish of a proprietor, who might own a tract of 
country twenty or thirty miles in the interior. In 
the present county of Geauga, three families located 
at Burton in 1798. They lived at a considei'able 
distance from any other settlement for some time, 
an(t were greatly inconvenienced for the want of 
mills or shops. As time progressed, however, 
these were brought nearer, or built in their midst, 
and, ore long, almost all parts of the Reserve could 
show some settleuKuit, even if isolated. 

The next year, 1709, settlements were made at 
Ravenna, Deerfield and Palmyra, in Portage 
County. Hon. Benjamin Tappan came to the site 
of Raverma in June, at which time he found one 
white man, a Mr. Honey, living there. At this date, 
a solitary log cabin occupied the sites of Buifalo and 
Cleveland. On his joiirndy from New England, 
Mr. Tappan fell in with David Hudson, the founder 
of the Hudson settlement in Summit Countv. 
After many days of travel, they landed at a prairie in 
Summit County. Mr. Tappan left his goods in a 
cabin, built for the purpose, under the care of a hired 
man, and went on his way, cutting a road to the 
site of Ravenna, where his land lay. On his return 
for a second load of goods, they found tlu; cabin 
deserted, and evidences of its plunder by the In- 
dians. Not long after, it was learned that the m^n 
left in charge had gone to Mr. Hudson's settle- 
iHcnt, he having set out immediately on his arrival, 
for his own land. Mr. Tappan gathered the re- 
mainder of his goods, and started back for Ravenna. 
On his way one of his oxen died, and he found 
himself in a vast forest, away from any habitation, 
and with one dollar in money. He did not falter 
a moment, but sent his hired man, a faithful fellow, 
to Erie, Penn., a distance of one hundred miles 
thi'ough the wilderness, with the compass for his 



guide, requesting from Capt. Lyman, the com- 
mander at the fort there, a loan of money. At 
the same time, he followed the township •lines to 
Youngstown, where he became acquainted with 
Col. James Ilillman, who did not hesitate to sell 
him an ox on credit, at a fair price. He returned 
to his load in a few days, found his ox all right, 
hitched the two together and went on. He was 
soon joined by liis hired man, with the money, and 
together they spent the winter in a log cabin. He 
gave liis man one hundred acres of land as a reward, 
and paid Col. Hillman for the ox. In a year or 
two he had a prosperous settlement, and when the 
county was erected in 1807, Ravenna was made 
the seat of justice. 

About the same time INIr. Tappan began his 
settlement, others were commenced in other locali- 
ties in this county. Early in May, 1799, Lewis 
Day and his son Horatio, of Granby, Conn., and 
Moses Tibbals and Green Frost, of Granville, 
Mass., left their homes in a one-horse .wagon, and, 
the 29th of May, arrived in what is now Deerfield 
Township. Theirs was the first wagon that had 
ever penetrated farther westward in this region 
than Canfield. The country west of that place 
had been an unbroken wilderness until within a 
few days. Capt. Caleb Atwater, of Wallingford, 
Conn., had hired some men to open a road to 
Township No. 1, in the Seventh Range, of which 
he was the owner. This road passed through 
Deerfield, and was completed to that place when 
the party arrived at the point of their destination. 
These emigrants selected sites, and commenced 
clearing the land. In July, Lewis Ely arrived 
from Granville, and wintered here, while those 
who came first, and had made their improvements, 
returned East. The 4th of March, 1800, Alva 
Day (son of Lewis Day), John Campbell and 
Joel Thrall arrived. In April, George and Rob- 
ert Taylor and James Laughlin, from Pennsylvania, 
with their families, came. Mr. Laughlin built a 
grist-mill, wliich was of great convenience to the 
settlers. July 29, Lewis Day returned with 
his family and his brother-in-law, Maj. Rogers; 
who, the next year, also brought his family. 

"Much suffering was experienced at first on 
account of the scarcity of provisions. They were 
chiefly supplied from the settlements east of the 
Ohio River, the nearest of which was Georgetown, 
forty miles away. The provisions were brought 
on pack-horses through the wilderness. August 
22, Mrs. Alva Day gave birth to a child — a fe- 
male — the first child born in the township. 






120 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Novi'UiIkt T, the first woddiiiii took j)1;k-(.>. JdIiii 
CunipU'll ami Sarah VAy wcu' ji)iiu'(l in wedlock 
by ('ulvin Austin, Ks(|., df Warren. He wius 
iicconijianieil I'roui Warren, a distance of twenty- 
seven miles, ])\ Mr. Pease, then a hiwyer, after- 
ward a well-known Judge. They came ou foot, 
there being no road; and, as they threaded their 
way through tlie wood.s, young Pea.se taught the 
Ju.stiee the marriage ct-reniony by oft repetition. 

" In 1802, Franklin Township wa.s organized, em- 
bracing all of Portage and j)arts of Trumbull and 
.Summit Counties. About this time the settlement 
received accessions from all parts of the East. In 
February, 1801, Rev. Badger came and began his 
labors, and two years later Dr. Shadrac Bostwick 
organized a Methodi.st Kpi.scopal church.* The 
riiuaiiiing settlement in this county. Palmyra, was 
begun about the' same time as the others, by David 
Daniels, from Salisbury, Conn. The next year he 
brought out his family. Soon after he was joined 
by E. N. and W. Jiacon, E. Cutler, A. Thurber, 
A. 1're.ston, N. Boi.s, J. T. Bal.lwin, T. and C. 
(iilbert, D. A. and S. Waller, N. Smith, Joseph 
Fisher, J. Tuttle and others. 

'' When this region was first settled, there was 
an Indian trail commencing at Fort Mcintosh 
(Beaver, Penn.), and extending westward to San- 
dusky and Detroit. The trail followed the highest 
gnjund. Along the trail, parties of Indians were 
frecjueiitly seen })assing, for several years after the 
whites came. It seemed to be the great aboriginal 
thoroughfare from Sandu.sky to the Ohio River. 
There were several large piles of stones on the 
trail in this locality, under which human skeletons 
have been discovered. These are suj)j)osed to be 
the remains of Indians slain in war, or murdered 
by their enemies, as tradition says it is an Indian 
custom for each one to cast a stone on the grave 
of an enenjy, whenever he ])a.sses by. These stones 
appear to have been picked up along the trail, and 
cast upon the heaps at diflerent times. 

"At the ))oint where this trail crosses Silver 
Creek, Fredrick Daniels and others, in 1814, dis- 
covered, painted on several trees, various devices, 
evidently the work of Indian.s. The bark was 
careliilly shaviid off two-thirds of the way around, 
and figures cut upon the wood. On one of these 
was delineated seven Indians, e<juii)ped in a par- 
ticular naanner, one of whom was without a head. 
This was su})posed to have been made by a party 
on their return westward, to give int<illigence to 

* Ilowe'a Collections. 



their friends behind, of the loss of one of their 
party at this place ; and, on making search, a hu- 
man skeleton was di.seovered near by." * 

The celebrated Indian hunter, Brady, made his 
remarkable leap across the Cuyahoga, in this 
count}-. The county also contains Brady's Pond, 
a large sheet of water, in which he once made his 
escape from the Indians, from which circumstance 
it received its name. 

The locality comprised in Clark County was 
settled the same summer as those in Summit County. 
John Humphries came to this part of the State 
with Gen. Simon Kenton, in 1799. With them 
came six families fi-om Kentucky, who settled 
north of the site of Springfield. A fort was 
erected on Mad River, for security against the In- 
dians. Fourteen cabins were soon built near it, 
all being surrounded by a strong picket fence. 
David Lowery, one of the pioneers here, built the 
first flat-boat, to operate on the (Jreat IMianii, and, 
in 1800, made the first trip on that river, conning 
down from Dayton. He took his boat and cargo 
on down to New Oi'Ieans, where he disposed of his 
load of " five hundred venison hams and bacon." 

Springfield was laid out in March, 1801. Griffith 
Foos, who came that spring, built a tavern, which 
he completed and opened in June, remaining in 
this ]>Iace till 1814. He often stated that when 
emigrating West, his party were four days and a 
half^ getting fi-om Franklinton, on the Scioto, to 
Springfield, a distance of forty-two miles. When 
crossing the Big Darlw, they were obliged to carry 
all their goods over on' horseback, and then drag 
their wagons across with ropes, while some of the 
party swam by the side of the wagon, to prevent 
its upsetting. The site of the town was oY such 
practical beauty and utility, that it soon attracted 
a large number of settlers, and, in a few years, 
Springfield was incorporated. In 1811, a church 
was built by the residents for the use of all denom- 
inations. 

Clark County is made famous in aboriginal 
history, as the birthplace and childhood home of 
the noted Indian, Tecuuiseh.'j' He was born in 

* Howf 's Collections. 

tTcciiiiiscli, or Tecuinsho, was a son of Pnckpshinwa, a niembor 
of tiie Kiscopoko tribe, and Methoataske, of the Tiiitle trilic nf tlie 
Sliawatiee nation. They removed from Florida to Ohio Boon after 
their niiirriage. The father, I'uckesliinwa, rose to the rank of a ehief, 
andfeUattho battle of I'oint Pleasant, in 1774. After his death, 
the mother, Methoataske, returned to the south, where she died at 
an advanced age. Teciimoeh was born about the year 17fi.s. Ho 
early showed a piussion for war, and, when only 'J.7 years of age, was 
made a chief. The next year he removed to Deer Creek, in the 
vicinity of Urbana. and from there lo the site of Piqua, on the 
Great Miami. In Hits he accepted the invitation of the Delawares 
in the vicinity of White Kiver, Indiana, and from that time made 



liL 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



121 



the (lid Tiidian town of Piqua, the ancient Piqna 
of the Shawanecs, on the north side of Mad lliver, 
about five miles west of Springfield. The town 
was destroyed by the Kentucky Rangers under 
Gen. George Rogers Clarke in 1780, at the same 
time he destroyed " Old Chillicothe." Immense 
fields of standing corn about both towns were cut 
down, compelling the Indians to resort to the hunt 
with more than ordinary vigxn', to sustain them- 
selves and their wives and children. This search 
insured safety for some time on the borders. The 
site of Cadiz, in Harrison County, was settled in 
A])ril, ITHD, by Alexander Henderson and his 
family, from Washinirton County, Penn. When 
they arrived, they found neigh})ors in the persons 
of Daniel Peterson and his family, who lived near 
the forks of Short Creek, and who had preceded 
them but a very short time. The next year, emi- 
grants began to cross the Ohio in gTeat numbers, 
and in five or six years larti:e settlements could be 
seen in this part of the State. The county was 
erected in 1814, and Cadiz, laid out in 1808, made 
the county seat. 

While the settlers wpre locating in and about 
Cadiz, a few families came to what is now Monroe 
County, and settled near the present town of 
Beallsville. Shortly after, a few persons settled on 
the Clear Fork of the Little Muskingum, and a 
few others on the east fork of Duck Creek. The 



next season all those settlements received addi- 
tions and a few other localities were also occupied. 
Before long the town of Beallsville was laid 
out, and in time became quite populous. The 
county was not erected until 1813, and in 1815 
Woodsfield was laid out and made the seat of 
justice. 

The opening of the season of 1800 — the dawn 
of a new century — saw a vast emigration west 
ward. Old settlements in Ohio received immense 
increase of emigrants, while, branching out in all 
directions like the radH of a circle, other settle- 
ments were constantly formed until, in a few years, 
all parts of the State knew the presence of the 
white man. 

Towns sprang into existence here and there ; 
mills and factories were erected; post offices and 
post-routes were established, and the comforts and 
conveniences of life began to appear. 

With this came the desire, so potent to the mind 
of all American citizens, to rule themselves through 
representatives chosen by their own votes. Hith- 
erto, they had been ruled by a Governor and Judges 
appointed by the President, who, in turn, appointed 
county and judicial officers. The arbitrary rulings 
of the Governor, St. Clair, had arrayed the mass 
of the people against him, and made the desire for 
the second grade of government stronger, and 
finally led to its creation. 



CHAPTER X. 



FORMATION OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT— OHIO A STATE— THE STATE CAPITALS— LEGIS- 
LATION— THE "SWEEPING RESOLUTIONS "—TERRITORIAL AND STATE GOVERNORS. 



SETTLEMENTS increased so rapidly in that 
part of the Northwest Territory included in 
Ohio, during the decade from 1788 to 1798, 
despite the Indian war, that the demand for an 
election of a Territorial Assembly could not be 
ignored by Gov. St. Clair, who, having ascertained 
that 5,000 free males resided within the limits of 
the Territory, issued his proclamation October 20, 
1708, directing the electors to elect representatives 
to a General Assembly. He ordered the election 

his home with them. He was most active in the war of 1812 
against the Americans, and from tlie time lie began his work to 
unite the tribes, his liistory is so closely identitieil therewith that 
the render is referred to the history of tliat war in sucrceding pages. 
It iii:iy notbe amiss to sav tliat all stories regarding tlio manner 
of Ills di'iitli are considered erroneous. He was undouliteilly killed 
in the outset of the battle of the Thames in Canada in 1814, and his 
body secretly buried by the Indians. 



to be held on the third Monday in December, and 
directed the representatives to meet in Cincinnati 
January 22, 1799. 

On the day designated, the re])resentatives * 
assembled at Cincinnati, nominated ten persons, 
whose names were sent to the President, who 
selected five to constitute the Legislative Council, 



♦Those elected were: from Washington County, Return Jona- 
than Meigs and Paul Fearing; from Hamilton County, William 
Goforth, William McMillan, John Smith, John Ludlow, Robert 
Benham, Aaron Caldwll and Isaac Martin; from St. Clair County 
(Illinois), Shadrach Bond; from Knox County (Indiana), John 
Small; from Randolph County (Illinois), John Edgar; from Wayne 
County, Solomon Sibley, Jacob Visgar and Charles F. Chabart de 
Joncavio; from Adams County, Joseph Darlington and Nathaniel 
Massie; from Jefferson County, James Pritchard ; from Ross County, 
Thomas Woithington, Ellas Langham.Somuel FIndley and Edward 
Tittin. The five gentlemen chosen as the Upper House were all 
from counties afterward included in Ohio. 



122 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



or Upper House. TWvr ilw- were Jacob Burnet, 
Jauu's Fiiiilli'V, Henry Vanderburj'li, Robert 
Oliver anil David Vance. On the :>cl of March, 
the Senate coniirmetl their nomination, and the 
Territorial ( Joveriniient of Ohio*— or, more prop- 
erly, the Northwest. — wa.s complete. As thi.s 
comprised the essential business of this body, it 
was jprorouued by the (Jovernor, and the A.ssembly 
directed to meet at the same jtlace Septeuiber IG, 
17!>!>, and proceed to the enactment of laws for 
the Territury. 

That day, the Territorial Legislature met again 
at Cincinnati, but, for want of a quorum, did nt)t 
organize until the 24th. The House consisted of 
nineteen members, seven of whom were from Ham- 
ilton County, four from Ross, three from Wayne, 
two from Adams, one from Jeffei'son, one from 
Washington and one from Knox. A.ssembling 
both I)ranches of the Legislature, (xov. St. Clair 
addressed them, reconuneiiding such measures to 
their consideration as, in his judgment, were suited 
to the condition of the country. The Council 
then organized, electing Henry V'anderburgli, J Resi- 
dent; William C. Schenck, Secretary; George 
Howard, Doorkeeper, and Abraham Carey, Ser- 
geant-at-arms. 

The Hou.se also organized, electing Edward Tif- 
fin, Speaker; John Reilly, Clerk; Josliua Row- 
land, Doorkeeper, and Abraham Carey, Sergcant- 
at-arms. 

This wa.s the first legislature elected in the "old 
Northwestern Territory. During its first se.ssion, 
it passed thirty bills, of which the Governor vetoed 
eleven. They also elected William Henry ILirri- 
son, then Secretary of the Territory, delegate to 
Congress. The Legislature continued in ses.sion 
till December 10, having nuicb to do in forming 
new laws, when they were prorogued by the Gov- 
ernor, until the first Monday in November, 1800. 
The second session was held in Chillicothe, which 
had been designated a.s the seat of government by 
Congress, until a permanent capital should be 
selected. 

May 7, 1800, CongTcss passed an act establish- 
ing Lidiana Territory, including all the country 
west of the Great Miami Ri\er to the Mississippi, 
and appointed William Henry Harrison its Gov- 
ernor. At the autumn session of the Legislature 



* Ohio nover existefl a« a Territory proper. It was known, both 
befiire ntnl alter tlie division of tlio Northwest Territory, as the 
"Ti-rritory nortliwest of the Ohio Kiver." Still, a.s the country 
comprised in its limits wiw the principal the.iter of action, tlio short 
P'sume given here id made necessary in the )o(;ical course of event"). 
Ohio, a» Ohio, never existed until the creation of the State in 
March, 1803. 



of the eastern, or old part of the Territory, Will- 
iam McMillan and l*aul Fearing were elected to 
the vacancies caused by this act. By the organ- 
ization of this 'JVrritory, the counties of Knox, St. 
C'lair and Ilandolph, were taken out of the juris- 
diction of the old Territory, and with them the 
represi>ntativ(!s, Henrv Vandenburgh. Shadrach 
Bond, John Small and John Edgar. 

Before the time for the next Assembly came, a 
new election had occurred, and a few changes were 
the result. Robert Oliver, of Marietta, was cho- 
sen Speaker in the place of Henry ^'anderburgh. 
There was considerable business at this session ; 
several new counties were to be erected ; the coun- 
try was rapidly filling with people, and where the 
scruples of the Governor could be overcome, some 
organization was made. He was very tenacious of 
his power, and arbitrary in his rulings, affirming 
that he, alone, had the power to create new coun- 
ties. This dogmatic exercise of his veto power; 
his rights as ruler, and his defeat by the Indians, 
all tended against him, resulting in his displace- 
ment by the ! 'resident. This was done, however, 
just at the timethe Territory came from the second 
grade of government, and "the State w'a^ created. 

The third session of the Territorial Legislature 
continued from November 24, 1801, to January 
23, 1802, when it adjourned to meet in Cincin- 
nati, the fourth JMonday in November, but 
owing to reasons made; obvious by subsequent 
events, was never held, and the third session 
marks the decline of the Territorial government. 

April 30, 1802, Congress pa.s.sed an act "to 
enable the people of the eastern division of the 
territory nortliwest of the Ohio River, to form a 
constitution and State government, and for the 
admission of such States into the Union on 
an etjual footing with the original States, and for 
other purposes." In pursuance of this act, an 
election had been held in this part of the Tenitory, 
and members of a constitutional convention cho- 
sen, who were to meet at Chillicothe, November 
1, to perform the duty assigned them. 

The people throughout the country contemplat- 
ed in the new State were anxious for the adoption 
of a State government. The arbitrary acts of the 
Territorial Governor had heiglitenetl this feeling ; 
the een.sus of the Territory gave it the lawful 
number of inhabitants, and notliing stood in its 
way. 

The convention met the day designated and 
proceeded at once to its duties. When the time 
arrived for the opening of the Fourth Territorial 



•.±* 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



123 



Legislature, the convention was in session and had 
evidently about completed its labors. The mem- 
bers of the Legislature (eight of whom were mem- 
bers of the convention) seeing that a speedy 
termination of the Territorial government was inev- 
itable, wisely concluded it was inexpedient and 
unnecessary to hold the proposed session. 

The convention concluded its labors the 29th of 
November. The Constitution adopted at that time, 
though rather crude in some of its details, was an 
e-xcellent oi'ganic instrument, and remained almost 
entire until 1851, when the present one was 
adopted. Either is too long for insertion here, 
but either will well pay a })erusal. The one adopted 
by the convention in 18U2 was never submitted 
to the people, owing to the circumstances of the 
times ; but it was submitted to Congress February 
19, 1803, and by that body accepted, and an act 
passed admitting Ohio to the Union. 

The Territorial government ended March 3, 
1803, by the organization, that day, of the State 
government, which organization defined the pres- 
ent limits of the State. 

'• We, the people of- the Eastern Divisiou of the Ter- 
ritory of the United States. Northwest of the River 
Ohio, liaving the right of admission into the General 
Governmci'it as a member of the Union, consistent with 
the Constitution of the United States, the Ordinance 
of Congress of one thousand seven hundred and eighty- 
seven, and of the law of Congress, entitled 'An act to 
eual)le the people of the Eastern Division of the Terri- 
tory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio, 
to form a Constitution and a State Government, and for 
the admission of such State into the Union on an equal 
footing with the original States, and for other purpo- 
ses ;' in order to establish justice, promote the well- 
fare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves 
and our posterity, do ordain and establish the follow- 
ing Constitution or form of government; and do mu- 
tually agree with each other to foi-m ourselves into a 
free and independent State, by the name of the State 
of Ohio."* — Preamble, Constitution- of 1S02. 

When the convention forming the Coastitution, 
completed its labors and presented the results to 
Congress, and that body passed the act forming 



* The name of the State is derived from the river forming its 
southern houudary. Its origin is somewhat obscure, hut is com- 
monly iiscrihed to tho Indians. On this point, Col. Johnston says: 
"The Shawanoese called the Ohio River 'A't.'j-A-e-pt-/«, Sepe, i. e., ^Eugle 
lUier.'' The Wyanlots were in the country generations hetore the 
Shawanoese, and, consequentlj', their name of the river is the prim- 
itive one and should stand in preference to all other.s. Ohio may 
be called an improvement on the expression, '0-he-::nh,' and was, no 
doubt, adopted by the early French voyagers in their boat-songs, 
and is substantially the same wor i as useil by the Wyandots: the 
meaning applied by the French, fair and beautiful 'la belle river,' 
being the same precisely as that meant by the Indians — 'great, 
grand and fair to look upon.' " — Hoxee's Collection^. 

Webster's Dictionary give^the word as of Indian origin, and it« 
meaning to be, " Beautiful." 



the State, the territory included therein was di- 
vided into nine counties, whose names and dates of 
erection were as follows: 

Washington, July 27, 1788; Hamilton, Janu- 
ary 2, 1790; (owing to the Indian war no other 
counties were erected till peace was restored); Ad- 
ams, July 10, 1797; Jefferson, July 29, 1797; 
Ross, August 20, 1798; Clermont, Fairfield and 
Trumbull, December 9, 1800; Belmont, Septem- 
ber 7, 1801. These counties were the thickest- 
settled part of the State, yet many other localities 
needed organization and were clamoring for it, but 
owing to St. Clair's views, he refused to grant 
their requests. One of the first acts on the as- 
sembling of the State Legislature, March 1, 1803, 
was the crj^ation of seven new counties, viz., Gal- 
lia, Scioto, Greauga, Butler, Warren, Greene and 
Montgomery. 

Section Sixth of the "Schedule" of the Consti- 
tution required an election for the various officers 
and Representatives necessary under the new gov- 
ernment, to be held the second Tuesday of Janu- 
ary, 1803, these officers to take their seats and as- 
sume their duties March 3. The Second Article 
provided for the regular elections, to be held on 
the second Tuesday of October, in each year. The 
Governor elected at first was to hold his office 
until the first regular election could be held, and 
thereafter to continue in office two years. 

The January elections placed Edward Tiffin in 
the Governor's office, sent Jeremiah ^lorrow to 
Congress, and chose an Assembly, who met on the 
day designated, at Chillicothe. Michael Baldwin 
was chosen Speaker of, the House, and Nathaniel 
Massie, of the Senate. The Assembly appointed 
William Creighton, Jr., Secretary of State ; Col. 
Thomas Gibson, Auditor ; AVilliam McFarland, 
Treasurer; Return J. Meigs, Jr., Samuel Hun- 
tington and William Sprigg, Judges of the Su- 
preme Court ; Francis Dunlevy, Wyllys Silliman 
and Calvin Pease, President Judges of the First, 
Second and Third Districts, and Thomas Worth- 
ington and John Smith, United States Senators. 
Charles Willing Byrd was made the United States 
District Judge. 

The act of Congress forming the State, con- 
tained certain requisitions regarding public schools, 
the " salt springs," public lands, taxation of Gov- 
ernment lands, Symmes' purchase, etc., which the 
constitutional convention agreed to with a few 
minor considerations. These Congress accepted, 
and passed the act in accordance thereto. The 
First General Assembly found abundance of work 



yz 



:f- 



.£. 



vz-k 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



to do regarding these various items, and, at once, 
set tlu'iusi'lves to the task. Laws wore jiassed ro- 
ganlinu all these ; new eounties created ; officers 
a|nn)inted ior the same, until they could he elected, 
and courtj< and niachinerv of governnient put in 
motion. President Juilges and lawyers traveled 
their circuits holding courts, otVen in the open air 
or in a log shanty ; a eou.stahle doing duty as 
guard over a jury, prohably seated on a log under 
a tree, or in the hushes. The President Judge in- 
structed the officers of new counties in their duties, 
and though the wliole keeping of matters accorded 
with the times, an honest feeling generally pre- 
vailed, inducing eacli one to perform his part as 
effi'etually as his knowledge permitted. 

The State continually filled with peonle. New 
towns aro.se all over the country. Excepting the 
occasional .sieknes.ses caused by the new climateand 
fresh soil, the general health of the people im- 
proved as time went on. 'J'hey were fully in ac- 
cord with the President, Jefferson, and caretidly 
nurtured those principles of personal liberty en- 
grafted in the fundamental law of 1787, and later, 
in the Con.stitution of the State. 

Little if any change occurred in the natural 
course of events, following the change of govern- 
ment until Burr's expedition and plan of secession 
in 1805 and 18(K) ap{)eared. What liis plans 
were, have never been definitely ascertained. His 
action i-elated more to the General (Jovernment, 
yet Ohio was ealled upon to aid in putting down 
his insurrection — for such it was thought to be — 
and defeated liis ])urj)oses, whatever they were. 
Mis plans ended only in ignominious defeat; the 
breaki!)g-uj» of one of the finest homes in the 
Western country, and tin? expulsion of himself and 
all those wlio were actively engaged in his scheme, 
what«'ver its imports were. 

Again, for a piiriod of four or five years, no 
exciting events occurred. Settlements continued ; 
mills and factories increased ; tdwns and cities 
grew ; counties were created ; trade enlarged, and 
naught save the common course of events trans- 
pired to mark the cour.><e of time. Other States 
were made from the old Northwest Territory, all 
parts of which were rajiidly being o(K-upied by 
settlers. The danger from ln(Uan ho.stilities was 
little, and the adventurous whites were rapidly 
occupying their country. One thing, however, 
was yet a continual source of annoyance to the 
Americans, viz., the British interference with the 
Indians. Their traders did not scruple, nor fail 
on every opportunity, to aid these sons of the 



forest with arms and ammunition as occasion 
offered, endeavoring to stir them up against the 
.Vmericans, until evetits here and on the high seas 
culminated in u declaration of hostilities, and the 
war of 1812 was the result. The deluded red 
men found then, as they found in 17i>5, that tliey 
were made tools by a stronger power, and dropped 
when the time came that they were no longer 
needed. 

Before the opening of hostilities occurred, how- 
ever, a series of acts passed the (Jeneral Assend)ly, 
causing considerable excitement. These were the 
famous "Sweeping Resolutions," passed in 1810. 
For a few years prior to their passage, considera- 
ble discontent prevailed among many of the legis- 
lators regarding the rulings of the courts, and by 
many of these embryo law-makers, the legislative 
jtower was considered omnipotent. They could 
change existing laws and contracts did they desire 
to, thought many of them, even if such acts con- 
flicted with the State and National Constitutions. 
The '' Sweeping Resolutions " were brought about 
mainly by the action of the judges in declaring 
that justices of the pi!ace could, in the collection 
of debts, hold jurisdiction in amounts not exceed- 
ing fifly dollars without the aid of a jury. The 
Constitution of the ITnited States gave the jury 
control in all such cases where the amount did not 
exceed twenty dollars. There was a direct con- 
tradiction against the organic law of the land — to 
which every other law and act is subversive, and 
when the judges de(;lared the legislative act uncon- 
stitutional and hence null and void, the Legisla- 
ture became suddenly inflamed at their independ- 
ence, and proceeded at once to jiunish the admin- 
istrators of justice. The legislature was one of 
the worst that evei' controlled the State, and was 
composed of many men who wen> not only igno- 
rant of common law, the necessities of a State, and 
the dignity and true import of their office, but 
were demagogues in every respect. Having the 
power to impeach officers, that body at once did 
so, Inuang enough to carry a two-thirds majority, 
and renuived several judges. Further maturing 
their plans, the "Sweepers," as they wei-e known, 
construed the law ajipointing certain judges and 
civil officers for st^ven years, to mean seven years 
from the organization of the State, wlu'ther they 
had been officers that length of tinu' or not. All 
officers, whether of new or old counties, were con- 
strued as included in the act, and, utterly ignoring 
the Constitution, an act was passed in Jamiary, 
1810, removing every civil lofficer in the State. 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



125 



February 10, they proceeded to fill all these va- 
cant offices, from State ofiicers down to the lowest 
county oflice, either by appointment or by ordering 
an election in the manner prescribed by law. 

The Constitution provided that the oflSce of 
judges should continue for seven years, evidently 
seven years from the time they were elected, and 
not from the date of the admission of the State, 
which latter construction this headlong Legisla- 
ture had construed as the meaning. Many of the 
counties had been organized but a year or two, 
others three or four years ; hence an indescribable 
confusion arose as soon as the new set of officers 
were appointed or elected. The new order of 
things could not be made to work, and finally, so 
utterly impossible did the justness of the proceed- 
ings become, that it was dropped. The decisions 
of the courts were upheld, and the invidious doc- 
trine of supremacy in State legislation received 
such a check that it is not likely ever to be repeated. 

Another act of the Assembly, during this pe- 
riod, shows its construction. Congress had granted 
a township of land for the use of a university, and 
located the township in Symmes' purchase. This 
Assembly located the university on land outside 
of this purchase, ignoring the act of Congress, as 
they had done before, showing not only ignorance 
of the true scope of law, but a lack of respect un- 
becoming such bodies. 

The seat of government was also moved from 
Chillicothe to Zanesville, which vainly hoped to be 
made the permanent State capital, but the next 
session it was again taken to Chillicothe, and com- 
missioners appointed to locate a permanent capital 
site. 

These commissioners were James Findley, Jo- 
seph Darlington, Wyllys Silliman, Reason Beall, 
and William McFarland. It is stated that they 
reported at first in favor of Dublin, a small town 
on the Scioto about fourteen miles above Colum- 
bus. At the session of 1812-13, the Assembly 
accepted the proposals of Col. James Johnston, 
Alexander McLaughlin, John Kerr, and Lyne 
Starling, who owned the site of Columbus. The 
Assembly also decreed that the temporary seat of 
government should remain at Chillicothe until the 
buildings necessary for the State officers should be 



erected, when it would be taken there, forever to 
remain. This was done in 1816, in December of 
that year the first meeting of the Assembly being 
held there. 

The site selected for the capital was on the east 
bank of the Scioto, about a mile below its junction 
with the Olentangy. Wide streets were laid out, 
and preparations for a city made. The expecta- 
tions of the founders have been, in this respect, re- 
alized. The town was laid out in the spring of 1 81 2, 
under the direction of Moses Wright. A short 
time after, the contract for making it the capital was 
signed. June 18, the same day war was declared 
against Great Britain, the sale of lots took place. 
Among the early settlers were George McCor- 
mick, George B. Harvey, John Shields, Michael 
Patton, Alexander Patton, William Altman, John 
Collett, William McElvain, Daniel Kooser, Peter 
Putnam, Jacob Hare, Christian Heyl, Jarvis, George 
and Benjamin Pike, William Long, and Dr. John 
M. Edminson. In 1814, a house of worship was 
built, a school opened, a newspaper — The Western 
Intelligencer and Columbus Gazette^ now the 
Ohio State Journal — was started, and the old 
State House erected. In 1816, the "Borough of 
Columbus" was incorporated, and a mail route once 
a week between Chillicothe and Columbus started. 
In 1819, the old United States Court House was 
erected, and the seat of justice removed from 
Franklinton to Columbus. Until 1826, times were 
exceedingly " slow " in the new capital, and but lit- 
tle growth experienced. The improvement period 
revived the capital, and enlivened its trade and 
growth so that in 1834, a city charter was granted. 
The city is now about third in size in the State, 
and contains many of the most prominent public 
institutions. The present capitol building, one of 
the best in the West, is patterned somewhat after 
the national Capitol at Washington City. 

From the close of the agitation of the " Sweeping 
Resolutions," until the opening of the war of 1812, 
but a short time elapsed. In fact, scarcely had 
one subsided, ere the other was upon the country. 
Though the war was national, its theater of opera- 
tions was partly in Ohio, that State taking an act- 
ive part in its operations. Indeed, its liberty 
depended on the war. 



7' 



:^ 



U{i 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



LIST OF TERRITORIAL AND STATK GOVERNORS, 

Frum the orijanization of the ji rut civil government in the Northwest Territory (1788 to \^02), of which the State of 

Ohio was apart, until the year 1880. 



(0) .VrthurSt. riair 

*Ch:irles Williiiir IKnl 

(l>) Edward Tithii 

(f) fTlioniiis Kiikei- 

Samuel Hunlingluii 

(d) Ketuin Jonathan Meigs...... 

fOthniel Looker 

'I'liomas Wort liingt (111 

{«•) Ellian Allen Bniwn 

t .Mlf n Trimble 

,liMi'iiii;ili .Morrow 

.Mien Trimble 

Duncan Mc.Vriliur 

Robert Lucas 

Joseph Vance 

Wilson Shannon 

Thomas Corwiii 

( f) Wilson Shannon 

+Thomus W. liartley 

.Slordecai Bart lev 

William Bebh...'. 

(ff) Soaiiury Fonl 

('<) Reuben Wood 

(/)«! William iMclill 

Salmon 1'. Chasv.- 

William Dennison 

David Tod 

{k) John Brou^h 

''/Vhn rlcs Anderson 

Jacob D. Cox 

Rutherford B. Hayes 

Filward F. N..ves.! 

William Allen.' 

(1) Rutherford B. Hayes 

(m) Thomas L. Voting 

Richard M. Bishop 

Charles Foster 



COUNTY. 



Hamilton. 



.Adams 

Trumbull. 
Washingl. 
ilaniilton. 



llaiuiUon. 
Highland 
Warren.... 
Highland 
I'xiss 



March 

March 

Dec. 

Dec. 

April 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Jan. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Warren iDec. 

Dec, 

April 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Jan. 

Dec. 

July 

Jan. 

Jan. 

.Ian. 

Jan. 

Aim 



like , 

Champaign 
Belmont.... 



Term 
Commenced. 



July 18, 



Belmont 

Richland 

itichlaiid 

Butler 

Geauga 

(\iy alioga 

.'•"airfield 

ilainilton 

Krankl i n 

Mahoning 

("uyahoga 

\I out gomery 

Trund)ull Jnn • 

Hamilton .Ian. 

Hamilton .Ian. 

Hoss Jan. 

Sandusky Jan . 

Hamilton March 

Hamilton 'jani 

Sandusky Jan. 



3, 
4, 

l-\ 

8, 
14, 

8, 
14, 

7, 
28. 
11», 
IB, 

7, 
13. 

i;!. 
in, 

14, 
L!, 

12! 

22, 
12^ 
IT), 
14, 

Li, 
12, 

;;(!, 
<», 

13. 

8, 
12. 
14, 

2, If 



1788 
1802 
1803 
1807 
1808 



Term Ended. 



March 3, 
March 4, 
Dec. 12, 
Dec. 8. 



1810 March 25, 
181-jlDec. 8, 



1814 
1818 
1822 
1822 
1820 
18,'Hi 
1832 
183G 
1838 
1840 
1842 
1844 
1844 
184() 
18411 
I8rj(i 
1853 
1850 
18(i(l 
1862 
18ti4 
18t;-' 



Dec. 

Jan. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

April 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Jan. 

Dec. 

July 

Jan. 

.Ian. 

Jan. 

Jan. 

Aug. 

Jan. 



1 8C.(; Jan. 

18(i8,Jan. 

■ Jan. 



1872 
1874 
187< 



1878 
1880 



Jan. 
March 
Jan. 
Jan. 



14, 
4, 

28, 
lit, 
18, 

7, 
13, 
13, 
16, 
14, 
13, 

3, 
12, 
22, 
12, 
15, 
14, 

it, 
13, 
12, 
21). 

'J, 
13, 

8, 
12, 
14, 

o_ 

14! 
14, 



1802 
1803 
1807 
1808 
1810 
1814 
1814 
1818 
1822 
1822 
1826 
1830 
1832 
1836 
1838 
1840 
1842 
1844 
1844 
1846 
1849 
1850 
1853 
1856 
1860. 
1862 
1864 
1865 
1866 
1868 
1872 
1874 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1880 



fa) Arthur St. riair.of Penn'<ylvani«,\viis Governor of the Korth- 
west Territory, of w liich < >liio v as 11 |>:irt,fr(iia July 13, 178S, wlieii tlie 
first civil poveriMuent w.ia estaljlished in the Territory, until itbonl 
the cl ge of t lie yi-iir 1802, when ho wa.s removed by the I'reBiilcnt. 

♦Secretary of the Territory, and 'vas acting Governor of the 
Territory after tlio removal of Guv. St. Clair. 

(6) Uesiniied March 3, isii7, to accept the office of U. S. Senator. 

(c) Return .hinathan Mei^-s w.is elected Governor on the ^econd 
Tuesday of October, 1ko7, over Niithanii 1 Massie, who cont-'Sted the 
election of Mimrh, on thepr.iund that "h" liacl not lit-en a resident of 
this .'>tat<! for four years nixt |iri'Ceding the election, as recpiired hy 
the Constitution,"' and the General As-semhly, in joint convention, 
declared that he was not eliKilile. The ofhce wa-t not (riven t> 
Massie, nor doi-s it appear, from the recorils that he claimed it, hut 
Thomas Kirki-r, nctoig Governor, continued todi:jcharL'e the duties 
of theoflice until December 12, l.'^OK, when .S.iiniirl HuntinKt<m was 
inauKunite<l, he having been electi d on the second Tuesday of 
Octolter in that year 

id) Resigned .March 2\ 1S14, to accept the office of Postmaster- 
General of the United States. 



(e) Resigned January 4, 1822. to accept the oflice of United 
States Senator. 

(/) Resigned April 13, 1844, to accei)t the office of Minister to 
Mexico. 

(gi The result of the election in 18t8 was not finally determined in 
joint convention of the two houses of the General Assembly until 
.lanuary 10,1849, and the inauguration did not take place until the 
22d of that month. 

(h) Resigned July 15, 1853 to accept the office of Consul to Val- 
paraiso. 

(.)) Elected in October, 1853, for the regular term, to commence 
on tlio Hi i-onl Monday of iJanuary, 1854. 

(ki Hied August 20, l.SGo. 

t Acting Governor. 

i: Acting Governor, vice Wilson Shannon, resigned. 

H Acting Governor, vice Reuben Wood, resifrncd. 

'i Acting Governor, vice John Brough, deceased. 

(I) Resigned March 2, 1877, to accept the ollico of President of 
the United States. 

(m) Vice Rutherford B. Hayes, resigned. 






1£ 



HISTORY OP OHIO. 



127 



CHAPTER XL 

THE WAR OF 1812— GROWTH OF THE STATE— CANAL, RAILROADS AND OTHER IMPROVEMENTS 

—DEVELOPMENT OF STATE RESOURCES. 



IN June, 1S12, war was declared against Great 
Britain. Before this, an act was passed by Con- 
gress, authorizing the increase of the regular army 
to thirty -five thousand troops, and a large force of 
volunteers, to serve twelve months. Under this 
act, Itcturn J. Meigs, then Governor of Ohio, in 
.\pril and 3Iay, 1812, raised three regiments of 
troops to serve twelve months. They rendez- 
voused at Dayton, elected their officers, and pre- 
pared for the campaign. These regiments were 
numbered First, Second and Third. Duncan 3Ic- 
Arthur was Colonel of the First ; James Findlay, 
of the Second, and Lewis Cass, of the Third. 
p]arly in June these troops marched to Urbana, 
where they were joined by Boyd's Fourth Regiment 
of regular troops, under command of Col. Miller, 
who had been in the battle of Tippecanoe. Near 
the middle of June, this little army of about 
twenty-five hundred men, under command of Gov. 
William Hull, of Michigan, who had been author- 
ized by Congress to raise the troops, started on 
its northern march. By the end of June, the 
army had reached the Maumee, after a very severe 
march, erecting, on the. way, Forts Mc Arthur, Ne- 
cessity and Findlay. By some carelessness on the 
part of the American Government, no official word 
had been sent to the frontiers regarding the war, 
while the British had taken an early precaution to 
pr(;i)are for the crisis. Gov. Hull was very care- 
ful in military eti(|uette, and refused to march, or 
do any offensive acts, unless commanded by his 
superior officers at Washington. While at the 
]\Iaumee, by a careless move, all his personal 
effects, including all his plans, number and strength 
of his army, etc., fell into the hands of the enemy. 
His campaign ended only in ignominious defeat, 
and well-nigh paralyzed future efforts. All Mich- 
igan fell into the hands of the British. The com- 
mander, though a good man, lacked bravery and 
promptness. Had Gen. Harrison been in com- 
mand no such results would have been the case, 
and the war would have probably ended at the 
outset. 

Before Hull had surrendered, .Charles Scott, 
Governor of Kentucky, invited Gen. Harrison, 



Governor of Indiana Territory, to visit Frankfort, 
to consult on the subject of defending the North- 
west. Gov. Harrison had visited Gov. Scott, and 
in August, 1812, accepted the appointment of 
IMajor General in the Kentucky militia, and, by 
hasty traveling, on the receipt of the news of the 
surrender of Detroit, reached Cincinnati on the 
morning of the 27th of that month. On the 30th 
he left Cincinnati, and the next day overtook the 
army he was to command, on its way to Dayton. 
After leaving Dayton, he was overtaken by an ex- 
press, informing him of his appointment by the 
Government as Commander-in-Chief of the armies 
of the Indiana and Ilhnois Territories. The army 
reached Piqua, September 3. From this place 
Harrison sent a body of troops to aid in the de- 
fense of Fort Wayne, threatened by the enemy. 
On the Otli he ordered all the troops forward, and 
while on the march, on September 17, he was 
informed of his appointment as commander of the 
entire Northwestern troops. He found the army 
poorly clothed for a winter campaign, now ap- 
proaching, and at once issued a stirring address to 
the people, asking for food and comfortable cloth- 
ing. The address was not in vain. After his 
appointment, Gen. Harrison pushed on to Au- 
glaize, where, leaving the army under command of 
Gen. Winchester, he returned to the interior of the 
State, and establishing his headquarters at Frank- 
liuton, began active measures for the campaign. 

F]arly in March, 1812, Col. John Miller raised, 
under orders, a regiment of infantry in Ohio, and 
in July assembled his enlisted men at Chillicothe, 
where, placing them — only one hundred and forty 
in number — under command of Captain Angus 
Lewis, he sent them on to the frontier. They erect- 
ed a block-house at Piqua and then went on to 
Defiance, ^o the main body of the army. 

In July, 1812, Gen. Edward W. "Tupper, of 
Gallia County, raised one thousand men for six 
months' duty. Under orders from Gen. Winches- 
ter, they marched through Chillicothe and Urbana, 
on to the Maumee, where, near the lower end of 
the rapids, they made an ineffectual attempt to 
drive off the enemy. Failing in this, the enemy 



V 



128 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



attackoil Tuppcr and his troops, who, though worn 
(Uiwu with the march and not a Httlo disori>;anizcd 
through tlie jealousies of the officers, withstood 
the attack, ami repulsed the Hritish and their red 
allies, who returned to Detroit, and the Americans 
to Fort >Ic Arthur. 

In the tall of 1812, Gen. Harrison ordered a 
detachment of six hundred men, mostly mounted, 
to destroy the Indian towns on the Missisineway 
Kivi'r, one of the head- waters of the Wabash. 
The winter set in early and with unusual severity. 
At the same time this expedition was carried on, 
Bonaparte was retreatinii from Moscow. The expe- 
dition accomplished its design, though the troops 
suffered greatly li-om the cold, no less than two 
hunilred men being more or less frost bitten. 

(Jen. Harrison determined at once to retake 
Michigan and establish a line of defense along the 
southern shores of the lakes. Winchester was 
sent to occupy Forts Wayne and Defiance; Perkins' 
brigade to Lower Sandusky, to fortify an old 
stockade, and some Pennsylvania troops and artil- 
lery sent there at the same time. As soon as 
Gen. Harrison lieard the results of the Missis- 
ineway expedition, he went to Chillicothe to con- 
sult with Gov. Meigs about further movements, 
and the best methods to keep the way between the 
Upper Miami and the Maumee continually open. 
lie also sent Gen. Winchester word to move for- 
ward to the rapids of the IMaumee and prepare for 
winter quarters. This Winchester did by the 
middle of January, 1813, establishing himself on 
the northern bank of the river, just above Wayne's 
old battle-ground. He was well fixed here, and 
was enabled to give his troops good bread, made from 
corn gathered in Indian corn-fields in this vicinity. 

While here, the iidiabitants of Frenchtown, on 
the Kaisin Iliver, about twenty miles from Detroit, 
sent Winchester word claiming protection from the 
threatened British and Indian inva.sion, avowinsT 
themselves in sympathy with the Americans. A 
council of war decided in favor of their request, 
and Col. Lewis, with 550 men, sent to their relief. 
Sdon after. Col. Allen was sent with more troops, 
and the enemy easily driven away from about 
Frenchtown. Word was .sent to Gen. Winchester, 
who determined to march with all the men he 
could .spare to aid in holding the post gained. He 
left, the 19th of Jaiiuary, with 250 men, and ar- 
rived on the evening of the 20th. Failing to 
take the necessary precaution, from some unex- 
plained reason, the enemy came up in the night, 
established his batteries, and, the next day, sur- 



prised and defeated the American Army with a 
terrible loss. Gen. Winchester was made a pris- 
oner, and, finally, those who were intrenched in 
the town surrendered, under promise of l^roctor, 
the British commander, of protection from the 
Indians. This promise was grossly violated the 
next day. The savages were allowed to enter the 
town and enact a massacre as cruel and bloody as 
any in the annals of the war, to the everlasting 
ignominy of the British General and his troops. 

Those of the American Army that escaped, ar- 
rived at the rapids on the evening of the 22d of 
January, and soon the sorrowful news spread 
throughout the army and nations. Gen. Harrison 
set about retrieving the disaster at once. Delay 
could do no good. A fort was built at the rapids, 
named Fort Meigs, and troops from the south and 
west hurriedly advanced to the scene of action. 
The investment and capture of Detroit was aban- 
doned, that winter, owing to the defeat at French- 
town, and expiration of the terms of service of 
many of the troops. Others took their places, 
all parts of Ohio and bordering States sending 
men. 

The erection of Fort jNIeigs was an obstacle in 
the path of the British they determined to remove, 
and, on the 28th of February, 1813, a large band 
of British and Indians, under command of Proc- 
tor, Tecumseh, Walk-in-the-water, and other In- 
dian chiefs, appeared in the Maumee in boats, and 
prepared for the attack. Without entering into 
details regarding the investment of the fort, it is 
only necessary to add, that after a prolonged siege, 
lasting to the early part of May, the British were 
obliged to abandon the fort, having been severely 
defeated, and sailed for the Canadian shores. 

Next followed the attacks on Fort Stephenson, 
at Lower Sandusky, and other predatory excur- 
sions, by the British. All of these failed of their 
design; the defense of ]Maj. Croghan and his men 
constituting one of the most brilliant actions of the 
war. For the gallant defense of Fort Stephenson by 
Maj. Croghan, then a young man, the army merited 
the highest honors. The ladies of Chillicothe voted 
the heroic Major a fine sword, while the whole 
land rejoiced at the exploits of him and his band. 

The decisive efforts of the army, the great num- 
bers of men offered — many of whom Gen. Harrison 
was obliged to send home, much to their di.sgust — 
Perry's victory on Lake Erie, September 10, 
1813 — all presaged the triumph of the American 
arms, soon to ensue. As soon as the battle on 
the lake was over, the British at INIalden burned 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



129 



their stores, and fled, wliile the Americans, under 
their gallant commander, followed them in Terry's 
vessel to the Canada shore, overtaking them on 
the lliver Thames, Octoher 5. In the IkiIIIc that 
ensued, Tecumseh was slain, and the British Army 
routed. 

The Avar was now practically closed in the West. 
Ohio troops had done nohly in defending their 
northern frontier, and in regaining the Northwest- 
crn country. Gen. Harrison was soon after elected 
to Congress by the Cincinnati district, and Gen. 
Duncan McArthur was appointed a Brigadier 
General in the regular army, and assigned to the 
command in his place. Gen. McArthur made an 
expedition into Upper Canada in the spring of 
1814, destroying considerable property, and driv- 
ing the British farther into their own dominions. 
Peace was declared early in LSI 5, and that spring, 
the troops were mustered out of service at Chilli- 
cothe, and peace with England reigned supreme. 

The results of the war in ( )hio were, for awhile, 
similar to the Indian war of 1795. It brought 
many people into the State, and opened new por- 
tions, before unknown. Many of the soldiers im- 
mediately invested their money in lands, and became 
citizens. The war drove many people from the 
Atlantic Coast west, and as a result much money, 
for awhile, circulated. Labor and provisions rose, 
which enabled both workmen and tradesmen to 
enter tracts of land, and aided emigration. At the 
conclusion of Wayne's war in 1795, probably 
not more than five thousand people dwelt in the 
limits of the State ; at the close of the war of 1812, 
that number was largely increased, even with the 
odds of war against them. After the last war, the 
emigration was constant and gradual, building up 
the State in a manner that betokened a healthful 
life. 

As soon as the effects of the war had worn off, 
a period of depression set in, as a result of too 
free speculation indulged in at its close. Gradu- 
ally a stagnation of business ensued, and many 
who found themselves unable to meet contracts 
made in "flush " times, found no alternative but 
to fail. To relieve the pressure in all parts of 
the West, Congress, about 1815, reduced the 
price of public lands from $2 to $1.25 
per acre. This measure worked no little 
hardship on those who owned large tracts of 
lands, for portions of which they had not fully 
paid, and as a consequence, these lands, as well 
as all others of this class, reverted to the 
Government. The general market was in New 



Orleans, whither goods were transported in flat- 
boats built especially for this pupose. This com- 
merce, though small an<i poorly repaid, was the 
main avenue of trade, and did much tor the slow 
prosperity prevalent. The few banks in the State 
found their bills at a discount abroad, and gradu- 
ally becoming drained of their specie, either closed 
business or failed, the major part of them adopt- 
ing the latter course. 

The steamboat began to be an important factor 
in the river navigation of the West about this 
period. The first boat to descend the Ohio was 
the Orleans, built at Pittsburg in 1812, and in 
December of that year, while the fortunes of war 
hung over the land, she made her first trip fi'om the 
Iron City to New Orleans, being just twelve days 
on the way. The second, built by Samuel Smith, 
was called the Comet, and made a trij) as far 
south as Louisville, in the summer of 1813. The 
third, the Vesuvius, was built by Fulton, and went 
to New Orleans in 1814. The fourth, l)uilt by 
Daniel French at Brownsville, Pcnn., made two 
trips to Louisville in the summer of 1814. The 
next vessel, the ^tna, was built by Fulton & 
Company in 1815. So fast did the business 
increase, that, four years after, more than 
forty steamers floated on the Western waters. 
Improvements in machinery kept pace with the 
building, until, in 1838. a competent writer stated 
there were no less than four hundred steamers in 
the West. Since then, the erection of railways 
has greatly retarded ship-building, and it is alto- 
gether probable the number has increased but 
little. 

The question of canals began to agitate the 
Western country during the decade succeeding the 
war. They had been and were being constructed 
in older countries, and presaged good and prosper- 
ous times. If only the waters of the lakes and 
the Ohio River could be united by a canal run- 
ning through the midst of the State, thought the 
people, prosperous cities and towns would arise on 
its banks, and commerce flow through the land. 
One of the firmest fi-iends of such improvements 
was De Witt Clinton, wh(') had been the chief man 
in forwarding the " Clinton Canal," in New York. 
He was among the first to advocate the feasibility 
of a canal connecting Lake Erie and the Ohio 
lliver, and, by the success of the New York canals, 
did much to bring it about. Popular writers of the 
day all urged the scheme, so that when the Assem- 
bly met, early in December, 1821, the resolution, 
offered by Micajah T. Williams, of Cincinnati, 



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i;]0 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



for the appoiutiuent of a conunittoe of five mem- 
Ikts (o take into consideration so much of the 
(iovornor's uiossa<;e as related to canals, and .see if 
some ieasible plan could not be adopted whereby a 
beiiinnini; could be made, was (juickly adopted. 

The report of the committee, advising a survey 
and examination of routes, met with the approval 
of the Assembly, and commissioners were ap- 
pointed who were to employ an en^iineer, examine 
the country and report on the practicability of a 
canal between the lakes and the rivers. The com- 
missioners employed James tJeddes, of Onondaga 
County, N. v., as an engineer. He arrived in 
Columbus in June, 1822, and, before eight months, 
the corps of engineers, under his direction, had 
examined one route. During the next two sum- 
mers, the examinations continued. A number of 
routes were examinetl and surveyed, and one, from 
Cleveland on the lake, to Portsmouth on the Ohio, 
was recouauended. Another canal, from Cincin- 
nati to Dayton, on the Miami, was determined on, 
and preparations to commence work made. A 
Board of Canal Fund Commissioners was created, 
money was borrowed, and the morning of July 
4, 1825, the first .shovelful of earth was dug near 
Newark, with imposing ceremonies, in the presence 
of De Witt Clinton, (Jovernor of New York, and 
a mighty concmirse of })eople assembled to witness 
the auspicious event. 

(lov. Clinton was escorted all over the State to 
aid in developing the energy everywhere aj)parent. 
The events were important ones in the history of 
the State, and, though they led to the creation of 
a va.><t debt, yet, in the end, the canals were a 
benefit. 

The main canal — the Ohio and Erie Canal — 
was not completed till 18152. The IMaumcc Canal, 
from Dayton to Cincinnati, was finished in 1834. 
They co.st the State about 8tJ,<><»<»,0U0. Each of 
the main canals had branches leading to important 
towns, where their construction could ))e made 
without too umch expen.se. The ^Miamiand Mau- 
mee Canal, fi-om Cinciiniati northward along the 
Miami IJiver to Piipia thence to the ]\[aumee 
and on to the lake, was the largest canal made, 
and, for many years, was one of tlie most important 
in the State. It joined the Waba.sh Canal on the 
ea.stern boundary of Indiana, and thereby saved 
the construction of many miles by joining this 
great canal irom Toledo t(» Evansville. 

The largest artificial lake in the world, it is said, 
was built to supjdy water to the Miami Canal. It 
exists yet, though the canal is not much used. It 



is in the eastern part of Mercer County, and is 
about nine miles long by from two to four wade. 
It was formed by raising two walls of eartli from 
ten to thirty feet .high, called respectively the cast 
and west embankments ; the first of which is about 
two miles in length ; the second, about four. These 
walls, with the elevation of the ground to the 
north and south, formed a huge basin, to retain 
the water. The reservoir was commenced in 1837, 
and finished in 1845, at an expense of several 
hundred thousand dollars. When first built, dur- 
ing the accumulation of water, much malarial 
disease prevailed in the surrounding country, owing 
to the stagnant condition of the water. The citi- 
zens, enraged at what they considered an innova- 
tion of thv3ir rights, met, and, during a dark night, 
tore out a portion of the lower wall, letting the 
water flow out. The damage cost thousands of 
dollars to repair. All who participated in the 
proceedings w^ere liable to a severe imprisonment, 
but the state of feeling was such, in Mercer County, 
where the offense was committed, that no jury 
could be found that would try them, and the affair 
gradually died out. 

The canals, so efficacious in their day, were, 
however, superseded by the railroads rapidly find- 
ing their way into the AY est. .From England, 
where they were early used in the collieries, the 
transition to America Avas easy. 

The first railroad in the United States was built 
in the summer of 182G, from the granite quarry 
belonging to the Bunker Hill jMonument Associa- 
tion to the wharf l.mding, three miles distant. The 
road was a slight decline from the quarry to 
the wharf, hence the loaded cars were pro 
pelled by their own gi-avity. On their return, 
when empty, they were drawn up by a single 
horse. Other roads, or tramways, (piickly followed 
this. They were built at the Pennsylvania coal 
mines, in South Carolina, at New Orleans, and at 
Baltimore. Steam motive powei' was used in 1831 
or 1832, first in America on the Baltimore »ls: Ohio 
Railroad, and in Charlcstown, on a railroad there. 

To transfer these highways to the West Avas the 
fpiestion of but a fcAV years' time. The jirairies of 
Illinois and Indiana offered superior inducements 
to such enterprises, and, early in 1835, they began 
to be agitated there. In 1838, the first rail Avas 
laid in Illinois, at Meredosia, a little toAvn on the 
Illinois River, on Avhat is noAV the Waba,sh Raihvay. 

"The first railroad nnide in Oliio," Avrites Caleb 
Atwater, in his "History of Ohio," in 1838, "Avas 
finished in 183G by the people of Toledo, a toAvn 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



131 



some two years old then, situated near the mouth 
of Maumee River. The road extends westward in- 
to Michigan and is some thirty miles in length. 
There is a road about to be made from Cincinnati 
to »Springfield. This road follows the Ohio River 
up to the Little Miami River, and there turns 
northwardly up its valley to Xenia, and, passing 
the Yellow Springs, reaches Springfield. Its length 
must be about ninety miles. The State will own 
one-half of the road, individuals and the city of 
Cincinnati the other half. This road will, no 
doubt, be extended to Lake Erie, at Sandusky 
City, Avithin a few short years." 

" There is a railroad." continues Mr. Atwater, 
"about to be made from Paincsville to the Ohio 
River. There are many charters for other roads, 
which will never be made." 

Mr. Atwater notes also, the various turnpikes as 
well as the famous National road fi-om Baltimore 
westward, then completed only to the mountains. 
This latter did as much as any enterprise ever en- 
acted in building up and populating the West. 
It gave a national thoroughfare, which, for many 
years, was the principal wagon-way from the At- 
lantic to the Mississippi Valley. 

The railroad to which Mr. Atwater refers as 
about to be built from Cincinnati to Springfield, 
was what was known as the Mad River Railroad. 
It is commonly conceded to be the first one built 
in Ohio.* Its history shows that it was chartered 
March 11, 1836, that work began in 1837; that 
it was completed and opened for business from 
Cincinnati to Milford, in December, 1842; to Xe- 
nia, in August, 1845, and to Springfield, in Au- 
gust, 1846. It was laid with strap rails until 
about 1848, when the present form of* rail was 
adopted. 

One of the earliest roads in Ohio was what was 
known as the Sandusky , M ansfield & Newark Rail- 
road. It was chartered at first as the Monroeville 
& Sandusky City Railroad, March 9, 1835. March 
12, 1836, the Mansfield & New Haven road was 
chartered; the Columbus & Lake Erie, Mai'ch 12, 

1845, and the Huron & Oxford, February 27, 

1846. At first it ran only from Sandusky to 
Monroeville, then from Mansfield to Huron. These 

* Hon. E. D. Mansfield states. In 1873, th»t the " first actual piece 
of railroad laid in Ohio, was made on the Cincinnati & Samlnsk.v 
Railroad; but, about the sani" time we have the Litth' Miami Kail- 
road, which was surveyed in IS'M) and 1S37. If this, the generally 
accepted opinion, is correct, then Mr. Atwater's statement as given, 
is wrong. His history is, howi-ver, generally com eded to be correct. 
Written in 1838, he surely ought to know whereof he was writing, 
as the railroads were then only in construction ; but few, if an.y, 
in operation. 



two were connected and consolidated, and then ex- 
tended to Newark, and finally, by connections, to 
Columbus. 

It is unnecessary to follow closely the history of 
these improvements through the years succeeding 
their introduction. At first the State owned a 
share in nearly all railroads and canals, but finally 
finding itself in debt about $15,000,000 for such 
improvements, and learning by its own and neigh- 
bors' experiences, that such policy was detrimental 
to the best interests of the people, abandoned the 
plan, and allowed private parties entire control of 
all such works. After the close of the Mexican 
war, and the return to solid values in 1 854 or there- 
abouts, the increase of railroads in all parts of Ohio, 
as well as all parts of the West, was simply marvel- 
ous. At this date there are more than ten thou- 
sand miles of railroads in Ohio, alongside of which 
stretch innumerable lines of telegraph, a s^'stem of 
swift messages invented by Prof. JMorse, and adopted 
in the United States about 1851. 

About the time railroad building began to as- 
sume a tangible shape, in 1840, occurred the cele- 
brated political campaign known in history as the 
" Hard Cider Campaign." The gradual encroach- 
ments of the slave power in the West, its arrogant 
attitude in the Congress of the United States and 
in several State legislatures : its forcible seizure of 
slaves in the free States, and the enactment and 
attempted enforcement of the " fugitive slave" law 
all tended to awaken in the minds of the Northern 
people an antagonism, terminating only in the late 
war and the abolishment of that hideous system in 
the United States. 

The " Whig Party" strenuously urged the 
abridgment or confinement of slavery in the 
Southern States, and in the contest the party took 
a most active part, and elected William Henry 
Harrison President of the United States. As he 
had been one of the foremost leaders in the war of 
1812, a resident of Ohio, and one of its most pop- 
ular citizens, a log cabin and a barrel of cider were 
adopted as his exponents of popular opinion, as 
expressive of the rule of the common people repre- 
sented in the cabin and cider, in turn representing 
their primitive and simple habits of life. Though 
a rugged man when elected, he lived but thirty 
days after his inauguration, dying April 9, 1841. 
John Tyler, the Vice President, succeeded him in 
the ofiice. 

The building of railroads ; the extension of com- 
merce ; the settlement of all parts of the State ; 
its growth in commerce, education, religion and 






132 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



population, are the chief events from 1841 to the an insane idea that somethiuj;' could be had for 

Mexican war. Hard times occurred about as often iiotliiiig. The bubble burst as often as inflated, 

as they do now, preceded by " flush" times, when ruiiiini;- many people, but seemingly teaching few 

speculation ran rife, the people all infatuated with lessons. 



CHAPTER XII. 

MEXICAN WAR — CONTINUED GROWTH OF THE STATE— WAR OF THE REBELLION— OHIO'S 

PART IN THE CONFLICT. 



THR Mexican War grew out of the (|uestion of 
the annexation of Texas, then a province of 
Mexico, whose territory extended to the Indian 
Territory on the north, and on up to the Oregon 
Territory on the PaciHc Coast. Texas had been 
settled largely by Americans, who saw the condi- 
tion of afl'airs that would inevitably ensue did the 
country remain under Mexican rule. They first 
took steps to secede from Mexico, and then asked 
the aid of America to sustain them, and annex the 
country to itself. 

The Whig party and many others opposed this, 
chiefly on the grounds of the extension of slave 
territory. But to no avail. The war came on, 
Mexico was con(juered, the war lasting from April 
20, l.S4(;, to >ray 80, 1S4.S. Fitly thousand vol- 
unteers were called for the war by the Congress, 
and 810,000,000 placed at the disposal of the 
President, James K. Polk, to sustain the army and 
pro.seeute the war. 

The part that Ohio took in the war may be 
briefly sununed up as follows: She had five vol- 
unteer regiments, five companies in the Fifteenth 
Infantry, and several indejtendent companies, w'ith 
her full proportion among the regidars. When 
war was d(!clared, it was something of a crusade to 
many; full of romance to others; hence, many 
more were oftcred than could be rciceived. It was 
a campaign of romance to some, yet one of reality, 
eliding in death, to many. 

When the first call Ibr troops came, the First, 
Second and Third Regiments of infantry res])onded 
at once. Alexand<'r Mitchell was made (^ilonel of 
the First; John ]). Wellerits liieutenant Colonel ; 

and (Jiddings, of Dayton, its Major. Thomas 

Ilanna, one of the ablest lawyers in Ohio, started 
with the First as its Major, but, before the rc^gi- 
ment left the State, he was made a lirigadier 
(fcneral of ^^lluntwrs, and, at the battle of Mon- 
terey, distinguished himself; and there contracted 



disease and laid down his life. The regiment's 
Colonel, who had been wounded at Monterey, came; 
home, removed to Minnesota, and there died. 
Lieut. Col. Weller went to California after the 
close of the war. He was a representative from 
that State in the halls of Congress, and, at last, 
died in New Orleans. 

The Second Regiment was commanded by Col. 
George W. Morgan, now of Mount Vernon ; Lieut. 
Col. William Irwin, of Lancaster, and Maj. Will- 
iam Wall. After the war closed, Irwin settled in 
Texas, and remained there till he died. W^all lived 
out his days in Ohio. The regiment was never in 
active fielil service, but was a credit to the State. 

The officers of the Third Regiment were. Col. 
Samuel Curtis; Lieut. Col. C W. McCook and 
Maj. John Love. The first two are now dead ; 
the Major lives in Conncllsville. 

At the close of the first year of the war, these 
regiments (First, Second and Third) were mustered 
out of service, as their term of enlistment had 
expired. 

When the second year of the war began, the 
call for more troops on the part of the Government 
induced the Second Ohio Infantry to re-organize, 
and again enter the service. AVilliam Irwin, of the 
former organization, was chosen Colonel; William 
Latham, of (\)lunibus, Jjieutenant (\ilonel, and 

Link, of Circhiville, Major. All of them 

are now dead. 

The regular army was increased by eight Ohio 
reginsents of inlantry, the Third Dragoons, and 
the Voltigeurs — light-armed soldiers. In the Fif- 
teenth Regiment of the United States Army, there 
were five Ohio companies. The others were three 
from Michigan, and two from W^isconsin. Col. 
Morgan, <A' the old Second, was made Colonel of 
the Fifteenth, and John Howard, of Detroit, an 
old artillery officer in the regular army. Lieutenant 
Colonel. Samuel Wood, a captain in the Sixth 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



13:3 



United States Infantry, was made Major ; but was 

afterward succeeded by Mill, of Vermont. 

The Fifteenth was in a number of skirmishes at first, 
and later in the battles of Contreras, Cherubusco 
and Chapultepec. At the battle of Cherubusco, 
the Colonel was severely wounded, and Maj. Mill, 
with several officers, and a large number of men, 
killed. For gallant service at Contreras, Col. Mor- 
gan, though only twenty-seven years old, was made 
a Brevet Brigadier General in the United States 
Army. Since the war he has delivered a number 
of addresses in Ohio, on the campaigns in Mex- 
ico. 

The survivors of the war are now few. Though 
seventy-five thousand men from the United States 
went into that conflict, less than ten thousand now 
survive. They are now veterans, and as such de- 
light to recount their reminiscences on the fields of 
Mexico. They are all in the decline of life, and 
ere a generation passes away, few, if any, will be 
left. 

After the war, the continual growth of Ohio, 
the change in all its relations, necessitated a new 
org-anic law. The Constitution of 1852 was the 
result. It re-affirmed the political principles of 
the "ordinance of 1787 " and the Constitution of 
1802, and made a few changes necessitated by the 
advance made in the interim. It created the 
office of Lieutenant Governor, fixing the term of 
service at two years. This Constitution yet stands 
notwithstanding the prolonged attempt in 1873-74 
to create a new one. It is now the organic law of 
Ohio. 

From this time on to the opening of the late war, 
the prosperity of the State received no check. 
Towns and cities grew ; railroads multiplied ; com- 
merce was extended ; the vacant lands were rapidly 
filled by settlers, and everything tending to the 
advancement of the people was well prosecuted. 
Banks, after much tribulation, had become in a 
measure somewhat secure, their only and serious 
drawback being their isolation or the confinement 
of their circulation to their inmiediate localities. 
But signs of a mighty contest were apparent. A 
cimtest almo.st without a parallel in the annals of 
history ; a contest between fi-eedom and slavery ; 
between wrong and right ; a contest that could 
only end in defeat to the wrong. The Republican 
party came into existence at the close of President 
Pierce's term, in 1855. Its object then was, prin- 
cipally, the restriction of the slave power ; ultimately 
its extinction. One of the chief exponents and sup- 
porters (if this growing party in Ohio, was Salmon P. 



Chase ; one who never faltered nor lost faith ; and 
who was at the helm of State; in the halls of Con 
gress; chief of one the most important bureaus of 
the Government, and, finally, Chief Justice of the 
United States. When war came, after the election 
of Abraham Lincoln by the Republican party, Ohio 
was one of the first to answer to the call for troops. 
Mr. Chase, while Governor, had re-organized the 
militia on a sensible basis, and rescued it from the 
ignominy into which it had fiillen. When IMr. 
Lincoln asked for seventy-five thousand men, 
Ohio's quota was thirteen regiments. The various 
chaotic regiments and militia troops in the State 
did not exceed 1,500 men. The call was issued 
April 15, 1861 ; by the 18th, two regiments were 
organized in Columbus, whither these companies 
had gathered ; before sunrise of the 1 9th the Jirst 
and second regiments were on their way to Wash- 
ington City. The President had only asked for 
thirteen regiments ; thirfi/ were gathering ; the 
Government, not yet fully comprehending the 
nature of the rebellion, refused the surplus troops, 
but Gov. Dennison was authorized to put ten 
additional regiments in the field, as a defensive 
measure, and was also authorized to act on the ' 
defensive as well as on the offensive. The immerise 
extent of southern border made this necessary, 
as all the loyal people in West Virginia and Ken- 
tucky asked for help. 

In the limits of this history, it is impossible to 
trace all the steps Ohio took in the war. One of 
her most talented sons, now at the head of one of 
the greatest newspapers of the world, says, regard- 
ing the action of the people and their Legislature : 

"In one part of the nation there existed a grad- 
ual growth of sentiment against the Union, ending 
in open hostility against its integrity and its Con- 
stitutional law; on the other side stood a resolute, 
and determined people, though divided in minor 
matters, firmly united on the question of national 
supremacy. The people of Ohio stood squarely 
on this side. Before this her people had been di- 
vided up to the hour when — 

"'That fierce and sudden flash across the rugged bhxck- 
ness broke, 

And, with a voice that shook the hxnd, the guns of Sum- 
ter spoke; 

********* 

And whereso'er the summons came, there rose the 

angry din, 
As when, upon a rocky coast, a stormy tide sets in.' 

" All waverings then ceased among the peojile 
and in the Ohio Legislature. The Union must be 



V 



1£ 



i;54 



III8T0IJY OF OHIO. 



preserved. The wliito heat of patriotism and fe- 
alty to the flatr that had l)een victorious in three 
wars, and had never met but temjiorary lU-ieat 
ihcii incited all parties, and di-s-solved all hesitation, 
and, Ajiril IS, ISlll, by a unanimous vote of 
ninety-nine Kei)reseutatives in its favor, there wa.s 
j>a.ssed a bill appropriating' S5(M),(»K) to carry into 
ertect the retpiisition of the President, to protect 
the National Uovennnent, of which sum $450,000 
were to purchase arms and e(piii)ments for the 
troops reipiired by that retpiisition as the quota of 
Ohio, and 850,000 as an extraordinary coMtinj:ent 
fund i'or tlu' tJovcrnor. The connnissioners of the 
State Sinkiui;' Fund were auth(trized, by the same 
bill, to borrow this money, on the (J per cent bonds 
of the State, and to issue for the same certificates, 
freeinji; such bonds from taxation. Then followed 
other such legislation that declared the property of 
volunteers free from execution for debt during 
their term of service; that declared any resident 
of the State, who gave aid and comfort to the 
enemies of the Union, guilty of treason against 
the State, to be punished l)y imprisoinnent at hard 
labor for life; and," as it had becijme already evi- 
dent that thousands of militia, beyond Ohio's 
ipiota of the Fn-sidents call, would volunteer, the 
Legislature. ad<pi)ting the sagacious suguestion of 
(rov. l>ennison, resolved that all excess of volunteers 
should be retained and paid for service, under 
direction of the Governor. Thereujion a bill 
wa.s jKussed, authorizing the acceptance of volunteers 
to form ten regiments, and providing S500,000 
for their arms and e(|uipments, and $1,500,000 
more to be disbursed for troojjs in case of an in- 
vasion of the State. Then other legislation was 
enacted, looking to and providing against the ship- 
ment from or through the State of arms or mu- 
nitions of war, to States either assuming to be 
nt'utral or in open nibellion; organizing the whole 
body of the State militia; providing suitable offi- 
cers for duty on the staff of the Governor ; re- 
(juiring contracts for su])sistence of volunteers to 
be let to the lowest bidder, and authoriziilg the 
appointment of additional general officers. 

" Bi'fore the adjournment of that Legislature, 
the Speaker of th(! IIou.se had resigned to take 
command of one of the regiments then about to 
start Ibr Washington City; two leading Senators 
had been apjiointed Brigadier Generals, and many, 
ill fact nearly all, of the other members of both 
houses had, in oik; capacity or ancjther, entered the 
military service. It was the first war legislature 
ever elect^id in Ohio, and, under .sudden pressure, 



nobly met the first shock, and enacted the first 
measures of law for war. Laboring under difficul- 
ties inseparable fiom a condition so unexpected, 
and in tlie perfoi-mance of duties m novel, it may 
be historically stated that for patriotism, zeal and 
ability, the Ohio Legislature of ISGl was the 
equal of any of its successors ; while in that exu- 
berance of patriotism which obliterated party lines 
and united all in a common effort to meet the 
threatened integrity of the United States as a 
nation, it surpassed tliem both. 

"The war was fought, the slave power forever 
destroyed, and under additional amendments to her 
organic law, the United States wiped the stain of 
human slavery from her escutcheon, liberating over 
four million human beings, nineteen-twentieths of 
whom were native-born residents. 

" When Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court 
House, Ohio had two hundred regiments of all 
arms in the National service. In the course of 
the war, she had furnished two hundred and thirty 
regiments, besides twenty-six independc^it batteries 
of artillery, five independisnt companies of cavalry, 
several companies of shari>sho()ters, large parts of 
five regiments credited to the West Virginia con- 
tingent, two regiments credited to the Kentucky 
contingent, tw(j transferred to the United States 
colored troops, and a large proportion of the rank 
and file of the Fifty-fourth and Sixty-fifth Massa- 
chusetts Regiments, also colored men. Of these or- 
ganizations, twenty-three were infantry regiments 
furnished on the first call of the l^resident, an ex- 
cess of nearly one-half over the State's quota ; one 
hundred and ninety-one were infantry regiments, 
furnished on subsequent calls of the President^ — 
one hundred and seventeen for three years, twenty- 
seven for one year, two for six months, two for 
three months, and ibrty-two for one hundred days. 
Thirteen were cavalry, and three artillery for three 
years. Of these three-years troops, over twenty 
thousand re-enlisted, as veterans, at the end of 
their long term of service, to fight till the war 
would end." 

As original members of these organizations. ( )hio 
furnished to the National service the magnificent 
army of 310,054 actual soldiers, omitting from 
the above number all those who paid commuta- 
tion money, veteran enlistments, and citizens who 
enlisted as soldiers or sailors in other States. The 
count is made from the reports of the Provost 
INLirshal General to thi; War Department. Penn- 
sylvania gave not quite 28.0((0 more, while Illinois 
fell 48,000 behind; Indiana, 11(5,000 less; 



~a) 



f^^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



IS': 



Kentucky, 235,000, and Massachusetts, 164,000. 
Thus Ohio more than maintained, in the National 
army, the rank among her sisters wliich her popu- 
lation su])ported. Ohio furnished more troops than 
the President ever required of her ; and at the 
end of the war, with more than a thousand men in 
the camp of the State who were never mustered 
into the service, she still had a credit on the rolls 
of the War Department for 4,332 soldiers, beyond 
the aggregate of all quotas ever assigned to her ; 
and, besides all these, 6,479 citizens had, in lieu of 
personal service, paid the commutation ; while In- 
diana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and New York 
were all from five to one hundred thousand behind 
their quotas. So ably, through all those years of 
trial and death, did she keep the promise of the 
memorable dispatch from her first war GrOvern(jr : 
" If Kentucky refuses to till her quota, Ohio will 
fill it for her." 

"Of these troops 11,237 were killed or mor- 
tally wounded in action, and of these 6,563 were 
left dead on the field of battle. They fought on 
well-nigh every battle-field of the war. Within 
forty-eight hours after the first call was made for 
troops, two regiments were on the way to Wash- 
ington. An Ohio brigade covered the retreat from 
the first battle of Bull Run. Ohio troops formed 
the bulk of army that saved to the Union the 
territory afterward erected into West Virginia ; 
the bulk of the army that kept Kentucky from 
seceding ; a large part of the army that captured 
Fort Donelson and Island No. 10 ; a great part of 
the army that from Stone Kiver and Chickamauga, 
and Mission Ridge and Atlanta, swept to the sea 
and captured Fort McAllister, and north through 
the Carolinas to Virginia." 

When Sherman started on his flmious march to 
the sea, some one said to President Lincoln, "T hey 
will never get throxigh ; they will all be captured, 
and the Union will be lost." " It is impossible," 
replied the President; "it cannot be done. There 
is a miglify sight of fight in one hundred thou- 
sand Western men.^^ 

Ohio troops fought at Pea Ridge. They charged 
at Wagner. They helped redeem North Carolina. 
They were in the sieges of Vicksburg, Charleston, 
Mobile and Richmond. At Pittsburg Landing, 
at Antietam, Gettysburg and Corinth, in the 
Wilderness, at Five Forks, before Nashville and 
Appomattox Court House; " their bones, reposing 
on the fields they won and in the grayes they fill, are 
a perpetual pledge that no flag shall ever wave over 
their graves but that flag they died to maintain." 



Ohio's soil gave birth to, or furnished, a Orant, 
a Sherman, a Sheridan, a McPherson, a llosecrans, 
a McClellan, a McDowell, a Mitchell, a Gilmore, a 
Hazen,a Sill, a Stanley, a Steadman,and others — all 
but one, children ofthe country, reared at West Point 
for such emergencies. Ohio's war record shows 
one General, one Lieutenant General, twenty Major 
Generals, twenty-seven Brevet Major Generals, and 
thirty Brigadier Genei'als, and one hundred and 
fifty Brevet Brigadier Generals. Her three war 
Governors were William Dennison, David Todd, and 
John Brough. She furnished, at the same time, 
one Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, and 
one Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase. 
Her Senators were Benjamin F. Wade and John 
Sherman. At least three out of five of Ohio's 
able-bodied men stood in the line of battle. On 
the head stone of one of these soldiers, who gave 
his life for the country, and who now lies in a 
National Cemetery, is inscribed these words : 

" We charge the living to preserve thatCoustitution we 
have (lied to defend." 

The close ofthe war and return of peace brought 
a period of fictitious values on the country, occa- 
sioned by the immense amount of currency afloat. 
Property rose to unheard-of values, and everything 
with it. Ere long, however, the decline came, and 
with it " hard times." The climax broke over the 
country in 1873, and for awhile it seemed as if 
the country was on the verge of ruin. People 
found again, as preceding generations had found, 
that real value was the only basis of true prosper- 
ity, and gradually began to work to the fact. The 
Government established the specie basis by 
gradual means, and on the 1st day of January, 
1879, began to redeem its outstanding obligations 
in coin. The effect was felt everywhere. Busi- 
ness of all kinds sprang anew into life. A feeling 
of confidence grew as the times went on, and now, 
on the threshold ofthe year 1880, the State is en- 
tering on an era of steadfiist prosperity ; one which 
has a sure and certain foundation. 

Nearly four years have elaped since the great 
Centennial Exh'ilution was held in Philadelphia ; 
an exhibition that brought from every State in the 
Union the best products of her soil, factories, and 
all industries. In that exhibit Ohio made an ex- 
cellent display. Her stone, iron, coal, cereals, 
woods and everything pertaining to her welfare were; 
all represented. Ohio, occupying the middle ground 
of the Union, was expected to show to foreign na- 
tions what the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio 



^^ 



V 



l^ 



138 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



c-ouKl produce. The State nobly stood the test 
aud ranki'd lureiuo.st auKtiii;- all others. Uer cen- 
tennial buildinij: was aniouji; the iirst completed 
and among the neatest and best on the grounds. 
During the summer, the Centennial Commission 
e.xtended invitations to the Governors of the several 
States to appoint an orator aud name a day for his 



delivery of an address on the history, progress and 
resources of his State. Gov. Hayes named the 
Hon. Edward D. Mansfield for this purpose, and 
August 9th, that gentleman delivered an address 
so valuable for the matter which it contains, that 
we here give a synopsis of it. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

OHIO IN THE CENTENNIAL— ADDRESS OF EDWARD D. MANSFIELD, LL. D., PHILADELPHIA, 

AUGUST 9, 187G. 



OXK hundred years ago, the whole territory, 
from the Alleghany to the Rocky Mountains 
was a wilderness, inhabited only by wild beasts and 
Indians. The Jesuit and jNIoravian missionaries 
were the oidy white men who had penetrated the 
wilderness or beheld its mighty lakes and rivers. 
While the thirteen old colonies were declaring 
their independence, the thirteen new States, which 
now lie in tlu' western interior, had no existence, 
and gave no sign of the future. The solitude of 
nature wa.s unbroken by the steps of civilization. 
The wisest statesman had not contemplated the 
probability of the coming States, and the boldest 
patriot did not dream that this interior wilderness 
should soon contain a greater population than the 
thirteen old States, with all the added growth of 
one hundred years. 

Ten years after that, the old States had ceded 
their Western lands to the General Government, 
and the Congress of the United States had passed 
the ordinance of 17H5, for the survey of the pub- 
lic territory, and, in 1 787, the celebrated ordinance 
which organized the Northwestern Territory, and 
dedicated it to freed(jm and intelligence. 

P'ifteen years after that, and more than a quarter 
of a century after the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, the State of Ohio was admitted into the 
Union, being the seventeenth which accepted the 
Constitution of the United States. It has since 
grown up to be great, populous and prosperous 
under the influence of those ordinances. At her 
admittance, in 18()S, the tide of emigration had 
begun to flow over the Alleghanies into the Valley 
of the Mississippi, and, although no steamboat, no 
railroad then existed, nor even a stage coach helped 
the immigrant, yet the wooden " ark " on the 
Ohio, and the heavy wagon, slowly winding over 



the mountains, bore these tens of thousands to the 
wilds of Kentucky and the plains of Ohio. In 
the spring of 1788 — the first year of settlement — 
four thousand five hundred persons passed the 
mouth of the Muskingum in three months, and 
the tide continued to pour on for half a century in 
a widening stream, mingled with all the races of 
Europe and America, until now, in the hundredth 
year of America'sindependence, the five States of the 
Northwestern Territory, in the wilderness of 1770, 
contain ten millions of people, enjoying all the 
blessings which peace and prosperity, freedom and 
Christianity, can confer upon any people. Of these 
five States, born under the ordinance of 1787, Ohio 
is the first, oldest, and, in nniny things, the greatest. 
In some things it is the greatest State in the Union. 
Let us, then, attempt, in the briefest terms, to 
draw an outline portrait of this great and remark- 
able commonwealth. 

Let us observe its physical aspects. Ohio is 
just one-sixth part of the Northwestern Territory 
— 10,000 square miles. It lies between Lake Erie 
and the Ohio River, having 200 miles of navigable 
waters, on one side flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, 
and on the other into the Gulf of Mexico. Through 
the lakes, its vessels touch on 6,000 miles of 
interior coast, and, through the Mississippi, on 
8(5,000 miles of river coast; so that a citizen of 
Ohio may pursue his navigation through 42,000 
miles, all in his own country, and all within naviga- 
ble reach of his own State. He who has circunuiavi- 
gated the globe, has gone but little more than 
half the distance which the citizen of Ohio finds 
within his natural reach in this vast interior. 

Looking upon the surface of this State, we find 
no mountains, no barren sands, no marshy wastes, 
no lava-covered plains, but one broad, compact 



-^ 



HISTOEy or OHIO. 



139 



body of arable land, intersected with rivers and 
streams and running waters, while the beautiful 
Ohio flows tranquilly by its side. More than three 
times the surfice of Belgium, and one-third of the 
whole of Italy, it has more natural resources in 
proportion than either, and is capable of ultimately 
supporting a larger population than any equal sur- 
face in EuropO. Looking from this great arable 
surface, where upon the very hills the grass and 
the forest trees now grow exuberant and abundant, 
we find that underneath this surface, and easily 
accessible, lie 10,000 square miles of coal, and 
4,000 S(j[uare miles of iron — coal and iron enough 
to supply the basis of manufacture for a world ! 
All this vast deposit of metal and fuel does not in- 
tt'rrupt or take from that arable surface at all. 
There you may find in one place the same machine 
bringing up coal and salt water from below, while 
the wheat and the corn grow upon the surface 
above. The immense masses of coal, iron, salt and 
freestone deposited below have not in any way 
diminished the fertility and production of the soil. 

It has been said by some writer that the char- 
acter of a people is shaped or modified by the 
character of the country in which they live. If 
the people of Switzerland have acquired a certain 
air of liberty and independence from the rugged 
mountains around which they live; if the people 
of tSouthern Italy, or beaixtiful France, have ac- 
({uired a tone of ease and politeness from their 
mild and genial clime, so the people of Ohio, 
j)laced amidst such a wealth of nature, in the tem- 
perate zone, should show the best fruits of peace- 
ful industry and the best culture of Christian 
civilization. Have they done so? Have their 
own labor and arts and culture come up to the ad- 
vantages of their natural situation? Let us exam- 
ine this growth and their product. 

The first settlement of Ohio was made by a 
colony from New England, at the mouth of the 
Muskingum. It was literally a remnant of the 
officers of the Revolution. Of this colony no 
])raise of the historian can be as competent, or as 
strong, as the language of Washington. He says, 
ill answer to inquiries addressed to him: "No col- 
ony in America was ever settled under such favor- 
able auspices as that which has just commenced at 
the Muskingum. Information, prosperity and 
strength will be its characteristics. I know many 
of the settlers personally, and there never were 
men better calculated to promote the welfare of 
such a community;" and he adds that if he were 
a young man, he knows no country in which he 



would sooner settle than in this Western region." 
This colony, left alone for a time, made its own 
government and nailed its laws to a ti-ee in the vil- 
lage, an early indication of that law-abiding and 
peaceful spirit which has since made Ohio a just 
and well-ordered community. The subsequent 
settlements on the Miami and Scioto were made by 
citizens of New Jersey and Virginia, and it is cer- 
tainly remarkable that among all the early immi- 
gration, there were no ignorant people. In the 
language of Washington, they came with "infor- 
mation," qualified to promote the welfare of the 
community. 

Soon after the settlement on the Muskingum 
and the Miami, the great wave of migration 
flowed on to the plains and valleys of Ohio and Ken- 
tucky. Kentucky had been settled earlier, but the 
main body of emigrants in subsequent years 
went into Ohio, influenced partly by the great 
ordinance of 1787, securing freedom and schools 
forever, and partly by the greater security of 
titles under the survey and guarantee of the 
United States Government. Soon the new State 
grew up, with a rapidity which, until then, was 
unknown in the history of civilization. On the 
Muskingum, where the buftiilo had roamed ; on 
the Scioto, where the Shawanees had built their 
towns ; on the Miami, where the great chiefs of 
the Miamis had reigned ; on the plains of San- 
dusky, yet red with the blood of the white man ; 
on the Maumee, where Wayne, by the victory of 
the " Fallen Timbers," had broken the power of 
the Indian C(jnfederacy — the emigrants from the 
old States and from Europe came in to cultivate 
the fields, to build up towns, and to rear the insti- 
tutions of Christian civilization, until the single 
State of Ohio is greater in numbers, wealth, and 
education, than was the whole American Union 
when the Declaration of Independence was made. 

Let us now look at the statistics of this growth 
and magnitude, as they are exhibited in the cen- 
sus of the United States. Taking intervals of 
twenty years, Ohio had : In 1810, 45,365 ; in 
1830, 937,903; in 1850, 1,980,329; in 1870, 
2,6H5,260. Add to this the increase of population 
in the last six years, and Ohio now has, in round 
numbers, 3,000,000 of people — half a million 
more than the thirteen States in 1776 ; and 
her cities and towns have to-day six times the 
population of all the cities of America one hund- 
red years ago. This State is now the third in 
numbers and wealth, and the first in some of 
those institutions which mark the progress of 



:v 



140 



HISTOllY OF OHIO. 



luankiiul. That a small part of tho wilderness of 
17T<) should ho more jiojmlous than tho whole 
Union was tlu'ti, and that it should have niado a 
social and moral advanoo uroatcr than that of any 
nation in tho sanio timo, nuist l)o roi^ardi'd as one 
of tho most startliuii and instruotivo facts which 
attend this yoar of commomoration. If such has 
hoon tho social <;rowth (if Oliid, lot us look at its 
])h3'sical dovolo))mont ; this is bostoxiirossod by the 
a';j:;rotrato i)roductions of the labor and arts of a 
peo})lo applied to tho oarth. In the census statistics 
of the United States those are expressed in the 
aertrreirato results of at^riculturc' minim;', manufact- 
ures, and commerce. Let us simplify these statis- 
tics, by comparing the aggregate and ratios as 
botwoon several States, and between Ohio and some 
cnuntries of Europe. 

Tho aggregate amount of grain and potatoes — 
farinaceous food, produced in Ohio in 1870 was 
i:^4,i»3S,418 bushels, and in 1874, there were 157, - 
82;^,r)!)7 bushels, being the largest aggregate 
amount raised in any State but one, Illinois, and 
larger per scpiaro mile than Illinois or any other 
State in the country. The promises of nature 
wore thus vindicated by tho labor of man ; and 
tho industry of Ohio has fulfilled its whole duty 
to the sustenance of the country and the world. 
She has raised more grain than ton of the old 
States together, and more than half raised by 
Great Britain or by France. I have not the 
recent statistics of Europe, but McGregor, in his 
statistics of nations for 1882 — a period of pro- 
found peace — gives the following ratios for the 
leatling countries of Europe: Groat Britain, area 
12(),H24 miles; amount of grain, 2(i2,5()0,()()0 
bushels; rate per square mile, 2,11)0 to 1; 
Austria — area 258, (i08 miles ; amount of grain, 
3(i(!,S(MI, ()()() bushels; rate per square mile, l,422to 
1 ; Franco — area 215,858 miles ; amount of grain, 
233,847,800 bushels ; rate per square mile, 1,080 
to 1. The State of Ohio — area per s((uare miles, 
40,000; amount of grain, 150,000,000 bushels; 
rate per srjuaro mile, 3,750. Coiybining the groat 
countries of Groat Britain, Austria, and France, 
wo find that they had 5!)4,785 s((uaro miles and 
protluced 8<J3,1 47,300 bushels of grain, which was, at 
the time those statistics were taken, 1 ,450 bu.shols per 
square mile, and ton bushels to each one of tho 
p(i])ulation. Ohio, on the other hand, had 3,750 
bu.shols per square mile, and fifty bushels to each 
one of the population ; that is, there was five 
times as much grain raised in Ohio, in proportion 
to the jiooplo, as in these great countries of Europe. 



As letters make words, and words express ideas, so 
these dry figures of statistics express facts, and 
those facts make the whole liistory of civilization. 

Let us now look at the statistics of domestic 
animals. These are always indicative of tho state 
of society in regard to tho physical comforts. The 
horse must furnish domestic conveyances ; the 
cattle must furnish tho products of the dairy, as 
well as moat, and tho sheep uuist furnish wool. 

Let us see how Ohio compares with other States 
and with Europe: In 1870, Ohio had 8,818,000 
domestic animals ; Illinois, 0,1)25,000; New York, 
5,283,000; Pennsylvania, 4,493,000; and other 
States less. Tho j)roportion to population in those 
States was, in Ohio, to each person, 3.3 ; Illinois, 
2.7; New York, 1.2 ; Pennsylvania, 1.2. 

Lot us now see the proportion of domestic ani- 
mals in Europe. The results given by INIcGrcigor's 
statistics are : In Great Britain, to each person, 
2.44; Russia, 2.00; France, 1.50 ; Prussia, 1.02; 
Austria, 1.00. It will be seen that the proportion 
in Groat Britain is only two-thirds that of Ohio ; 
in France, oidy one-half; and in Austria and 
Prussia only one-third. It may be said that, in 
the course of civilization, the number of animals 
diminishes as tho density of population increases ; 
and, therefore, this result might have been ex- 
pected in the old countries of Europe. But this 
does not apply to Russia or Germany, still less to 
other States in this country. Russia in Europe 
has not more than half the density of population 
now in Ohio. Austria and Prussia have less than 
150 to the square mile. The whole of the north 
of Europe has not so dense a population as the 
State of Ohio, still less have the States of Illinois 
and Missouri, west of Ohio. Then, therefore, 
Ohio showing a larger proportion of domestic ani- 
mals than tho north of Euro])e, or States west of 
her, with a population not so dense, we sec at once 
there must be other causes to produce such a 
phenomenon. 

Looking to some of the incidental results of this 
vast agricultural production, we see that the United 
States exports to Europe immense amounts of 
grain and provisions; and that there is manufact- 
ured in this country an immon.><e amount of woolen 
goods. Then, taking tlieso statistics of the raw 
material, we find that Ohio ]iroduces onr-fiftli of 
all the wool; one-scvnifh of all tho cheese; oue- 
elgldh of all tho corn, and one-tenth of all i\\v. 
wheat ; and yet Ohio has but a fourteenth part of 
the population, and one-eightieth part of the sur- 
face of this country. 



"a) V 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



141 



Let us take another — a commercial view of this 
matter. We have seen that Ohio raises five times 
as mucli grain per square mile as is raised per 
S({uare mile in the empires of Great Britain, France 
and Austria, taken together. After making allow- 
ance for the differences of living, in the working 
classes of this country, at least two-thirds of the 
food and grain of Ohio are a surplus beyond the 
necessities of life, and, therefore, so much in the 
commercial balance of exports. This corresponds 
with the fact, that, in the shape of grain, meat, 
licjuors and dairy products, this vast surplus is con- 
stantly moved to the Atlantic States and to PJurope. 
The money value of this exported product is equal 
to $100,000,000 per annum, and to a solid capital 
of $1,, 500,000,000, after all the sustenance of the 
people has been taken out of the annual crop. 

We are speaking of agriculture alone. We are 
speaking of a State which began its career more 
than a ({uarter of a century after the Declaration 
of Independence was made. And now, it may be 
asked, what is the real cause of this extraordinary 
result, which, without saying anything invidious of 
other States, we may safely say has never been 
surpassed in any country ? We have already 
stated two of the advantages possessed by Ohio. 
The first is that it is a compact, unbroken body of 
arable land, surrounded and intersected by water- 
courses, equal to all the demands of commerce and 
navigation. Next, that it was secured forever to 
freedom and intelligence by the ordinance of 1787. 
The intelligence of its future people was secured 
by immense grants of public lands for the purpose 
of education; but neither the blessings of nature, 
nor the wisdom of laws, could obtain such results 
without the continuous labor of an intelligent 
peopU. Such it hud, and we have only to take 
the testimony of Washington, already ((uoted, and 
the statistical results I have given, to prove that 
no people has exhibited more steady industry, nor 
has any people directed their labor with more in- 
telligence. 

After the agricultural capacity and production 
of a country, its most important physical feature 
is its mineral products; its capacity for coal and 
iron, the two great elements of material civiliza- 
tion. If we were to take away from Great Britain 
her capacity to produce coal in such vast fjuanti- 
ties, we should reduce her to a third-rate pijsition, 
no longer numbered among the great nations of the 
earth. Coal has smelted her iron', run her steam 
engines, and is the basis of her manufactures. 
But when we compare the coal fields of Great 



Britain with those of this country, they are insig- 
nificant. The coal fields of all Europe are small 
compared with those of the central United States. 
The coal district of Durham and Northumberland, 
in England, is only 880 square miles. There are 
other districts of smaller extent, making in the 
whole probably one-half the extent of that in 
Ohio. The English coal-beds are represented as 
more important, in reference to extent, on account 
of their thickness. There is a small coal district 
in Lancashire, where the workable coal-beds are in 
all 150 feet in thickness. But this involves, as is 
well known, the necessity of going to immense 
depths and incurring immense expense. On the 
other hand, the workable coal-beds of Ohio are 
near the surface, and some of them require no ex- 
cavating, except that of the horizontal lead from 
the mine to the river or the railroad. In one 
county of Ohio there are three beds of twelve, six 
and four feet each, within fifty feet of the surface. 
At some of the mines having the best coal, the 
lead from the mines is nearly horizontal, and just 
high enough to dump the coal into the railroad 
cars. These coals are of all qualities, from that 
adapted to the domestic fire to the very best qual- 
ity for smelting or manufacturing iron. Ilecollect- 
ing these facts, let us try to get an idea of the coal 
district of Ohio. The bituminous coal region de- 
escending the western slopes of the Alleghanies, 
occupies large portions of Western Pennsylvania, 
West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. I 
suppose that this coal field is not less than fifty 
thousand square miles, exclusive of Western Mary- 
land and the southern terminations of that field in 
Georgia and Alabama. Of this vast field of coal, 
exceeding anything finind in Europe, about one- 
fifth part lies in Ohio. Prof Mather, in his 
report on the geology of the State (first Geologi- 
cal Report of the State) says: 

" The coal-measures within Ohio occupy a space 
of about one hundred and eighty miles in length by 
eighty in breadth at the widest part, with an area 
of about ten thousand s(juare miles, extending 
along the Ohio from Trumbull County in the north 
to near the mouth of the Scioto in the south. 
The regularity in the dip, and the moderate incli- 
nation of the strata, afford facilities to the mines 
not known to those of most other countries, espe- 
cially Great Britain, where the strata in which the 
coal is imbedded have been broken and thrown out 
of j)lace since its deposit, occasioning many slips 
and faults, and causing much labor and expense in 
again recovering the bed. In Ohio there is very 









142 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



little difficulty of this kind, the faults being small 
and seldom found." 

Now, takiiiii; into eon.sideration the.se fi;eological 
faets, lot us look at the e.xtent of the Ohio coal 
tiold. It oeeupies, wholly or in part, thirty-six 
counties, inchulini;, ti('oi;ni])hicaIly, 14,000 s((uare 
miles; but leavin-i out fractions, and reducini;' the 
Ohio coal field within its narrowest limits, it is 
10.000 s(|uare miles in extent, lies near the surface, 
and liasoii an average twenty feet thickiu'ss of work- 
able coal-beds. Let us compare this with the coal 
mines of I)urhani and NorthumlK'rland (^Kntiland), 
the lari:e.>it and best coal mines there. That coal 
district is estimated at 8o0 S(|uare miles, twelve 
feet thick, and is calculated to contain !),000,000,- 
000 tons of coal. The coal fiehl of Ohio is twelve 
times larirer and one-third thicker. Estimated by 
that standard, the coal Held of Ohio contains 180,- 
00O,O(»O.OOO tons of coal. Marketed at oidy $2 
per ton, this coal is worth $360,000,000,000, or, 
in other words, ten times as nuich as the whole 
valuation of the United States at the present time. 
But we need not undertake to estimate either its 
ijuantity or value. It is enough to say that it is a 
( plant ity which we can scarcely imagine, which is 
tentlild that of Knuland, and which is enough to 
s\ipply the entire continent for ages to come. 

After coal, iron is beyond doubt the most val- 
uable mineral product of a State. As the mate- 
rial of manufacture, it is the most important. 
What are called the " precious metals" are not to 
be compared with it as an element of industry or 
profit. But since no manufactures can be success- 
fully carried on without fuel, coal becomes the first 
material element of the arts. Iron is uncpiestion- 
ably the next. Ohio h:us an iron district extending 
from the mouth of the Scioto River to some point 
north of the .Mahoning River, in Trumbull County. 
Tlie whole length is nearly two hundred miles, and 
the breadth twenty miles, making, as near as we can 
ascertain, 4,000 s(piare miles. The iron in this dis- 
trict is of various (|ualities, and is manufactured 
largely into bars and ca.stings. In this iron dis- 
trict are one hundred furnaces, forty-four rolling- 
mills, and fifteen rail-mills, being the largest num- 
ber of either in any State in the Union, except 
only PeiHi.sylvania. 

Although only the seventeenth State in its admis- 
sion, I finilthat. by the census statistics of 1H70, 
it is the thirtl State in the production of iron and iron 
manufactures. Already, and within the life of 
one man, this State begins to show what nuist in 
future time be the vast results of coal and iron, 



applied to the arts and manufactures. In the 
year 1874, there were 420,000 tons of pig iron 
produced in Ohio, which is larger than the prod- 
uct of any State, except Pennsylvania. The 
product and the manufacture of iron in Ohio 
have increased so rapidly, and the basis for 
increase is .so great, that we may not doubt that 
Ohio will contiiuie to be the greatest producer of 
iron and iron fabrics, except only I'ennsylvania. 
At Cincinnati, the iron manufacture of the Ohio 
Valley is concentrating, and at Cleveland the ores 
of Lake Superior are being smelted. 

After coal and iron, we may place salt among 
the necessaries of life. In cotuiection with the 
coal region west of the Alleghanies, there lies in 
Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, a large 
space of country underlaid by the salt rock, which 
already produces immense amounts of salt. Of 
this, Ohio has its full j)roportion. In a large 
section of the southeastern portion of the State, 
salt is produced without any known limitation. 
At Pomeroy and other j^oints, the salt rock lies 
about one thousand feet l)elow the surface, but 
salt water is brought easily to the surface by the 
steam engine. There, the salt rock, the coal 
seauj, and the noble sandstone lie in successive 
strata, while the green corn and the yellow wheat 
bloom on the surface above. The State of Ohio 
produced, in 1874, 3,500,000 bushels of salt, 
being one-fifth of all produced in the United 
States. The salt section of Ohio is exceeded only 
by that of Syracuse, New York, and of Saginaw, 
Michigan. There is no definite limit to the 
underlying salt rock of Ohio, and, therefore, the 
production will be proportioned only to the extent 
of the demand. 

Having now considered the resources and the 
products of the soil and tlie mines of Ohio, we 
may properly ask how tar the people have employed 
their resources in the increase of art and manu- 
facture. We have two modes of comparison, the 
rate of increase \vithiii the State, and the ratio 
they bear to other States. The aggregate value 
of the products of manufacture, exclusive of 
mining, in the la.st three censuses were: in 1850, 
$62.0'!)2.000 ; in 1860, $121,61)1,000; in 1870, 
$260,718,000. 

The ratio of increase was over 100 per cent in 
each • ten years, a rate far beyond that of tlie in- 
creasx! of po})ulation, and much beyond the ratio of 
increase in the whole country. In 1850, the man- 
ufactures of Ohio were one-sixteenth part of the 
aggregate in the country; in 1860, one-fifteenth 



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HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



143 



part; in 1870, one-twelfth part. In addition to 
this, we find, from the returns of Cincinnati and 
Cleveland, that the value of the manufactured prod- 
ucts of Ohio in 1875, must have reached $-100,- 
000,000, and, by reference to the census tables, it 
will be seen that the ratio of increase exceeded that 
of the great manufacturing States of New York, 
Massachusetts and Connecticut. Of all the States 
admitted into the Union prior to Ohio, Pennsylvania 
alone has kept pace in the progress of manufacture. 
Some little reference to the manufacture of leading 
articles may throw some light on the cause of this. 
In the production of agricultural machinery and 
implements, Ohio is the first State ; in animal and 
vegetable oils and in pig iron, the second; in cast 
iron and in tobacco, the third ; in salt, in machinery 
and in leather, the fourth. These facts show how 
largely the resources of coal, iron and agriculture 
have entered into the manufactures of the State. 
This great advance in the manufactures of Ohio, 
when we consider that this State is, relatively to 
its surface, the first agricultural State in the 
country, leads to the inevitable inference that its 
people are remarkably industrious. When, on 
forty thousand square miles of surface, three mill- 
ions of people raise one hundred and fifty million 
bushels of grain, and produce manufactures to the 
amount of $269,000,000 (which is fifty bushels 
of breadstuff to each man, woman and child, and 
$133 of manufacture), it will be difficult to find 
any community surpassing such results. It is a 
testimony, not only to the State of Ohio, but to 
the industry, sagacity and energy of the American 
people. 

Looking now to the commerce of the State, we 
have said there are six hundred miles of coast line, 
which embraces some of the principal internal ports 
of the Ohio and the lakes, such as Cincinnati, Cleve- 
land, Toledo and Portsmouth, but whose commerce 
is most wholly inland. Of course, no comparison 
can be made with the foreign commerce of the 
ocean ports. On the other hand, it is well known 
that the inland trade of the country far exceeds 
that of all its foreign commerce, and that the larg- 
est part of this interior trade is carried on its 
rivers and lakes. The materials for the vast con- 
sumption of the interior must be conveyed in its 
vessels, whether of sail or steam, adapted to these 
waters. Let us take, then, the ship-building, the 
navigation, and the exchange trades of Ohio, as 
elements in determining the position of this State 
in reference to the commerce of the country. At 
the ports of Cleveland, Toledo, Sandusky and Cin- 



cinnati, there have been built one thousand sail and 
steam vessels in the last twenty years, making an 
average of fifty each year. The number of sail, 
steam and all kinds of vessels in Ohio is eleven 
hundred and ninety, which is equal to the number 
in all the other States in the Ohio Valley and the 
Upper Mississippi. 

When we look to the navigable points to which 
these vessels are destined, we find them on all this 
vast coast line, which extends from the Gulf of 
Mexico to the Yellowstone, and from Duluth to 
the St. Lawrence. 

Looking again to see the extent of this vast in- 
terior trade which is handled by Ohio alone, we 
find that the imports and exports of the principal 
articles of Cincinnati, amount in value to $500,- 
000,000; and when we look at the great trade of 
Cleveland and Toledo, we shall find that the an- 
nual trade of Ohio exceeds $700,000,000. The 
lines of railroad which connect with its ports, are 
more than four thousand miles in length, or rather 
more than one mile in length to each ten square 
miles of surface. This great amount of railroads is 
engaged not merely in transporting to the Atlantic 
and thence to Europe, the immense surplus grain 
and meat in Ohio, but in carrying the largest part 
of that greater surplus, which exists in the States 
west of Ohio, the granary of the West. Ohio 
holds the gateway of every railroad north of the 
Ohio, from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, and 
hence it is that the great transit lines of the coun- 
try pass through Ohio. 

Let us now turn from the progress of the arts 
to the progress of ideas ; from material to intellect- 
ual development. It is said that a State consists 
of men, and history shows that no art or science, 
wealth or power, will compensate for the want of 
moral or intellectual stability in the minds of a 
nation. Hence, it is admitted that the strength 
and perpetuity of our republic must consist in the 
intelligence and morality of the people. A re- 
public can last only when the people are enlight- 
ened. This was an axiom with the early legislators 
of this country. Hence it was that when Vir- 
ginia, Connecticut and the original colonies ceded 
to the General Government that vast and then un- 
known wilderness which lay west of the AUegha- 
nies, in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi, they 
took care that its future inhabitants should be an 
educated people. The Constitution was not formed 
when the celebrated ordinance of 1787 was passed. 

That ordinance provided that, " Religion, mor- 
ality, and knowledge being necessary to good 



^ (T 



■^ <Hy 



144 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



iidvenimont and the hapjnnoss ofmankiiul, schools 
ami tlie iiK'aiis of cclucatit)n shall he forovor en- 
roura^ed;" and hy the ordiiiaiit-o ol' ITS;') lor the 
survey of puhlic lands in the Northwestern Terri- 
tory, Section 1(1 in each township, that is, one 
thirty-sixth part, was reserved liir the maintenance 
ol" public schools in said townships. As the State 
of Ohio contained a little more than twenty-five 
millions of acres, this, toj;ether with two special 
•rrants of three townships to universities, amounted 
to the dedication of 740,(100 acres of hind to the 
maintenance of schools and colleges. It was a 
splendid endowment, but it was many years before 
it became available. It was sixteen years after the 
passage of this ordinance (in IHOiJ), when Ohio 
entered the Union, and legislation upon this grant 
became possible. The (Constitution of the State 
]>ursui'd the language of the ordinance, and de- 
clared that "sch(H)ls and the means of education 
shall forever be encouraged by legislative provision." 
The (lovernors of Ohio, in successive messages, 
urged attention to this subject upon the people ; 
but the thinness of settlement, making it impossi- 
ble, except in few districts, to collect youth in sul- 
ficient numbers, and impossible to sell or lease 
lands to advantage, caused the delay of efficient 
school system for many years. In 1825, however, 
a general law establishing a school system, and levy- 
ing a tax for its sujiport, was passed. 

This was again enlarged and increased by new 
legislation in lS;{(j and 184(5. From that time to 
this, Ohio has had a broad, liberal and efficient sys- 
tem of public instruction. The taxation for schools, 
and the number enrolled in them at different pe- 
riods, will best show what has been done. In 
1855 the total taxation for school purposes was 
82,(572,827. The proportion of youth of school- 
able age enrolled was (57 per cent. In 1874 the 
amount raised by taxation was $7,425,135. The 
number enrolled of schoolable age was 70 per 
cent, or 707,948. 

As the schoolable age extends to twenty-one 
years, and as there are very few youth in school 
after fifteen years of age, it follows that the 70 
per cent of schoolable youths enrolled in the pub- 
lic schoftls must comprehend nearly the whole 
number between four and fifteen years. It is im- 
portant to observe this i'act, because it has been 
inferred that, as the whole number of youtli be- 
tween five and twenty-one have not been enrolliid, 
therefore they are not educated. This is a 
mistake; nearly all over fifteen years of age have 
been in the public schools, and all the native 



youth of the State, and all foreign born, yovuig 
enough, have had the benefit of the public schools. 
But in conse(juence of the large number who 
have come from other States and from foreign 
countries, there are still a few who are classed by 
the census statistics among the "illiterate;" the 
proportion of this class, however, is less in ]»roj)or- 
tion than in twenty-eight other States, and less in 
proportion than in Connecticut and Massachusetts, 
two of the oldest States most noted for popular 
education. In fact, every youth in Ohio, under 
twenty-one years of age, may have the benefit of a 
public education ; and, since the system of graded 
and high schools has been adopted, may obtain a 
common knowledge from the al})habet to the classics. 
The enumerated branches of study in the j)ub- 
lic schools of Ohio are thirty-four, including 
mathematics and astronomy, French, (Ji^rman and 
the classics. Thus tlu; State which was in the 
heart of the wilderness in 177(5, and was not a 
State until the nini'tecmth century had begun, now 
presents to the world, not merely an unrivaled de- 
velopment of material prosperity, but an unsur- 
passed system of po])ular education. 

In what is called the higher education, in the 
colleges and universities, embracing the classics 
and sciences taught in regular classes, it is the pop- 
ular idea, and one which few dare to (juestion, that 
we must look to the Eastern States for superiority 
and excellence ; but that also is becoming an as- 
sumption without proof; a proposition difficult to 
sustain. The facts in regard to the education of 
universities and colleges, their faculties, students 
and course of instruction, are all set forth in the 
complete statistics of the Bureau of Education for 
1874. They show that the State of Ohio had tlu; 
largest number of such institutions; the largest 
number of instructors in their faculties, except one 
State, New York ; and the largest number of stu- 
dents in regular college classes, in proportion to 
their population, except the two States of Connect- 
icut and Massachusetts. Perhaps, if we look at 
the statistics of classical students in the colleges, 
disregarding preparattiry and irregular courses, we 
shall get a more accurate idea of the jjrogress of 
the higher education in those States which claim 
the best. In Ohio, 80 colleges, 258 teachers, 
2,180 students, proportion, 1 in 124; in Penn- 
sylvania, 27 colleges, 285) teachers, 2,85!) students, 
proportion, 1 in 150; in New York, 2(5 colleges, 
848 teachers, 2,7(54 students, proportion, 1 in 17(5; 
in thesix NewEngland States, 17 colleges, 252 teach- 
ers, 3,341 students, proportion, 1 in 105; in Illi- 



^ I ^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



145 



nois, 24 colleges, 219 teachers, 1,701 students, 
proportion, 1 in 140. 

This shows there are more collegiate institutions 
in Ohio than in all New England ; a greater num- 
ber of college teachers, and only a little smaller ratio 
of students to the population ; a greater number of 
such students than either in New York or l*ennsyl- 
vania, and, as a broad, general fact, Ohio has made 
more ytrogress in education than either of the old 
States which formed the American Union. Such 
a fact is a higher testimony to the strength and the 
beneficent influence of the American Government 
than any which the statistician or the historian 
can advance. 

Let us now turn to the moral aspects of the 
people of Ohio. No human society is found with- 
out its poor and dependent classes, whether made 
so by the defects of nature, by acts of Providence, 
or by the accidents of fortune. Since no society 
is exempt from these classes, it must be judged 
not so much by the fact of their existence, as by 
the mann(!r in which it treats them. In the civil- 
ized nations of aiiti(piity, such as Greece and 
Rome, hospitals, infirmaries, orphan homes, and 
asylums for the infirm, were unknown. These 
are the creations of Christianity, und tliat must be 
esteemed practically the most Christian State which 
most practices this Christian beneficence. In Ohio, 
as in all the States of this country, and of all 
Christian countries, there is a large number of the 
infirm and dependent ckisses; but, although Ohio 
is the third State in population, she is only the 
fourteenth in the proportion of dependent classes. 
Tlie more important point, however, was, how does 
she treat tliem ? Is there wanting any of all 
the varied institutions of benevolence? How does 
she compare with other States and countries in 
this respect? It is believed that no State or coun- 
try can present a larger proportion of all these 
institutions which the benevolence of the wise and 
good have suggested for the alleviation of sufi'er- 
ing and misfortune, than the State of Ohio. With 
3,500 of the insane within her borders, she has 
five great lunatic asylums, capable of accommodat- 
ing tiiem all. She has asylums for the deaf and 
dumb, the idiotic, and the blind. She has the 
best hospitals in the country. She has schools 
of reform and houses of refuge. She has "homes" 
for the boys and girls, to the number of 800, who 
are children of soldiers. She has penitentiaries 
and jails, orphan asylums and infirmaries. In 
every county there is an infirmary, and in every 
public institution, except the penitentiary, there is a 



school. So that the State has used every human 
means to relieve the suficring, to instruct the igno- 
rant, and to refonn the criminal. There are in 
the State 80,000 who come under all the various 
forms of the infirm, the poor, the sick and the 
criminal, who, in a greater or less degree, make 
the dependent class. For these the State has 
made every provision which humanity or justice 
or intelligence can require. A young State, de- 
veloped in the wilderness, she challenges, without 
any invidious comparison, both Elurope and Amer- 
ica, to show her superior in the development of 
liumanity manifested in the benefaction of public 
institutions. 

Intimately connected with public morals and 
with charitable institutions, is the religion of a 
people. The people of the United States are a 
Christian people. The people of Ohio have man- 
ifested their zeal by the erection of churches, of 
Sunday schools, and of religious institutions. So 
far as these are outwardly manifested, they are 
made known by the social statistics of the census. 
The number of church organizations in the leading 
States were : In the State of Ohio, 0,488 ; in 
the State of New York, 5,027 : in the State of 
Pennsylvania, 5,984 ; in the State of Illinois, 4,298. 
It thus appears that Ohio had a lai'ger number 
of churches than any State of the Union. Tlie 
number of sittings, however, was not quite as 
large as those in New York and Pennsylvania. 
The denominations are of all the sects known in 
this counti'y, about thirty in number, the majority 
of the whole being IMethodists, Presbyterians and 
Baptists. Long before the iVmerican Independ- 
ence, the Moravians had settled on the ]Mahoning 
and Tuscarawas Rivers, but only to be destroyed ; 
and when the peace with Great Britain was made, 
not a vestige of Christianity remained on the 
soil of Ohio ; yet we see that within ninety years 
from that time the State of Ohio was, in the num- 
ber of its churches, the first of this great Union. 

In the beginning of this address, I said that 
Ohio was the oldest and first of these great States, 
carved out of the Northwestern Territory, and that 
it was in some things the greatest State of the 
American Union. I have now traced the physi- 
cal, commercial, intellectual and moral features of 
the State during the seventy-five years of its 
constitutional history. The result is to establish 
fully the propositions with which I began. These 
facts have brought out : 

1. That Ohio is, in reference to the square 
miles of its surface, the first State in agriculture 






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14() 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



of the Aiiu'i-ifan T'liion; tliis, too, iiotwithstaml- 
iii,i; it has S(KI,000 in citii's ami towns, and a large 
(lovi'IojtiuL'ut of capital and products in mauu- 
facturi's. 

2. That Ohio has raised more grain pcrs((uare 
mile than either France, Austria, or (Ireat Britain. 
They raised l,4r)() bushels per S((uare mile, and 
1(1 bushels to each person. Ohio raised 3,750 
bushels per S(piaro mile, and 50 bushels to each 
one of the ])opulation ; or, in other words, five 
times the ])roportion of grain raised in Europe. 

3. Ohio was the first State of the Union in 
the production of domestic animals, being lar in 
advance of either New York, Peimsylvania or Illi- 
nois. The jiroportion (»f domestic animals to each 
person in Ohio was three and one-third, and in 
New York and Pennsylvania less than half that. 
The largest proportion of domestic animals pro- 
duced in Europe wa.s in Great Britain and Bussia, 
neither of which come near that of Ohio. 

4. The coal-field of Ohio is vastly greater than 
that of (Ireat Britain, and we need make no com- 
parison with other States in regard to coal or iron; 
tor the 10,000 s.piare miles of coal, and 4,000 
s(|uarc miles of iron in Ohio, arc enough to supply 
the whiile American continent for ages to come. 

5. Neither need we compare the results of 
commerce and navigation, since, from the ports of 
Cleveland and Cincinnati, the vessels of Ohio 
touch on 42,000 miles of coast, and her 5,000 
miles of railroad carry her products to every part 
of the American continent. 

tj. Notwithstanding the immense proportion 
and product.s of agriculture in Ohio, yet she has 
more than kept pace with New York and New 
England in the progress of manufactures during 
the last twi'iity yeai^s. Her coal and iron are pro- 
ducing their legitimate results in making her a 
great manufacturing State. 

7. Ohio is tht; first State in the Union as to 
the proportion of youth attending scrhool; and the 
Stati'S west of the Alleghanies and north of the 
Ohio have more youth in school, proportionably, 
than New England and New Y'^ork. The facts on 
this subject arc so extraordinary that I may be 
excused for giving them a little in detail. 

The proportion of youth in Ohio attending 
school to the population, is 1 in 4.2; in Illinois, 1 
in 4.3; in Pennsylvania, 1 in 4.H; in New Y^ork, 
1 in 5.2 ; in Connecticut and Massachusetts, 1 in 
8.7. 

These proportions show that it is in the West, 
and nut in the Ea.st, that education is now advanc- 



ing; and it is here that we see the stimulus given 
by the ordinance of 1787, is working out its great 
and beneficent results. The land grant for educa- 
tion was a -great one, but, at last, its chief effort 
was in stimulating popular education ; for the State 
of Ohio has taxed itself tens of millions of dollars 
beyond the utmost value of the land grant, to 
found and maintain a system of public education 
which the world has not surpavSsed. 

We have seen that above and beyond all this 
material and intellectual development, Ohio has 
provided a vast benefaction of asylums, hospitals, 
and infirmaries, and special schools for the support 
and instruction of the dependent classes. There is 
not within all her borders a single one of the deaf, 
dumb, and blind, of the poor, sick, and insane, not 
an orphan or a vagrant, who is not provided for 
by the broad and generous liberality of the State 
and her people. A charity which the classic ages 
knew nothing of, a beneficence which the splendid 
hierarchies and aristocracies of Europe cannot 
equal, has been exhibited in this young State, 
whose name was unknown one hundred years ago, 
whose people, from Euro])e to the Atlantic, and 
from the Atlantic to the Ohio, were, like Adam 
and Eve, cast out — '■'■the world before them ichere 
to choose." 

Lastly, we see that, although the third in pop- 
ulation, and the seventeenth in admission to the 
Union, Ohio had, in 1870, 6,400 churches, the 
largest number in any one State, and numbering 
among them every form of Christian worship. 
The people, whose fields were rich with grain, 
whose mines were boundless in wealth, and whose 
commerce extended through thousands of miles 
of lakes and rivers, came here, as they came to 
New England's rock-bound coast — 

" With freedom to worship God." 

The church and the schoolhouse rose beside the 
green fields, and the morning bells rang forth to 
cheerful children going to school, and to a Chris- 
tian people going to the church of God. 

Let us now look at the possibilities of Ohio in 
the future development of the American Repub- 
lican Republic. The two most populous parts of 
Europe, because the most food-producing, are the 
Netherlands and Italy, or, more precisely, Belgium 
and ancient Lombardy ; to the present time, their 
])opulation is, in round nutnbers, three hundred to 
the .s(|uare mile. The density of population in 
England proper is about tlu^ sanu'. We may 
assume, therefore, that three hundred to the square 



V 



^1 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



147 



mile is, in round numbers, the limit of comfortable 
subsistence under modern civilization. It is true 
that modern improvements in agricultural machin- 
ery and fertilization have greatly increased the 
capacity of production, on a given amount of 
lantl, with a given amount of labor. It is true, 
also, that the old countries of Pjurope do not 
possess an equal amount of arable land with Ohio 
in proportion to the same surface. It would seem, 
therefore, that the density of population in Ohio 
might exceed that of any part of Europe. On 
the other hand, it may be said wdth truth that the 
American people will not become so dense as in 
Europe while they have new lands in the West 
to occupy. This is true ; but lands such as those 
in the valley of the Ohio are now becoming 
scarce in the West, and we think that, with her 
great capacity for the production of grain on one 
liand, and of illimitable rpiantities of coal and 
iron to manufacture with on the other, that Ohio 
will, at no remote period, reach nearly the density 
of Belgium, which will give her 10,000,000 of 
people. This seems extravagant, but the tide of 
migration, which flowed so fast to the West, is 
beginning to ebb, while the manufactures of the 
interior offer greater inducements. 

With population comes wealth, the material for 
education, the development of the arts, advance 
in all the material elements of civilization, and the 
still grander advancements in the strength and 
elevation of the human mind, conijuering to itself 
new I'ealms of material and intellectual power, 
a(;(|uiring in the future what we have seen in the j 
past, a wealth of resources unknown and undreamed j 
of when, a hundred years ago, the fathers of the ■ 
republic declared their independence. I know | 
how easy it is to treat this statement with easy 
incredulity, but statistics is a certain science ; the 
elements of civilization are now measured, and we 
know the progress of the human race as we know 



rfi .• 



that of a cultivated plant. We know the resources 
of the country, its food-producing capacity, its 
art processes, its power of education, and the unde- 
fined and illimitable power of the human mind 
for new inventions and unimagined progress. With 
this knowledge, it is not difficult nor unsafe to say 
that the future will produce more, and in a far 
greater ratio, than the past. The pictured scenes 
of the prophets have already been more than ful- 
filled, and the visions of beauty and glory, which 
their imagination failed fully to describe, will be 
more than realized in the bloom of that garden 
which republican America will present to the 
eyes of astonished mankind. Long before another 
century shall have passed by, the single State of 
Ohio will present fourfold the population with which 
the thii'teen States began their independence, more 
wealth than the entire Union now has ; greater 
universities than any now in the country, and a 
development of arts and manufacture which the 
world now knows nothing of. You have seen 
more than that since the Constitution was adopted, 
and what right have you to say the future shall 
not equal the past ? 

I have aimed, in this address, to give an exact 
picture of what Ohio is, not more for the sake of 
Ohio than as a representation of the products 
which the American Republic has given to the 
world. A State which began long after the 
Declaration of Independence, in the then unknown 
wilderness of North America, presents to-day 
the fiiirest example of what a republican govern- 
ment with Christian civilization can do. Look 
upon this picture and upon those of Assyria, 
of Greece or Rome, or of Europe in her best 
estate, and say where is the civilization of the 
earth which can equal this. If a Roman citizen could 
say with pride, " Civis JRomanus sum," with far 
greater pride can you say this day, "I am an 
American citizen." 




:V 



148 



1II8T0KV OF OHIO. 



CIIATTER XIV. 

KUUCATION* — EARLY SCHOOL LAWS — NOTES— INSTITUTES AND 
SCHOOL SYSTEM — SCHOOL FUNDS— COLLEGES AND 



EDUCATIONAL 
UNIVERSITIES. 



JOURNALS— 



WIIKNthc survey of the Northwest Terri- 
tory was ordered by Congress, March 20, 
ITS'), it was (leereod tliat every sixteenth section 
of land sliould he reserved for the "maintenance 
of iiul)ne schools within each township." The 
ordinance of 17S7 — thanks to the New England 
As.sociates — proclaimed that, "religion, morality 
and knowledge being essential to good government, 
schools and the means of education should forever 
be encouraged." The 8tate Constitution of 1802 
declared that " schools and the means of instruc- 
tion should be encouraged by legislative provision, 
not inconsistent with the rights of conscience." 
Ill 1 S2r), through the persevering efforts of Nathan 
(Juilford, Senator from Hamilton County, Ephraim 
Cutler, llepresentative from Washington County, 
and other friends of education, a bill was passed, 
" laying the foundation for a general system of 
common schools." This bill provided a tax of one- 
half mill, to be levied by the County Commis- 
sioners for school ))ur])oses; ])rovided for school 
examiners, and ma(l(! Township Clerks and County 
Auditors school officers. In 1829, this county 
tax was raised to three-fourths of a mill ; in 18H4 
to one mill, and, in IH^A), to one and a half mills. 
In March, 18.")7, Samuel Lewis, of Hamilton 
Ct (Uiity. was appointed State Superintendent of Com- 
mon Schools, lie was a very energetic worker, trav- 
eling on horseback all over the State, delivering ad- 
dresses and encouraging school officers and teachers. 
Through Ills efforts much good was done, and 

* From the School Commissioners' Roports, principiilly those of 
Tliornxs \V. Uiirvey, A. M. 

Note 1. — The firHt school tauglitiii Oliio.orin the Northwestern 
Territory, wiis iu IT'Jl. Tlie first teacher was Miij. Austin Topper, 
elUestson of fien. ISenjamin Tupper, tioth KevoUitionnry ollirers. 
The room occupied waw tlie same as that in wliich the first (-'ourtwas 
helil, and was situated in tlie northwest block-house of thegarrison, 
cjillivl the stockjule, at Mari<'tta. During the Indian war school 
was also tauRJit at Fort llarmar. Point Marietta, and .it other set- 
tlements. A meeting wiis held in Marietta, April •2'.t, 17it7, to con- 
HJdiT the erection of a school huilding snitalilo for the instruction 
of the youth, anil for conduitinc religious Bervices. Resolutions 
were ailopted which leil to the erection of a building called the 
Muskingum Academy. The building Wiis of frame, forty feet long 
•ind twenly-foiir feet wide, and is yet(lS7H)8tnndinR. Tliebuilding 
«a« twi'lvi' fi-et high, with an arched ceiling. It stood ujKin astone 
foundation, threi- steps from the ground. There were Iwochimneys 
anil a lobby projection. There was a cellar under the whole build- 
ing. It stood upon a beautiful lot, fronting the Muskingum River, 
and about sixty feet back from the street. Some largo trees were 



many important features engrafted on the scliool 
system. He resigned in 1889, when the office was 
abolished, and its duties imposed on the Secretary 
of State. 

The most important adjunct in early education 
in the State was the college of teachers organized 
in Cincinnati in 1881. Albert Pickett, Dr. Jo.seph 
Kay, William II. McGuffey — so largely known by 
his Readers — and Milo G. AVilliains, were at its 
head. Leading men in all parts of the West at- 
tended its meetings. Their published deliberatitins 
did much for the advancement of education among 
the people. Throixgh the efforts of the college, 
the first convention held in Ohio for educational 
purposes was called at Columbus, January 13, 
1830. Two years after, in December, the first 
convention in which the diff"erent sections of the 
State were represented, was held. At both these 
conventions, all the needs of the schools, both com- 
mon and higher, were ably and fully discussed, 
and appeals made to the people for a more cordial 
support of the law. No successful attempts were 
made to organize a permanent educational society 
until December, 1847, when the Ohio State Teach- 
ers' Association was formed at Akron, Summit 
County, with Samuel Galloway as President; T. 
W. Harvey. Rect)rding Secretary; M. D. Leggett, 
Corresponding Secretary; William Bowen, Treas- 
urer, and M. F. Cowdrey, Chairman of the Executive 
Committee. This Association entered upon its 
work with commendable earnestness, and has since 

upon the lot and on the street in front. Across the street was an 
open common, and beyond that the river. Immediately opposite 
the door, on entering, was a broad aisle, and, at the end of the 
aisle, against the wall, was a ilesk or pulpit. On I he right and left 
of the pulpit, against the wall, and fronting the pulpit, was a row 
of slips. On each sideof the door, facing the pulpit, were two slips, 
and, at each end of the room, one slip. These slips were stationary, 
and were fitted with desks that coulcl be let .lown,and there were 
boxes in the desks for holding hooks and papers. In tin- center of 
the room was an open space, which could be filled with movable 
seats. The first school was opened here in 1800." — letter of A. T. 
Nye. 

Note 2. — Another evidence of the character of th" New England 
Associates is the founding of a public library as early as 17%, or 
before. Another was also established at Uelpre about the same time. 
Abundant evidence proves the existence of these libraries, all tend- 
ing to the fact that the early settlers, though conquering a wilder- 
ness and a savage foe, would not allow their mental faculties to 
lack for food. The character of the books shows that "solid" 
reading predominated. 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



149 



never abated its "ileal. Semi-annual meetings were 
at first held, but, since 1858, only annual meetings 
occur. They are always largely attended, and al- 
ways by the best and most energetic teachers. 
The Association has given tone to the educational 
interests of the State, and has done a vast amount 
of good in popularizing education. In the spring 
of 1851, Lorin Andrews, then Superintendent of 
the Massillon school, resigned his place, and be- 
came a common-school missionary. In July, the 
Association, at Cleveland, made him its agent, and 
instituted measures to sustain him. He remained 
zealously at work in this relation until 1853, when 
he resigned to accept the presideu(!y of Kenyon 
College, at Gambier. Dr. A. Lord was then chosen 
general agent and resident editor of the Journal 
of Education, which positions he filled two years, 
with eminent ability. 

The year that Dr. Lord resigned, the ex officio 
relation of the Secretary of State to the common 
schools was abolished, and the office of school com- 
missioner again created. H. H. Barney was 
elected to the place in October, 1853. The office 
has since been held by Rev. Anson Smyth, elected 
in 1856, and re-elected in 1859 ; E. E. White, 
appointed by the Governor, November 11,1868, 
to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of C. 
W. H. Cathcart, who was elected in 1862; John 
A. Norris, in 1865; W. D. Henkle, in 1868; 
Thomas W. Harvey, in 1871; C. S. Smart, in 
1875, and the present incumbent, J. J. Burns, 
elected in 1878, his term expiring in 1881. 

The first teachers' institute in Northern Ohio 
was held at Sandusky, in September, 1845, con- 
ducted by Salem Town, of New York, A. D. Lord 
and M. F. Cowdrey. The second was held at Char- 
don, Geauga Co., in November of the same year. 
The first institute in the southern part of the 
State was held at Cincinnati, in February, 1837; 
the first in the central part at Newark, in March, 
1848. Since then these meetings of teachers have 
occurred annually, and have been the means of 
great good in elevating the teacher and the public 
in educational interests. In 1848, on petition of 
forty teachers, county commissioners were author- 
ized to pay lecturers from surplus revenue, and the 
next year, to appropriate ^100 for institute pur- 
poses, upon pledge of teachers to raise half that 
amount. By the statutes of 1864, applicants for 
teachers were required to pay 50 cents each as an 
examination fee. One-third of the amount thus 
raised was allowed the use of examiners as trav- 
eling expenses, the remainder to be applied to in- 



stitute instruction. For the year 1871, sixty-eight 
teachers' institutes were held in the State, at which 
308 instructors and lecturers were employed, and 
7,158 teachers in attendance. The expense incurred 
was $16,361.91), of which $10,127.13 was taken 
fi'om the institute fund; $2,730.34, was contrib- 
uted by members; $680, by county commis- 
sioners, and the balance, $1,371.50, was ob- 
tained from other sources. The last report of the 
State Commissioners — 1878 — shows that eighty- 
five county institutes were held in the State, con- 
tinuing in session 748 days; 416 instructors were 
employed; 11,466 teachers attended; $22,531.47 
wei'e received from all sources, and that the ex- 
penses were $19,587.51, or $1.71 per member. 
There was a balance on hand of $9,460.74 to com- 
mence the next year, just now closed, whose work 
has been as progressive and thor(mgh as any former 
year. The State Association now comprises three 
sections; the general association, the superintend- 
ents' section and the ungraded school section. All 
have done a good work, and all report progress. 

The old State Constitution, adopted by a con- 
vention in 1802, was supplemented in 1851 by 
the present one, under which the General Assem- 
bly, elected under it, met in 1852. Harvey llice, 
a Senator from Cuyahoga County, Chairman of 
Senate Committee on "Common Schools and 
School Lands," reported a bill the 29th of March, 
to provide "for the re-organization, supervision 
and maintenance of common schools." This bill, 
amended in a few particulars, became a law 
March 14, 1853. The prominent features of the 
new law were : The substitution of a State school 
tax for the county tax ; creation of the office of 
the State School -Commissioner ; the creation of a 
Township Board of Education, consisting of repre- 
sentatives from the subdistricts ; the abolition of 
rate-bills, making education free to all the youth of 
the State; the raising of a fund, by a tax of one- 
tenth of a mill yearly, " for the purpose of fur- 
nishing school libraries and apparatus to all the 
common schools." This "library tax" was abol- 
ished in 1860, otherwise the law has remained 
practically unchanged. 

School journals, like the popular press, have 
been a potent agency in the educational history of 
the State. As early as 1838, the Ohio School 
Director was issued by Samuel Lewis, by legisla- 
tive authority, though after six months' continu- 
ance, it ceased for want of support. The same 
year the Pestalozzian, by E. L. Sawtell and II. 
K. Smith, of Akron, and the Common School 



l.-iO 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Adrocafe, of Cincinnati, wi-ro issuotl. lu 184(), 
tlie Sv/ioul JouriKif began to he i)ublishod by A. 
1). ]ji»rd. of Kirtland. The .same year saw the 
Free School Chirlon, by W. Boweu, uf Massillon, 
and the School FricinL by W. B. Smith & Co., 
of Ciiuinnati.' The next year, W. H. Moore & 
Co., of Cincinnati, started tlie Woitcrn School 
Journal. In 1851, the Ohi<} Teacher, by 
Thomas llainey, appeared; the News ami Edu- 
cator, in ISljM. and the Educational Times, in 
18GG. In ISad, Dr. Lord's Journal of Educa- 
tion was united with the School Friend, and 
bi'came the recojinized organ of the teachers in 
Ohio. Tlie Doctor remained its principal editor 
until 1850, when he was succeeded by Anson 
Smyth, who edited the journal one year. In 1857, 
it was edited by John I). Caldwell ; in 1858 and 
and 185'J, by W. T. Coggeshall; in 18(10, by Anson 
Smyth again, when it pa.s.sed into the hands of 
K. K. White, who yet controls it. It has an 
immen.se circulation among Ohio teachers, and, 
though competed by other journals, since started, 
it maintains its ])lace. 

The school system of the State may be briefly 
exi)lained as follows: Cities and incorp(mited vil- 
lages are indejiendent of township and county con- 
trol, in the management of schools, having boards 
of education and examiners of their own. Some 
of them are organized for .school purposes, under 
special acts. Each township has a board of edu- 
cation, composcid of one mtMulnT froiu each sub- 
district. The town.ship clerk is clerk of this board, 
but has no vote. Each subdistrict hxs a local 
board of trustees, which manages its .school affairs, 
subject to the advice and control of the township 
board. The.se officers are elec^ed on the first 
Monday in April, and hold their offices three 
years. An enumeration of all the youth between 
the ages of five and twenty-one is made yearly. 
All public schools are recjuired to be in session at 
least twt!nty-four weeks each year. The townsliip 
clerk rej)orts anmially such facts concerning school 
affiiirs as the law re(iuires, to the county auditor, 
who in turn reports to the State Conunis.sioner, 
who colle<-ts these reports in a gyneral re])ort to 
the Legislature each year. 

A board of examiners is appctinted in each 
county l)y the Probate Judge. This board hius 
power to grant cenificaU-s for a term not exceed- 
ing two years, and good only in the county in 
which they are executed; they may be revoked on 
sufficient cause. In t8(i4, a State Board of 
Kxaminers was created, with jtowerto issue life cer- 



tificates, valid in all parts of the State. Since 
then, up to January 1, 1879, there have been 188 
of these issued. They are considered an excellent 
test of scholarship and ability, and are very credit- 
able to the holder. 

The school funds, in 18G5, amounted to $3,271,- 
275. GO. They were the proceeds of a])propriations 
of land by Congress for school purposes, upon 
which the State pays an aniuial interest of G per 
cent. The funds are known as the Virginia Mili- 
tary School Fund, the proceeds of eighteen <|uar- 
ter-townships and three sections of land, selected 
by lot from lands lying in the United States 
Military Reserve, appropriated for tlie ' use of 
schools in the Virginia Military Reservation; the 
United States Military School Fund, the jtrocceds 
of one thirty-sixth part of the land in the United 
States Military District, appropriated " for the use 
of schools within the same;" the Western Reserve 
School Fund, the proceeds from fourteen (piarter- 
towiLships, situated in the United States Military 
District, and 1^7,758 acres, mo.st of whicli was lo- 
cated in Defiance, Williams, Daulding, \'an Wert 
and Putnam Counties, appropriated lor the u.se of 
the schools in the Western Reserve; Section 
16, the proceeds from the sixteenth section of 
each township in that part of the State in Avliich 
the Indian title was not extinguished in 18u:j; the 
Moravian School Fund, the proceeds from one 
thirty-sixth part of each of three tracts of 
4,000 acres situated in Tuscarawas County, orig- 
inally granted by Congress to the Society of United 
Brethren, and reconveyed by this Society to the 
United States in 18H4. The income of these funds 
is not distributed by any uniform rule, owing to 
defects in the granting of the funds. The territo- 
rial divisions designated receive the income in 
proportion to the whole number of youth therein, 
while in the remainder of the State, the rent of 
Section 16, or the interest on the proceeds 
arising from its sale, is paid to the inhabitants of 
the originally surveyed townships. In these terri- 
torial divisions, an increase or decrease of popula- 
tion mui^t necessarily incjrease or diminish the 
amount each youth is entitled to receive; and the 
fortunate location or judicious sale of the sixteentli 
section may entitle one townshi]» to receive a large 
sum. while an adjacent townshij) receives a mere 
pittance. This ineipiality of benefit may be good 
for localities, but it is certainly a detriment to the 
State at large. There seems to be no legal remedy 
for it. In addition to the income frt)ni the before- 
mentioned funds, a variable revenue is received 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



151 



from certain fines and licenses paid to either county 
or township treasurers for the use of schools; 
from the sale of swamp lands ($25,720.07 allotted 
to the State in 1850), and from personal property 
escheated to the State. 

Aside from the funds, a State school tax is fixed 
by statute. Local taxes vary with the needs of 
localities, are limited by law, and are contingent 
on the liberality and public spirit of different com- 
munities. 

The State contains more than twenty colleges 
and universities, more than the same number of 
female seminaries, and about thirty normal schools 
and academies. The amount of property invested 
in these is more than §6,000,000. The Miami 
University is the oldest college in the State. 

In addition to the regular colleges, the State 
controls the Ohio State University, formerly the 
Agricultural and Mechanical College, established 
from the proceeds of the land scrip voted by Con- 
gress to Ohio for such purposes. The amount 
realized from the sale was nearly $500,000. This 
is to constitute a permanent fund, the interest only 
to be used. In addition, the sum of $300,000 
was voted by the citizens of Franklin County, in 
consideration of the location of the college in that 
county. Of this sum $111,000 was paid for three 
hundred and fifteen acres of land near the city of 
Columbus, and $112,000 for a college building, 



the balance being expended as circumstances re- 
quired, for additional buildings, laboratory, appa- 
ratus, etc. Thorough instruction is given in all 
branches relating to agriculture and the mechanical 
arts. Already excellent results are attained. 

By the provisions of the act of March 14, 1853, 
township boards are made bodies politic and cor- 
porate in law, and are invested with the title, care 
and custody of all school property belonging to 
the school district or township. They have control 
of the central or high schools of their townships : 
prescribe rules for the district schools ; may appoint 
one of their number manager of the schools of the 
township, and allow him reasonable pay for his 
services ; determine the text-books to be used ; fix 
the boundaries of districts and locate schoolhouse 
sites ; make estimates of the amount of money re- 
quired ; apportion the money among the districts, 
and are required to make an annual report to the 
County Auditor, who incorporates the same in his 
report to the State Commissioner, by whom it 
reaches the Legislature. 

Local directors control the subdistricts. They 
enumerate the children of school age, employ and 
dismiss teachers, make contracts for building and 
furnishing schoolhoiises, and make all necessary 
provision for the convenience of the district schools. 
Practically, the entire management rests with 
them. 



CHAPTER XV. 

AGRICULTURE— AREA OF THE STATE— EARLY AGRICULTURE IN THE WEST— MARKETS— LIVE 

STOCK — NURSERIES, FRUITS, ETC. —CEREALS — ROOT AND CUCURBITACEOUS 

CROPS— AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS— AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES— 

POMOLOGICAL AND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 



" Oft (lid the harvest to their sickles yield, 

Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke ; 

How jocund did they drive their teams atield ! 

How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke." 

THE majority of the readers of these pages are 
firmers, hence a resume of agriculture in the 
State, would not only be appropriate, but valuable 
as a matter of history. It is the true ba^is of 
national prosperity, and, therefore, justly occupies 
a foremost place. 

In the year 1800, the Territory of Ohio con- 
tained a population of 45,365 inhabitants, or a 
little more than one person to the scjuare mile. At 



this date, the admission of the TeiTitory into the 
Union as a State began to be agitated. When the 
census was made to ascertain the legality of the 
act, in conformity to the '-Compact of 1787," no 
endeavor was made to ascertain additional statis- 
tics, as now ; hence, the cultivated land was not 
returned, and no account remains to tell how 
much existed. In 1805, three years after the ad- 
mission of the State into the Union, 7,252,856 
acres had been purchased from the General Gov- 
ernment. Still no returns of the cultivated lands 
were made. In 1810, the population of Ohio was 
230,760, and the land purchased from the (itiv- 



X 



153 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



crnmcut amounted to 9,933,150 acres, of which 
aiiuiuiit, however, 3,5()1),.')14 acres, or more than 
oiu'-thiril, was held hy noii-re.sideiits. Ut'the lands 
oceujtied hy resident land-owners, there appear to 
have heen 10(),9(i8 acres of tirst-rate, 1,929,(100 
of second, and 1,538,7-15 acres of third rate lands. 
At this period there were very few exports from 
the farm, loom or shop. The people still needed 
all they produced to sustain themselves, and were 
yet in that pioneer period where they were obliji;ed 
to produce all they wanted, and yet were opening 
new farms, and bringing the old ones to a productive 
.state. 

Kentucky, and the country on the Monongahcla, 
lying along the western slopes of the Alleghany 
.Mountains, having been much longer settled, had 
begun, its early as 1795, to send considerable (juan- 
tities of flour, whisky, bacon and tobacco to the 
lower towns on the ^lississippi, at that time in the 
posses.sion of the Spaniards. At the French set- 
tlements on the Illinois, and at Detroit, were 
being raised much more than could be used, and 
these were exporting also largt; ipiantities of these 
materials, as well as peltries and such commodities 
a.s their nomadic lives furnished. As the Missis- 
sippi was the natural outlet -of the West, any at- 
tempt to impede its free navigation by the various 
powers at times controlling its outlet, would lead 
at once to-violent outbreaks among the Western 
settlers, some of whom were aided by uiiscrui)ulous 
persons, who thought to form an independent 
Western country. Providence seems to have had 
a watchful eye over all these events, and to have 
so guided tluiin that the attempts with such objects 
in view, invariably ended in disgrace to their per- 
petrators. This outlet to the West was thought 
to be the oidy one that could carry their ])roduce to 
market, for noiu; of the W\;sterners then dreamed 
of the immense system of railways now covering 
that jKirt of the Union. As soon as ship-building 
connnenci'd at Marietta, in the year 1800, the 
farmers along the borders of the Ohio and Musk- 
ingum Rivers turned their attention to the eulti- 
vatiuii oi' hemji, ill addition to tlu'ir other crops, liia 
few years suthcient was raised, not only to furnish 
cordage to the sliijis in the West, but large (|uan- 
titi(!S were worked up in the various rope-walks 
and sent to the Atlantic cities. Iron had been 
discovered, and Ibrges on the Juniata were busy 
converting that necessary and valucMl niatt'rial into 
implements (»f industry. 

iiy the year 1805, two ships, seven brigs and 
three schooners had been built and rigged by the 



citizens of Marietta. Their construction gave a 
fresh impetus to agriculture, as by means of them 
the surplus products could be carried away to a 
foreign market, where, if it did not bring money, 
it could be exchanged for merchandise equally 
valuable. Captain David Devoll was one of the 
earliest of Ohio's shipwrights. He settled on the 
fertile Muskingum bottom, about five miles above 
Marietta, soon after the Indian war. Here he 
built a "floating mill," for making flour, and, in 
1801, a ship of two hundred and fifty tons, called 
the Muskingum, and the brig Eliza Grcicne, of one 
hundred and fifty tons. In 1804, he built a 
schooner on liis own account, and in the spring 
of the next year, it was finished and loaded for a 
voyage down the Mississippi. It was small, only of 
seventy tons burden, of a light draft, and intended 
to run on the lakes east of New Orleans. In 
shape and model, it fully sustained its name. Nonpa- 
reil. Its complement of sails, small at first, was 
completed when it arrived in New Orleans. It 
had a large cabin to accommodate passengers, was 
well and finely painttnl, and sat gracefully on the 
water. Its load was of assorted articles, and shows 
very welltht^ nature ol" exports of the day. It con- 
sisted of two hundred barrels of flour, fifty barrels of 
kiln-dried c(n'n meal, four thousand pounds of 
cheese, six thousand of bacon, one hundred sets 
of rum puncheon shooks, and a few grindstones. 
Th(! flour and meal were made at (\i])tain Devoll's 
floating mill, and the cheese made in IJel|)re, at that 
date one of Ohio's most flourishing agriculttiral dis- 
tricts. The Captain and others carried on boating as 
well as the circumstances of the days permitted, fear- 
ing only the hostility of the Indians, and the duty 
the Spaniards were liable to levy on boats going 
down to New Orleans, even if they did not take 
it into their erratic heads to stop the entire navi- 
gation of the great river by vessels other than 
tluiir own. By such means, merchandise was car- 
ried on almost entirely until the construction of 
canals, and even then, until modern times, the 
flat-boat w;i.s the main-stay of tin; sliii)per inhabit- 
ing the country adjoining the uj)per Ohio and 
Mississippi llivers. 

(\)mmonly, very little stock was ke])t beyond 
what was necessary for the use of the tiimily and 
to perform the labor (m the farm. The Scioto 
Valley was perhaps the only exception in Ohio t(» 
this general condition. Horses were brought hy the 
emigrants froin the Fast and were characteristic 
of that region. In the French st-ttlements in Illi- 
nois and about Detroit, French ponies, marvels of 



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HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



155 



endurance, were chiefly used. They were impractic- 
able in hauling the immense emigrant wagons over 
the mountains, and hence were comparatively 
unknown in Ohio. Until 1828, draft horses 
were chiefly used here, the best strains being 
brought by the "Tun'cers," " Mennonites," and 
" Ormish," — three religious sects, whose members 
were invariably agriculturists. In Stark, Wayne, 
Holmes, and Richland Counties, as a general thing, 
they congregated in communities, where the neat- 
ness of their farms, the excellent condition of 
their stock, and the primitive simplicity of their 
mannei's, made them conspicuous. 

In 1828, the French began to settle in Stark 
County, where they introduced the stock of horses 
known as " Selim," "Florizel," "Post Boy" and 
"Timolen." These, crossed upon the descents of 
the Norman and Conestoga, produced an excellent 
stock of farm horses, now largely used. 

In the Western Reserve, blooded horses were in- 
troduced as early as 1825. John I. Van Meter 
brought fine horses into the Scioto Valley in 1815, 
or thereabouts. Soon after, fine horses were 
brought to Steubenville from Virginia and Penn- 
sylvania. In Northern Ohio the stock was more 
miscellaneous, until the introduction of improved 
breeds from 1815 to 18o5. By the latter date 
the strains of horses had greatly imj)roved. The 
same could be said of other parts of the State. 
Until after 1825, only farm and road horses were 
requii'ed. That year a race-course — the first in 
the State — was established in Cincinnati, shortly 
followed by others at Chillicothe, Dayton and Ham- 
ilt(jn. From that date the race-horse steadily im- 
proved. Until 1838, however, all race-courses 
were rather irregular, and, of those named, it is 
difficult to determine which one has priority of 
date over the others. To Cincinnati, the jBrece- 
dence is, however, generally given. In 1838, the 
Buckeye Course was established in Cincinnati, and 
before a year had elapsed, it is stated, there were 
fifteen regular race-courses in Ohio. The effect 
of these courses was to greatly stimulate the stock 
of racers, and rather deti'act from draft and road 
horses. The organization of companies to import 
blooded horses has again revived the interest in 
this class, and now, at annual stock sales, these 
strains of horses are eagerly sought af^er by those 
having occasion to use them. 

Cattle were brought over the mountains, and, 
for several years, were kept entirely for domestic 
uses. By 1805, the country had so far settled 
that the surplus stock was fattened on corn and 



fodder, and a drove was driven to Baltimore. The 
drove was owned by Oeorge Renick, of Chillicothe, 
and the feat was looked upon as one of great im- 
portance. The drove arrived in Baltimore in ex- 
cellent condition. The impetus given by this 
movement of Mr. Renick stimulated greatly the 
feeding of cattle, and led to the improvement of 
the breed, heretofore only of an ordinary kind. 

Until the advent of railroads and the shipment 
of cattle thereon, the number of cattle driven to 
eastern markets from Ohio alone, was estimated at 
over fifteen thousand annually, whose value was 
placed at $600, QUO. Besides this, large numbers 
were driven from Indiana and Illinois, whose 
boundless prairies gave free scope to the herding of 
cattle. Improved breeds, "Short Horns," "Long- 
Horns" and others, were introduced into Ohio as 
early as 1810 and 1815. Since then the stock 
has been gradually improved and acclimated, until 
now Ohio produces as fine cattle as any State in 
the Union. In some locahties, especially in the 
Western Reserve, cheesemaking and dairy interests 
are the chief occupations of whole neighborhoods, 
where may be found men who have grown wealthy 
in this business. 

Sheep were kept by almost every family, in pio- 
neer times, in order to be suj)plied with wool for 
clothing. The wool was carded by hand, spun in 
the cabin, and frequently dyed and woven as well 
as shaped into garments there, too. All emigrants 
brought the best household and farming imple- 
ments their limited means would allow, so also did 
they bring th(3 best strains of horses, cattle and 
sheep they could obtain. About the year 1809, 
Mr. Thomas Rotch, a Quaker, emigrated to Stark 
County, and brought with him a small flock of 
Merino sheep. They were good, and a part of 
them were from the original flock brought over 
from Spain, in 1801, by Col. Humphrey, United 
States Minister to that country. He had brought 
200 of these sheep, and hoped, in time, to see 
every part of the United States stocked with Me- 
rinos. In this he partially succeeded only, owing 
to the prejudice against them. In 1816, Messrs. 
Wells & Dickenson, who were, for the day, exten- 
sive woolen manufacturers in Steubenville, drove 
their fine flocks out on the Stark County Plains 
for the summer, and brought them back for the 
winter. This course was pursued for several years, 
until flirms were prepared, when they were per- 
manently kept in Stark County. This flock was 
originally derived from the Humphrey importation. 
The failure of Wells & Dickenson, in 1824, placed 



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156 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



a 'jcood portion of tliis flock in the liamls of Adam 
lliklebraiul, and bwaiiie tlio ))a.si.s of liis celebrated 
flock. Mr. T. S. Jlumriekliousc, of Coshocton, 
in a communication regarding sheep, writes as fol- 
lows: 

" The first merinos brought to Ohio were doubt- 
less by 8eth Adams, of Zanesvillo. They were 
Humphrey's 3Ierinos — undoubtedly the best ever 
imported into the United States, by whatever 
name called. He kept them part of the time in 
Wa.'^hington, and afterward in Muskingum County. 
lie had a sort of partnership agency from Gen. 
Humphrey for keeping and selling them. They 
were scattered, and, had they been taken care of 
and appreciated, would have laid a better found- 
ation of flocks in Ohio than any sheep brought 
into it from that time till 1852. The precise date 
at which Adams brought them cannot now be as- 
certained ; but it was prior to 1813, perhaps as 
early as 1804." 

"The first Southdowns," continues Mr. Hum- 
rickhouse," "New Leicester, Lincolnshire and Cots- 
wold sheep I ever saw, were brought into Coshocton 
County from England by Isaac Maynard, nephew 
of the famous Sir John, in 1834. There were 
about ten Southdowns and a trio of each of the 
other kinds. He was oftered $500 for his Lin- 
colnshire ram, in Buffalo, as he passed through, 
but refused. He was selfish, and unwilling to put 
them into other hands when he went on a farm, 
all in the woods, and, in about three years, most of 
them had perished." 

The raising and improvement of sheep has kept 
steady tread with the growth of the State, and 
now Ohio wool is known the world over. In (quan- 
tity it is e((ual to any State in America, while its 
quality is unequaled. 

The first stock of hogs brought to Ohio were 
rather poor, scrawny creatures, and, in a short 
time, when left to themselves to pick a livelihood 
from the beech mast and other nuts in the woods, 
degenerated into a wild condition, almost akin to 
their originators. As the country settled, however, 
they were gathered from their lairs, and, by feed- 
ing them corn, the farmers soon l)i'ought them out 
of their semi-barbarous state. Improved breeds 
were introduced. The laws for their protection 
and guarding were made, and now the hog of to- 
day sIkjws what improvement and civilization can 
do for any wild animal. The chief city of the 
State has become famous as a slaughtering place; 
lier Ijacoii and sides being known in all the civil- 
ized world. 



Other domestic animals, mules, asses, etc., have 
been brought to the State as occasion re(juired. 
Wherever their use has been demanded, they have 
been obtained, until the State has her complement 
of all animals her citizens can use in their daily 
labors. 

Most of the early emigrants brought with them 
young fruit trees or gi-afts of some favorite variety 
from the " old homestead." Hence, on the West- 
ern Reserve are to be found chiefly — especially in 
old orchards — New England varieties, while, in the 
localities immediately south of the Reserve, Penn- 
sylvania and Maryland varieties predominate ; but 
at Marietta, New England fruits are again found, 
as well as throughout Southeastern Ohio. One of 
the oldest of these orchards was on a Mr. Dana's 
farm, near Cincinnati, on the Ohio River bank. It 
consisted of five acres, in which apple seeds and 
seedUngs were planted as early as 1790. Part of 
the old orchard is yet to be seen, though the trees 
are almost past their usefulness. Peaches, pears, 
cherries and apples were planted by all the pioneers 
in their gardens. As soon as the seed produced 
seedlings, these were transplanted to some hillside, 
and the orchard, in a few years, was a productive 
unit in the life of the settler. The first fruit 
brought, was, like everything else of the pioneers, 
rather inferior, and admitted of much cultivation. 
Soon steps were taken by the more enterprising 
settlers to obtain better varieties. Israel Putnam, 
as early as 179G, returned to the East, partly to 
get cions of the choicest apples, and, partly, on 
other business. He obtained quite a quantity of 
choice apples, of some forty or fifty varieties, and 
set them out. A portion of them were distrib- 
uted to the settlers who had trees, to ingraft. 
From these old grafts are yet to be traced some of 
the best orchards in Ohio. Israel l*utnam was one 
of the most prominent men in early Ohio days. 
He was always active in promoting the interests of 
the settlers. Among his earliest effVirts, that of 
improving the fruit may well be mentioned. He 
and his brother, Aaron W. Putnam, living at Bel- 
pre, opposite Blennerhasset's Island, began the 
nursery business soon after their arrival in the 
West. The apples brought by them from their 
Connecticut home were used to commence the busi- 
ness. These, and the apples obtained from trees 
planted in their gardens, gave them a beginning. 
They were the only two men in Ohio engaged in 
the business till 1817. 

In early times, in the central part of Ohio, 
ther^ existed a curious character known as "Johnny 




^ 



Appleseed." His real name was John Chapman. 
He received his name from his habit of planting, 
along all the streams in that part of the State, 
apple-seeds from which sprang many of the old 
orchards. He did this as a religious duty, think- 
ing it to be his especial mission. He had, it is 
said, been disappointed in his youth in a love 
affair, and came West about 1800, and ever after 
followed his singular life. He was extensively 
known, was quite harmless, very patient, and did, 
without doubt, much good. He died in 1S47, at 
the house of a Mr. Worth, near Fort Wayne, 
Indiana, who had long known him, and often 
befriended him. He was a minister in the Swed- 
enborgian Church, and, in his own way, a zealous 
worker. 

The settlers of the Western Reserve, coming 
from New England, chiefly from Connecticut, 
brought all varieties of fruit known in their old 
homes. These, whether seeds or grafts, were 
planted in gardens, and as soon as an orchard 
could be cleared on some favorable hillside, the 
young trees were transplanted there, and in time 
an orchard was the result. Much confusion 
regarding the kinds of fruits thus produced arose, 
partly from the fact that the trees grown from 
seeds did not always prove to be of the same qual- 
ity as the seeds. Climate, soil and surroundings 
often change the character of such fruits. 
Many new varieties, unknown to the growers, 
were the result. The fi'uit thus produced was 
often of an inferior growth, and when grafts were 
brought from the old New England home and 
grafted into the Ohio trees, an improvement as 
well as the old home fruit was the result. After 
the orchards in the Reserve began to bear, the 
fruit was very often taken to the Ohio River for 
shipment, and thence found its way to the South- 
ern and Eastern seaboard cities. 

Among the individuals prominent in introducing 
fruits into the State, were Mr. Dille, of Euclid, Judge 
Fuller, Judge Whittlesey, and jMr. Lindley. 
George Hoadly was also very prominent and ener- 
getic in the matter, and was, perhaps, the first to 
introduce the pear to any extent. He was one of 
the most persistent and enthusiastic amateurs in 
horticulture and pomology in the West. About 
the year 1810, Dr. Jared Kirtland, father of 
Prof J. P. Kirtland, so well known among 
horticulturists and pomologists, came from Con- 
necticut and settled in Portland, Mahoning 
County, with his family. This family has done 
more than any other in the State, perhaps, to 



advance fruit culture. About the year 1824, 
Prof J. P. Kirtland, in connection with his brother, 
established a nursery at Poland, then in Trumbull 
County, and brought on' from New England above 
a hundred of their best varieties of apples, cherries, 
peaches, pears, and smaller fruits, and a year or 
two after brought from New Jersey a hundred of 
the best varieties of that State ; others were ob- 
tained in New York, so that they possessed the larg- 
est and most varied stock in the Western country. 
These two men gave a great impetus to fruit cult- 
ure in the West, and did more than any others 
of that day to introduce improved kinds of all 
fruits in that part of the United States. 

Another prominent man in this branch of indus- 
try was Mr. Andrew H. Ernst, of Cincinnati. 
Although not so early a settler as the Kirtlands, 
he was, like them, an ardent student and propa- 
gator of fine fruits. He introduced more than 
six hundred varieties of apples and seven hun- 
dred of pears, both native and foreign. His 
object was to test by actual experience the most 
valuable sorts for the diversified soil and climate 
of the Western country. 

The name of Nicholas Longworth, also of Cin- 
cinnati, is one of the most extensively known of any 
in the science of horticulture and pomology. For 
more than fifty years he made these his especial 
delight. Having a large tract of land in the 
lower part of Cincinnati, he established nurseries, 
and planted and disseminated every variety of 
fruits that could be found in the United States — 
East or West — making occasional importations 
from European countries of such varieties as 
were thought to be adapted to the Western climate. 
His success has been variable, governed by the 
season, and in a measure by his numerous experi- 
ments. His vineyards, cultivated by tenants, gen- 
erally Grermans, on the European plan, during the 
latter years of his experience paid him a hand- 
some revenue. He introduced the famous Catawba 
grape, the standard grape of the West. It is 
stated that Mr. Longworth bears the same relation 
to vineyard culture that Fulton did to steam navi- 
gation. Others made earlier effort, but he was the 
first to establish it on a permanent basis. He has 
also been eminently successful in the cultivation of 
the strawberry, and was the first to firmly establish 
it on Western soil. He also brought the Ohio Ever- 
bearing Raspberry into notice in the State, and 
widely disseminated it throughout the country. 

Other smaller fi-uits were brought out to the 
West like those mentioned. In some cases fruits 



(5~ 



■^ 



158 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



iinlLn'uiius to tlio soil wore cultivated ami improved, 
and a.s imitroved fruits, are kuowu favorably wherc- 
ever useil. 

In chronology and importance, of all the cereals, 
corn stands foremost. Durinj;- the early pioneer 
period, it was the staple article of food for both 
man and beast. It could be made into a variety 
of forms of food, and as such was not only palata- 
ble but highly nutritious and strengtliening. 

It is very diflicult to determine whether corn 
originated in America or in the Old World. INIany 
prominent botanists assert it is a native of Turkey, 
and originally was known as " Turkey wheat." Still 
others claimed to have found mention of maize in 
Chinese writings antedating the Turkish discovery. 
Grains of maize were found in an Egyptian mum- 
my, which goes to prove to many the cereal was 
known in Africa since the earliest times. Maize 
was tbund in America when first visited by white 
men, but of its origin Indians could give no ac- 
count. It had always been known among them, 
and constituted their chief article of vegetable diet. 
It was cultivated exclusively by their squaws, the 
men considering it beneath their dignity to engage 
in any manual labor. It is altogether probable corn 
was known in the Old World long before the New 
was discovered. The Arabs or Crusaders probably 
introduced it into Europe. How it was introduced 
into America will, in all probability, remain un- 
known. It may have been an indigenous plant, 
like many others. Its introduction into Ohio dates 
with the settlement of the whites, especially its 
cultivation and use as an article of trade. True, 
the Indians had cultivated it in small quantities ; 
each lodge a little for itself, but no effort to make 
of it a national support began until the civilization 
of the white race became established. From that 
time on, the incTcase in crops has grown with the 
State, and, excepting the great corn States of the 
West, Ohio produces an amount equal to any State 
in the Union. The statistical tables printed in 
agricultural reports .show the acres planted, and 
bushels grown. Figures speak an unanswerable 
logic. 

Wheat is probably the next in importance of the 
cereals in the State. Its origin, like corn, is lost 
in the u)ists of anticjuity. Its berry was no doubt 
used as food by the ancients for ages anterior to 
any historical records. It is often called corn in 
old writings, and under that name is frequently 
mentioned in the liiltle. 

'*As far back in the vistas of ages' as human 
records go, we find that wheat has been cultivated. 



and, with corn, aside from animal food, has formed 
one of the chief alimentary articles of all nations ; 
but as the wheat plant has nowhere been found wild, 
or in a state of nature, the inference has been 
drawn by men of unfpiestioned scientific ability, 
that the original plant from which wheat has been 
derived was either totally annihilated, or else cul- 
tivation has wrought so great a change, that the 
original is by no means obvious, or manifest to bot- 
anists." 

It is supposed by many, wheat originated in 
Persia. Others affirm it was known and cultivated 
in Egypt long ere it found its way into Persia. It 
was certainly grown on the Nile ages ago, and 
among the tombs are found grains of wheat in a 
perfectly sound condition, that unquestionably 
have been buried thousands of years. It may be, 
however, that wheat was grown in Persia first, and 
thence found its way into Egypt and Afiica, or, 
vice versa. It grew first in Egypt and Africa and 
thence crossed into Persia, and from there found 
its way into India and all parts of Asia. 

It is also claimed that wheat is indigenous to 
the island of Sicily, and that from there it spread 
along the shores of the Mediterranean into Asia 
Minor and Egypt, and, as communities advanced, 
it was cultivated, not only to a greater extent, but 
with greater success. 

The goddess of agriculture, more especially of 
grains,, who, by the Greeks, was called Demeter, 
and, by the Romans, Cej-e.s — hence the name ce- 
reals — was said to have her home at Enna, a fertile 
region of that island, thus indicating the source 
fi-om which the Greeks and Romans derived their 
CeraJia. Homer mentions wheat and spelt as 
bread; also corn and barley, and describes his 
heroes as using them as fodder for their horses, as 
the people in the South of Europe do at present. 
Rye was introduced into Greece fi'om Thrace, or 
by way of Thrace, in the time of Galen. In 
Caesar's time the Romans grew a species of wheat 
enveloped in a husk, like barley, and by them 
called " Far." 

During the excavations* of Herculaneum and 
Pomj)eii, wheat, in an excellent state of preserva- 
tion, was frequently found. 

Dr. Anson Hart, Superintendent, at one time, of 
Indian Affairs in Oregon, states that he fou'nd 
numerous pati-hes of wheat and flax growing wild 
in the Yackemas country, in Upper Oregon. There 
is but little doubt that both cereals were intro- 
duced into Oregon at an early period by the Hud- 
son Bay, or other fur companies. Wheat was also 



found by Dr. Boyle, of Columbus, Ohio, growing 
in a similar state in the Carson Valley. It was, 
doubtless, brought there by the early Spaniards. 
In 1530, one of Cortez's slaves found several grains 
of wheat accidentally mixed with the rice. The 
careful negro planted the handful of grains, and 
succeeding years saw a wheat crop in Mexico, 
which found its way northward, probably into 
California. 

Turn where we may, wherever the foot of civil- 
ization has trod, there will we find this wheat 
plant, which, like a monument, has perpetuated 
the memory of the event; but nowhere do we find 
the plant wild. It is the result of cultivation in 
bygone ages, and has been produced by "progress- 
ive development." 

It is beyond the limit and province of these 
pages to discuss the composition of this important 
cereal ; only its historic properties can be noticed. 
With the advent of the white men in America, 
wheat, like corn, came to be one of the staple prod- 
ucts of life. It followed the pioneer over the 
mountains westward, where, in the rich Missis- 
sippi and Illinois bottoms, it has been cultivated 
by the French since 1690. When the hardy New 
Englanders came to the alluvial lands adjoining 
the Ohio, Muskingum or Miami Rivers, they 
brought with them this "stafi" of life," and forth- 
with began its cultivation. Who sowed the first 
wheat in Ohio, is a question Mr. A. S. Guthrie 
answers, in a letter published in the Agricultural 
Report of 1857, as follows: 

" My father, Thomas Gruthrie, emigrated to the 
Northwest Territory in the year 1788, and arrived 
at the mouth of the Muskingum in July, about 
three months after Gren. Putnam had arrived with 
the first pioneers of Ohio. My father brought a 
bushel of wheat with him from one of the frontier 
counties of Pennsylvania, Avhich he sowed on a 
lot of land in Marietta, which he cleared for that 
purpose, on the second bottom or plain, in the 
neighborhood of where the Court House now 
stands." 

Mr. Guthrie's opinion is corroborated by Dr. 
Samuel P. Hildreth, in his "Pioneer Settlers of 
Ohio," and is, no doubt, correct. 

From that date on down through, the years of 
Ohio's growi;h, the crops of wheat have kept pace 
with the advance and growth of civilization. The 
soil is admirably adapted to the growth of this ce- 
real, a large number of varieties being grown, and 
an excellent quality produced. It is firm in body, 
and, in many cases, is a successful rival of wheat 



produced in the great wheat-producing regions of 
the United States — Minnesota, and the farther 
Northwest. 

Oats, rye, barley, and other grains were also 
brought to Ohio from the Atlantic Coast, though 
some of them had been cultivated by the French 
in Illinois and about Detroit. They were at first 
used only as food for home consumption, and, until 
the successful attempts at river and canal naviga- 
tion were brought about, but little was ever sent 
to market. 

Of all the root crops known to man, the potato 
is probably the most valuable. Next to wheat, 
it is claimed by many as the staff of life. In 
some localities, this assumption is undoubtedly 
true. What would Ireland have done in her fam- 
ines but for this simple vegetable? The potato is 
a native of the mountainous districts of tropical 
and subtropical America, probably fi-om Chili to 
Mexico ; but there is considerable difficulty in 
deciding where it is really indigenous, and where 
it has s^Dread after being introduced by man. 
Humboldt, the learned savant, doubted if it had 
ever been found wild, but scholars no less famous, 
and of late date, have expressed an opposite 
opinion. In the wild plant, as in all others, the 
tubers are smaller than in the cultivated. The 
potato had been cultivated in America, and its 
tubers used for food, long before the advent of the 
Europeans. It seems to have been first brought 
to Europe by the Spaniards, from the neighbor- 
hood of Quito, in the beginning of the sixteenth 
century, and spread through Spain, the Netherlands, 
Burgundy and Italy, cultivated in gardens as an 
ornament only and not for an article of food. 
It long received through European countries the 
same name with the batatas — sweet potato, which 
is the plant meant by all English wiiters down to 
the seventeenth century. 

It appears that the potato was brought from 
Virginia to Ireland by Hawkins, a slave-trader, 
in 1565, and to England by Sir Francis Drake, 
twenty years later. It did not at first attract much 
notice, and not until it was a third time imported 
from Amei'ica, in 1623, by Sir Walter Raleigh, 
did the Europeans make a practical use of it. 
Even then it was a long time before it was exten- 
sively cultivated. It is noticed in agricultural 
journals as food for cattle only as late as 1719. 
Poor people began using it, however, and finding it 
highly nutritious, the Royal Geographical Society, 
in 1663, adopted measures for its propagation. 
About this time it bearan to be used in Ireland as 



sr 



^ ^ — ^ 



160 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



food, autl from the beginning of the ei<:^hteenth cent- 
ury, its use has never dechnetl. It is now known 
in every (juarter of the world, and has, by cultiva- 
tion, been greatly improved. 

The inhabitants of America learned its use 
from the Indians, who cultivated it and other 
root crops — rutabagas, radishes, etc., and taught 
the whites their value. When the pioneers of 
Ohio came to its fertile valleys, they brought 
improved species with them, which by cultiva- 
tion and soil, are now greatly increased, and are 
among the standard crops of the State. 

The cucurbitaceous plants, S((uashes, etc., were, 
like the potato and similar root crops, indigenous 
to America — others, like the melons, to Asia — 
and were among the staple foods of the original 
inhabitants. The early French missionaries of 
the West speak of both root crops and cucurbi- 
taceous plants as in use among the aboriginal inhab- 
itants. "They are very sweet and wholesome," 
wrote Marcjuette. Others speak in the same terms, 
though some of the plants in this order had found 
their way to these valleys through the Spaniards 
and others through early Atlantic Coast and iMex- 
ican inhabitants. Their use by the settlers of the 
West, especially Ohio, is traced to New England, 
as the first settlers came from that portion of the 
Uniiin. They grow well in all parts of the State, 
and by cultivation have been greatly improved in 
(juality and variety. All cucurbitaceous plants 
require a rich, porous soil, and by proper atten- 
tion to their cultivation, excellent results can be 
attained. 

Probably the earliest and most important imple- 
ment of husbandry known is the plow. Grain, 
plants and roots will not grow well unless the soil 
in which they are planted be properly stirred, 
hence the first reipiirenu'ntw^as an instrument that 
Would fulfill such conditions. 

The first implements were rude indeed ; gener- 
ally, stout wooden sticks, drawn through the earth 
by thongs attached to rude ox-yokes, or fastened 
to the animal's horns. Such plows were in use 
among the ancient Egyptians, and may yet be 
found among uncivilized nations. The Old Testar- 
ment furnishes numerous instances of the u.se of 
the plow, while, on the ruins of ancient cities and 
among the pyramids of Kgypt, and on the buried 
walls of Babylon, and other extinct cities, are rude 
drawings of this useful implement. As the \ise 
of iron became apparent and general, it was util- 
ized for plow-points, where the wood alone would 
not penetrate the earth. They got their plow- 



shares sharpened in Old Testament days, also 
coulters, which shows, beyond a doubt, that iron- 
pointed plows were then in use. From times 
mentioned in the Bible, on heathen tombs, and 
ancient catacombs, the improvement of the plow, 
like other farming tools, went on, as the race of 
man gi'cw in intelligence. Extensive manors in 
the old country required increased uieans of turning 
the ground, and, to meet these demands, ingenious 
mechanics, from time to time, invented improved 
plows. Strange to say, however, no improvement 
was ever made by the farmer himself This is ac 
counted for in his habits of life, and, too often, 
the disposition to ''take things as they are." When 
America was settled, the j)low had become an im- 
plement capable of turning two or three acres per 
day. Still, and for many years, and CA'en until 
lately, the mold-boai'd was entirely wooden, the 
point only iron. Later developments changed the 
wood for steel, which now alone is used. Still 
later, especially in prairie States, riding plows are 
used. Like all other improvelTients, they were 
obliged to combat an obtuse public mind among 
the ruralists, who slowly combat almost every 
move made to better their condition. In many 
places in America, wooden plows, straight ax 
handles, and a stone in one end of the bag, to bal- 
ance the grist in the other, are the rule, and for no 
other reason in the world are they maintained than 
the laconic answer: 

" My father did so, and why should not I ? Am 
I better than he?" 

After the plow comes the harrow, but little 
changed, save in lightness and beauty. Formerly, 
a log of wood, or a brush harrow, supplied its 
place, but in the State of Ohio, the toothed instru- 
ment has nearly always been used. 

The hoe is lighter made than formerly, and is 
now made of steel. At first, the connnon iron 
hoe, sharpened by the blacksmith, was in constant 
use. Now, it is rarely seen outside of the South- 
ern States, where it has long been the chief imple- 
ment in agriculture. 

The various small plows for the cultivation of 
corn and such other crops as necessitated their use 
are all the result of modern civilization. Now, 
their number is large, and, in many places, there 
are two or more attached to one carriage, whose 
operator rides. These kinds are much used in the 
Western States, whose rootless and stoneless soil is 
admirably adapted to such machinery. 

When the grain became ripe, implements to cut 
it were in demand. In ancient times, the sickle 



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HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



161 



was the only instrument used. It was a short, 
curved iron, whose inner edge was sharpened and 
serrated. In its most ancient form, it is doubtflil 
if the edge was but little, if any, serrated. It is 
mentioned in all ancient works, and in the Bible is 
frequently referred to. 

" Thrust in the sickle, for the harvest is 
ripe," wrote the sacred New Testament, while 
the Old chronicles as early as the time of Moses : 
"As thou beginnest to put the sickle to the 
corn." 

In more modern times, the handle o^ the sickle 
was lengthened, then the blade, which in time led 
to the scythe. Both are yet in use in many parts 
of the world. The use of the scythe led some 
thinking person to add a " finger " or two, and to 
change the shape of the handle. The old cradle 
was the result. At first it met considerable oppo- 
sition from the laborers, who brought forward the 
old-time argument of ignorance, that it would 
cheapen labor. 

Whether the cradle is a native of America or 
Europe is not accurately decided; probably of the 
mother country. It came into common use about 
1818, and in a few years had found its way into 
the wheat-producing regions of the West. Where 
small crops are raised, the cradle is yet much used. 
A man can cut from two to four acres per day, 
hence, it is much cheaper than a reaper, where the 
crop is smalh 

The mower and reaper are comparatively mod- 
ern inventions. A rude reaping machine is men- 
tioned by Pliny in the first century. It was pushed 
by an ox through the standing grain. On its 
front was a sharp edge, which cut the grain. It 
wa.s, however, impracticable, as it cut only a por- 
tion of the grain, and the peasantry preferred the 
sickle. Other and later attempts to make reapers 
do not seem to have been successful, and not till 
the present century was a machine made that would 
do the work required. In 1826, Mr. Bell, of 
Scotland, constructed a machine which is yet used 
in many parts of that country. In America, Mr. 
Hussey and Mr. McCormick took out patents for 
reaping machines of superior character in 1833 
and 1834. At first the cutters of these machines 
were various contrivances, but both manufacturers 
soon adopted a serrated knife, triangular shaped, at- 
tached to a bar, and driven through " finger 
guards " attached to it, by a forward and backward 
motion. These are the common ones now in use, 
save that all do not use serrated knives. Since 
these pioneer machines were introduced into the 



harvest fields they have been greatly improved and 
changed. Of late years they have been constructed 
so as to bind the sheaves, and now a good stout 
boy, and a team with a " harvester," will do as 
much as many men could do a few years ago, and 
with much greater ease. 

As was expected by the inventors of reapers, 
they met with a determined resistance from those 
who in former times made their living by harvest- 
ing. It was again absurdly argued that they would 
cheapen labor, and hence were an injury to the 
laboring man. Indeed, when the first machines 
were brought into Ohio, many of them were torn 
to pieces by the ignorant hands. Others left fields 
in a body when the proprietor brought a reaper to 
his farm. Like all such fiillacies, these, in time, 
passed away, leaving only their .stain. 

Following the reaper came the thresher. As 
the country filled wjth inhabitants, and men in- 
creased their possessions, more rapid means than 
the old flail or roller method were demanded. At 
first the grain was trodden out by horses driven over 
the bundles, which were laid in a circular inclosure. 
The old flail, the tramping-out by horses, and the 
cleaning by the sheet, or throwing the grain up 
against a current of air, were too slow, and 
machines were the result of the demand. In Ohio 
the manufacture of threshers began in 184(j, in 
the southwestern part. Isaac Tobias, who came 
to Hamilton from Miamisburg that year, com- 
menced building the threshers then in use. They 
were without the cleaning attachment, and simply 
hulled the grain. Two years later, he began 
manufacturing the combined thresher and cleaner, 
which were then coming into use. He continued 
in business till 1851. Four years after, the in- 
creased demand for such machines, consequent 
upon the increased agricultural products, induced 
the firm of Owens, Lane & Dyer to fit their estab- 
lishment for the manufacture of threshers. They 
afterward added the manufacture of steam engines 
to be used in the place of horse power. Since 
then the manuf;icture of these machines, as well as 
that of all other agricultural machinery, has greatly 
multiplied and improved, until now it seems as 
though but little room for improvement remains. 
One of the largest firms engaged in the manufact- 
ure of threshers and their component machinery is 
located at Mansfield— the Aultman & Taylor 
Co. Others are at Massillon, and at other cities 
in the West. 

Modern times and modern enterprise have devel- 
oped a marvelous variety of agricultural implements 



f 



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162 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



— too many to lie iii(.'iitioue<l in a volume like 
this, llndor si»etial sultjocts tlioy will occasionally 
be found. The farmer's life, so cheerless in pioneer 
times, and so full of weary labor, is daily becom- 
ing less laborious, until, if they as a class profit 
by the advances, they can find a life of ease 
in farm pursuits, not attainable in any other 
jirtifession. Now machines do almost all the work. 
They sow, cultivate, cut, bind, thresh, winnow 
and carry the irrain. They, cut, rake, load, mow 
and dry the hay. They husk, shell tuid clean the 
corn. They cut and split the wood. They do al- 
most all ; until it .seems a.s thoutih the day may 
come when the farmer can sit in his house and 
simjily uuide the affairs of his farm. 

Any occupation ]irospers in proportion to the 
interest taken in it by its members. This interest 
is always heightened by an exchange of views, hence 
societies and ])eriodicals exerci.se an influence at 
first hardy realized. This feeling among prominent 
agriculturists led to the formation of agricultunij 
societies, at first by counties, then districts, then 
by States, and lastly by associations of States. 
The day may come when a national agricul- 
tural fair may be one of the annual attractions of 
America. 

Without noticing the early attempts to found 
such societies in Kuropc or America, the narrative 
will begin with those of Ohio. The tir.st agricul- 
tural society organized in the Buckeye State was 
the Hamilton CouTity Agricultural Society. Its 
exact date of organization is not now preserved, 
but to a certainty it is known that the Society held 
public exhibitions as a County Society prior to 
1823. Previous to that date there were, doubt- 
les.s, small, private exhibitions held in older local- 
ities, probably at ^I arietta, but no regular organi- 
zation .seems to have been maintained. The 
Hamilton Counfy Society held its feirs annually, 
with marked success. Its successor, the present 
Society, is now one of the largest county societies 
in the Union. 

During the legi.slative session of 1832-38, the 
suliject of agriculture seems to have agitated the 
minds of the ))eo](le through their rejiresentatives, 
for the records of that .se.><sion show the first laws 
pa.ssed for their benefit. The acts of that body 
.•<eem to have been pntductive of some good, for, 
though no recftrds of the number of societies or- 
ganized at that date exist, yet the record shows 
that " many societies have been organized in con- 
formity to this act," etc. No doubt many societies 
held lairs from this time, for a greater or less 



number of years. Agricultural journals* were, 
at this period, rare in the State, and the subject of 
agricultural improvement did not receive that at- 
tention from the press it does at this time ; and, 
for want of public spirit and attention to .sustain 
these fairs, they were gradually discontinued until 
the new act respecting their organization was 
pas.sed in 1846. However, records of several 
county societies of the years between 1832 and 
184:0 yet exist, showing that in some parts of the 
State, the interest in these fairs was by no means 
diminished. The Delaware County Society re- 
ports for the year 1833 — it was organized in June 
of that year — good progress for a beginning, and 
that much interest was manifested by the citizens 
of the county. 

Koss County held its first exhibition in the 
autumn of that year, and the report of the mana- 
gers is quite cheerful. Nearl}^ all of the exhibited 
articles were sold at auction, at greatly advanced 
prices from the current ones of the day. The en- 
try seems to have been free, in an open inclosure, 
and but little revenue was derived. Little was ex- 
pected, hence no one was disappointed. 

Washington County reports an excellent cattle 
show for that year, and a number of premiums 
awarded to the successful exhibitors. This same 
year the Ohio, Importation Company was organ- 
ized at the Koss County fair. The Company began 
the next season the importation of fine cattle from 
England, and, in a few years, did incalculable good 
in this respect, as well as make considerable money 
in the enterprise. / 

These societies were re-organized when the law 
of 1846 went into effect, and, with those that had 
gone down and the new ones started, gave an im- 
petus to agriculture that to this day* is felt. Now 
every county has a society, while district. State 
and inter-State societies are annually held; all 
promotive in their tendency, and all a benefit to 
every one. 

The Ohio State Board of Agriculture was organ- 
ized by an act of the Legislature, )>assed February 
27, 1846. Since then various amendments to the 
organic law have been passed from time to time as 

*The Western Teller wa.B published in Cincinn.iti, in 182G. It was 
"miscellaneous," but contiiined many excellent articles on agri- 
culture. 

The Farmers' Record was published in Cincinnati, in 1831, and 
continued for several years. 

The Ohio Farmer was published at U.atavia, Clermont County, in 
1833, by Hon. Samuel Mcchiry. 

These were the early agricultural journals, some of which yet 
survive, though in new names, and under new management. Others 
have, also, since been added, some of which have an exceedingly 
large circulation, and are an intluence for much good in the State. 



'.£. 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



163 



the necessities of tlie Board and of agriculture in 
the State demanded. The same day that the act 
was passed creating the State Board, an act was 
also passed jtroviding for the erection of county and 
district societies, under which law, with subsequent 
amendments, the present county and district agri- 
cultural societies are managed. During the years 
from 184(3 down to the present time, great improve- 
ments have been made in the manner of conduct- 
ing these societies, resulting in exhibitions unsur- 
passed in any other State. 

Pomology and horticulture are branches of in- 
dustry so closely allied with agriculture that a 
brief resume of their operations in Ohio will be 
eminently adapted to these pages. The early 
planting and care of fruit in Ohio has already been 
noticed. Among the earliest pioneers were men of 
fine tastes, who not only desired to benefit them- 
selves and their country, but who were possessed 
with a laudable ambition to produce the best fruits 
and vegetables the State could raise. For this end 
they studied carefully the topography of the coun- 
try, its soil, climate, and Tarious influences upon 
such culture, and by careful experiments with fruit 
and vegetables, produced the excellent varieties now 
in use. Mention has been made of Mr. Longworth 
and Mr. Ernst, of Cincinnati ; and Israel and Aaron 
W. Putnam, on the Muskingum River ; Mr. Dille, 



Judges Fuller and Whittlesey, Dr. Jared Kirtland 
and his sons, and others — all practical enthusiasts in 
these departments. At first, individual efl'orts alone, 
owing to the condition of the country, could be 
made. As the State filled with settlers, and means 
of communication became better, a desire for an in- 
terchange of views became apparent, resulting in 
the establishment of periodicals devoted to these 
subjects, and societies where different ones could 
meet and discuss these things. 

A Horticultural and Pomological Society was 
organized in Ohio in 1866. Before the organiza- 
tion of State societies, however, several distinct or 
independent societies existed ; in fact, out of these 
grew the State Society, which in turn produced 
good by stimulating the creation of county societies. 
All these societies, aids to agriculture, have pro- 
gressed as the State developed, and have done much 
in advancing fine fruit, and a taste for aesthetic cul- 
ture. In all parts of the West, their influence is 
seen in better and improved fruit ; its culture and 
its demand. 

To-day, Ohio stands in the van of the Western 
States in agriculture and all its kindred associa- 
tions. It only needs the active energy of her 
citizens to keep her in this place, advancing 
as time advances, until the goal of her ambition is 
reached. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



CLIMATOLOGY— OUTLINE— VARIATION 



IN OHIO— ESTIMATE 
—VARIABILITY. 



IN DEGREES— RAINFALL— AMOUNT 



THE climate of Ohio varies about four degrees. 
Though originally liable to malaria in many 
districts when first settled, in consequence of a 
dense vegetation induced by summer heats and 
rains, it has became very healthful, owing to clear- 
ing away this vegetation, and proper drainage. The 
State has became as favorable in its sanitary char- 
acteristics as any other in its locality. Ohio is re- 
markable for its high productive capacity, almost 
every thing grown in the temperate climates being 
within its range. Its extremes of heat and cold 
are less than almost any other State in or near the 
same latitude, hence Ohio suffei'S less from the ex- 
treme dry or wet seasons which affect all adjoining 
States. The.se modifications are mainly due to the 
influence of the Lake Erie waters. These not 



only modify the heat of summer and the cold of 
winter, but apparently reduce the profusion of 
rainfall in summer, and favor moisture in dry pe- 
riods. No finer climate exists, all conditions consid- 
ered, for delicate vegetable growths, than that por- 
tion of ( )hio bordering on Lake Erie. This is 
abundantly attested by the recent extensive devel- 
opment there of grape culture. 

Mr. Lorin Blodget, author of "American Clima- 
tology," in the agricultural report of 1853, says ; 
"A district bordering on the Southern and West- 
ern portions of Lake Erie is more fiivorable in this 
respect (gTape cultivation ) than any other on the 
Atlantic side of the Rocky Mountains, and it will 
ultimately prove capable of a very liberal extension 
of vine culture." 



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T. 



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1G4 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Exporionce ha.s proven jNIr. Blodget correct in 
his theory. Now extensive fiekls of grapes are 
everywhere found on the Lake Krie Slope, while 
other small fruits find a sure footing on its soil. 

" Considering the climate of Ohio by isother- 
mal lines and rain shadings, it must be borne in 
mind," suys Mr. Blodget, in his description of 
Ohio's climate, from which these tacts are drawn, 
'• that local influences often recjuire to be considered. 
At tlu! South, from Cincinnati to Steubenville, the 
deep river valleys are two degrees warmer than the 
hilly districts of the same vicinity. The lines are 
drawn intermediate between the two extremes. 
Thus, Cincinnati, on the plain, is 2° warmer than 
at the Ol>servatory, and 4° warmer for each year 
than HilLsboro, Highland County — the one being 
SOU, the other l,tlO(), feet above sea-level. The 
immediate valley of the Ohio, from Cincinnati to 
Gallipolis, is about 75° for the summer, and 54° 
for the year; while the adjacent hilly districts, 
300 to 5i)0 feet higher, are not above 73° and 52° 
respectively. For the summer, generally, the 
river valley.s are 73° to 75° ; the level and central 
portions 72° to 73°, and the lake border 70° to 
72°. A peculiar mildness of climate belongs to 
the vicinity of Kelley's Island, Sandusky and 
Toledo. Here, both winter and summtir, the cli- 
mate is 2° warmer than on the highland ridge ex- 
tending from Norwalk and Oberlin to Hudson and 
the imrtlu'astern border. This ridge varies from 
500 to 750 feet above the lake, or 850 to 1,200 
feet above sea level. This high belt has a summer 
temperature of 70°, 27° for the winter, and 49° 
for the year ; while at Sandusky and Kelley's 
Island the summer is 72°, the winter 2'J°, and the 
year 50°. In the central and /eastern parts of 
the State, the winters are comparatively cold, the 
average falling to 32° over the more levc;! districts, 
and to 20° on the highlands. The Ohio River 
valley is about 35°, but the highlands near it fall 
to 31° and 32° for the winter." 

As early as 1S24, several persons in the State 
began taking the temperature in their respective 
localities, for the spring, sunnner, autumn and win- 
ter, averaging them for the entire year. From time 
to time, these were gathered and published, inducing 
others to take a sti-p in the same direction. Not 
long since, a general table, from about forty local- 



ities, was gathered and compiled, covering a period 
of more than a (juarter of a century. This table, 
when averaged, showed an average temperature of 
52.4°, an evenness of temperature not equaled 
in many bordering States. 

Very imperfect observations have been made 
of the amount of rainfall in the State. Until 
lately, only an individual here and there through- 
out the State took enough interest in this matter 
to fiithfully observe and record the averages of 
several years in succession. In consequence of 
this fact, the illustration of that feature of Ohio's 
climate* is less satisfiictory than that of the 
temperature. "The actual rainfall of different 
months and years varies greatly," says Mr. Blod- 
get. "There may be more in a month, and, 
again, the quantity may rise to 12 or 15 inches 
in a single month. For a year, the variation may 
be from a minimum of 22 or 25 inches, to a maxi- 
mum of 50 or even 60 inches in the southern part 
of the State, and 45 to 48 inches along the lake 
border. The average is a fixed quantity, and, 
although recjuiring a period of twenty \>y twenty- 
five years to fix it absolutely, it is entirely certain 
and unchangeable when known. On charts, these 
average quantities are represented by depths 
of shading. At Cincinnati, the last fifteen years 
of observation somewhat reduce the average of 
48 inches, of former years, to 4(J or 47 inches. ' 

Spring and summer generally give the most rain, 
there being, in general, 10 to 12 inches in the 
spring, 10 to 14 inches in the summer, and 8 to 
10 inches in the autunm. The winter is the most 
variable of all the seasons, the southern part of 
the State having 10 inches, and the northern part 
7 inches or less — an average of 8 or 9 inches. 

The charts of rainfall, compiled for the State, 
show, a fall of 30 inches on the lake, and 4(i inches 
at the Ohio lliver. Between these two ])oints, the 
fall is marked, beginning at the north, 32, 34, 3G 
and 38 inches, all near the lake. Farther down, 
in the latitude of Tuscarawas, Monroe and fiercer 
Counties, the fall is 40' inches, while the south- 
western part is 42 and 44 inches. 

The clearing away of forests, the drainage of 
the land, and other causes, have lessened the rain- 
fall, making considerable difference since the days 
of the aboriuines. 



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PART II. 

HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



CHAPTER I. 

TOPOGRAPHICAL — GEOLOGICAL — GEOGRArHICAL— AGRICULTURAL. 



THE relation of the physical features of a 
country to its history is an important one, 
and he who would learn the hidden causes that 
make or mar a nation at its birth must seek in 
these " the divinity that shapes it ends." Here is 
found the elixir vitse of the nation ; the spring 
from whence flow the forces that on their broader 
current wreck the ship of state, or bear it safely 
on to its appointed haven. In these physical fea- 
tures are stored those potent industrial possibili- 
ties that make the master and the slave among the 
nations. From the fertile soil comes fruit-ladened, 
peace-loving agriculture ; from the rock-bound 
stores of mineral wealth springs the rude civiliza- 
tion of the Pacific slope, or the half-savage clashing 
of undisciplined capital and labor in the mining 
regions of Pennsylvania ; from the rivers rises, fairy 
like, the commercial metropolis, which, " crowned 
with the glory of the mountains," and fed with 
the bounty of the plains, stands the chosen arbiter 
between the great forces that join to make a na- 
tion's greatness. The influence of this subtle power 
knows no bounds. Here it spreads the lotus plant 
of ease, and binds the nation in chains of indolent 
efieminacy ; here, among the bleak peaks of a 
sterile land, 

" The heather on the mountain height 
Begins to bloom in purple light," 

type of a hardy and unconquered race ; here it 
strews the sand of desert wilds, and man, without 
resourcd, becomes a savage. 



The manifestations of this potent factor in hu- 
man economy are scarcely less marked in the 
smaller divisions of the State, and in them we find 
the natural introduction to a consideration of a 
county's civil, political and military history. 

Morrow County is situated very near, but a little 
north of, the center of the State, and is just south 
of the great water-shed, or rather lies on its broad 
summit, just far enough south to have a slow 
drainage into the Ohio River. It is bounded on 
the north by Crawford and Richland Counties, 
east by Richland and Knox, south by Knox and 
Delaware, and west by Delaware and Marion. Its 
form is nearly that of a rectangle, lying north an-d 
south. Its western boundary is broken by its 
wanting a township in the northwest corner, and 
by its inclosing Westfield in the southwest corner. 
Its area, given by the State Board of Equalization 
in 1870, and which has not since been changed, 
is 253,149 acres, of which 83,698 acres are arable, 
91,045 acres in meadow and pasture laud, and 
78,406 acres are uncultivated or woodland. The 
average value, exclusive of buildings, is $30.40 
per acre. The eastern half of the county is de- 
cidedly rolling, and even hilly ; the western half 
is more level. In the latter section is found a con- 
siderable extent of swamp land which gives rise to 
three streams that grow to some importance further 
south, the East Branch of the Whetstone, Alum 
Creek, and the Big Belly or Big Walnut as it is 
known further in its course. On the eastern side. 



f 



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166 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



the three branches of Owl Creek and one of the found in the valleys, in all parts of the county, 
branches of the Mohican find their sources, but I but are much more noticeable in the sandstone 
do not reach any importance within the limits of | district. Near South Woodbury, in the creek 



the county. The upper parts of Alum Creek and 
Big Bolly have been enlarged by the County Com- 
missioners, and made to do greater service as 
drains. The most of the drainage of the county 
is into the Scioto River. Its eastern portions are 
drained into the Muskingum ; yet the Sandusky, 
which Hows into Lake Erie, has some of its sour.es 
iu the township of North Bloomfield, in the north- 
ern portion of the county. The streams, though 
not large, are ample for the purposes of an agricul- 
tural community, and furnish motive power for 
the numerous flouring-mills that exist in the 
county. 

" The undulations in the rocky structure are 
usually very gentle, even imperceptible, through the 
drift sheet. Hence the general surface was origi- 
nally nearly flat. The unevenness that now pre- 
vails in some parts of the county is mainly due to 
subsequent causes, and can be referred to the 
known effect of atmospheric forces. The drift 
was at first deposited with unequal thickness, 
whatever may have been the condition of the pre- 
existing surfaces. In the valleys of those streams 
that flow toward the east in the eastern part of 
the county, there are unmistakable evidences of a 
previous erosion of the rock surface, but in the 
western part of the county, no such indications 
have been seen. Besides occasional irregularities 
in the surface of the bedded rocks, the manner of 
the disposition of the drift was such as to leave 
very noticeable diff"erences in its condition and 
thickness in different parts of the county. In the 
sandstone region, and especially where the Berea 
grit forms a line of junction with the underlying 
shale, the drift is coarse and strong, and the sur- 
face broken. Frequent springs of ferriferous water 
issue from the hillsides, which seem to be very 
gravelly. The channels of the streams are deeply 
cut into the bed-rock — plainly beyond the power 
of the present volume of water — and the valleys 
are marked bv lar<re bowlders. Such bowlders are 



bottoms (Lot 10), is a bowlder of fine-grained 
syenite, the extreme dimensions of which are nine 
feet by seven and a half feet, showing four and 
a half feet above ground. In this bowlder horn- 
blende predominates, and the feldspar is flesh 
colored, quartz being scarce, giving a rather dark 
color to the whole. In the western part of the 
county, however, where the surface is underlaid 
by shale or ihe black slate, the drift is more evenly 
spread, and the country is flat. The streams have 
(in very much the same manner, though not to 
the same extent) cut their channels into the bed- 
rock, but they are fewer in number, and have a 
less average descent to the mile. The water of the 
wells and natural springs is apt to be sulphurous, 
and bubbles and jets of gas are very often met with. 
In some marshy places, an inflammable gas rises 
spontaneously, though this is not known to be the 
same as that which rises from the shale below the 
drift. The surface is clayey, and the soil needs 
artificial drainage. 

"The following observations for altitude, by 
aneroid barometer, are referred to the level of 
Lake Erie through Levering Station, the height 
of which is given at 466 feet by the Cleveland, 
Columbus & Cincinnati Ilailroad : 



Above 
Lake Erie. 



Above 
the ocean. 



Levering Station 466 feet 1,031 feet 

Sills of National House, Mt. Gilead..516 " 1,081 " 

Creek at the mill, Mt. Gilead 391 " 956 " 

Creek at South Bridge, Mt. Gilead... 356 " 921 " 
Summit of bridge, lA miles north of 

Franklin Center, Sec. 7, Franklin..625 " ],190 " 

Summit of ridge, Franklin Center. .599 " 1,164 " 

Chesterville, Main street 320 " 885 " 

Chesterville, bed of creek ......286 " 851 " 

Bloomfield Cemetery, N.W.I Sec. 17..576 " 1,141 " 

Thus, in the eastern part of the county, where 
the sandstone beds lie nearly horizontal wherever 
exposed, there are short undulations in the natural 
surface of over three hundred feet, and that, too, 
without any exposure of the rock. It is alto- 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



167 



gether improbable that the drift has that thick- 
ness. It is more reasonable to suppose that the 
rocks themselves suffered erosion, and embraced 
valleys running according to the direction of drain- 
age before the deposit of the drift. 

"The soil of the county presents great diversity. 
The flat portions of the county have a heavy clay 
soil. The sandstone district and the belt of roll- 
ing land that marks the junction of the Berea 
grit with the Bedford shale, have a lighter and 
more porous soil. Stones and gravel are almost 
never seen in the western part of the county, but 
in the eastern the plow turns them up constantly. 
The timber varies noticeably with the change in 
soil. Probably one-half of the native forest trees 
in the county are beech, while another quarter is 
made up of sugar maple, ash and oak. The chest- 
nut is confined to the rolling and gravelly portions 
of the county. In the survey of the county the 
following species of timber were noted : 

White oak, shingle oak, pin oak, black oak, red 
oak, chestnut oak, swamp white oak, sugar maple, 
swamp maple, chestnut (only in the eastern part of 
the county), American elm, white ash, sycamore, 
blue ash, honey locust, gum, black walnut, black 
cherry, tulip-tree, ironwood, shagbark hickory, water 
beech (three inches in diameter), basswood, slippery 
or red elm, butternut, black willow, pig hickory, 
june-berry, buckeye, papaw, spice bush, large- 
toothed aspen, hackberry or sugarberry. This is a 
large tree in Morrow and Delaware Counties, of 
two feet in diameter. 

" The geological series of the county embraces 
that much-disputed horizon that lies near the 
junction of the Devonian with the Carboniferous. 
It has been satisfactorily shown, in the Michi- 
gan Survey, however, that the Upper Waverly 
belongs to the latter, thus dividing between the 
two ages the series usually embraced under the 
single designation of Waverly. For the upper 
or fossiliferous portion of the old Waverly, the 
term Marshal group has been used in the Michi- 
gan survey, and that name, intended to cover the 
base of the Carboniferous, antedates all other names. 



" To what extent these subdivisions exist in 
Morrow County, it is not possible to determine 
from the exposures that occur. It is only known 
that there is (1) in the eastern part of the county 
a free-grained, shaly sandstone, which is probably 
some part of the Cuyahoga shale and sandstone, 
although having more the lithological character 
of the Logan sandstone, its equivalent in the 
southern part of the State. (2) Succeeding this 
shaly sandstone is a valuable series of even-bedded 
sandstones, useful for building, and extensively 
quarried, the equivalent of the Berea grit.* (3) 
Below this is a blackish slate, although its exact 
junction with the overlying Berea grit has not 
been observed. It may be separated from the 
Berea grit by a thin stratum of shale representing 
the Bedford shale. The thickness of this black 
shale has not been made out. It is succeeded by 
(4) a considerable thickness of bluish or gray 
shale seldom seen exposed. This is followed (5) 
by the Huron shale, a black slate, which occurs in 
the western part of the county. 

" The quarry of W. T. Appleman, on the north 
side of the creek, in Section 7, Troy Township, 
is in the sandstones of the Upper Waverly (Mar- 
shall). The surface of the country here is gener- 
ally very broken, the streams having cut deep 
channels through the drift and into the rock. 
These sandstone beds here lie horizontal. They 
are from one to four inches in thickness. But few 
feet can be actually seen, but the bluffs and ridges 
show every indication of being composed of beds 
of the same formation in situ to the thickness of 
nearly a hundred feet. This stone is without the 
gritty texture of the Berea beds. It is more 
shaly, and has shining specks. Sometimes the 
heaviest beds show parting plains, by which they 
separate into thin layers, giving the whole very 
much the appearance of a true shale. Occasional 
fossils are found upon the surface of these beds. 
Southwest of this quarry is that of Mr. Jacob 
Aman (about northwest quarter of Section 18). 

* Graduating below into thin-bedded, shaly sandstone. 



y^r 



-^ 



168 



HISTORY OF MORROA^^ COl NTY 



It occurs along a little ravine running north, and 
shows the following section : y^^^ 

No. 1. Rusty, irregular, shattered sandstone; mi- 
caceous, with intercahited beds of shale : 

beds 1 to 6 inches 7 

No. 2. Micaceous shale with intercalated beds of 
sandstone (some of which are fossilifer- 
ous ). This shale is argillaceous, and when 
dried has a glittering and soapy luster, 
appearing in talcose.: 8 

Total 15 

"Jacob Mandeville's quarry is situated on the 
northeast quarter of Section 13, in North Bloom- 
field, and consists, so far as exposed, of a hard, 
ringing, blue limestone, which seems silicious. 
The most of a thickness of eighteen inches is de- 
voted to this limestone. Generally a coating of 
sandstone incloses the limestone, filling out the 
angles in the bedding, and making the limestone 
really lie in lenticular pieces with rounded edges. 
Beds of sandstone are known to underlie this 
limestone, but the overlying rock is unknown. No 
fossils have been seen. The beds are horizontal. 
"The quarry of Mrs. Treisch is on the north- 
west quarter of Section 19, Troy, and occupies 
the banks of a precipitous ravine. The section 
exposed is as follows, in horizontal beds: ^^ j^^ 
No. 1. Thin beds of sandstone, with some shale, 

seen 11 

No. 2. Interval unseen 5 

No. 3. Thin bedded sandstone 1 6 

No. 4. Fossil blue shale 1 

No. 5. Thin beds of sandstone, seen 2 

Total 20 6 

"Daniel Stull owns a quarry in the same beds, 
adjoining Mrs. Treisch's. Along the creek, on 
Section 36, North Bloomfield, Mr, John Snyder 
and Mr. Daniel Sorrick have taken out a little 
stone for common use ; it lies in thin beds, and is 
poorly exposed. Other exposures of this shale 
and sandstone are found on Lot 8, a mile and a 
half northeast of Chestervillc, on the northwest 
quarter of Section 5, east, Franklin Township, and 
on the farm of Irwin Lefcver, three-fourths of a 
mile southeast. 



" The Berea grit is found in the quarries near 
Iberia, owned by 0. C. Brown, Section 23, J. J. 
McLaren, Section 34, David Colmery (not now 
worked), John T. Quay and Benjamin Sharrock. 
Stone also shows on Mr. Gurley's land, a quarter of 
a mile southeast from McLaren's quarry. That of 
Brown covers the horizon in which fall all the 
others. The section here is as follows, in descend- 
ing order. The beds lie so nearly horizontal that 
no dip can be distinguished : 

Feet. 

No. 1. Drift 3 

No. 2. Three beds of sandstone, with distinct 

quartzose 18 to 22 

No. 3. Heavy beds of sandstone (1 to 3 feet), 
with evident quartzose grains, yet 
finer than the Berea grit IB to 22 

No. 4. Shales (in a talus, poorly seen) 30 

The thirty feet of shale (No. 4 above) is ob- 
tained by measuring from the level of the water 
in the Rocky Fork of Olentangy Creek, which 
passes near Mr. Brown's quarry, to the bottom of 
the sandstone in the quarry. This interval is 
known to be occupied by shale, but its special 
characters are hid by the sloping turfcovered 
talus. It can only be seen about six inches below 
the sandstone, where it is fine and blue, and in 
beds one-half to one and a half inches. It thus 
appears that the heavy beds of the Berea 
continue intact down to the shale, although at 
Mount Gilead the heavy sandstone graduates 
below into a thin-bedded and shaly sandstone, be- 
fore the beginning of the shale. 

"The quarries at Mount Gilead are in the 
banks of the East Branch of the Olentangy or 
Whetstone Creek. Here there is a slight dip 
toward the south-southeast, and the following sec- 
tion can be made out, in descending order: 

Ft. In. 

No. 1. Drift, stratified in some places 15 

No. 2. Berea grit, thin beds 10 

No. 3. Berea grit, thick beds 6 

No. 4. Thin beds of sandstone, with shale 19 7 

No. 5. Shale 22 1 

Total exposed 57 8 






L4* 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



169 



"Calcareous and chalybeate waters issue from 
springs along the banks, and make copious de- 
posits of their carbonates on the face of the bluffs. 
The quarries are owned at Mount Gilead, by 
Charles Russell, George Wieland, and by Smith 
Thomas. 

" About three and a half miles southeast from 
Cardington, in Lincoln Township, occur several 
quarries on the horizon of the Berea grit, the ex- 
posures being caused by the upper forks of Alum 
Creek. They all lie within the area of a square 
mile, and are owned by D. M. Mosher, Daniel 
Steiner, Morgan B. Brooks and T. C. Cunnard. 
The beds are about horizontal, or show a gentle dip 
east. The section at Mosher's quarry is as fol- 
lows, in descending order: 

Feet. 

No. 1. Hardpan drift 8 to 10 

No. 2. Flagging... 4 to 5 

No. 3. Heavy stone 7 to 8 

No. 4. Shale and thin stone (seen) .1 

" Mr. Steiner's quarry shows a singular fault or 
variation of bedding. An oblique seam crosses 
the face of the exposure, and on freshly-quarried 
edges the bedding is very evident. On one side 
of the seam, which may be called the lower side, 
the beds are nearly all thick, running from five to- 
eight inches above, and reaching twelve inches 
below. These thick beds terminate on reaching 
the seam or joint, their ends being obliquely bev- 
eled in consonance with the angle of the slope of 
the seam. On the other side of the seam, the 
beds are conspicuously different from the above. 
The most of them are very thin, running from 
one inch to three inches, and the remainder, the 
lowest, are sometimes eight inches thick, vary- 
ing from five inches. The Berea grit is also 
exposed and slightly wrought on Mr. T. N. 
Hickman's land, southeast quarter of Section 11, 
Gilead, and on Furbay Conant's, near Mr. Hick- 
man's. 

" The only evidence there is of the continuance 
of the Bedford shale into Morrow County consists 
of the difference between the Cleveland shale and 
that seen to lie below the quarry of Mr. Brown at 



Iberia, and immediately below the sandstone and 
shale (No. 4) at Mount Gilead. The Cleveland 
shale may be seen in the section at the latter place. 
It occupies the lowest portion of the shale of No. 
5, and lies in the bed of the stream. It is sup- 
posed to have a thickness of about fifty feet, and 
to be followed by the Erie shale and sandstone, 
which is followed by the Huron shale (the great 
black slate). There is an exposure of similar 
shale in the low banks of the creek near S. Wood- 
bury, on northwest quarter. Lot 9, in the northern 
part of Peru Township. The exact relations of 
this exposure to the great group of shales that 
make up the interval between the Hamilton and 
Berea grit, it is impossible to state. It is thought, 
however, that the horizon of the bottom of the 
Berea grit passes about half a mile east of this 
point, judging from the topography ; and if that 
be correct, there is no doubt this shale belongs to 
the Cleveland. On the contrary, the frequent 
slight exposures of black slate throughout Peru 
Township, and especially in the banks of Alum 
Creek, make it evident thai the underlying Erie 
shale, if it exists at all, must be reduced to a few 
feet in thickness. The absence, then, of the 
Erie shale, or its great attenuation, makes it 
uncertain whether the above exposure may not 
belong to the Huron. In the absence of fossils, 
it will be necessary to leave its designation con- 
jectural. 

" The existence of the Erie shale in Morrow 
County is altogether hypothetical. This horizon, 
owing to its shaly character, is generally deeply 
buried under the drift. It is represented in the 
geological maps as running out in this county, 
but the evidence to that effect is not conclusive. 
The Huron shale underlies the western tier of 
townships, its eastern limit leaving the county 
near the southwest corner of Bennington Township, 
and the northwest corner of Washington Town- 
ship. It is well exposed at a number of places, 
especially along the valley of the East Branch of 
the Olentangy, in Westfield and Cardington Town- 
ships, and along Alum Creek, in Peru Township. 



*fT 



3 \, 



^ 



170 



HISTORY OF MORROW COINTY 



When wet, it has no unctuous feel, but keeps 
its color and texture. It is rather firm, and 
of a black color. It contains no concretions or 
hard masses. An incrustation of alum forms on 
the exposed edges of the beds, but very little 
pyrites can be seen. The beds haue a slight dip 
east. 

" The whole country is heavily covered with 
northern drift. It embraces stones of all sizes, 
irregular patches of stratified gravel and sand, and 
much clay. The mass of the whole is made up 
of that usually denominated ' blue clay,' although 
the blue color is only found at the depth of fifteen 
or twenty feet, the action of the air and water on 
the iron, and other substances contained in it, 
having produced hydrated, impure peroxides that 
pervade the soils and the clay to about that depth. 
The drift is usually perfectly unassorted ; yet at 
Mount Gilead, where there seems to have been an 
accumulation of standing water about the foot of 
the glacier, the upper portion of the drift clay is 
very fine, and free from stones and gravel. This 
clay here also shows the exceptional character of 
stratification, although the lamina? are consider- 
ably disturbed, not lying so true and nearly hori- 
zontal as in the laminated clays at Fremont or at 
Cleveland. The average thickness of the drift 
would probably not exceed forty feet. It seems to 
be thicker in the northern part of the county 
than in the southern. 

".Abput a mile above Mount Gilead, the left 
bank of the East Branch of the Olentangy con- 
sists, 8o'/ar as seen, of hardpan, containing bowld- 
ers throughout from top to bottom, and measures 
sixty-four feet nine inches. This was a fresh ex- 
posure, where the washing over the dam had laid 
it bare. Only ten feet of the blue hardpan can 
be seen, the lower portion being hid by debris. 
The thickness of the oxidated drift was about 



eighteen feet. One very large northern bowlder 
was seen projecting from the bank, just above the 
lowest part of the brown hardpan. Half a mile 
below Westfield, the banks of the same creek show 
thirty-one feet seven inches of drift, made up, 
according to the following section, in descending 
order : 

No. 1. Hardpan (unstratified) 21 ft. 

No. 2. Gravel (stratified) 10 ft. 7 in. 

Total thickness 31 ft. 7 in. 

"The black slate is exposed at this place in the bed 
of the creek, and the above shows nearly the full 
thickness'of the drift. Glacial marks were seen at a 
single locality in Morrow County. They were 
noted on fragments removed by the quarrymen at 
the quarry of Mr. Daniel Stiner, in Lincoln 
Township ; but their direction could not be ascer- 
tained. 

" In the eastern half of the county there is no 
difficulty in obtaining water for the household and 
for dairy purposes. The sandstone underlying is 
apt itself to give a ferruginous character to the 
springs that issue from it; but most of the springs 
and wells that give an irony taste derive the iron, 
as a carbonate, from the drift, gravels and .sands 
with which that part of the county is well sup- 
plied. That kind of water is very often met with 
in the eastern part of the county. In the western 
half of the county, the water of wells and springs 
is very often sulphurous. Some very strong sul- 
phur springs occur in that part of the county, 
issuing directly from the black slate. Some very 
iiemarkable and copious sulphur springs occur in 
Peru Township. The following list, with the 
adjoined columns, will convey a very good idea 
both of the thickness of the drift and of the 
nature of well water obtained in different parts of 
the county: 



t) f^ 




MORROW COUNTY COURT HOUSE. 



a k^ 



.ii 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



173 



Ownbk's Name. 



D. W. Mosher 

Fountain Kenny. 
William Powell... 

J. Wood 

Richard Wood 

Annis Oliver. . . . 
John Osborn.. . . 
John Osborn.. . . 

John Osborn 

John Osborn 

Sarah Gray 

H. J. Rexroad 

L. McDaniels 

Joseph Eaton 



Joseph Eaton. 



James Culver 

James Culver 

James Culver 

8. Julian 

Andrew French. 
William Smith... 

M. A. Spra;rue iBloouifield P. 0, 

J. W. Raraey iBloomfield P. 



Lincoln Township 

Lincoln Township 

Lincoln Township 

8 miles east of Cardington 

South Woodbury 

Lot lo, Peru Township... 
Lot 18, Peru Township... 
Lot 18, Peru Township... 
Lot 18, Peru Township... 
Lot 8, Peru Township. ... 
Lot 13, Peru Township... 

West Liberty 

Lot 7, S. part of Peru. ... 
Lot 21, half in S. W 

West Liberty , 

Lot 21, half in S. W 

West Liberty 

Lot 35, Bennington 

Lot 35, Bennington 

Lot 35, Bennington 

Sec. 16, S. Bloomfield. .. 
Sec. 16, S. Bloomfield.... 
Bloomfield P. 



Hansom Howe 

Anliphas Dexter 

Dr. A. Sweatland... 

J. C. Cook 

John Maguire 

William Hultz 

Charles Harris 

Daniel Leonard 

Lewis Leonard 

Daniel Lyon 

E. W\ Miles 

David Brown 

Timothy Drake 

Average depth at 

Abram Cole |Sec. 34, Gilead 

James Duncan Sec. 34, Washington 



Sparta 
Sparta 
Sparta 
Sparta 
Sparta 

Sparta 

Lot 16. Chester 

J mile east of Chesterville 
.} mile east of (Chesterville 

Chesterville 

Chesterville 

Chesterville 

Lot 26, Franklin 

Franklin, Lot 26 



Feet 
above 
rock. 



14 
22 
18 
18 
30 
12 
16 
17 
4 
27 
14 
22 
19 

18 

24 

25 
21 
35 
20 
24 
18 
25 
22 
10 
14 
29 
38 
11 
10 
13 
50 
42 
33 
14 
8 
9 
18 
12 
12 



Feet 
in the 
rock. 



16 



10 



Total 
deptli. 

14 

22 
18 
18 
30 
12 
16 
17 
9 
29 
14 
30 
35 

18 

24 

25 

21 

35 

20 

24 

18 

25 _ 

22 

10 

14 

29 

33 

11 

10 

13 

60 

42 

33 

14 

8 

9 
18 
12 
22 



Through what. 



Gravel and sand 

Clay and gravel 

Clay, then sand 

Clay and gravel 

In quicksand 

in gravel 

Clay and hardpan 

On slate 

In gravel on slate 

Clay 

Clay and hardpan 

Clay and hardpan 

Blue clay 

Blue clay and gravel 

Blue clay 

Blue clay and sand.... 
Blue clay and gravel... 
Blue clay 

Blue clay 

Brown clay and gravel 
Brown clay and gravel 

Clay and sand 

Clay and sand 

Clay and sand 

Blue clay 

Blue clay and shale ... 



Remarks. 



Good water. 
Good water on rock. 
Good water. 
Good water. 
Good water. 
Good water in gravel 
Good water. 
Go^d water. 
Sulphur water. 
Sulphur water. 
Sulphur water. 
Strongly chalybeate 

Irony, strongly artesian. 
Irony, strongly artesian. 

Good water. 
Very little water. 
Good water. 
Good water. 
Good water. 
Only surface water. 
Copious water. 
Good water. 
Good water. 

Good water I "7*^* 
J in town 

Good water. 

Good water. 
Good water. 
Good water. 
Good water. 
iGood water. 
jGood water. 
Good water. 
[Good water 
JGood water. 
[Good water. 
iGood water. 



"The material resources of the county are lib- 
erally provided. It is, however, destitute of stone 
for making lime. The quarries in the corniferous 
limestone at Delhi, in Delaware County, have 
furnished most of the quicklime used here. Since 
the construction of the chartered road, the oper- 
ators of which are allowed to collect toll of trav- 
elers, many consumers have been directed from 
Delaware County to limekilns in Marion, to which 
access from Morrow County is still free. The 
county is well supplied with building-stone of the 
best quality. The openings in the Berea grit, at 



Iberia, Mount Gilead and near Cardington, are 
widely known, and supply a great extent of terri- 
tory with stone of an excellent quality. The 
grain of the Berea grit becomes finer in the cen- 
tral part of the State, while at the same time the 
heavy bedded portion becomes reduced. This is 
noticeable in Morrow County, where it is consid- 
erably used for purposes for which it would not be 
well adapted in the northern portion of the State. 
There is no way of ascertaining the annual pro- 
duct of these quarries, owing to the frequent 
change of ownership and the lack of record of 



w 



-£ 



174 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



sales. The prices at Iberia, given by Mr. Brown, 
are as follows. They would not vary much from 
those at Mount Gilead and Cardington, although 
Mr. Brown has unusual natural facilities for work- 
ing his quarry : Small, thin stone for common walls 
and foundations, sells for $1 per perch or twenty- 
five cubic feet ; spalls, 40 to 50 cents per wagon 
load; flagging, .8 cents per square foot; stone, 
four to six inches thick, $1.50 to $2 per perch; 
best heavy blue, even and fine-grained stone, for 
bases to monuments, 10 to 40 cents per cubic foot. 

"Gravel and sand from the drift are abundant 
in the eastern portion of the county. It is not 
ususual to meet with these materials in the drift in 
the shale and slate area. For brick, tile and com- 
mon red pottery, the clay of the drift, when suffi- 
ciently cle^r from small stones, are well adapted. 
Yet there are not many establishments of this 
kind in the county. This is probably due to the 
abundant supply of good building stone, and the 
prevalence of a heavy forest in the settlement of 
the county. The material used by Messrs. Miller 
& Smith, at Mount Gilead, is fine, entirely free 
from gravel, and "somewhat indistinctly assorted, 
though not arranged in layers like that at Fre- 
mont, in Sandusky County. The bank presents a 
massive section of fifteen feet, appearing some- 
what like the ' bluff formation ' of the Missouri 
lliver, though less arenaceous. It passes below 
into clear, gray quicksand. It makes a very fine 
brick of even texture and perfect outline, the 
angles and corners being well filled. Near Card 
ington, Mr. Abram Hickson makes brick and tile, 
and on Section 7, Troy, Mr. W. T. Appleman 
makes enough to supply the demand in a limited 
neighborhood. 

" At West Liberty salt was found at an early 
day on a flirm belonging to Mr. James Flemming. 
The well was sunk to the depth of 33(( feet in 
1818, from which brine was taken sufficient to pro- 
duce a few bushels of salt. There were no indica- 
tions of salt or salt lick within forty rods of the 
place. The well was drilled by A. Walker, but 
the water did not rise to the top. By means of a 



thin copper tube, seventy-five feet in length, and a 
pump, they succeeded in raising enough to make 
about fifteen bushels of salt. The tube then col- 
lapsed, and no further efforts were made to ex- 
tract the brine. In 1870, another drill was made 
at the same place for the purpose of reaching oil, 
when the same deposit of brine was struck at 
about 330 feet. It is the impression of some that 
the location of the well at West Liberty was deter- 
mined by the occurrence of deerlicks in that neigh- 
borhood. A well was drilled a few years ago, 
west of Iberia, near the county line, for the pur- 
pose of finding oil. It passed through shale and 
slate so far as it was prosecuted, which was to 
the depth of 200 feet. This shows the strike of 
Berea grit to be at some point further east, and 
the exposure of the same in Tully Township,* Ma- 
rion County, a few miles west of the well, must 
be an outlying mas^ii. 

" For mineral paint, the shale lying below the 
Berea grit seems to be adapted. It had been used 
to good advantage by Mr. Brown at Iberia. It is 
dried, ground and mixed with boiled linseed oil, 
making a blue paint. It is also worthy of being 
tested as a fine clay and for pottery. 

" Several deposits of bog-ore are met with in 
the county. It occurs on land of Samuel Elder, 
southeast quarter of Section 24, Washington, and 
on that of James Thomas, in the same section. 
The hydrate peroxide which constitutes the oro in 
most bog deposits here seems to be associated with 
a considerable spathic iron ore, or carbonate of 
iron. At Mount Gilead there is a copious deposit 
of carbonate of iron on the rock-bluffs of the 
creek, associated with calcite. Other deposits of 
bog-ore are found in the eastern part of the county. 
One is in Section 5, Franklin Township, on land 
of Calvin Blair and of John Blair. A small de- 
posit of crag, or cemented gravel, may be seen on 
Milton Levering's land, in the left bank of the 
North Fork of Owl Creek, Section 5, Franklin. 
It is due to the discharge of calcareous water from 
the bank, the source of which it is not easy to 
explain. 



:v 



^ 



■^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



175 



" The economical value of the black slate con- 
sists in the supplies of oil and gas for which it is 
noted, both in Ohio and Virginia, as well as in 
Pennsylvania. There are no productive oil or gas 
wells in Morrow County, but there is much reason 
to suppose the formation which supplies them in 
other places is equally charged with these mineral 
products in this county. Many copious gas jets 
have been struck in the area of the slate in dig- 
ging common wells. In one case, near West 
Liberty, the discharge was so sudden and so great 
that the laborers were greatly in danger of suffo- 
cation. An associate who descended thoughtlessly 
to aid those overpowered lost his life. A passing 
stranger being summoned, he in like manner was 
overcome, and died before he- could be rescued. 
Those who were in the well in the first place were 
finally raised and resuscitated. Other similar gas 
streams have been encountered in other parts of 
the slate area. Sometimes the water in wells 
shows a constant slow escape through it of gas, in 
the form of bubbles, indicating a continuous dis- 
charge of this substance from the black slate 
throughout the drift."* The chief material re- 
source of Morrow County, however, lies in the 
rich and varied soil with which it is furnished. 
It is necessarily an agricultural rather than a 
mining or manufacturing county. It partakes 
largely of the prominent features that are common 
to the most of Northwestern and Northern Ohio, 
yet it has not that flatness of surface and same- 
ness of agricultural capacity that characterizes so 
much of this area. 

The first settlers here found a country thickly 
covered with a heavy growth of timber, and the 
land, shielded from the piercing rays of the sun by 
the dense forest foliage, saturated with the moist- 
ure which the character of the country favored. 
To erect here a home, and render the land subject 
to an annual tribute for the sustennaceof his family, 
tasked the powers of the pioneer to their utmost. 
It was an even-handed struggle for subsistence, and 
anything accomplished might safely be set down 

* Professor N. H. Winchell, in " Geological Survey of Ohio." 



as an improvement. This was practically true for 
the first twenty years in the history of a settlement. 
An average of five years were consumed before 
the frontier farm could be relied upon to furnish a 
support, and in the mean while the fare furnished 
by the abundance of game and wild fruits was 
eked out with economical purchases of corn from 
the older settlements. After ereqting a cabin with 
the aid of hospitable neighbors, from five to ten 
acres were felled. It was 'then "chopped over," 
i. e., the trees cut into suitable lengths for rolling 
into piles for burning. After the universal bee for 
rolling came the burning, which was not the least 
exacting of the frontier farmer's labor. When the 
amount of labor performed and the dearth of 
labor-saving conveniences are considered, it will 
appear that, in accomplishing so much, labor was 
not less efi'ectively applied than now, but in such a 
consideration the methods must not be lost sight 
of. On a single claim this much was frequently 
done in three months, and a small crop of corn 
harvested in the first year, but the average results 
were not so favorable. The effort was to get ready 
for the " bee" as early as possible, for when the 
"rolling season" began, there was an uninter- 
rupted demand upon the settler for from six to 
eight weeks in the fields of his neighbors. Many 
were called upon when they could least afford the 
time, but from the necessities of the situation there 
was no refusal possible, and large as this demand 
appears, it will not be considered exorbitant when 
it is remembered that the neighborhoods covered 
an area of from ten to fifteen miles square. 
Under such circumstances, the prevailing tendency 
is to underrate the value of timber, and to carry 
the work of clearing to the very verge of denuding 
the land of this important aid to agriculture. 
This tendency has not been so marked in Morrow 
County as in many of the older counties of 
northern and northeastern parts of the State. 
Considerable clearing is now done every spring, es- 
pecially in the low, swampy portions of the 
county. Wood is still the principal article in use 
for fuel, selling at very moderate prices save when 






r^ 



-^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



the bad roads of spring and winter make its de- 
livery more expensive than the timber itvself. 
Coal found its way into Mount Gilead and Card- 
ington but comparatively a few years ago, and is 
even now used more on account of its convenience 
than because a cheaper material than wood. The 
prevailing system of agriculture in Morrow County 
may properly be termed that of mixed husbandry. 
Specialties 6nd no favor with the An'mers. The 
practice is to cultivate the various kinds of grain 
and grasses, and to raise, keep and fatten stock, the 
latter business being the leading pursuit of three- 
fourths of the farmers. The mode of cultivation 
of the farming lands has not been of the highest 
type. Provided with a rich and varied soil, the 
average farmer has not felt the need of studying 
the principles of such branches of learning as relate 
to agriculture, and frequently hesitated to accept, or 
rejected, the teachings of science. A few persond, 
however, were found at a comparatively early day, 
who brought to the business of farming that 
amount of patient investigation which the greatest 
industry of this country demands. Farmers are 
becoming less and less unwillino; to learn from 
others, and the husbandry of the county is attain- 
ing a commendable thoroughness, and is rapidly 
improving in every respect. 

Owing to the richness of the soil, the subject of 
fertilizers has not received the attention which it 
ha.s obtained in many other parts of the State. 
Phosphates and plaster are seldom used, and many 
have scarcely exercised the customary care in pre- 
serving the ordinary accumulation of the barn- 
yard, much less to add to this store by artificial 
means. There are many fields to be found in the 
county that have been cropped with wheat or corn 
for years without renewing or fertilizing, and oth- 
ers have only been relieved by a rotation of crops. 
This practice has, in most cases, borne its legiti- 
mate result, and awakened a decided interest in this 
vital subject in late years. Rotation of crops is 
now being gradually introduced, corn being the 
first crop planted on sod ground, followed by oats 
or flax and then wheat. With the latter crop, 



the manure is used, as it is thought it shows the 
largest result and leaves a better soil for the grass 
which follows. Deep plowing with the Mich- 
igan double plow was practiced to a considerable 
extent about 1856, with good results. Crops 
grown upon lands so treated furnished a much 
larger yield than those grown upon .shallow 
plowed lands. It afterward fell into disrepute, 
from the fact that the upper soil was buried so 
deep that several seasons were required to effect 
the proper mixture of the soils. Later, another 
system was adopted with beneficial eflect. Two 
plows were used and the team divided between 
them. A shallow-soil plow turned over the sur- 
face, which was followed by a long steel plow with- 
out a turning-board. The latter simply raised and 
loosened the subsoil to a depth of twelve or fifteen 
inches, and upon this the top soil was turned by 
the lighter implement. This proved a vast im- 
provement upon the old plan, furnishing the 
requisite depth without burying the upper soil, 
and loosening the subsoil, thus furnishing a natu- 
ral escape for the excessive moisture, which the 
character of the hardpan too often resists, allowing 
it to escape only by evaporation. This treatment, 
experience showed to be necessary only about once 
in eight years, which was not considered expen- 
sive. The practice of subsoiling, however, has of 
late years fallen into disuse, and is not now used 
to any considerable extent. Artificial draiuage 
has been a necessity from the first. There are 
seven county ditches with an aggregate length of 
eighteen miles, the longest of which reaches a dis- 
tance of seven and three-tenths miles. These were 
constructed at an aggregate cost of $11,056, and 
do efficient service in carrying off the surface 
water. Underdraining has been carried on to 
some extent for years. The first drain tile were 
introduced in 1859, and have rapidly grown in 
the public estimation with each succeeding year. 
In 1874, a manufactory of tile was established at 
Mount Gilead, and later another establishment had 
been added to the industries of this village, while 
others have been started at Sparta, and, in a small 



rv 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



177 



way, at other points in the county. These estab- 
lishments have found a ready sale for all they can 
make, disposing in the last six years of not far 
from sixty thousand rods of their manufacture. 
Farms are everywhere being greatly improved by 
underdraining and ditching. Low lands that were 
nearly an entire waste, and rolling lands of the 
character called '' spouty," are being reclaimed, so 
that there are less than 300 acres of what can be 
properly called waste land in over 254,000 acres In 
the whole county. The land thus reclaimed pro- 
duces the finest crops; can be cultivated much 
sooner after a rain, and from eight to ten days 
earlier in the spring. 

The subject of grass lands has always been an im- 
portant one in Morrow County, from the fact that the 
majority of the farmers have made a leading feature 
of stock-raising. Grain is raised principally for 
home consumption, and the system of husbandry, 
so far as any has prevailed, has been directed 
mainly to secure the best results for the grass 
crop. Timothy grass is mainly relied upon for the 
supply of hay, meadows being turned over about 
once in five years. Meadows are seldom pastured, 
the grass lands being seeded for the especial pur- 
pose for which they are designed. Meadows are 
seldom underdrained, and have generally received 
very little attention in the way of top-dressing, the 
manure being generally applied to the wheat crop 
which preceded the seeding down. Orchard and 
blue-grass have been introduced to a limited ex- 
tent of late years, experiments with a mixture of 
these grasses having proved their value as pasture 
grasses. There is considerable hesitation mani- 
fested in experimenting with the blue grass, as it 
claimed by many — among them some scientific 
agriculturists — that the June grass, poa pratensis, 
is the same thing modified by the difference of 
soil and climate. An experiment was made with 
this grass on the southeast part of the upper pub- 
lic square in Mount Gilead. About a sixth of an 
acre had been filled in with yellow clay from a 
bank, and, after pulverizing thoroughly, a peck of 
blue-grass seed and fifty pounds of bone dust 



sown upon it. In seven weeks, the ground was 
completely covered with a growth of grass about 
ten inches high. Millet and Hungarian grass have 
been used to some extent for the past fifteen or 
twenty years, and are in more or less demand 
etery year. The latter is the one principally used, 
furnishes a valuable substitute for a failing crop of 
meadow grass, or when the acreage has been tem- 
porarily cut down too low for the necessities of the 
farm. From the returns made of the number of 
acres in meadow, and the number of tons of hay 
made, we compile the following statement : 



No. acres meadow, 
No. tons of hay 



Av. for 7 years, 
1858 to 1864, inc. 

22;391 
27,155 



1866. 



24,077 
30,696 



25,562 
29,122 



1878. 



28,033 
35,975 



The above statement shows the general average 
yield per acre to be a fraction over 1 18-lOOths 
tons, with a variation in the product of the mead- 
ows of only 1-100 to 9-100 of a ton per acre. In the 
matter of clover lands the lack of any general, 
well-grounded system of agriculture is plainly ap- 
parent. The demand for the seed, which made it 
a cash article with a ready sale, proved a great 
temptation to raise it for the market. It is very 
frequently sown in combination with timothy for 
the purpose of producing a quality of hay highly 
esteemed for milch cows and sheep. It is largely 
used also as pasturage, but the predominant pur- 
pose is for seed. The acreage turned under has 
been very small in past years, but this short-sighted 
policy is being somewhat remedied of late, and 
more value is placed upon it as a means of renew- 
ing exhausted lands. The following table, com- 
piled from the reports, gives a condensed exhibit 
of this culture : 



Year. 


No. Acres. 


No. tons of 
hay. 


No. bushels 
of seed. 


Acres plow'd 
under. 


Average of 
186.3-1864.. 
1866 


3 199 
2,583 
4,616 
2,513 


3,303 
1,495 
5,660 
3,145 


2,377 
1,757 
1,520 
1,607 


58 
34 


1876 

1878 ; 


151 

48 







The general average, as shown by this state- 
ment, is 1.85 of a ton of hay and .56 of a bushel 
of seed per acre. The average number of acres 



j<, 



■Hv 



>^ 



178 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



annually plowed under, as shown ])y the table, is 
nearly seventy-three acres. This is an over-esti- 
mate, as the quantity plowed under in 1876 was 
exceptionally large. If the number of acres 
plowed under in 1877 (five acres) were added to 
the statement, the annual average would be a litHe 
over fifty-nine acres, which is probably nearer the 
facts. This matter is receiving, of late years, 
much more attention, and the number of acres 
turned over will probably be greatly increased. 

Nothing is more strikingly apparent in an agri- 
cultural survey of Morrow County than the entire 
absence of anything like specialties in cultivation. 
The aim of the early settlers was obviously to 
derive from their lands, their only resource, a 
simple subsistence, and to this end a system of 
mixed husbandry was a necessity. Their descend- 
ants, hedged about by the results of experience, 
and aiming to sell their surplus product-) in such 
form as would take from the land the smallest 
amount of its fertility, have, from the nature of 
the case, followed in their footsteps. Grain has 
been produced for home consumption entirely, and 
has barely sufficed for that until quite recently. 
In the early culture of wheat, a great many dis- 
couragements were met. The weevil destroyed it 
year after year, and when no particular exception 
could be taken to the season, the crop seemed to 
fail because it was in an uncongenial climate. For 
fifteen years, from 1850 to 1864 inclusive, the 
average was only a bare trifle over eleven bushels 
per acre. During later years, and especially dur- 
ing the past three years, there has been a marked 
improvement in the results of wheat culture. The 
grain seems to have become acclimated, and farm- 
ers, gaining more confidence, have sown the present 
year a larger breadth than for many years previ- 
ous. The variety principally sown in later years 
has been the Jjancaster or swamp (bearded), in 
the northern part of the county, and in the south- 
ern part the Hack and Fultz (beardless). Experi- 
ments have been made with the Genesee, White 
Mediterranean, Golden Drop and Amber, but the 
Fultz has taken the lead during the last four years, 



having been almost exclusively sown during the 
last year. No particular system has been adopted 
in the cultivation of this grain. At an early date, 
the practice of plowing of " bare fallows " during 
the summer, and then re-plowing the same before 
sowing in wheat, was fbllowed to a considerable 
extent, but latterly has fiillen into disuse. While 
recognizing the marked benefit it has upon the 
crop, it is considered as too expensive a mode of 
culture, and is now only seen here and there 
among the German farmers in the northern part 
of the county. Oat or flax-stubble grounds are 
principally used for growing wheat. After plow- 
ing, manure is spread upon the surface, and when 
the seed is sown broadcast, the wheat and manure 
are harrowed in together. Where the drill is em- 
ployed, as in a majority of cases, the manure is 
well harrowed in first. The practice of sowing 
wheat upon the same ground for many successive 
years is becoming less common, though still fol- 
lowed in certain localities, where the soil appears 
well-nigh exhaustless. The breadth of land sown 
is by no means uniform, varying about in propor- 
tion to the uncertainty of the product per acre. 
The average breadth sown when the average pro- 
duct was eleven bushels to the acre was something 
over 11,000 acres. Four years later, the average 
yield per acre was only nine bushels, and the num- 
ber of acres a little more than 6,500. Ten years 
later, the average sown reached a breadth of 10,- 
559 acres, while the average yield per acre only 
reached seven bushels. In 1878, the last report 
at hand, the yield was an average of a little more 
than eighteen bushels per acre. The diflSculty 
experienced in commanding anything like a com- 
plete file of the State Reports renders any attempt 
at a tabular statement very ineff"ective, but the 
following embodies in a condeQsed form the growth 
of this grain in the county : 

Average 1850 to 1864 inclusive — acres, 11,- 
520; bushels, 127,650. 1866— acres, 6,558; 
bushels, 5*J,296. 1876 — acres, 10,550 ; bushels, 
74,248. 1878— acres, 13,696 ; bushels, 249,313. 
With the incr. ased yield and the larger breadth 



H^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



179 



sown, exportation has grown into considerable pro- 
portions, and farmers are beginning to look forward 
to this crop as a source of considerable revenue, 
finding a ready and accessible market at Mount 
Gilead and Cardington. 

The grain is usually thrashed in the field. The 
first machines worked by horse-power were used 
in 1839. Of late, machines worked by the port- 
able steam engine have been the favorite and very 
largely used. 

Eye and barley are but little cultivated. The 
former is cultivated almost exclusively for the 
straw, which finds a ready sale in limited quanti- 
ties for binding corn stalks, and when chopped up, 
as packing for eggs. The average yield of the 
grain is about fifteen bushels per acre. Barley is 
occasionally raised to some extent for exportation, 
and where the soil is fitted for it, proves a valuable 
crop. Its cultivation, however, has not been made 
the subject of much investigation, as the distance 
of the market has rather discouraged its growing. 



Buckwheat was formerly grown to a consider- 
able extent. In the average acreage and product 
for seven years, from 1858 to 1864, inclusive. 
Morrow led all other counties in the Scioto Valley 
by upward of a thousand acres, and by from seven 
to fifteen thousand bushels, and numbered the 
tenth county in the State in this regard. In 1876, 
it stood eighth on the list, but, in 1878, it lost this 
advanced position, and passed to the lowest ranks. 

Oats are extensively grown, but find a demand 
at home for the full supply. It is a reasonably 
sure crop, and, though occasionally aifected by 
drouths, it is relied upon with considerable con- 
fidence for home use. Rust has at times proved 
a serious drawback to the raising of this crop. 
Just before the war, one season when the crop 
promised an extraordinary yield, the rust sud- 
denly attacked it and destroyed the whole crop. 
Even the straw was rendered useless, many of the 
farmers believing that it would prove poisonous to 
stock. The following exhibit will show the status 
of these minor grains : 



Yeaes. 


Barley. 


Rye. 


Oats. 


Buckwheat. 




Acres. 


Amount 
Produced. 


Acres. 


Amount 
Produced. 


Acres. 


Amount 
Produced. 


Acres. 


Amount 
Produced. 


Average— 1858 to 1864... 
1866 


204 

665 

61 

20 


3997 

10945 

945 

293 


326 

1226 

635 

661 


3354 

10878 
4195 
8458 


8899 

8848 
14288 
12818 


221571 

250564 
428696 
436135 


1451 

1374 
543 
130 


20190 
19547 


1876 


2904 


1878 


790 



The corn crop, while not grown to the exclusion 
of the others, is the one upon which the farmers of 
Morrow County mostly confidently rely, and the 
land devoted to its culture is only limited by the ne- 
cessities of the situation. It is far more stable in its 
yield, less liable to disease, and may be slighted in its 
cultivation with greater impunity than any other 
crop. The soft varieties of seed are generall}^ 
preferred, and are usually planted on sod ground. 
It is usually well put in, the ground being pre- 
pared with considerable care, and worked until it 
"tassels out." The old rule of "going through" 
the field a certain number of times before "laying 
by" the crop, has long since been abandoned by 



the better farmers. The last plowing, after the 
corn has reached the height of five or six feet, is 
considered the most eflFective in its cultivation, but 
the exigencies of the season often prevent the 
farmer's bestowing this crowning attention. The 
farms, generally small, are worked by the owner 
alone, and the clover and wheat cutting coming 
close together, frequently obliges the small farmer 
to slight his corn. When, however, the farmer is 
able to hire help, or has boys who can be trusted 
to do the work, the plow is kept going through the 
corn, an expense that is amply repaid by the in- 
creased yield. The crop is usually cut and hauled 
into the barn, to be husked at leisure times during 



;v 



t 



180 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



the winter. The custom of husking from the 
standing stalk, which was early much in vogue, 
was abandoned some time since, as wasteful of time 
and material. The breadth planted and the yield 
per acre is somewhat variable, but with improved 
cultivation the yield has increased, and more land 
has consequently been devoted to the crop. The 
following table gives in a condensed form the result 
in its cultivation: 



Years. Acres. 


Bushels. 


At. per acre. 


1850 to 1 864— av. 

1866 

1876 


20,391 
18,224 
26,079 
29,103 


609,094 
656,153 
985,312 
984,138 


29.87 
36.00 

37.78 


1878 


33.85 



The other crops that occupy, or have occupied, 
a prominent place among the agricultural products 
of the county, are potatoes, flax and sorghum. 
The quality of the soil is well adapted to the rais- 
ing of potatoes, and farmers who have given con- 
siderable attention to the proper cultivation of 
this highly-prized and indispensable esculent, have 
always been well rewarded for their labor and 
pains-taking. It is a staple vegetable, universally 
used, always commands a fair price, and its gen- 
eral cultivation for exportation would undoubtedly 
prove highly remunerative. The fact, however, 
seems to have been overlooked or ignored, and no 
more are produced than are used in the county. 
The leading variety is the Early Rose, with the 
Peerless and Peachblow cultivated in considerable 
quantities. The Snowflake is highly prized and 
cultivated by many, while the Vermont Beauty 
and Davis Seedling are being cultivated as ex- 
periments. The average yield of this crop is 
good, and is not often seriously affected by dis- 
ease or insects. 

Flax, although grown in this county to some 
extent every year, is subject to violent fluctua- 
tions in the acreage devoted to its cultivation. It 
is raised exclusively for the seed, which has be- 
come an important article of commerce, large 
amounts being purchased annually by dealers at 



Mt. Gilead and Cardington. It is an exacting 

crop and the fiber is only incidentally valuable, 
owing to the unsalable condition in which it has 
to be sold; an amount of discouragement which 
is only overbalanced by the fact that the seed 
frequently commands a high price, and is always 
a cash article. It is not relied upon to any ex- 
tent, however, as a source of revenue. 

The history of the cultivation of sorghum cane 
in Morrow County is similar to that of most other 
parts of the State. The first introduction of this 
cane was received by the fltrmers of Morrow County 
with great enthusiasm, and high hopes were enter- 
tained that in this would be found a substitute for 
the sugar-cane that would prove a valuable addi- 
tion to the resources of their farms for home sup- 
ply, if not a source of income. The first seed was 
brought in about 1857, and small bags of seed 
containing about a half a pint sold readily for a 
dollar each. The experimenters, however, were 
not over sanguine, and though the aggregate 
acreage reached a considerable extent, the largest 
amount under cultivation on a single farm was 
not more than two acres. With the rapid growth 
of the cultivation came the means of manufactur- 
ing molasses, so that in 1859, there were some ten 
or twelve establishments in the county for manu- 
facturing the product, and something over three 
hundred barrels produced. Homer Emery, of this 
county, invented a wooden mill which became the 
favorite for some years. The first molasses pro- 
duced in most cases, owing to the lack of infor- 
mation on the subject and the carelessness with 
which its manufocture was conducted, was sorry 
stuff. To the skeptical part of the farming com- 
munity and the consumers, this result gave rise to 
a great prejudice against the project that re-acted 
with discouraging effect upon the experimenters. 
Another cause which contributed to this result 
was the exercise of ruinous economy on the part 
of the mass of farmers. Instead of purchasing 
new seed, and sparing no pains to make a fair 
trial of this new crop, the majority of those who 
planted it borrowed .seed of their neighbors, and 



\ 



-^ — A^ ^ 



HISTORY OF MORROAV COUNTY. 



181 



allowed the work of the farm to seriously interfere 
with the cultivation of the sorghum. The result 
was that the cane deteriorated in quantity and 
(juality, and the whole thing was voted a failure. 
A few, however, were not so easily discouraged, 
and kept up the experiment until a really fine 
molasses was obtained. Experiments, involving 
considerable expense, were made to produce sugar 
from this cane, but its manufacture was found to 
be so expensive that it had to be abandoned. 
The manufacture of molasses and the cultivation 
of the cane is still kept up by some who began 
years ago, and who are by no means willing to 
acknowledge that the experiment in sorghum was 
a failure. Some four or five establishments do a 
limited business in this line, and by careful and 
intelligent handling of the cane, produce a first- 
class article which has attained a considerable local 
reputation. 

Tobacco has been cultivated to a very limited 
extent, simply for the private use of the producer, 



and it may well be hoped that its culture may not 
be further extended. It is an exacting crop upon 
the land, and, sooner or later, the exhaustive proc- 
ess will ultimately work the deterioration of any 
neighborhood or farming district where its culture 
is a prominent part of the farming operations. 

The forests of Morrow County are well supplied 
with the sugar maple, and the people have not 
been slow to utilize them in the way of making 
sugar. It was the practice at an early date to 
make the product of the maple into sugar, as in 
this shape it answered the needs of the household 
to better advantage, and this practice continued 
down until 1865, when a complete revolution took 
place in this branch of farming industry. Less 
dependent upon their own manufacture for sugar, 
the farmers turned their attention to the manu- 
facture of syrup, which has ever since been the 

prevailing practice. 

The following tables will show something of the 
status of these products : 





POTATOES. 


TOBACCO. 


MAPLE SUGAR. 




Acres Planted. 


Bushels Produced. 


Acres Planted. 


Pounds Produced. 


Pounds of Sugar 
Produced. 


Gallons of Syrup 
Manufactured. 


Averages 

1866 


*757 

1,490 

949 

951 

870 


59,224 
52,739 
57,724 
22,344 
54,-867 


tn 


6,591 
550 
547 

1,010 
325 


t91,2.55 

1,490 

949 

951 

870 


3,633 
52,7.S9 


1876 

1877 

1878 


6 
2 


57,724 
22,344 
54,867 



♦Average acreage and product for 5 years ; 1860 to 1864 inclusive. 
fAverage acreage and product for 1863 and 1864. 





FLAX. 




Acres Sowed. 


Bushels of Seed. 


Pounds of Fiber. 


Averages*. ... 
1866 


3,253 
1,152 
1,251 
1,093 
1,394 


20,616 
9,652 

10,163 
8,855 

12,686 


32,712 
1,074 


1876 


1877 




1878 









YEARS. 


• 


SORGHUM. 




AcresCultivated. 


Pounds of Sugar. 


Gal. of Molasses. 


Averages* 

1866 


209 
249 

54 

26J 

28 


109 
342 
312 
293 
745 


17,321 
28,430 


1876 


2,066 


1877 


2,921 


1878 


2,237 










>> 



182 



HISTORY OF .M0:M10W COUNTY. 



It will be noticed that in later years, no return 
of flax fiber bas beeo made. The explanation lies 
in the fact that a flax-mill located at Mount Gilead 
afforded a good market for this ])roduct, but since 
its destruction by fire, the fiber has been a sheer 
waste as noted elsewhere. In the Agricultural Re- 
port of 1 859, we notice the following premium crops 
raised in Morrow County: in 1853, S. Hayden 
raised 117.6 bushels of corn on 1 J acres ; in 1859, 
J. Wood, Jr., raised 99.42 bushels on a single 
acre, and 11. P. Russell, in the same year, on the 
same space, raised 89.5-4 bushels.. In 1 858, Joseph 
Mosier raised, on j an acre, 260 bushels of potatoes. 

A survey of this branch of Morrow County's 
agriculture would hardly be complete without some 
reference to the famous June frost of 1858, which 
operated so disastrously all over the State. The 
first damage was done on a Friday night. On the 
following night came a " killing frost " that left 
scarcely a vestige of the^growing crops alive. Corn 
was about eight or ten inches high, and potatoes 
had reached the growth that made the effect of 
the frost most damaging. All grain was ruined 
and the people suddenly found themselves brought 
face to face with the prospect of starvation. On 
he Sunday following, the churches were almost, 
deserted. The farmers wandered aimlessly through 
their stricken fields, while the villagers thronged 
the country ways anxious to measure the extent 
of the disaster which had involved town and farms 
alike. Fortunately, there were some late crops 
that had not come on far enough to be injured by 
the frost, and the less fortunate ones set at once to 
repair the misfortune so far^as possible. The corn 
and potatoes were replanted, buckwheat was sowed 
in place of the wheat, and, thanks to an unusually 
long sejison, theSe crops were fairly matured. 
There was a large proportion of soft corn, hun- 
dreds of bu.shel8 of which molded and proved a 
complete loss. The check upon other enterprises 
of the county was not less severe ; one dealer in 
agricultural machinery who had secured twenty 
orders for mowing machines had all his orders re- 
voked save one. 



Fruit culture may be safely said to be yet in its 
infancy in Morrow County. The first settlers, 
deprived for a time of its use. and realizing the 
great demand in every family for this important 
article of food, early set about planting orchards. 
But little care was exercised, in a majority of cases, 
in the selection of varieties, or in their care of 
orchards after once well set, and taking into con- 
sideration the value of good fruit as a substantial 
element of food, as a valuable agent in preserving 
and promoting health, and as a luxury which all 
classes may enjoy, this subject has not received 
the attention which its importance merits at the 
hands of the careful agriculturist. The orchard 
culture of apples has only of late years begun to 
command the serious attention of farmers. The 
old orchards have been "prolific producers, and in 
favorable seasons, thousands of bushels have been 
marketed. Before the railroads made the markets 
accessible, large quantities of fruit were dried and 
hauled to market — almost every well-regulated 
farm being provided with a dry-house. Large 
quantities were fed to stock, and we find, in the 
Agricultural Report of 1856, favorable notice of 
the feeding of cider pomace and apples to sheep. 
This abundance of fruit has made the farmers 
careless of the subject, and many are awakening to 
the fact that unless something is done at once to 
renew these orchards there will be an interreg- 
num when there will be no fruit of this kind at all 
in the county. The recent addition of railroad 
facilities has had a quickening effect upon this 
branch of agricultural pursuits, and many are put- 
ing out new orchards with a view of marketing the 
produce. Mr. Charles Carpenter, owning a small 
farm in the middle part of the county, has devoted 
the larger part of his land to fruit, and intends to 
make a specialty of fruit-growing. Mr. Job Wells, 
near Cardington, is making a specialty of orchard 
fruit also. Among the varieties now found are 
the Rambo, Bellflower, Soek-no-further, Ru.ssett, 
Autumn Strawberry, Rhode Island Greening, 
Spitzenberg, Northern Spy, Baldwin, Ben Davis, 
Fall Pippins, Belmont, Summer Queen, King of 



Vw 



J^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



183 



Tompkins County, beside others of inferior kinds. 
The latter variety is a favorite for a large apple, 
some of the fruit measuring 142 inches in circum- 
ference, and at the same time retaining its fine flavor 
and smooth grain. John Blinn, of Sparta, has a 
peculiar species of the Greening, which is of a 
dark green color, and a generally unfavorable ap- 
pearance when picked in the fall, but which grad- 
ually turns to a beautiful yellow when stored, and 
is ready for use about the time other varieties lose 
their vitality. Samples of this variety have been ex- 
hibited at the county fair that were admirable speci- 
mens of eating apples after being kept in store for a 
year. The apple is the hardiest, and most reliable of 
all fruits for this region, and there are probably more 
acres in apple orchards than in all other fruits com- 
bined. Peaches, by reason of the unflivorableness 
of the climate, are, of late years, exceedingly un- 
certain, and are but little planted. Thirty or 
forty years ago, this fruit was as certain and pro- 
lific in its yield as apples, but succeeding years 
have wrought such climatic changes that there is 
a fair crop of this fruit only about once in five 
years. Late frosts in the spring usually cut off 
the crop, either in the blossom or when the young 
fruit has just formed, and, in addition to this, there 
occurs, every few years, a winter of such severity 
that even the trees themselves are seriously in- 
jured or destroyed. The case of cherries of the 
finer kinds is very similar to that of peaches, as 
the trees are somewhat tender, and the blossoms 
are liable to be destroyed by late frosts in spring. 
The hardier kinds, such as the Early Richmond, 
the Morellos and May Duke, are much more 
reliable and hardy, and often yield fine crops. 
Pears are planted in a small way, principally in 
gardens ; but few extensive pear orchards exist in 
the county. The first trees of this sort were seed- 
lings, which of late years have been entirely sup- 
planted by dwarfs, or their outgrowth of half- 
standards. The tendency to blight, which the 
pear-tree shows here as elsewhere in Ohio, pre- 
vents any extended attention to the orchard cult- 
ure of this fruit. There is quite an orchard of 



pear-trees on the grounds of the County Infirmary, 
and several orchards of a hundred trees are found 
in the county. Plums are scarcely grown at all, 
owing to the prevalence of the curculio insect, al- 
though the trees grow well and remain healthy. 
In the culture of orchard fruits in Morrow County, 
the great demand is for more attention. The 
farmers recognize that this lack of proper atten- 
tion is the great drawback to this branch of agri- 
culture in Morrow County, and some impetus is 
needed to bring from this knowledge some practi- 
cal result. A glance at the accompanying table, 
embodying the results for the last three years, 
shows that the most reliable fruit orchards have 
fallen into the unfortunate habit of bearing full 
crops every alternate year, with scant ones or fail- 
ures between. The efiect of this habit on the 
market is disastrous to the grower, while its effect 
upon the tree is hardly less harmful. This habit, it is 
thought by eminent horticulturists, may be rem- 
edied by patient care and study. The new depart- 
ure now being inaugurated in Morrow County 
may furnish . the needed stimulus to the farmers, 
who, finding that the success of a few prominent 
fruit cultivators are likely to supply the market at 
their expense, may be induced to adopt more ra- 
tional methods and greater care in the culture of 
orchard fruits. The following table will show the 
orchard crop for the last three years, the lack of 
reports preventing a more extended exhibit : 



YEAES. 


APPLES. 


PEACHES. 


PEAKS. 


Acres. 


Bushels. 


Bushels. 


Bushels. 


1876 


5,198 
5,226 
5,436 


310,080 

38,149 

602,895 


5 

59 

7,087 


143 


1877 


49() 


1878 


597 



To the cultivation of small fruits but little gen- 
eral attention at present is given. Some ten or 
fifteen years ago, there was quite a general interest 
excited in the raising of straw, black and raspber- 
ries, and considerable time and space was devoted 
to their culture, but the inaccessibility of markets 
and the lack of a steady purpose has interfered to 



^ (. 



T^ 



18i 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



work the ruin of this enterprise. A Mr. Murray 
w;is prominent in this movement as early as 
eighteen years ago, and made a considerable 
quantity of blackberry wine, supplying; the bulk of 
the home market with the fruit and its product. 
The interest in this direction is again reviving in 
a small way, in several localities, but there is not 
enough fruit raised to begin to supply the home 
demand. Grapes have received some attention in 
this county, but not so much at present as iu 
earlier years. This fruit succeeds reasonably well 
it) most parts of the county, though the extensive 
culture of vineyards in a large way has never 
been attempted. The Isabella, lona. Concord, 
Catawba and Delaware are the principal varieties 
to be found here. The latter variety, named and 
disseminated from an adjoining county, found its 
way early into Morrow County, but the skill re- 
quired for its successful cultivation caused it to 
become unpopular through failures, occasioned by 
mismanagement and neglect. The Catawba is 
highly prized, and by many considered the best 
grape for cultivation here. It is a tart grape, 
pleasant to the taste, and is raised successfully with 
as little care as any of the better varieties. It is 
prone to develop an overgrowth of foliage here, 
which not unfrequently prevents the ripening of 
the fruit and causes it to mold. The proper 
amount of care, however, easily obviates this 
difficulty and results usually in a generous yield. 
The statistics of this crop as published in the 
State reports from the Assessor's returns, are so 
unreliable as to be nearly worthless; we give them, 
however, for the year 1866, and the three last, for 
what they are worth. 





GRAPES AND WINE. 


TEARS. 


Whole No. 
of Acres in 
Vineyard. 


Acrea plant- 
ed last year. 


Pounds of 

Grapes 
Produced. 


Gallons of 
Wine made. 


1860 


25 
14 

5 


30 

H 
1 


2,580 
2,790 
1,880 
2,700 


701 


1870 


1877 


145 


1878 











In this connection, it may not be inappropriate 



to say a word of the various nursery enterprises, 
which have found more or less support in this 
county. One of the earliest was situated about 
three miles south of Mt. Gilead, and owned by 
W. B. Lipsey. He carried it on for a number of 
years, but sold out in the summer of 1858. 
Closely succeeding him came Waldorf, who con- 
ducted a nursery a mile and a half southwest of 
the village. He sold out to Chase & Albach, who 
enlarged it to 40 acres, and did an extensive bus- 
iness for a number of years. Joel Bruce has had 
a nursery for some years, and is still in the busi- 
ness in Chester Township. 

The persevering, patient care and investigation 
which seemed to be wanting in the cultivation of 
crops, does not appear to have been lacking in the 
raising of stock. It would seem that the early 
settlers had a predilection for fine stock, and 
stamped this characteristic upon the agriculture 
of the county. There has been a constant effort 
to improve breeds, until Morrow County now 
boasts of a better average in stock than almost 
any other county in the State. In this depart- 
ment, and in others, the prevailing disposition of 
the farming community is apparent, and no class 
of the domestic animals of the farm is developed 
to the exclusion of others. The early history of 
the horse in Morrow County is involved in some 
obscurity. It was some years before horses were 
introduced to any extent. Oxen were better suited 
to the work of the clearing, were easier kept and 
not so liable to accidents and disease, und these 
qualifications were all that were demanded of the 
early teams. In later years, as the demand for 
teams for traveling purposes began to be made, 
these useful animals began to supersede the ox, 
until now one would scarcely meet an ox team 
upon the road in a month's travel through the 
county. The first effort to improve the common 
stock of horses was by the importation, about 
1840, of "Bagdad" from Tennessee, by G. D. 
Cross. Another horse of the same strain was 
owned by Mr. Loring, and did much to raise the 
stock of the county. The sire of these horses 



i) Vy 



•\^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



185 



was " Bagdad," a pure, thoroughbred Arabian 
horse, imported by a company in Tennessee inter- 
ested in that breed. The horse succeeding the 
" Bagdad" horses was " Young Royalty," an an- 
imal of admirable qualities, and one that had very 
much to do in forming the early stock of horses 
in the county. He was sired by " Old Royalty," 
of LoudouQ County, Va., and was eight or nine 
years old when he was brought here. He was 
owned by Colley McAtee, who brought the horse 
with him when he moved here in 1840. The 
horse was kept by Mr. McAtee for some twenty 
years, and was in active demand the larger part of 
that time. Not very much later, Robert Maxwell 
introduced a horse from Virginia, " Sir Andrew," 
sired by a horse of the same name, a thoroughbred 
running-horse. About 1848, Joseph Musier in- 
troduced the Morgan strain, which for a time 
attracted considerable attention. " Sir Richard " 
was an early horse that came under the class of 
" general purpose ;" then followed the " Sir Ar- 
chie" stock, "Eclipse," " Bellfounder," "Mo- 
hawk" and " Black Tom." The latter is counted 
by competent horsemen as probably the best 
" general purpose " horse that was ever in the 
county. His pedigree is in dispute. His dam 
was sired by " Paoli," a horse that at one time was 
highly esteemed by stock men. The mare was 
owned by McKee, and his story is, that while out 
of the county one day the colt was got by a fine 
black horse called " Black Figure." This is con- 
tradicted by others, but upon the fact of the value 
of his stock all are agreed. Among those horses 
which have contributed to the present grade of 
.stock in the county, should be mentioned, " Fly- 
ing Cloud," of the Black Hawk strain, " Duff 
Green," "Old Punch" and " Lecompton," im- 
ported from Kentucky by Up. Smith. The Nor- 
man breed of horses was introduced in the southern 
part of the county about 1863. "Nonesuch," 
" Louis Napoleon," or " Old Bob," as he was 
variously known, was exhibited at. the fair in 
1862, and made a season in the county the follow- 
ing year. This horse is really what i» strictly 



classified as the Percheron, but is known in the 
books and by dealers as a Percheron-Norman. 
"Old Bob" was the first horse of the kind ever 
brought west of the Alleghany Mountains. He 
was bought by Charles Fullington and brought 
to Unim County in 1851, and, some time after, 
became the property of Louis Lee, of Delaware, 
by whom he was introduced into this county. 
This breed of horses constitute the base upon 
which all of the later improvements have been 
made. They originated in La Perche and Nor- 
mandy, in France, and are noted for their docility, 
excellent health, and a hardy, elastic temperament. 
They are possessed of great bone, muscle, tendon, 
and hoof which gives them immense strength as 
draft horses. Their color is a fine silver-gray, the 
best adapted to withstand the burning rays of the 
sun in the field or on the highway. About the 
same time as the Percheron-Norman horse, was 
introduced a fine English horse owned by the 
Darby Plains Importing Company, known as 
" English Glory." He got some fine colts, and 
left his impress upon the stock of the county. 
"Erie Abdallah" is a later importation to the 
county. He is a " general purpose" horse, noted 
as a spirited, active and fleet traveler, with sur- 
prising powers of endurance^ He made at one 
time a single dash of ten miles in the extraordi- 
nary time of thirti/-one minutes and nine seconds. 
" Red Eye," and " Judge Evans," a Hambletonian, 
were introduced a few years ago by Adams & 
Chase. The latter is a fine white animal, sired 
by " Rysdick's Hambletonian," and is highly 
esteemed by lovers of fine horses. In 1874, 
Messrs. Grifiith, Rowland & Manson imported 
" Ethan Allen, Jr.," a horse of good strain and 
valuable qualities. The latest importation is 
" Sterlingshire's Champion," a Clydesdale thor- 
oughbred, sixteen and a half hands high, a beau- 
tiful dappled-brown color, and weighing about 
nineteen hundred pounds. He was bred by Mat- 
thew Minneo, at Foot-a-Green, Scotland, and is 
now rising six years old. He was sired by " Don- 
ald Dinnie," a horse that took the first premium 



'\ 



u- 



186 



HISTORY OF MOKKOAV COUNTY. 



at the Centennial Stock Exposition, and was sold 
to a Mr. Murray, of Wiscon^n, for $5,000. The 
" Champion " was imported from Scotland by 
Messrs. Reesor & Graham, of Canada, in August 
of 1876, and bought of them by Smith Bros., of 
INIount Gilead. They have bought, also, a fine 
bay Clydesdale mare that took the first premium 
at the Centennial Exposition. She weighs 1,730 
pounds. Among the prominent horse-breeders 
should also be mentioned John Sellers, of Card- 
ington Township. He has at present four stall- 
ions, one of which is highly esteemed in the county 
as a trotter. He is called " Mohawk Jackson," 
and bears all the marks of that celebrated strain 
of horses, the Mohawks. There are a large num- 
ber of his colts in the county, and for good road- 
sters bis stock is considerably sought. The subject 
of fine horses is one that interests the farmers of 
this county to an unusual degree, and the result 
is, that in blood, size, fine style, fe)mmetry of 
form, and the enduring qualities of the horses of 
Morrow County, it is not excelled by any county 
in the State. It is estimated by competent judges 
that the average horse is above medium size; will 
probably measure fifteen and a ha.f hands high, 
and weigh about twelve hundred pounds. It is 
but natural that this, county should be the resort 
of buyers for other markets. Large numbers are 
sold every year, and yet the number does not seem 
to decrease. 

Mules have never been received with favor by 
the general mass of the farmers. Their appear- 
ance was not prepossessing, and those conditions 
to which this animal is supposed to be best fitted 
have never existed in the county, and the mule 
has therefore not secured much of a foothold. 
From the following table, it will be seen that the 
number of horses in the county has not materially 
changed during the past fifteen years, notwith- 
standing the large number shipped to other mar- 
kets. The price of horses has not reached the 
high average price reached in some other locali- 
ties, nor has it touched so low a figure. From 
i858 to 1864, the average listed price per head was 



$48.32; in 1876, the average price was $58.04; 
in 1878, $57.10, and in 1879, $55.17. 





Horses. 


Mules. 


Tears. 


Number. 


Value. 


Number. 1 Value. 


1858-1864 


8,594 
7,090 
7,627 
7,543 
7,330 


4f5,338 
440,308 
442,657 
431,169 

404,455 


86 

173 

88 

90 

104 


4,083 
10,207 


1866 


1876 

1878 


5,855 
4,945 
5,861 


1879 









The introduction of cattle into the county was 
as early as the coming of the first settler. Cows 
were a necessary part of the pioneer's outfit, with- 
out which his chances for obtaining a reasonably 
comfortable existence were very poor indeed, and 
few families were without them. But once here, 
it required all the care and diligence of the set- 
tler to protect them against the ravages of wild 
beasts and disease. The wolves took ofi" the 
yearlings and frequently made successful attacks 
upon the cows; the murrain, a little later, took ofi" 
scores of these animals, and journeys of a hundred 
miles were frequently undertaken to replace the 
animals thus lost. Then the marshes and the 
rank vegetation took their quota, so that in spite 
of the employment of all the available children of 
the settlement as herders, and the dosing of cattle 
with soot and soft soap, hundreds fell victims to 
the snares of a new country. Under such circum- 
stances, the efi"ort was narrowed down to a strug- 
gle to maintain rather than to improve the breed. 
Among the early settlers of the county were many 
Englishmen and Yankees who had been used to 
seeing fine cattle, and, as soon as the pressure of 
the first years in a new country was removed, 
they began to look about for means to improve the 
cattle of their adopted land. The first attempt in 
this line of which we have any record was by 
Stephen F. Randolph, of Peru, in 1836. Two 
years before, the Ohio Importing Company had 
made their first importation of Short-Horn Dur- 
ham stock, and exhibited it at the State fair of 
1834. I* set the whole farming community of the 



\ 



HISTORY or MOREOW COUNTY 



187 



State agog to improve their stock, and nothing but 
a Short- Horn Durham was to be thought of. In 
the year we speak of, Randolph was in New York, 
and purchased of his cousin, Cornelius Baker, 
who owned a stock-farm, near Rahway, N. J., a 
fine thoroughbred Ijull of the Short-Horn Dur- 
ham variety. The animal was shipped by steam- 
boat from Elizabethport to Albany, and then 
driven fifteen miles, to Schenectady, stopping with 
a breedef of Devon cattle, who very much ad- 
mired the animal. From there, the animal was 
shipped by canal and steamboat to Huron, and 
from there driven to Peru Township. It was a 
perfectly white animal, fourteen months old when 
purchased, and two months later, when exhibited 
at the Delaware fair, weighed 1,400 pounds. His 
mother was an imported cow, by Degrott. ^ Al- 
though not then in this county, the effect upon 
the stock of that region was most happy. Farm- 
ers had an opportunity of comparing improved 
breeds with the native cattle, and were not slow to 
fall in with the popular tide that was then making 
toward the Short-Horns. Soon after this begin- 
ning, J. Meredith and W. F. Bartlett introduced 
the breed in Chester Township, and succeeding 
them was 6. W. Hiskett, of Cardington. The 
latter herd was started from Dun's importations, 
in 1855, and were exhibited in the Mount Gilead 
fair of that year. Since then, he has added to his 
herd "Gov. Chase," 4,848; "Gen. Rosecrans," 
4,839 ; " Christmas King," 16,479, and "Louan's 
Mazurka," 14,796. In the report of 1876, there 
were in this herd twelve cows and heifers, and 
two bulls. The exhibition of this breed at the 
fairs in the county have reached as high as three 
hundred entries in one year. Other parties 
joined in these stock improvements, Hull, Trow- 
bridge and Mosier being the more prominent- at 
an early date, and Neely Noble, John Quay and 
Joseph Grove a little later. A few grades of 
Hereford have been introduced, and, more re- 
cently, McCage Peasely has introduced the Jer- 
seys for their milking qualities. There are at 
present five or six herds of blooded cattle in the 



county, among which, the writer is informed, are 
some representatives of the Ayrshire. 

Sheep were introduced as early as 1811, but the 
number and boldness of the wolves made sheep- 
raising a burden upon the resources of the early 
pioneers that taxed them to the uttermost. The 
earliest were brought in by Henry George, of 
Chester, and, soon after, Jacob Vandeventer intro- 
duced these animals in Peru Township. Not long 
after their introduction, lightning killed four of his 
fattest sheep, and, desiring to reap the largest ben- 
efit from his misfortune, he dressed them and dis- 
tributed the meat about the settlement. It was 
found however, that the lightning had so impreg- 
nated the meat with sulphur as to make it unfit 
for use. The first information as to the improve- 
ment of this stock is found in a letter by " J. M. 
W." to the Ohio Cultivator, in 185!^. The 
writer had taken a ramble through Delaware, 
Union, Champaign and Logan Counties, and, on 
returning to his home in Mount Gilead, writes as 
follows in regard to sheep, etc.: " There is a very 
rich tract of land lying northeast of Delaware, 
toward Woodbury, but few people have found it 
out yet. The best field of corn that I saw was on 
this tract of land. Being a great favorite of good 
stock, I strained my eyes considerable to see some, 
but all in vain, until I came near Woodstock, Cham- 
paign County, where I had the pleasure of seeing 
good cattle, also one of those fine French sheep of 
last year's importation. I also found a flock of 
fine-wooled ewes of Spanish blood at Lewisburg, 
owned by R. B. Spain, out of which I bought 
twenty ewes and lambs, and have brought them 
to Morrow as an improvement on our common 
stock, and our friend, Joseph Mosier, has lately 
bought five full-blood French ewes of John Camp- 
bell, of Vermont, which he found it necessary for 
him to do to keep ahead. One of said ewes was 
shorn of fourteen pounds of unwashed wool. The 
following are the dimensions of said sheep : Length, 
4j feet ; height, 2] feet; girth, 3^ feet, and two 
years old." In the wake of Mosier and Wright, came 
in this line, Messrs. Sellers, Earl, Harrod, Swetland, 



~< 



TV 



yi 



^ 



188 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



and, in later years, J. 6. Blue. The latter's flock is 
at present by far the most important one in the 
county, and has deservedly a high reputation 
among breeders. 

Capt. Blue began breeding fine grade sheep as 
early as 1865, but, in 1804, he sold this stock off 
and imported some thoroughbred Spanish merinos, 
selected from the flocks of S. S. Rockwell, F. & L. 
E. Moore, H. C. Burrell and J. T. Stickney, of 
Vermont, and later of F. S. Higbee in Homer, 
Ohio. His first purchase was sixty ewes, twenty- 
seven of which cost him $2,700. He bred at 
first to different celebrated rams in the country 
until, his business becoming well established, he 
provided himself with one of his own. His pres- 
ent stock ram is " William Jarvis," bred by R. 
Lane, Middlebury, Vt., and was imported in 1878. 
His present flock numbers 220 head, all registered, 
and fine-looking animals. The wool clip averages 
fourteen pounds per head right through the flock, 
the buck fleeces varying from twenty to thirty-five 
pound.s, and the fleeces of the ewes from ten to 
twenty-six pounds. The annual increase of lambs 
is about seventy head, which measures the sales 
from the flock each year. There is a good demand 
for this class of sheep, and Capt. Blue realizes 
from $30 to $150 per head for all that he has to 
sell. He has some animals that he prizes even 
higher, but declines to sell at present. His suc- 
cess in sheep-breeding has been rapid and uniform, 
and he attributes it to the fact that he has never 



lost sight of the animal physique while striving to 
enhance the quality of the wool. He believes 
Ohio to be second to no place in the world for 
sheep-breeding, and his experience goes far to 
support his judgment. One of the pets of his 
flock is an ewe fourteen y^arf. old, that has 
one of the finest lambs in the flock. 

Combing or long-wool sheep was introduced by 
G. Criswell and A. H. Wrenn in 1867 and 18G8. 
This is called a wool county, and the im- 
provements made upon the native stock has 
increased the sixty or seventy-five pound carcasses 
of the natives to ninety and one hundred pounds, 
and from fleeces of from three to four pounds to 
those weighing from five to six pounds, washed on 
the sheep. A few have introduced the Cotswold 
and Leicester, but only in small flocks, and there 
is occasionally a small flock of Southdowns. Some 
of the coarse-wool kinds are crossed with the 
merino, producing a delaine wool which commands 
a ready sale with good prices. It is calculated, 
take one year with another, that wool can be pro- 
duced for 25 cents per pound. A few years ago, 
the foot-rot and scab were prevalent ; stockmen 
resorted to many remedies, but the most effectual 
was to pelt the sheep. Thousands were treated in 
this way, which, while proving expensive, effected 
a permanent cure. The following table, compiled 
in 1862, will give the status of merino sheep in 
the county at that time : 





Bucks. 


Ewes. 


Quality of 
Merino Sheep. 


Who commenced flock. 


When and where parents 


obtained. 


W. F. Bartlett, Chesterville 


4 

30 
2 
6 
6 
8 

12 
4 
3 
1 
4 
3 
1 
1 


175 
100 

75 
175 
130 
150 

76 
175 
115 

40 
125 
125 

30 

50 


Half 




Vermont. 
Vermont. 

Vermont. 
Vermont. 
Vermont. 
Vermont. 




Wm. Bonar, " 


Full 






.lames Emmerson, " 


Half 






Casper Swelland, " 


Half 






Wm. Shurtliff, " 


Half 






S. & J. A. Rood, " 


Half 






Thomas Ilugans, " 


Half 






D. W. Brown, " 


Half 






Jacob Struble, " 


Half 






Benj. Thomas, " 


Half 






Daniel Struble, " 


Half 






Benj. Phillips, Harmony 


Half 






J. N. Gorden, Chesterville 


Half 






John Bull, " 


Half 







i) "V 



^. 



fe^'v 




"^y^^^ 



<^ 



^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW, COUN^TY. 



191 



Bucks. Ewes, jiirruto' s'heep. Who commenced flock. When and where parents obtained 



RcTbert F. Turnay, Waynesville 
Davis Furnas, " 

Solomon Daiise, " 

J. B. Mosher, " 

Charles F. Chapman " 
Kobert Furnas, " 

Moses Kelly, " 

George Lefevre, Mt. Gilead 

J. M. Davis, " 

William Gilmore, Iberia 



Bucks. 




Ewes. 
28 




35 


2 


64 


3 


32 




15 


10 


30 




15 


4 


100 


4 


22 


1 


40 



Half I 

Three-fourths.. D.F 

Three-fourths..|S. G 

Half Ij. 15. M 

Full 

Three-fourths..JR. F 

Full T. Warren 

Half I 

Full. ! 

Full Atwood, Conn. 



Licking and Clark Counties. 

Licking County. 

F. & G. Case, Licking County. 

Clark County. 
Addison, Vt. 

Imported. 



The only full account of flocks is that pertain- 
in"; to George Lefevre's flock. In this were four 
Spanish full-blood bucks, bred from the flocks of 
Richard Atwood and Hammond, in Vermont, and 
brought to Ohio by H. E. Taylor, of Addison 
(!!ounty, of that State. Two of the animals were 
claimed to be superior in form and quality to 
anything previously introduced in the county. 

The Woods breed of hogs is extinct in this 
county, and where it used to take two years to 
make a two-hundred-pound hog, a three and four 
hundred-pound hog can be made in nine to twelve 
months. The principal breeds are the Suffolk, 
Chester White, Magies and Berkshire. The latter 
was introduced about 1850, but they were at that 
time a rough coarse-boned hog, and were soon 
abandoned. Fine-boned Suffblks were introduced 
about 1855, by J. and R. Mosier. They were 
easily fattened at any age, but did not possess 
strength in their limbs to travel, an important de- 
fect in that day, when pork was largely driven to 
market. The Chester White were introduced 
later, and bred by Mosier, Wood, Bartlett, Wrenn, 
Peasley and others. A cross between these and 



the Suffolk made a profitable breed and was highly 
prized for market purposes. More recently, the 
Magie, a cross, Poland-China, and a fine-boned 
Berkshire have been introduced. All have their 
admirers, but the general favorite is a cross between 
the Suffolk and Chester White, taking the bone 
and size from one and the flesh of the other. There 
is considerable interchange of animals with dealers 
from abroad, for breeding purposes, and large num- 
bers are shipped from the county for market uses. 

Considerable attention has been paid to the im- 
provement of poultry within the last twenty-five 
years, and is still made a specialty by a few per- 
sons. Poland — white and black top-knot — White 
Leghorn, Black Spanish, are favorites as layers, but 
poor for the table. In the latter respect, and as 
setters, the Light, Dark and Dominico Brabmas, 
Cochin China and Dorkings are considered more 
favorably. Efforts have been made to improve 
geese, ducks and turkeys here, but no I'^sults 
worth mentioning are shown. 

In the following table, we give a condensed 
statement of stock products of the county for the 
last three years, with an average of the period from 
1855 to 1864: 



TEAE'J 


CATTLE. 

■ 


SHEEP. 


HOGS. 




Number. 


Value. 


Kumber. 


Value. 


Number. 


Value. 


Av. 1858-1864.... 
1877 


21,350 
14.801 
16,402 
17,878 


1198,487 1 72,605 
272,698 101,841 
298,003 106,883 
283,410 116 974 


1166,206 
238,199 
239,334 
260,101 


25,413 
19,377 
20,591 
17,142 


153,052 
80,108 


1878 


49,347 
45,628 


1879 








' 



SR* 



192 



HISTORY* OF MORROW COUNTY. 



Dairying is but little known in Morrow County. 
Tiie farmers appreciate the luxury of fresh milk 
and butter, and sell their product in the villages or 
to their less fortunate neighbors, but any organ- 
ized enterprise for this purpose has been unknown 
until the current year. In May of this year. Dr. 
Thooujan, of Williamsport, Congress Township, 
conceiving the idea that this was a good field for 
a cheese factory, hired a building and put a 
man in it to make cheese on the factory system. 
About the same time, Lemon, Potts & Lemon 
hired the old foundry building south of the village 
of Mt. Gilead, and, fitting it up for the business, 
began on the 3d of May to make cheese. At 
this writing, they receive about 1,500 to 1,800 
pounds of milk per day from some 150 cows. 
Those who have made cheese in a private way 
heretofore, hail this enterprise with a good deal of 
satisftiction and readily give their support. With 
others, the innovation is a little startling to their 
conservative notions. This fact, taken with the 
small number of cows kept by the farmers, renders 
the work of getting an adequate support of some 
difficulty. At present, milk is hauled from Wood- 
bury, a distance of nine miles south of the factory, 
but it is confidently expected that in a few 
weeks the number of cows will be increased by 
one hundred without taking in any more country. 
It would seem that Morrow County is finely 
adapted to the business, and the future historian 
will undoubtedly find this industry rivaling, if not 
excelling, the sheep husbandry of the county. 

A noticeable and favorable feature of the agri- 
culture of the county is the moderate size of the 
average farm. There are several large landholders 
in the county, but the average farm is not over 
eighty acres. These farms are well tilled, the 
buildings well improved, and a general well-to-do 
air of neatness and comfort prevails everywhere 
throughout the farming community. The method 
by which this state of afi"airs has been brought 
about, and the character of some of the prominent 
farms will best appear, perhaps, in a description of 
some of the premium farms in the county. J. L. 



Fish, whose farm was awarded the premium in 
1875, thus describes his methods and their results : 

" In the spring of 1868, I took possession of the 
farm above named, and found the buildings very 
much out of repair, and the fences very poor, with 
not a pair of bars or a gate upon the farm. I com- 
menced making repairs as soon as I came into 
possession of said farm, and have continued up to 
the present time. My fences are now good, have 
all the gates necessary for convenience, and have 
all the buildings needed upon the farm for the 
accommodation of man and beast, all of which are 
in good repair. My manner of plowing is deep 
plowing. I am satisfied that deep plowing is what 
the soil of this county requires — that as deep as 
the ground is stirred, so deep the soil will be- 
come rich and productive. And in wet weather 
it allows the surface water to sink away, thereby 
saving the crop. 

" In seeding to grass, I generally seed with my 
oats, after which I use a heavy roller, rolling the 
ground thoroughly. Upon my farm, when I came 
here, were several ponds and swamps, which were 
considered of no value whatever. They were 
grown up with weeds and bushes, so a person could 
scarcely pass through them. I cleared them out, 
and ditched them up with drains until I could get 
tile, when I got tile for them, and filled the 
ditches up. Now, the only way a person can tell 
where these ponds were is by grain or grass grow- 
ing larger than any other place. I am a great 
friend to tile ; I claim that the increase in 
yield of the first crop raised after tiling, will more 
than pay the cost of tiling. The soil on my farm 
is a clay loam, except one-fourth, which is bottom 
land. The water is about ten feet below the sur- 
face. There is considerable of limestone pebbles 
mixed all through the soil." In 1879, there were 
five farms entered for the premium oflfered by the 
County Fair Association for the " Best Cultivated 
and Improved Farm," and Messrs. G. AV. His- 
kett and J. S. Denman were appointed to make 
the report on these farms. From that report, as 
it appeared in the Union Register of January 28, 



Tv 



-^ 



HISTORY or MORROW COUNTY 



193 



1880, we make the following extracts: "We 
met on the 18th of October last, at D. Levering's, 
whose farm of 130 acres lies on the north fork of 
Owl Creek (Perry Township), and is mostly first 
and second bottom of good quality and of easy 
cultivation. The buildings consist of a large, two- 
story brick dwelling, a brick dairy house, through 
which flows an excellent spring of water, a two- 
story brick used for storing and smoking meat, 
and a frame barn with stone basement, all of 
ancient architecture, and the latter quite ordinary. 
This farm has been owned only six years by the 
present proprietor, and in that time quite a por- 
tion has been cleared and all newly fenced, and with 
fences as are worthy of imitation. We cannot 
better describe them than to say, they are ' horse 
high, hog tight and bull strong,' and each field 
supplied with a durable gate. The live stock on 
the farm is quite ordinary, save the horses, which 
are good." From here the committee went to J. 
McCammon's farm of 200 acres, in Franklin 
Township. Here they say, " the fences are all 
good and in the very best repair. We failed to 
find even a, single rail misplaced, but there are not 
as many gates as should be on a well-regulated 
farm. We found the fence-corners as clean as 
a well-kept lawn, as were also the pastui'es, mead- 
ows, grain fields and orchards. The barn is a 
inagnificent structure,. 40x72, and is what is com- 
monly called a ' bank barn,' and is finished in the 
highest style of ornamental architecture. The 
dwelling its not in keeping with the barn and farm, 
and the grounds about it are small and cramped. 
The tenant house and barn would add greatly to 
the appearance of the farm if they were painted. 
Of live stock, horses, good ; hogs, full-blooded 
Poland-China ; sheep, good cross-breeds, and cat- 
tle, quite ordinary." The farm of M. Harrod's 
lying on the south side of the road leading to 
Levering Station, they found " mostly first and 
second bottom of the very best quality, and in a 
high state of cultivation. Fences generally good, 
but in places somewhat racked and out of repair, 
and some weeds in the fence corners, pastures 



and orchard, and some rubbish scattered about. 
A large corn-field yielded the past season, on an 
average, between sixty-five and seventy bushels 
to the acre, of the best corn we have seen this 
season. The lawn, which adds very much to the 
appearance of the farm, extends from the high- 
way back over twenty rods to a beautiful eleva- 
tion, on which is situated the dwelling, a fine 
showy, frame building of Gothic style. Near by, 
and east of the dwelling, is the horse and cattle 
barn, poultry house, etc. From these buildings, 
a graveled driveway runs through the lawn to the 
highway. West of the lawn is a large, showy bank 
barn, well painted, the basement finished exclusively 
for sheep, the winter quarters of a flock of over 
eighty head of thoroughbred Spanish merinos, 
excelled in quality by few if any flocks in the 
county of equal size. The farm, with a little 
cleaning up, and by painting the horse-barn and 
other out-buildings not already painted, and 
replacing the present stock of cattle with a herd of 
thoroughbred short-horns, might well be called a 
model one." At Israel Gordon's, in Harmony, on 
a farm of 400 acres, the committee found good 
horses, a "herd of good grade cows, headed with a 
fine, thoroughbred short-horn bull, a flock of 
thoroughbred Spanish-merino sheep, and herds of 
Poland-China and Berkshire swine." The result 
of their investigation was the conferring of the 
first premium on the farm of Mr. McCammon, and 
the second upon the farm of Mr. Harrod. 

With the improvement of farms came the use 
of improved implements. Indeed, this has been a 
marked characteristic of the Morrow 'County 
farmer, and the new inventions in this line were 
early introduced here. To A. H. Wrenn, whose 
enterprise as a dealer in agricultural machinery 
was stimulated by a practical knowledge of the 
farmer's needs, is due the first introduction of 
most of the early improvements. The first cast- 
iron plows used here were manufactured by Tabor 
Bros, in 1849, and in the same year A. H. & R. C. 
Wrenn had manufactured the first revolving 
horse-rake, horse corn-planter and cultivator. 



■^n 



\ 






194 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



Three years later, the first steel and the first com- 
bination plow were introduced, and in 1854 or 
1855 the first Manny mower and reaper, the pio- 
neer machine of the county, was brought in. The 
first mowing match was held on Mr. Loring's 
farm in 184G. Mr. Joseph Mosier handled the 
" Ball machine," George Hull the " Hutchinson," 
and A. H. Wreun the "Manny." A fourth ma- 
chine that took part in the competition has been 
forgotten. An acre was allotted to each, and a 
spirited contest was begun. The "Manny" com- 
pleted its task in twenty-eight minutes (the quick- 
est time on record), and won the prize. The yield 
of hay was nearly two tons to the acre. The others 
were from forty to forty-five minutes at their work. 
In 1856, the first "corn and cob crusher" was in- 
troduced, and was received with marked favor by 
the farming community, but of late years these 
mills have fallen into disuse, as the feed is thought 
by some to be injurious for sheep if not for other 
stock. The first horse-power wood-saw was 
introduced about the same time, and in 1860 or 
1862, the first riding horse-rake and horse hay- 
fork. In 1865, the riding corn-plow was brought 
in, and still maintains its place on the best im- 
proved farms. These improved implements are 
now generally used, and quite a brisk trade in this 
line is done by the principal hardware merchants 
every spring and summer. 

In the matter of markets, the recent additions of 
railroad facilities go far toward solving a problem 
that has long vexed the farming community of 
Morrow County. With the finishing of the railroad 
projects which are now fast approaching comple- 
tion. Morrow County produce may be put into the 
markets of Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus and Cin- 
cinnati, in from six to twelve hours, and it only 
needs the earnest co-operation of the farmers in con- 
structing suitable roads, to make this county as far 
advanced in this respect as it is in the matter of 
taxes and county debt. As it is to-day. to a 
stranger knowing something of the accumulated 
wealth and agricultural richness of the county, the 
character of its roads is a matter of astonishment. 



The county is far behind the most of its neighbors, 
having but nine miles of graveled pike, and that 
until recently a toll-road, and not a single foot of 
plank road. This graveled road has recently been 
abandoned, and is in as poor a condition, at this 
writing, for teaming purposes, as the mud roads. 
This feature is the more important from the fact 
that it often happens that in the winter the farm- 
ing community is practically travel-bound for two 
or three months. One of the important draw- 
backs to improvement in this direction is the ab- 
sence, as it is thought, of any considerable deposit 
of gravel in the county ; but a more insuperable 
obstacle lies in the impenetrable conservatism of 
the farmers who are most to be benefited by the 
improvement. The bridging of the county is not 
an important item of expense. The forks of the 
Whetstone are the only considerable streams in the 
county, which can be easily spanned anywhere in 
one hundred feet. The old covered bridges, the 
early favorites of the county, are fast passing 
away. Of late years, all bridges of spans of fifty 
feet and upward have been constructed of iron, 
there being now in the county some fifteen of 
these structures, built principally within the last 
five years. 

Among the agricultural institutions of the county 
should be mentioned a horticultural society, which 
maintained an existence for a few years, about 
1865. The principal movers in this project were 
M. Lewis, John Gardner and Mr. Albach. Hor- 
ticulture requires so much study and persevering 
research, that it seldom finds the favor or support 
that it deserves with the general farming commu- 
nity, and here, as in most small villages, the society 
died out by the removal or the increasing age of 
the few who were its life. For some years, the 
display of this society at the fair was a marked 
and interesting feature, and it has accomplished 
much for the fruit growing of the county. The 
Morrow County Fair Association was formed in 
1850, and held its first exhibition on the 17th of 
October of that year, on the grounds now owned by 
Bradford Hull on North Main street, Mount Gil- 



•^ 



1£ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUXTY 



195 



ead. There were no premiums, no admittance fees 
no inclosure, and but little exhibition. The prin- 
cipal feature remembered now, is the riding on 
horseback of certain ladies, who displayed their 
equestrian abilities to the admiration of the gath- 
ered people. The exhibitions were held here for 
two or three years, when seven acres were pur- 
chased on the east side of Main street, just south 
of the Whetstone. These grounds were inclosed, 
suitable buildings erected, and later a fine fountain 
was constructed which proved a very attractive 
feature of the grounds. In 1867, thirty acres 
were purchased on the west side of the street, 
where the fair is now held. The grounds are well 
laid out, furnished with every convenience for the 
exhibition of stock, fruits and vegetables, and 
manufactures, and are provided with one of the 
best half-mile tracks in the State. The early 
founders of this association struggled against a 
great many difficulties, not the least of which was 
the apathy manifested toward the project by the 
farmers. For years a few chosen spirits did the 
work, made the entries, and drew the premiums to 
be turned back into the society's treasury to help 
pay expenses. Of late years, there has been some 
improvement in this respect, but the interest has 
not yet reached the point where the highest suc- 
cess can be attained. Among the early movers in 
this matter may be mentioned G. Winters, John 
Dumble, A. H. Wrenn, W. S. Irwin, Joseph Mo- 
zier. Dr. Bebee, William F. Bartlett, Samuel 
Hayden and John Farley. In 1857, the society 
secured Cassius M. Clay, to deliver the annual 
address. He was in Ohio at that time, on a polit- 
ical tour, and he cordially responded to the request 
of the association. There were about fifteen thou- 



and persons present to hear him, a number that 
would have been largely augmented had the board 
felt certain enough of his coming to advertise the 
fact extensively. In the evening, Mr. Clay made a 
political speech, which won him hosts of admiring 
friends in the county. In 1857, an independent 
fair was held at Chesterville, called the " Chester- 
ville District Fair." This was continued for a few 
years when it passed away. An attempt was made 
a year or two ago to secure permission of the Leg- 
islature to raise a tax of 3-lOths of a mill for fair 
purposes. This proposition was so violently op- 
posed by many of the farmers, that the subject 
was never seriously considered by the Legisla- 
ture. Public opinion has since been changing 
and many who have received from $5 to $10 in 
premiums from the association began to feel that it 
is no more than right to pay a single levy of $2 
or $5 in return. The efiect of the associaton 
upon the farming population is marked, and 
has had no small share in bringing about the 
general progress which has been made in the agri- 
cultural education of the country community. 
In substantial educational attainments, in moral 
culture, and in social accomplishments, Morrow is 
the peer of any agricultural county, and her prog- 
ress in these directions seem only to have reached 
the morning of their development. 

The following results of meteorological observa- 
tions made at Urbana, latitude 40° 6' north, longi- 
tude 84° 43' west, for this region, are here ap- 
pended. They were made by Milo G. Williams, 
in accordance with the methods adopted by the 
Smithsonian Institution, the hours of observation 
being 7 A. M., 2 P. M., and 9 P. M. 



' ^ « r- 



"^» a) 




HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



MEAN DEGREE OF FORCE OF THE WIND AND 



COURSE FROM WHICH THEY COME FOR THE YEAR. 



1878. 



Force. N. 



January 1 ^ g^ 

February 2 15 

^'"'•.';^ l'.96 

April... 

May 

.lune.... 

.Tuly.... 

'^"g"st.. j5i 

September ^ gg 

October j-gl 

November , og 

December 





1.97 
1.43 
1.11 
1.11 



MEAN DEGREE OFCLOUDSANDMEJOUK^ 



THE COURSE FROM WHICH THEYCOME FOR THE YEAR. 




.January 

February 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December 



SUMMARY OF METEOROLOGICAL_OBSERVATWNS 






a 




















^ 




t^ 


£ 


1 

d 







s? 


g 




•n 


<M 














>> 


>. 


^ 


s 








§ 


a 




a 


9 


(5 


& 


X 


. 



January 

February 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

SeTember... fe'^^fsS 

October 23 288U 

Kovember 22 '->,30 63 

December p! 2445 



181 7 

21 4'12. 
2925!27. 

22 6'45. 
211 240 

302253 
1722166. 
426|65, 
7,8'27152, 
it 8 31 
6I303O 
0124 1 



50 2045, 
00'2ll53 
50 9 63. 
,50 23 67. 
..50' 2 72. 
.75 29i80. 
.75|17|82 
75 978 
,25l20!77 
.001 1 71 
.50| 6i57 
.50' 141 




28.4229 

28.18 29. 

28.2729. 

28.2928 

28.5529 

28.32129. 

28.3729 



54 28.61 
,4028.52 
,9928.64 

.2928.19 
.7928.19 



3528.850 
,2128.770 
,09128.792 
9528.642 
,00128.783 
,05,28.784 
02,28.790 
,8928.7501 



62.00 28.38 29.29128. 804l24|39.20,98 




25'28.925... | 8 

15128.870 1 .50, 9 
22|28.851 1 .35 
33 28.843 1016.231 4 



±.. 



® 4i»_ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



197 



CHAPTER II. 

EARLY INHABITANTS— MOUND BUILDERS— INDIAN POSSESSION— EARLY SETTLEMENT BY THE 

WHITES— ORIGIN AND ORGANIZATION OF MORROW COUNTY— COUNTY 

BUILDINGS— THE PRESS— .JOHNNY APPLESEED. 



THE earliest history of Morrow County, in com- 
mon with that of the State, is veiled in mys- 
tery, and what share it had in the pre-historic 
times can be only guessed. It is the opinion of 
antiquarians that three distinct races have in- 
habited North America prior to the coming of the 
present inhabitants. Of these, the builders of 
those magnificent cities the ruins of which strew 
for miles the plains of Central America were the 
first. " The mind is startled," says an eminent 
writer on this subject, "at the remoteness of their 
antiquity, when we consider the vast sweep of time 
necessary to erect such colossal structures of solid 
masonry, and afterward convert them into the 
present utter wreck. Comparing their complete 
desolation with the ruins of Baalbec, Palmyra, 
Thebes and Memphis, they must have been old 
when the latter were being built." Of this race, 
no trace has been found within the limits of this 
country, and whether Ohio ever shook under the 
step of their marching, or its wilds ever echoed to 
their cries, is still an open question. " The second 
race," continues the same writer, "as determined 
by the character of their civilization, were the 
Mound-Builders, the remains of whose works con- 
stitute the most interesting class of antiquities 
found within the limits of the United States. 
Like the ruins of Central America, they antedate 
the most ancient records ; tradition can furnish no 
account of them, and their character can only be 
partially gleaned from the internal evidences which | 
they themselves afford. They consist of the re- 
mains of what were, apparently, villages, altars, 
temples, idols, cemeteries, monuments, camps, 
fortifications, etc. The farthest relic of this kind, 
discovered in a northeastern direction, was near 



Black Eiver, on the south side of Lake Ontario. 
Thence they extend in a southwestern direction 
by way of the Ohio, the Mississippi, Mexican 
Gulf, Texas, New Mexico and Yucatan into South 
America." Some of the most interesting and ex- 
tensive of these works are found in Ohio. At 
the mouth of the Muskingum, on Licking River 
near Newark, at Circleville on the Scioto, and on 
Paint Creek, near Chillicothe, are found some of 
the most elaborate of these mounds, stored with 
some of the most important relics ever discovered. 
But with all the discoveries and investigations 
made thus far, but little progress has been made 
toward a knowledge of their origin, civilization or 
destiny. They existed here, and built the works 
over which the archaeologists spend their efibrts in 
vain, but what was the nature of their stay here, 
or the character of their civilization, is as far 
from comprehension as ever. Col. Whittlesey, 
writing of this race, says : " There is no evidence 
that they had alphabetical characters, picture writ- 
ing or hieroglyphics, though they must have had 
some mode of recording events. Neither is there 
any proof that they used domestic animals for till- 
ing the soil, or for the purpose of erecting the 
imposing earthworks they have left. A very 
coarse cloth of hemp, flax or nettles has been 
found on their burial hearths, and around skel- 
etons not consumed by fire." The more impor- 
tant of these mounds are found in the southern 
part of the State, and it is conjectured that the 
remains found in the northern part may have been 
built by portions of the race not cotemporary with 
the builders of the southern structures. The dif- 
ference in the extent and importance of these 
northern structures seems to indicate a people far 



^ 



^ 



litS 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



loss in numbers as well as industry, and whose 
principal occupation was to war among themselves 
or against their noi<:;hbors. Alonj; the wat»rshed 
in this State, which lies alonj:; the southern line of 
Wyandot and Crawford Counties, extending irreg- 
ularly east and west, there is a space where but 
few of these ancient earthworks appear. It is 
conjectured, therefore, that this space was the 
"debatable ground" of the war-like tribes of the 
Mound- Builders, and that the works that are 
found on either side of this line were the outposts 
of opposing forces. Whatever the truth may be 
in regard to these fanciful theories, the fiict that 
Morrow County was the scene of the busy activ- 
ities of this strange people is beyond ijuestion. 
The traces of their occupation are abundant in all 
sections of the county, but they have, unfortu- 
nately, failed to awaken an interest in the present 
inhabitants when it would have availed most in 
behalf of arch;v(>l'>gieal information. During the 
centuries of Indian domination in this country, 
these mounds were left undisturbed. They had 
no tradition of a preceding race, and, unvexed by 
the goading of inquiring science, left these relics 
of a curious people undisturbed until the white 
man wrought the mighty change. Three of these 
works have been found at or near Chesterville. 
A mound located near the old schoolhouse was 
plowed down in 18H7, and scraped into a hole 
near it, from which it was undoubtedly thrown 
up. When within about two feet of the level, a 
quantity of greasy muck was uncovered which had 
a strong rancid smell, but no relics or bones were 
found. 

In 1820, when the hotel was built in Chester- 
ville, a mound near by was made to furnish the 
material for the brick. In digging it away, a lArge 
human skeleton was found, but no measurements 
were made. It is related that the jaw-bone was 
found to fit easily over that of a citizen of the vil- 
lage, who was remarkable for his large jaw. The 
local physicians examined the cranium and found 
it proportionately large, with more teeth than the 
white race of today. The skeleton was taken to 



Mansfield, and has been lost sight of entirely. 
Some trinkets were found in the mound, but any- 
thing like an accurate description of them cannot 
be had. One article was something like a mortar, 
holding about a half pint, made of blue clay. This 
was kept in the bar-room of the hotel as a curi- 
osity, but has long since been lost sight of Just 
west of the village is a small earthwork, surrounded 
with a trench. Upon this structure are growing 
trees of a large growth, which have evidently 
sprung up since the mound was made. Some in- 
vestigation has been made there, but with no 
result. Other mounds are found in the township 
of Troy, Canaan and Washington. In the former 
township, a circular mound of about twenty-five 
feet in diameter is situated on Section 7. No at- 
tempt has been made to learn of its contents. In 
Canaan Township, there are two that were for- 
merly connected by an embankment, and were 
evidently used as a fortification, but the demands 
of the farm have greatly obliterated their outlines, 
and they are rapidly disappearing. In Washing- 
ton, situated in the northeast corner, is a conical 
shaped mound, about twenty feet high, with a cir- 
cular base covering upward of a quarter of an 
acre. Near it is a horseshoe-shaped fortification, 
some two and a half feet high, inclosing an area of 
about a quarter of an acre. 

In the southern part of Lincoln Township is 
the remains of a mound of considerable interest. 
A cone about sixty feet in diameter was found in 
the center of a circle of about one hundred and 
twenty feet in diameter. Messrs. T. C. Cunnard 
and A. G. Emery at one time made some effort to 
investigate this relic, and employing workmen dug 
into the cone. In the center was found a circular 
wall, made of loosely laid freestone. On the outer 
side of this wall the dirt taken from the sur- 
rounding trench was thrown, and within the space 
was filled with a clay that was thought to be for- 
eign to that locality. Considerable quantity of 
charcoal and ashes were found, but no relics or 
bones, save a fragment that was pronounced metal, 
but so badly disintegrated that it fell to powder on 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



199 



exposure to the air. The earth wall which encir- 
cled the mound, it was thought, contained more 
material than could be got from the trench at its 
fv.ot, and an examination seemed to confirm their 
theory that much of the material had been brought 
to this place. On the surface of the mound a 
large ash-tree was found growing, its roots^striking 
through the supporting wall in every direction. 
When cut down, some two hundred and forty con- 
centric rings were counted, indicating an ancient 
origin for the mound. The largest result from 
this investigation has been lost, from the fact that 
the judgment of experts has not been had upon it. 

It is to be regretted these splendid speci- 
mens of the relics of the Mound-Builders have 
not attracted the attention of scholars in the 
county. It is hardly to be doubted that, 
with patient investigation, some valuable relics 
might be discovered in some of these mounds, 
which would add valuable information to the fund 
of information on this subject. These earthworks 
are on the territory where archoeologists have long 
thought there were no traces of that ancient peo- 
ple, and a stray relic might do something toward 
establishing or refuting the various theories that 
have been entertained in regard to the Mound- 
Builders on the Ohio watershed. 

The coming of the red Indian is equally obscured. 
They were found in full possession of the whole 
country so far as the first white explorers could 
determine, but the character of their customs and 
habits of life, and the uncertainty of their vague 
traditions, have left but little material for the use 
of the historian. The first explorers in Ohio found 
the State divided in latitudinal sections, which 
were occupied by the Iroquois, Delawares, Shaw- 
nees, Miamis, Wyandots and Ottawas. These na- 
tions were all subject to the warlike Iroquois or 
Five Nations, and occupied the territory assigned 
to them by their conquerors. In 1684 and 1726, 
the dominant nation ceded to the English all their 
claims west of Lake Erie, and sixty miles in width 
along the south shore of Lakes Erie and Ontario, 
from the Cuyahoga to the Oswego River. In 1 774) \ 



the same nation ceded to the Americans all the 
country claimed by that tribe west of Pennsyl 
vania, and on January 21 in the following year, by a 
treaty with the Wyandot, Delaware, Chippewa and 
Ottawa nations, the former subjects of the Iro- 
quois, a new boundary was fixed. In the trans- 
actions with the English, the Iroquois lost their 
hold on the subject nations of Ohio, and the Del- 
awares, upon whom had been heaped the greatest 
indignities by their savage conquerors, suddenly 
assumed their former warlike prowess, and became 
the most powerful enemies of the whites. During 
the Revolutionary war as the allies of the British, 
and at the head of the Northwestern Confederacy 
of Indians to oppose the cessions made by the 
Iroquois, they became the terror of the whites, and 
defeated some of the best Glenerals of colonial 
times. 

In the spring of 1794, an efibrt on the part of 
the State was made to retrieve the disasters in the 
Northwest, and Gen. Wayne, with about three 
thousand five hundred troops, assembled at Green- 
ville, to subjugate the Delawares and their allies. 
In August of that year, the hostile forces en- 
countered each other at the foot of the rapids in 
Maumee, when, after a short, but deadly conflict, 
the Indians were completely defeated. They were 
not conquered, however, and it was not until their 
whole country had been overrun, their cornfields 
destroyed, and forts erected in the very heart of 
their domain, that they would sue for peace. On 
August 3, 1795, a grand council was held at 
Greenville, with representatives of eleven of the 
most powerful tribes of the Northwest. In this 
council, by far the larger representation was from 
the tribe of the Delawares, numbering 381 braves. 
The treaty concluded at Fort Mcintosh fixed the 
line of boundary, beginning " at the mouth of the 
river Cuyahoga, and to extend up said river to the 
portage, between that and Tuscarowas branch of 
the Muskingum, thence down that branch to the 
crossing-place above Fort Laurens, then westerly 
to the portage of the Big Miami, which runs into 
the Ohio, at the mouth of which branch the fort 



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200 



HISTORY OF MORROAV COUNTY 



stood which was taken by the French, 1752 ; then 
along said portage to the Great Miami, or Omee 
River, and down the south side of the same to its 
mouth ; then along the south shore of Lake Erie 
to the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, where it 
began." At Greenville, this boundary line was 
confirmed, and extended westward from Larimie's 
to Fort Defiance, and thence southward to the 
mouth of the Kentucky River. This territory 
thus set off was given to the Delawares and Wyan- 
dots. » The line is now known as the Greenville 
treaty or Indian boundary line, and passes through 
Morrow County, forming part of the northern 
boundary of Westfield, Lincoln and Harmony, and 
cutting through Cardington and Franklin Town- 
ships. In 18(»5, the differenc tribes relinquished 
their claims on all lands west of the Cuyahoga, as 
far west as the western line of the reserve, and 
south of the line, from Fort Laurens to Laramie's 
Fort. At the close of the treaty at Greenville, 
Bu-kou-ge-he-las, a Delaware chief, addressed Gen. 
Wayne as follows : " Father, your children all 
well understand the sense of the treaty which is 
now concluded. We experience daily proofs of 
your increasing kindness. I hope we may all have 
sense enough to enjoy our dawning happiness. 
Many of your people are yet among us. I trust 
they will be immediately restored. Last winter, 
our king came forward to you with two, and when 
he returned with your speech to us, we immedi- 
ately prepared to come forward with the remainder, 
which we delivered at Fort Defiance. All who 
know me know me to be a man and a warrior, 
and I now declare that I will, for the future, be as 
steady and true a friend to the United States as I 
have, heretofore, been an active enemy," The 
promise of the warrior thus voluntarily given was 
faithfully maintained by the people. They re- 
sisted all the solicitations of Tecumseh's agents, 
and through the war of 1812, remained the stanch 
friends of the Americans, and frequently render- 
ing valuable service as scouts and sharpshooters. 
The main body of this tribe, however, removed to 
the White River and its branches, after the Green- 



ville treaty, and were not seen here in any consid- 
erable numbers afterward. The treaty of 1807 
had opened up the larger portion of the terri- 
tory within the present territory of Morrow County 
to the whites, but the Indians, loth to leave the 
land of their fathers, still had their camps in the 
territory that they had ceded to the Government. 
The principal camps were at Greentown and Je- 
rometown, both then in Richland County. In 
Marion and Crawford Counties, then a part of the 
Indian reserve, were villages of minor importance, 
but the events which ushered in the war of 1812 
wrought their removal as early as August in the 
latter year. There is no record of there ever being 
a camp or village in Morrow County. It ^as a 
rich hunting ground, and the Indians had resorted 
here from the earliest recollections, but had found 
a home in the surrounding counties. They con- 
tinued to come here in quest of the game that was 
to be found in the woods in great abundance as late 
as 1819. A hunting party for some years kept a 
permanent camp in Lincoln Township, the mem- 
bers coming and going, as their fancy moved them. 
Large parties were attracted to the eastern part of 
the counWy on trading trips to Mt. Vernon or 
Chesterville, while smaller parties visited all the 
settlements with pelts and wild fruits to exchange 
for food ; but in all their relations, they main- 
tained the friendliest attitude toward the whites. 
During the war of 1812, some stories of their at- 
tempts to intimidate women and children are re- 
lated, but nothing more hostile, and this was 
probably done by such members of the tribes as 
were beyond the peculiar government of the Indian 
nations. The rapid settlement of the country, 
with the consequent extinction of the game, how- 
ever, gradually made the country less attractive to 
the savages, and they, with the more willingness, 
accepted the propositions of the. Government to 
remove to more suitable habitations. 

There is a tradition, quite generally believed, 
that Col. Crawford's command passed through 
Morrow County in 1782, on its way to the Wyan- 
dot village, near Upper Sandusky. So firmly bcr 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



201 



lieved is this tradition, that his line of march is 
pointed out with great particularity, the site of 
one of the army's camps, and the description is 
frequently [embellished with the account of the 
capture of several of his men during the retreat 
of the army through this county. It is a thank- 
less task to dispel the illusion, but the facts will 
not warrant our passing over this tradition with- 
out suggesting its unreliability. The admirable 
history of " Crawford's Campaign Against San- 
dusky, in 1782," makes this fact perfectly plain ; 
and as many who cherish this tradition as a rich 
historical heirloom may not have access to Mr. 
Butterfield's valuable work, we give a condensed 
description of the line of march and retreat on 
that memorable occasion. The rendezvous was at 
the Mingo Bottoms, in Steubenville Township, 
Jeflferson County, in this State. Setting out from 
this point on the 25th of May, tbe little army 
" passed through the present townships of Cross 
Creek and Wayne, to the western boundary of 
Jefferson County, as at present defined ; crossing 
thence into what is now Harrison County, in Ger- 
man Township ; thence across the summit to the 
spot where the town of Jefferson now stands." 
From this point, the expedition made a slight de- 
tour to the south, reaching the Tuscarawas River 
at a point " about a quarter of a mile from Lock- 
port, in Goshen Township. Tuscarawas County," 
at noon of the fourth day's march. From this 
point, " the guides, taking a northwest course 
through the wilderness from the Muskingum 
(Tuscarawas), brought the army to the Killbuck, 
some distance above the present town of Millers- 
burg, county seat of Holmes County." Crossing 
the river, the line of march lay along the west 
bank of the stream to a large spring, near the line 
of Wayne County, ten miles south of Wooster, 
and known now as the Butler's or Jones' Spring. 
" From this point, the army moved westward, 
along the north side of what is known as Odell's 
Lake." Thence they passed northwesterly through 
the present township of Green, in Ashland County, 
and from here passed to the Rocky Fork of the 



Mohican, " up which stream they traveled until a 
spring was reached, near where the city of Mans- 
field now stands, in Richland County ; thence a 
little north of west, to a fine spring five miles 
farther on, in what is now Springfield Township — 
a place now known as Spring Mills, on the line of 
the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne' & Chicago Railroad, 
eight miles east of the town of Crestline, in Craw- 
ford County — where, on the evening of the 1st of 
June, the army halted and encamped for the 
night. On the following day, " the army crossed 
into what is now Crawford County, at 1 o'clock 
in the afternoon, and, about an hour after, reached 
the Sandusky River at a point immediately east 
of what is now the village of Leesville." This 
is, perhaps, the point nearest the boundaries of 
Morrow County that the line of march touched. 
From this point, the army passed through the 
township of Whetstone, near the village of that 
name ; through the townships of Bucyrus and 
Dallas, in Crawford County, into what is now An- 
trim Township, in Wyandot County. Crossing 
the Sandusky River, " Crawford's course was 
along the east bank of the stream, following the 
Indian trace in a direction a little west of north, 
in what is now Pitt Township." From this point, 
the army marched into what is now Crane Town- 
ship, where they met the enemy. The line of 
retreat was over the same trail that they had 
come until they reached the Tuscarawas River, 
when the army took a wide detour to the south in 
the Williamson trail, passing through what is now 
Cadiz, in Harrison County, thence northerly 
through the site of the present town of Smith- 
field to the place of departure. The story of the 
prisoners captured in this county is equally un- 
founded. Crawford, Dr. Knight, PauU, Slover, 
and all of whom any account is given, were capt- 
ured north of the line of march and principally 
in what are now Crawford and Wayne Counties. 
The early settlement by the whites followed 
close upon the retreating red man. The treaty of 
1807 was followed by the immediate surveying of 
this country by the Government, a large part of 



w 



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202 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



the county being surveyed in the same year. Pur- 
chasers caiue upon the ground very soon after, 
and warrants having been issued at once to soldiers 
of the Revolution for some of this land, the tide 
of emigration at once set in. The Ohio fever 
took strong hold in many of the older communi- 
ties, and no sooner was the " new purchase " heard 
of, than hundreds, anxious to secure a home with 
plenty of land, flocked to the new country. The 
early pioneers of Morrow County came close after 
the surveyors, and in many places found the bark 
still fresh on the stakes that marked the diff'erent 
sections. The great avenues of travel lead up 
from the south and east, naturally resulting in first 
settling the south and east sections of what is now 
Morrow County. The site of Mount Gilead was 
then near the outlying portions of Knox and Dela- 
ware Counties. These were erected in the same 
year (1808), and divided the jurisdiction of 
the territory north of them to the lakes. In 1813, 
Richlinid County was formed, though it had at 
that time but a sparse population, which was princi- 
pally near the center of the county. The earliest 
settlement made upon territory within the present 
limits of Morrow County was probably made in 
Chester Township. The lands of the Owl Creek 
valley constituted some of the finest in this part of 
the State, and the early settlers did not hesitate to 
purchase where the land suited them the best, with- 
out reference to the location of the older communi- 
ties. The first squatter in Knox County did not 
come long before 1803. In 1805, Mount Vernon 
was laid out, and in 1807 the first settler (Evan 
Holt) came to Chester. The nearest point at which 
these adventurous pioneers could transact their 
legal business was at Lancaster, in Fairfield County, 
and some were obliged to go this distance from 
Chester to pay their taxes. The bold adventurer 
who had pushed so far beyond the farthest boun- 
dary of civilization was not long alone. In the follow- 
ing year came others, and every year additions were 
made to the little settlement in increasing num- 
bers, building up one of the most vigorous and en- 
terprising communities to be found in the present 



county. Most of the emigrants were from the 
Middle States, with a few from Maryland and Vir- 
ginia, and later (juite a colony of Welsh from the 
old country, by way of Philadelphia and Balti- 
more. At that time, Franklin Township had no 
separate organization, but its settlement was quite 
distinct, and was made in 1810. The Shaws came 
first, and young Peoples a few weeks later, both 
locating in the southern central part of the present 
township. Following these families came the 
Cooks, Blairs and Leverings, locating in the north- 
east part of the township in 1811-12. Bloom- 
field, though quite as accessible to immigration, 
did not settle up as rapidly as its sister townships 
from Knox. The first settlement, however, was 
made as early as 1808, and the central point of 
settlement, early called " Clark's Cross Roads," 
was admirably situated, being equally distant from 
Berkshire, Mount Vernon, Chesterville and Johns- 
town, the important villages of that time. The 
village of Sparta, situated on the old State road 
from Mansfield via Frederick to Sunbury and 
Columbus, became in late years a trading-point of 
considerable importance, and, about 1840, added 
mechanical and manufacturing enterprises to some 
extent. The community was made up of emi- 
grants from the older counties of Ohio, from Penn- 
sylvania, with a large admixture of Connecticut 
people. The territory drawn from Delaware 
County, though lying farthest from the channels 
along which emigration flowed into that section, 
had the advantage of being part of the oldest set- 
tled of any of the frontier counties in this part of 
the State. Delaware County was first made the 
permanent home of the white man in 1801, and in 
1804 an enterprising and wealthy resident land 
speculator founded a colony at Berkshire, and spared 
no pains that ample means and intelligent purpose 
could command, to stimulate emigration. The 
natural consequence was that all parts of the 
county felt the influence of this vigorous effort, 
so that even the outlying portions were settled as 
soon as the central portions of many other counties 
of equal natural advantages. Of the portion set 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



203 



oflF to Morrow County, the earliest settled was 
probably Peru Township. Here, in 1809, Cyrus 
Benedict, anxious to find land for his growing 
family and a quiet place to establish his faith, 
came and took up a large tract of land. He was 
a Quaker, and each year brought an accession of 
those of like faith. This settlement formed a 
nucleus for a community that wielded a powerful 
influence upon that part of the country. They 
were the first to oppose the use of whisky at the 
public gatherings for house-raising, log-rolling and 
husking bees; they early espoused the cause of 
"free soil," and were a power in politics after the 
organization of the county of Morrow. The 
larger part of the settlement came from Clinton 
County, N. Y., but the subsequent additions came 
largely from Pennsylvania and Connecticut. 

The Shaw settlement, in Westfield, was an im- 
portant and early one. It dates back as early aS 
1808, and contributed largely to the settlement of 
the townships near by it. Harmony and Lincoln 
were settled later, principally by the overflow emi- 
gration of Chester, Peru and Westfield. A part 
of Harmony was kept out of the market for some 
time, and was settled by emigrants from the 
counties of Knox, Perry and Muskingum. The 
contribution from Marion County was settled 
somewhat later, the southern portion profiting by 
the general circumstances that afiected the tide of 
emigration. Cardington, then known as Morrow 
Township, was not settled until about 1821. It 
drew its pioneers from Peru Township and the Mid- 
dle States principally, though the older counties of 
Ohio contributed no small share to building up the 
community. Gilead Township drew its settlement 
from Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and the 
older settled parts of Ohio, the first settlement being 
made in 1817. A year later, the first settler, 
Benjamin Sharrock, came to Washington Town- 
ship from Guernsey County, Ohio. In 1820, the 
first settler made his appearance in Canaan Town- 
ship, from Fairfield County, Ohio. The settlement 
of this township was made principally by Pennsyl- 
vanians, who, by their industry and frugality, have 



made it one of the most prosperous townships in the 
county. Fiichland County was first settled about 
1807, and for some years was attached to Knox 
as Madison Township. In 1813, it was organized 
as a separate county, but with very few settlers. 
The oldest township in- the territory which was 
derived from that county is Perry. It was settled 
about 1810, and drew principally from Pennsyl- 
vania for its community. It was a vigorous set- 
tlement and took an important position as a 
commercial center in that early time. The later 
accessions have evinced the same advanced ideas, 
and the School and church are of a high character, 
both as regards development and efficiency. Troy, 
settled in 1814, drew its early settlers from Penn- 
sylvania and New Jersey ; North Bloomfield, set- 
tled about 1818, is in the hands of Pennsylvanian 
emigrants, and Congress, drawing its early pioneers 
from the same State, was settled about 1821. 

The organization of Marion County in 1824, 
and the establishment of the county seat at Ma- 
rion, was the cause of the first inception of the 
project to erect a new county out of the territory 
which is now known as Morrow. Mount Gilead 
was laid out in the same year, and formed a 
nucleus about which the discontent with the loca- 
tion of the seat of justice gathered. Some of the 
more radical ones said at once that a new county 
would be formed to accommodate the large popu- 
lation which was situated in the outlying corners 
of the four counties, but it was some twenty one 
years before this project bore the fruit of fact, and 
then not without a struggle that consumed the 
energies of the whole community, the time for 
years of its best citizens, and not an inconsiderable 
sum of money for that time. The early history 
of this struggle is but imperfectly known. The 
project awakened at the very start a determined 
opposition, and the operations of the active par- 
tisans in this movement were necessarily known 
to but a few of the leading spirits of the time. 
These have long since passed away, and we have 
but vague traditions from which to glean informa- 
tion in regard to this interesting event. From all 



204 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



the information at our command, it appears that 
the early efforts were confined principally to gath- 
ering petitions setting forth the case of the peti- 
tioners, and asking the Legislature for the obvious 
relief. Unfortunately for the early success of the 
project, there were a number of conflicting interests 
to be cdnciliated, some of which eventually com- 
manded nearly as great strength as the Gilead claim. 
It was proposed by the original movers in this 
project to erect a county out of the outlying por- 
tions of Marion, Richland, Knox and Delaware 
Counties, with Mount Gilead as the county seat. 
The movement was strongly opposed by the Rich- 
land County people, save the few to be especially 
favored by the change, and the erection, in 1846, 
of Ashland, which took a large portion of its ter- 
ritory from Richland, did not make this opposition 
any the less determined. To this was added, about 
this time, the opposition of the conflicting claims 
of Chester and Bennington. The necessity for 
the erection of a new county on this territory was 
now generally conceded, and the contest turned 
on the (|uestion of the location of the county seat. 
The Gilead claim,a^it was known in lobby parlance, 
called for the erection of a county to be bounded by 
a line beginning at the northeast corner of Sec- 
tion 1, in Tully Township, Crawford County, 
thence east with a slight variation, taking the 
larger part of Bloomfield Township, then turning 
south on the section line of Troy Township near 
its northern boundary, it diverged from a straight 
line to take in the whole of Perry, Franklin, 
Chester and Bloomfield, thence west, taking the 
whole of Bennington, Peru, a little of the north 
part of Oxford (Delaware County) and all of 
Westfield, then, by deflecting to the east, took in 
only the townships of Morven, Canaan and one- 
half of Tully. This left Mount Gilead the cen- 
tral point and the obvious county seat. The 
Chester claim proposed to erect a county out of 
the territory bounded by a line beginning in the 
southeast corner of Tully Township (Crawford 
County), passing due east to a point about a mile 
east of the west line of Jefferson, dividing Wash- 



ington and cutting a little portion off the southern 
part of Bloomfield and Troy, thence south, taking 
about a mile off the western side of Jefferson 
(Richland County), passing around the whole of 
Middleberry (Knox County), and taking in the 
west half of Wayne, Liberty and Milfor J (Knox 
County); thence west on the southern line of 
Milford, Hillier (Knox County) and Porter (Del- 
aware County), the line followed the western 
boundary of the last-named township to Peru ; 
then passing so as to take in the whole of that 
township, it passed due north to the boundary 
line, deflecting to the east to the eastern boundary 
of Morven and Canaan to the place of beginning, 
leaving Chesterville the obvious place for the 
county seat. The Bennington claim made Ma- 
rengo the central point, and ran its lines about it, 
taking territory from Knox, Licking, Delaware 
and Marion. It was an era of county-making, 
and the number of projects of this nature pressed 
upon the attention of legislators by hired lobbyists 
is astonishing. The number which more or less 
antagonized the interests of a county to be formed 
on the territory now known as Morrow reached 
as high as nine at one time. At that time, the 
names of Walhonding, Bennington, Chester, On- 
tario, Center, Taylor, National and Johnston were 
the names of aspiring counties, not one of which 
ever crowned a successful issue, though some of 
the counties they introduced were established. 
The state of affairs at Columbus at this time is 
well expressed by a letter from one of the lobbyists 
to his principals. He writes, " The committee on 
new counties have not yet reported, and we have 
all been waiting anxiously, expecting a report every 
morning this week, without coming to any definite 
conclusion as to who would get the report. I tell 
you, gentlemen, there are a great many ups and 
downs in this brown town, and about three downs 
to one up, for there are so many conflicting inter- 
ests here on the subject of new counties, and so 
much jealousy existing, that if you get a member 
favorably impressed, some one, for fear your tale 
will interfere with his interests, will go and tell 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



205 



him that it was all false, and the claim that has 
the least prospect of success has the most friends 
amona: the lobbyists." This was as early as Jan- 
uary 14, 1846, and it was not until February 24, 
1848, that these alternations of hope and fear were 
put to rest by the erection of Morrow County. 
The session of 1845-46 was about the first that 
the difi'erent claims were represented by lobbyists. 
During this session, Gilead was represented by 
Dr. Geller, John Young, Christopher Lindsay and 
S. T. Cunnard ; Chester delegated her interest to 
W. Hance, E. B. Kinsell, William Shur, Enoch 
and Davis Miles, and Bennington was represented 
by Thomas Freeman, a Mr. Morehouse and Hiram 
Randolph. These men were on the ground as 
early as the candidates for legislative offices, and 
did not retire until the last struggle of the session. 
To understand the contest between these claims, 
it must be remembered that according to the laws 
upon the subject, no county could be formed con- 
taining less than four hundred square miles, and 
no county could be reduced below this constitu- 
tional minumum. The problem then was, to map 
out a county that would answer these two require- 
ments and receive the support of a majority of the 
people living within the territory thus included. 
It will be observed that in a spirited contest, these 
requirements gave plenty of work for the partisans 
of the different claims to do. Committees were 
formed to solicit signatures to petitions or remon- 
strances, to secure subscriptions for expenses of the 
lobbyists, and to keep close watch and counteract 
the efforts of the committees for other claims. An 
opponent of the Ontario or Gilead claim writes to 
his principals, concerning the operations of the 
friends of that claim, " I do not think there can 
be one solitary exception ; they have got their 
own signers, and they have every one of ours 
whom they could torture, tease or beg into sub- 
mission. They have a great many signers who 
have signed our petitions. They must have nine- 
teen hundred or two thousand petitioners in all, 
and some three or four hundred memorialists from 
Marion, Delaware and Crawford Counties. I think 



they have traveled land and water to make prose- 
lytes, and verily they have made them." 

The sessions of 1845-46 passed without preju- 
dice to either of the claims. By the illness of two 
Whig Senators, the Democrats had a majority in 
that branch of the Legislature, and being opposed 
to the erection of new counties, the matter made 
but little stir save among the anxious lobbyists. In 
the following session, the forces were early on hand. 
The Gilead claim had been put in the hands of a 
committee during the previous session, but not 
acted upon, and early in this session Chester sub- 
mitted its claim, with a good prospect of seeing 
the matter brought to a vote. But they were all 
doomed to disappointment by the death of Mr. 
Horr, the representative from Marion and Dela- 
ware, which deferred all consideration of county 
claims taking territory from this district. The 
Governor appointed a new election to fill the va- 
cancy, and Messrs. Eaton and Reynolds were nom- 
inated. This election was of vital importance to 
the new county lobbyists, and one writes that 

•' M has seen Eaton and he signified that he 

would be in favor of new counties. Now, my boys, 
go into Harmony and get them to vote for Eaton." 
It is hardly necessary to add that he was elected. 

The Bennington claim was introduced late in 
the session, and although it gained no prominence 
in the fears of the lobbyists or discussions of the 
committees, it served to balk the hopes of the 
other contestants. During the previous session, 
the Gilead claim was decidedly in the lead ; at the 
present, the prospect had changed, sending Chester 
to the front and its supporters had strong hopes of 
bringing it to a favorable vote when Eaton took 
his seat. But Bennington was thrust forward and 
disturbed all their well-laid plans. The bill to 
erect this county was brought to a vote, but it was 
indefinitely postponed, January 29, 1847, and 
though strenuous efibrts were made on the part of 
its friends to resuscitate it by a vote to reconsider, 
it was efiiectually laid out. Gilead came before the 
House, and at the request of its friends was referred 
to a select committee, and Chester, after passing 



:i^ 



206 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



two readings successfully, was postponed by the 
request of its friends to the first Monday in De- 
cember of 1847. Thus another winter of anxiety 
had passed and the county of Morrow was no 
nearer completion than at the beginning of the 
session. ()ne thing had been gained ; the mem- 
bers had become disgusted with the whole subject 
and were in a mood to finish the business one way 
or another, if it ever came before them again. 

The final campaign opened in December, 18-17. 
The lobbyists were in full force, early on the 
ground. A letter dated December 8, 1847, from 
William Hance, at Columbus, to the Chester com- 
mittee, gives the outlook at the beginning of the 
session, as follows: "Judging from present ap- 
pearances and circumstances, the contest will be 
between Chester and Gilead, and in it Gilead has 
an advantage. The chairman of the committee in the 
House is believed to be a friend to that claim. The 
two Democrats, Smith, of Hamilton, and Coe, of 
Sandusky, voted for it last year, hence they may 
have a majority report in their favor, which will 
be an advantage to them, as the dereliction of Gil- 
ead seems not to be thought of only when we men- 
tion it; and many members appear anxious to set- 
tle the matter in some way. On the other hand, 
we have Mr. Parks, of Lorain, and Mr. Taylor, of 
Franklin, on the committee, from whom we expect 
anything but a report favorable to either Bennington 
or Gilead. The Chairman, Mr. Hurdisty, is from 
Carroll, and appears to be in the keeping of Mr. 
Watt, who has been engaged here for Gilead, for two 
or three years past, and is from Carroll County. In 
the Senate, the committee is composed of King, Hor- 
tonand Beaver; King is a Democrat and is Chairman, 
the other two are Whigs. Horton was last year in 
the House and voted for the indefinite po-itpoue- 
ment of both Bennington and Gilead, and I think 
was favorable to Chester." It became generally 
understood that this session would bring the 
matter to an issue, and most strenuous eflForts 
were made on all hands to place their claims in the 
most favorable light. The (iilead claim had changed 
in name from Ontario to Gilead, and then to Mar- 



shall, to conciliate the various prejudices. Chester 
had secur 'd the services of the man that had suc- 
cessfully engineered Ashland's interest, and the lob- 
bies were everywhere strongly re-enforced. One of 
the Chester lobbyists writes : " It is doubtless the 
fact that more lobbies are employed at this time in 
Columbus than ever before since the formation of 
the State." With these preparations mad'', there 
was nothing left but to hope fcr the rest with an 
anxiety that few, who have not had the experience, 
can well comprehend. It is almost distressing, at 
this late date, 'to read these letters from the lobby- 
ists to their friends at home, informing them of the 
progress of affairs. Letters are written twice a 
week and they prcs3nt a pioture of shifting shad- 
ows where the scene changes in a breath, with the 
alternations of hope and despair. 

On December 13, 1847, the House Committee 
is informed that '' Gilead, at least, if not Ben- 
nington, is moving heaven and earth to accom- 
plish her purpose, having all the doorkeepers and 
clerks in both branches, and many others employed 
in her bjhalf"' Notwithstanding this array of 
opposition, the writer has great confidence that 
the Chester claim is likely to succeed. He adds 
that " there is a strong repugnance with the Whigs 
to make Bennington, and, also, to a considerable 
extent, against Gilead. Chester, in all that should 
be looked at as requisite in making a new county 
— such as remoteness from old county seats, con- 
tiguity of territory to the new county seat as com- 
pared with the old ones, compactness of territory, 
and consequent accommodation of the inhabitants 
taken into the new county — is a much better 
claim than either Bennington or Gilead. We have 
the direct expression of a number of members of 
a preference for Chester. We are satisfied beyond 
doubt that at least one member of each committee 
is decidedly in our favor ; and no reason to doubt 
the friendship of one other member of each com- 
mittee, making a majority in one committee, with 
strong hopes that the o her Whig and Democrat 
will go for us on the other committee." 

A week later comes the intelligence : " Wal- 



9r^|-2kS^ 





if 



v> 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



209 



bonding fanother new county project) is playing 
the deuce with all our new counties, and whilst 
she cannot be made herself, will do much toward 
preventing all others being made." In another 
letter of about the same date, the same writer says : 
'' We thought we had two of the Senate Commit- 
tee safe, and were disposed to push our claim with 
them, but the Chairman declined calling the com- 
mittee together until all the petitions from the 
conflicting claims were in. We then turned our 
a'ttention to the House, where we felt pretty sure 
of two members of the committee, but to-day there 
seems to be an undercurrent at work, which, I fear, 
renders it uncertain whether we shall have a single 
one on the Senate, and but one on the House 
Committee. If I am correct in my suspicion rel- 
ative to the committees, it is all owing to the in- 
fluence of the foreign friends of Walhonding." A 
letter of December 23, 184-7, brings news of a 
re-action. It says : " A majority of the commit- 
tee has reported Gilead. Johnstown is gone by 
the board — scarcely a grease-spot left. National 
and Cumberland reported. The committee goes 
on rapidly this winter, disposing of five claims at 
one sitting. To-day a bill was reported by the 
committee for the erection of Gilead. Chester, of 
course, was reported against by the majority, but 
we have two fast friends (Park and Taylor), who 
will make a minority report. The majority is one 
Whig and two Democrats ; the minority is two 
Whigs. We have high hopes yet ; we have now 
1660 petitions, all told. Gilead has only 1259 
legal ones within the territory, and 280 out of the 
territory, with 77 illegal ones. We expect the 
minority report will tear the report of the majority 
all to pieces. Bennington, once proud and lofty 
Bennington ! How are the mighty fallen ! * * 
Poor fellow! (referring to the gentleman who 
headed that claim) he sold his birthright for a mess 
of pottage." 

Notwithstanding the favorable action in favor 
of the Gilead claim, there was a very strong feel- 
ing on the part of all that it was likely to be finally 
defeated. The Whigs manifested considerable 



opposition to it on the ground that it would 
strengthen their adversaries, and unless the Dem- 
ocrats could be induced to forego their party 
opposition to all new counties, there was, indeed, 
no hope for its success. The Chester adherents 
strongly urged that the Whigs of the western part 
of Knox County were the only ones that had 
increased their majority, and that they should be 
encouraged. All this was not without its effect, 
and the prospects of Chester, though not osten- 
sibly so bright as Gilead, were in reality much more 
hopeful. On December 27, 18-47, the minority of 
the House Committee on New Counties presented 
the grounds of its dissent from the finding of the 
majority. The report of the majority we have not 
been able to seizure, but as that of the minority, as 
a matter of necessity, goes over the same ground, 
we shall trespass upon the patience of the reader 
so far as to give this paper, trusting that the im- 
portance of preserving a document of such his- 
torical value may be found a sufficient warrant for 
its introduction here. 

Mr. Park, from the minority of the Standing 
Committee on New Counties, made the following 
report : 

The minority of the Committee on New Counties, dis- 
senting from the majority in their recommendation of 
the Gilead and rejection of the Chester claim — both 
claims occupying, to a considerable extent, the same 
territory — submit their views : 

The minority cannot assent to all the general prin- 
ciples \aid down by the majority, in regard to the erec- 
tion of new counties, as they do not feel in duty bound, 
constitutionally or otherwise, to erect new counties, un- 
less the general good requires it, and that by so doing 
the rights of others are not impaired. And they are 
not willing that, by any act of theirs, censure should be 
cast upon any preceding Legislature for not granting 
new county claims, which they believe were not meri- 
torious. 

Many considerations should be brought into view in 
deciding upon the merits of any new county that it might 
be proper to erect, which it is the duty of such Legisla- 
ture carefully to weigh, before such question is settled. 
For instance, in the very case now before the commit- 
tee, there are remonstrances from Knox County against 
any division of the same, because of that county having. 



■^1 



V 



'.t. 



210 



HISTORY or MORROW COUNTY. 



by an overwhelming; majority, incurred a heavy re- 
sponsibility for the construction of a railroad, which 
responsibility, it is supposed, will devolve upon that 
portion of the people who may remain in that county. 
The minority believe that if said result would necessa- 
rily follow dismemberment, it would be an act of injus- 
tice which this minority could not sanction. But, 
wliether those who might thus be severed from Knox 
would be legally released from their proportionate share 
of the debt thus incurred, the minority do not feel com- 
petent to decide. 

There are, also, many reasons of a general nature 
which have an important bearing against the making of 
new counties, and which ought to have their proper 
influence in the decision of a question of this kind, but 
which the minority do not deem it necessary now to 
enumerate. 

It is, perhaps, true, as is asserted by the report of the 
majority, that Gilead is an old applicant, but, in view 
of all the facts of the case, this should weaken rather 
than strengthen its claim to the favorable consideration 
of the Legislature, as, had it possessed ordinary merit, 
with the advantages it has employed — having been be- 
fore the Legislature without competitors, and having 
had representatives from its own territory who were 
especially charged with its interests — it ought long since 
to have been erected into a county. But it would 
appear that past Legislatures, which have evinced a 
favorable disposition toward the erection of new coun- 
ties, have never been impressed with the advantages of 
this claim ; and the undersigned confess that they are 
unable, after a full investigation of all the facts touch- 
ing it, to dissent from the conclusion arrived at by pre- 
vious Legislatures. One reason, as we learn, for these 
repeated failures, is the fact, that during the time above 
referred to, the citizens residing in the territory taken 
by Gilead from the counties of Knox and Richland, 
have been constantly opposed to being thus cut off from 
their connection with those counties, and attached 
to one which is, as they assert, directly hostile to 
their interests and advantages. Those citizens are not 
entirely opposed to the erection of a new county, of 
which they might form a part, but they object to being 
taken into a county which would render their situation 
worse than it now is, and, hence, they have now united 
with those whom they have heretofore opposed, and 
favor the erection of the new county of Chester — a 
county in which they can enjoy equal advantages with 
theis western neighbors. 

The undersigned .ire of the opinion that the advan- 
tages to accrue to the citizens of a new county would be 



more equally distributed by the erection of Chester 
than by the erection of Gilead. But, before giving their 
reasons for this opinion, they would state that they are 
both personally acquainted with the territory out of 
which it is proposed to make one or the other of these 
new counties, and can, therefore, speak with more con- 
fidence. 

The minority will first notice the fact, that the gen- 
eral business of that region tends northeasterly and 
easterly, to Mansfield, Fredericktown and Mount Ver- 
non. The first-named place being the present termina- 
tion of the railroad which is rapidly progressing toward 
the latter places, and to which points the people are 
drawn, as well on account of a market for their agri- 
cultural products, as for the purpose of milling, and of 
furnishing themselves with what their wants require, 
in either the mechanical or mercantile line. And to 
these points, from a large portion of the country in 
view, the business must not only continue to flow, but 
must very much increase, especially on the completion 
of the railroad to Fredericktown and Mount Vernon. 

It is almost needless to say, that the people of any 
county are best accommodated by having their civil 
and judicial business transacted where their mercan- 
tile and other business concentrates. Gilead, as its 
location indicates, cannot aflford such accommodation. 
These facts will show that the people of the territory 
embraced in Chester, or that ought to be embraced in 
any new county in that region, will be better accommo- 
dated at Chesterville, as the county seat, than at Gilead. 

But it is not alone on arguments such as these that 
the minority rest their views of the propriety of erect- 
ing Chester instead of Gilead. 

It will be perceived that the proposed county of 
Gilead requires so much territory from Marion as to 
reduce that county below its constitutional area — a 
fact not noted in the report of the majority. As the 
constitution of the State declares that " no new county 
shall be established by the General Assembly which 
shall reduce the county or counties, or either of them, 
from which it shall be taken, to less extent than 400 
square miles" — a declaration to which no two con- 
structions can be given — the minority of the committee, 
in common with others, are of the opinion that it 
would be doing violence to that instrument to erect 
Gilead, or any other new county, which does so reduce 
an existing county. Aside from this constitutional 
view of the matter, the expediency of thus reducing a 
county below its constitutional area, and attaching 
fragments of territory taken from its neighbor to restore 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUKTY. 



311 



what was thus lost, may be seriously questioned. Upon 
this point the minority do not deem it necessary to en- 
large. 

But, however this may be, it is an objection which 
can be easily obviated by the erection of Chester — as 
there is contiguous territory enough in the counties of 
Delaware, Marion, Richland and Knox to make a new 
county, without cutting Marion down below 400 square 
miles. Then why resort to a doubtful measure, when 
the means are not only ample for avoiding it, but the 
people interested might at the same time be accommo- 
dated much better thereby. 

When to all this is added, what the minority believe 
is a fact, that the territory detached from Union and 
attached to Marion County reduces Union below its 
constitutional area, there no longer remains a doubt 
with the minority thatGilead cannot — ought not — to be 
made. 

But there is another fact which should not be over- 
looked in comparing the merits of the two claims; and 
which, as the minority think, places beyond contro- 
versy the question as to which of them ought to be 
made. According to what the minority believe to be a 
con-ect estimate, there are about thirty-six square miles 
of territory in Chester which is nearer the county seats 
of the counties in which said territory now lies than it 
will be in Chester, if that county is erected. This 
seems to be a sufficient amount of territory to be thus 
incommoded by the making of any new county. But 
in Gilead there are within its advertised bounds seventy- 
eight square miles of territory similarly situated. To 
this may also be added six miles in the parts proposed 
to be attached to Marion, making a total of eighty-four 
square miles incommoded on account of increased dis- 
tance from the county seats. This is equal to one-fifth 
of the whole territory embraced within the bounds of 
Gilead. And when to this is added the fact that many 
of those who may be brought nearer to the new than 
they now are to the old county seat, but would never- 
theless be incommoded by having to transact their civil 
and judicial business in one direction and their other 
business in another, there will probably be two-fifths of 
the population of Gilead who would feel themselves in- 
jured by the erection of said county. 

The minority also deem it proper, in conclusion, to 
notice a few points made by the majority in their re- 
port. 

In alluding to the petitions, the majority say that 
they are " from citizens of Richland, Crawford, Marion, 
Delaware and Knox." The minority on examination 
find petitions from Richland, Marion, Delaware and 



Knox, but none from Crawford. This may by some be 
regarded as a matter of small moment. Be it so ; but 
in all things, especially official matters, everything, 
however unintentional, calculated to deceive, should be 
carefully avoided. 

The majority a^so say "that there is in the counties 
from which the proposed county is to be taken an 
abundance of tei'ritory out of which to erect a new 
county without reducing either of the counties from 
which territory is taken below the constitutional 
amount.'" The minority, not having seen the bill re- 
ported by the majority for the erection of Gilead, do 
not, of course, know its provisions; but judging from 
the terms of the petition, it cannot be doubted that 
provision is therein made for attaching to Marion terri- 
tory for the purpose of restoring 'it to its constitutional 
area. 

The majority further say, that in making Gilead, 
there is left " in the county of Richland four hundred 
and eighty square miles ; in the county of Crawford, 
four hundred and five square miles ; in the county of 
Delaware, four hundred and sixty-six square miles ; in 
the county of Knox, five hundred and twenty-four 
square miles;" but most singularly omit to tell how 
much is left in the county of Marion, which, it will be 
borne in mind, is reduced below the constitutional limits. 

The minority will next notice the comparison made 
by the majority of the number of petitioners with the 
number of voters in the territory embraced by Gilead. 
The report says that the number of voters amounts to 
about three thousand — "a large majority of which 
number have petitioned for the erection of the pro- 
posed new county." 

The minority have made a hasty estimate of the 
number of votes polled at the gubernatorial election in 
1844, and find they amount to about three thousand 
five hundred. It is well known that more or less 
voters in all elections do not attend the polls. These, 
added to the natural increase since that time, would 
doubtless swell the number to nearly or quite four 
thousand. The minority have also carefully counted 
all the petitioners for Gilead, and find that the number 
of those within the bounds of that claim amounts to 
one thousand four hundred and thirty-six — being only 
a little more than one-third of the estimated number of 
voters in said territory. 

In addition to the foregoing petitioners, the minority 
find of those out of the Gilead territory, ninety-four in 
Marion County and one hundred and eighty-six in Del- 
aware County, making in all two hundred and eighty. 
To such petitions, however, coming from persons not 



^ 



312 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUXTY 



residing in territory included in the new county, the 
minority attach but little weight — knowing, as they do, 
how readily many persons sign petitions for objects in 
which they have little or no interest. 

The majority say further in their report that they 
have "taken into consideration the various other claims 
which conflict with this (Gilead), and find that the 
largest number of legal petitioners are in its favor." 
The minority have also been attentive to this matter, 
but have arrived at a different result. The petitioners 
which the minority think should have any influence in 
the case, being those only who are within the territory 
of the proposed county of Gilead, amount, as before 
stated, to one thousand four hundred and thirty-six, 
while those for Chester number one thousand six hun- 
dred and thirty five, all of whom are within the ter" 

ritory, and all are strictly legal. 

Elah Park, 
George Taylor. 

This attack was followed up by the presentation 
of a bill to erect the county of Chester, and both 
bills passed successfully to the third reading in the 
House. In the mean while, Gilead had narrowly 
escaped utter defeat, and was saved from a hostile 
vote only by recommitting it to the committee. 
On the other hand, the lobbyists of that claim 
had, after an unsuccessful attempt to buy out 
Chester for $1,000, purchased the aid of the 
Bennington champions — Freeman for cash, and 
Randolph by a promise of ofl&ce in the new county, 
and thus re-enforced were making up in shrewd 
management what they were losing in popularity. 
A letter from Dr. Hance, early in January, 1848, 
gives the status of the rival claims as follows : 

" Just before adjournment, the new county com- 
mittee reported back the Gilead bill with some 
amendments, when Mr. Blake moved its recommit- 
ment to a committee of one, which finally resulted 
in recommitting it to a committee of three, to wit, 
Blake, McWright and Cotton. A division being 
called for, thirty-seven members arose in favor of its 
recommitment, being a majority of the whole House, 
two, at least, of the enemies of Gilead being 
absent, who, had they been present, would have 
voted for recommitment. This vote, I think, de- 
cides the vote of Gilead. The Gilead folks feel a 
good deal excited about the result of this vote. 



Well, I wish they were worse crippled than they 
are ; though I think they will be killed when they 
come up again. Since the report of the committee, 
170 petitions have been presented for Gilead. 
These I examined to-night, and find 57 of 
them from Harmony, 89 from Marlborough 
and 24 from Marion Township. At the time of 
the report, Gilead had 1,436 petitioners, to which 
add the above 57 from Harmony, being the only 
ones within the territory, and they have 1,493, 
while we have now here 1 ,85 1 , being 358 more than 
they have within the territory. They had, at the 
time of the report, 280 out of the territory, to 
which add the above 113, and it makes them 393, 
being in all, in and out of the territory, 1,886. 
Counting what we have out of the territory, being 
about 60, and we have 1,911, being 25 more than 
they have." 

On the 4th of January, the Gilead claim was 
reported back to the Committee of the Whole 
House, and was indefinitely postponed. On the 
following day, this vote was reconsidered and the 
bill recommitted, and, by one of those freaks of 
fortune, "that no man can find out," the fortunes 
of Gilead began to pick up. A letter from the 
lobby at Columbus writes on January 5, 1848 : 

" I have no doubt that the Walhonding demon- 
stration has made friends for Gilead among the 
Democrats, and this indirectly injures Chester. A 
wonderful change has certainly taken place among 
the Democrats in regard to new counties. Here- 
tofore, they have, as a party, been opposed, but 
the vote on Gilead shows a different feeling. On 
the vote to indefinitely postpone Gilead, there were 
for it 26 Whigs and 8 Democrats; against it, 21 
Democrats and 12 Whigs." 

Not to go into further tedious details, the exctil- 
lent management of the Gilead claim was exhibited 
by its passing one day in the absence of some of 
its enemies by a majority of one, and went into 
the Senate. To recover the ground lost, the 
Chester managers had a new bill introduced in the 
Upper House, and proposed to contest every foot 
of ground. Here Gilead found it necessary to 



'=i. 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



213 



rely more upon the skill of its management than 
upon its friends in the Senate. As late as the 
21st of February, it was indefinitely postponed by 
a vote of 17 to 15, a vote that would have been 
the death of any ordinary project, but the lobby 
influence was indefatigable, and the bill was re- 
suscitated and passed February 24, 1848. It is 
difficult to determine whether its friends or its foes 
were the most surprised by this denouement, and 
just how it was done has long been a puzzle. One 
vote was gained by changing the name of the pro- 
posed county. A Senator from Morrow, in the 
southern part of the State, who had been instructed 
to vote against Marshall County, said that if the 
Gilead people would change the name to Morruw, 
after the ex-Governor of that name, he could vote 
for it. This was accordingly done. But after 
waiting in vain for a favorable opportunity to catch 
their opponents napping, they devised a plan by 
which they hoped to secure a favorable vote. So, 
one day, when it was found that the absence of a 
single adverse vote would give the Gilead claim a 
clear field. Senator Olds, of Pickaway, who was 
very fond of a game of cards, was inveigled into 
a back room by the Gilead retainers, and got so in- 
terested in a game that he forgot his interests at 
the Capitol. To make his absence from the Senate 
certain, George N. Clark, who was one of the 
Gilead lobby at that time, slipped up to the door and 
locked it, the key being on the outside by a pre- 
vious arrangement. When the bill was presented, 
the opposition at once sought for the missing mem- 
ber, but without avail, and Morrow County was 
erected by barely enough votes to insure success. 
This was done in the afternoon, and, as soon as 
possible thereafter, George N. Clark mounted Dr. 
Geller's horse to carry the news to Mount Gilead. 
He reached Sunbury about midnight, where he 
stopped to rest until morning. The people here 
were favorable to the Gilead claim, the cannon 
was brought out, fires were lighted and an im- 
promptu jollification was held. The .next morning, 
Clark came on to Woodbury, where he lived. 
Here the cannon was brought into requisition, and 



after tiring themselves out they turned in and 
escorted the messenger to Mount Gilead. The 
news had preceded him along the road, and as 
the procession passed it gained accessions, so that 
in spite of the almost imp;'ssable mud, the cannon 
and a large concourse of people came bringing the 
news to the new county seat. That night the 
little town went wild with excitement. The can- 
non boomed, fires blazed and the crowds yelled 
themselves hoarse, while all the oratorical talent of 
the place was placed under tribute to add to the 
general cheer. The rejoicing was of a generous 
character, and the exultation was not so much ovt r 
the defeat of their opponents, as that the hope, 
so long deferred, had at last been realized. The 
Chester people, while regretting the defeat of their 
own measure, could, and did, heartily join in the 
general congratulation on the erection of the new 
county of Morrow. 

The bill as passed provided : 

"That so much of the counties of Marion, Delaware, 
Knox and Richland as are embraced within the 
boundaries hereinafter described be and the same are 
hereby erected into a separate and distinct county, 
which shall be known by the name of Morrow ; and 
the seat of justice within and for said county shall be 
and is hereby fixed and established at Mount Gilead, to 
wit: Beginning at the southwest corner of TuUy 
Township, in Marion County ; thence east on the town- 
ship line to the southeast corner of said township, 
thence north on the township line to the northeast cor- 
ner of said township, thence north one mile, thence 
east on the nearest line of lots to the northeast corner- 
of Section 9, in Troy Township, Richland t'ounty, 
thence south on the nearest line of lots with the east- 
ern boundary lines of Franklin, Chester and Bloomfiekl 
Townships, in Knox County, to the southeast corner of 
said township of Bloomfield ; thence west with the 
south line of Bloomfield Township, Knox County, and 
Bennington and Peru Townships, Delaware County, to 
the southwest corner of said township of Peru ; thence 
north four miles, thence west along the nearest liue of 
lots to the west line of Oxford Township, Delaware 
County; thence north along the township line to the 
Greenville treaty line ; thence easterly along said Green- 
ville treaty line to the southwest corner of Morven 
Township, Marion County ; thence north along the west 






'IV 



214 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



line of said Morven and Tanaan Townships, Marion 
County, to the place of beginning, and also attaching to 
the county of Marion so much of tlie county of Dela- 
ware as is contained in the following boundaries, to wit : 
Beginning on theGrecnville treaty line at the northeast 
corner of Marlborough Township, Delaware County, 
thence south along the line between Marlborough and 
Westfield Townships, Delaware County, to the sonth- 
west corner of said Westfield Township ; thence westia 
a straight line to the boundary between Union and 
Delaware Counties ; thence north on said boundary line 
to the Greenville treaty line." 

8Kr. 2. Provides that suits and pro.secutions pend- 
ing in those portions of the several counties set off to 
Morrow or Marion previous to the 1st day of March, 
1848, shall be prosecuted to the final judgment and ex- 
ecution in the same manner as if the county of Mor- 
row had not been erected, and that all officers should 
so act until the first Monday in March, 1848. 

Sec. .S. Provides that all Justices of the Peace, Con- 
stables and other officers in those parts of the counties 
set off to .Morrow and Marion Counties shall continue 
to discharge their duties until their term of service ex- 
pires or their successors are elected. 

Sec. 4. That all writs and legal processes issued 
in the territory recently erected the county of Morrow 
shall be styled of Morrow County after the 1st day of 
March, 1848. 

Sec. 5. "That the legal voters residing within the 
limits of the county of Morrow shall, on the first Mon- 
day in April, 1848, assemble in their respective town- 
ships, at the usual jdaces of holding elections, and pro- 
ceed to elect the different county officers (except Sheriff 
and Coroner, who shall be elected according to the 39th 
section of an act regulating elections, passed February 
18, 1831), in the manner prescribed in the act regulat- 
ing elections, who shall hold their offices until the next 
annual election, and until their successors are chosen 
and qualified." 

Sec. 6. Provides that Morrow County shall be at- 
tached to the Second .ludicial Circuit of the Court of 
Common Pleas. 

Sec. 7. "That no tax shall be levied upon the prop- 
erty, either real or personal, of the citizens of Morrow 
County, for the erection of acourthouse and jail within 
and for said couoty until the sum of $7,000 shall 
liave been subscribed and paid to or expended by the 
County Commissioners, as donations from the citizens 
of said county, for the erection of public buildings; 
provided that if said sum of $7,000 shall not be sub- 
scribed and paid within two years from and after the 



passage of this act, it shall be the duty of the Commis- 
sioners of the said county of Morrow, within twenty 
days after the expiration of said term of two years, to 
give notice of such fact in some newspaper of general 
circulation in said county, and the ([ualified electors 
of said county may, at the annual spring election then 
ensuing, determine by ballot the location of the seat of 
justice for said county, and that place having in its favor 
a majority of all the ballots cast at such election shall 
thereafter be established as the seat of justice for the 
said county of Morrow." 

Sec. 8. "Nothing in this act shall be so construed as 
to exonerate that portion of Knox County, hereby in- 
cluded in the county of Morrow, from any liability on 
account of any railroad subscription heretofore made by 
the said county of Knox, but their due proportion of 
said subscription shall be levied upon all property 
within said territory, and collected by the Treasurer of 
Morrow County, and be by him paid over to the Treas- 
urer of Knox County, or such other officer or person 
as may be authorized by law to receive the same." 

Sec. 9. " And it is hereby made the duty of the 
Auditor of Knox County, on or before the 1.5th day of 
June in each year, as long as the above tax shall be 
claimed, to furnish the Auditor of Morrow County with 
the rate per centum of the tax levied in Knox County 
for the purpose above named ; and upon receipt of said 
rate, the said Auditor of Morrow County shall add 
such rate to all the property, personal and real, within 
the above-named territory detached from Knox County, 
according to the value of said property as entered upon 
his duplicate." 

JOSEPH S. HAWKINS, 

Speaker House of Representatives. 
CHAHLKS B. GODDARD, 
President of Senate. 
February 24, 1848. 

It is a curious study to review the history of 
this struggle for a new county — to note the thou- 
sand and one influences that afll'ected the general 
issue, to measure the power of the contestants, and 
mark the means used to accomplish their pur- 
poses. The contest was substantially between 
Chester and Gilead claims. Bennington, though 
supported by sufficient funds and adroitly man- 
aged by Freeman, Randolph and Morehouse, was 
intrinsically weak, and ignominiously collapsed 
when closely scrutinized. Gilead, evidently, had 
the largest purse, and expended, from first to last. 



^: 



,^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



215 



not far from $15,000. She had the largest force 
in the lobby, maintaining during the last session 
of the contest, six hired lobbyists, besides eight of 
her own citizens. The support of the Gilead 
claim was steady, and the burden, divided among a 
comparatively large number, was more easily borne. 
Money, when necessary, was readily secured, one 
or two persons contributing as high as $1,000, 
and some considerably more. Chester spent much 
less money, for the very satisfactory reason that 
there was less to spend. The burden of the con- 
test fell upon a few individuals, and remittances 
to the lobby were made in sums of $15 to $50, 
and during the crisis of the contest, it was only 
by the indomitable courage of the managers of the 
claim at Columbus that Chester was kept before 
the Legislature. At no time did the number of 
their lobbyists exceed ten, and frequently, because 
of sickness or other causes, their number was re- 
duced to a single representative. While their op- 
ponents dispensed a lavish hospitality, they were 
obliged to scan their outlays with the closest 
economy to pay their board at $2.50 and $3 per 
week. In the matter of communication with the 
home committees at Chesterville and Mount Gilead, 
during the season when the mud was almost im- 
passable, the lobby at Columbus was often put to 
their wit's ends. The mail went out twice a week, 
but was often delayed for days at a time. Here 
the Gilead people, who had horses in waiting, could 
accomplish what the Chester people were obliged 
to forego, or take advantage of such opportunities 
as a chance visitor at the capital afforded. Other 
things being equal, these facts must have told 
strongly in favor of the Gilead claim, but it must 
be conceded that the Chester lobby handled their 
case with admirable tact, and were finally defeated 
by other than diplomatic means. Chester un- 
doubtedly had the strongest prima facie showing, 
and commanded the strongest vote in both Houses 
of the Legislature, but it failed till late in the con- 
test to get an able champion in the House. On 
the other hand, Gilead, though having less friends 
among the members of the Legislature, had an 



able manager in the House, who was efficiently 
supported by the shrewdness of the lobby, and, in 
the event, this secured the victory. 

It would naturally be supposed that, after a 
contest that exhausted every resource and device 
of the contestants, the victor would be allowed to 
wear its prize unchallenged forever after. Since 
then, however, a new aspirant for metropolitan 
honors has come upon the field, and has disputed 
the right of Mount Gilead to sit upon the seat of 
power. In 1873-74, a considerable agitation was 
begun by the people of Cardington to secure the 
removal of the county seat to that village. Pe- 
titions were circulated asking the Legislature to 
submit the subject to a vote of the people. It 
was claimed by the leaders in this movement that 
while " Mount Gilead might be a good place for the 
sale of dry goods, groceries, etc., it could never be 
made available to the farmer or mechanic as a 
place for heavy trade, as Mount Gilead had not got 
equal railroad advantages with Cardington." It 
was also represented that Cardington was ready to 
invest $50,000 in public buildings, should the 
county seat be moved there. The effort, though 
gaining considerable notoriety in the papers, fell 
flat upon the ear of the people, and ambition's 
labor was lost. The people could not see how 
" heavy trade ' would benefit a " seat of justice," 
and simply ignored the movement. The new 
railroad facilities that have recently been brought 
to Mount Gilead through the enterprise of its cit- 
izens have removed even that pretense, and the city 
" set upon a hill " bears her honors with un- 
ruffled serenity. 

Under the act recited above. Morrow County 
was made up of sixteen townships of irregular shapes 
and sizes, varying in area from fifteen to thirty-six 
square miles. In the legislative sesson of 1848- 
49, the smallest township was further reduced to 
thirteen square miles, and the regular line of the 
county's eastern boundary broken, by a success- 
ful effort on the part of a few discontented per- 
sons in Troy and Franklin Townships, to be set 
back to their original counties. The population 



{, fy 



:^ 



21G 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



of the county, as given in the census of two years 
later, is 20,280 ; in the following decade, there 
was a gain of only 155, and in the second decade 
this gain was turned into a loss of 1,789. The 
result of the census now being taken, il is be^ 
lieved, will show no appreciable gain on that of 
1870. The reason for this retrograde movement 
in the population is not well defined. A suggest- 
ive fact is found in the change in the size of the 
farms in the county. At an early date, the average 
farm was very much smaller than now, and a 
large family was raised on fifty acres. This was 
especially true of a part of Chester Township, 
where this fact gave the title of "fifty-acre sec- 
tion" to that part of the township. The county 
was thus over-populated in the early settlement, 
and as the Western lands have come into market, 
the younger part of the people have gone West to 
find more room. The farms have gradually grown 
larger, and the numbers less. The census of the 
various townships and villages for the last three 
decades ending 1870 is as follows: 



TOWNSHIPS. 



Canaan 

Cardington 

Cardington (Town of) 

Westfield 

Peru 

Lincoln ...., 

Gile.xd 

.Mt. Gilead (Town of).. 

Wasliington 

North liloomfield 

Congress 

Harmony 

Bennington 

South Bl..omfield 

Sparta (Townof ).... 

Chester 

Chesterville (Town of) 

Franklin 

Perrj 

Troy 



1,223 
1,106 

292 
1,414 

876 

891 
1,034 

646 
1,137 
1.443 
1,651 
1,041 
1,265 
1,268 

127 
1,213 

407 
1,4.56 
1,150 

640 



1,231 
1,906 

"i",'432 
1,070 
1,025 
1,154 
788 
1,099 
1,300 
1,663 
1,007 
1,075 
1,289 

1,427 

1,256 

1,127 

696 



Total 120,280 i 20,435 



1870. 



1,109 

1,281 

920 

1,313 

953 

916 

930 

1,087 

879 

1,194 

1,448 

771 

900 

919 

197 

795 

280 

1,014 

1,044 

696 



18,646 



The first election held according to the require- 
ments of the act erecting the county resulted 
in the election of Hiram T. Randolph, Auditor ; 
Dr. William Geller, Treasurer ; Ross Burns, Sheriff- 



William S. Clements, Clerk ; William Hanna, John 
Doty and John T. Creigh, County Commissioners. 
Messrs. S. T. Cunnard, Richard Hou.se and E. B. 
Kinsell were appointed Associate Judges, and two 
years later George N. Clark was elected the first 
Representative from this county. These gentle- 
men were all prominent in the various schemes to 
erect a new county, and considering the antagon- 
ism between the various claims, there was a very 
fair division of the honors. The first meeting of the 
Commissioners was held in Mount Gilead, April 
10, 1848, when but little was done save to give 
notice that several matters would come before the 
board in their June session, and to instruct the 
Auditor to settle with the Treasurers of the dif- 
ferent original counties in regard to the new 
county's share of the funds in their several treas- 
uries. The investigation showed a balance in favor 
of Morrow in only one instance. Marion turned 
over $350.77, while Knox had the balance on the 
other side of the ledger. During this first session 
of the Commissioners, a contract was concluded 
for the county with the Trustees of the old 
Baptist Church, standing on the lower square, 
for the use of the building for the court ; the 
sum of ten dollars being agreed upon for 
each regular term, and a dollar per day for 
each special session, the owners to be at all 
necessary expense of fitting it for the use of the 
court. In the June session, the Board of Com- 
missioners heard the petitioners of certain house- 
holders living in the different fractional townships 
set off to form Morrow County, and, in accordance 
with these petitions, erected the half townships of 
Troy and Perry into separate organizations with 
their original names. Sections 10, 11 and 12, 
taken from Polk Township, Crawford County, 
were incorporated with Washington Township, 
and sections 7, 8 and 9, of the same township 
were added to North Bloomfield. The sections 
that were cut oft' from Oxford Township, Delaware 
County, were incorporated with Westfield, and the 
Shaw sections, of the latter township, were at- 
tached to Morven Town.ship. These are all the 



.y^ 



HISTORY OF MORROAV COUNTY 



217 



changes that have been made since Morrow County 
was formed, save in the case of Gilead and Morven, 
or, as now known, Cardington. The former town- 
ship has ' recently received a large addition from 
Congress Township, and a smaller addition from 
Lincoln Township on thie south. Cardington has 



received a small addition from the northwest cor- 
ner of Lincoln Township, to give the village of 
that name space to expand. The townships as 
they now stand, with their villages and post offices, 
with the date of their establishment, will be found 
in the accompanying table : 



Townships. 



When organized. 



Bennington 

Bloomfield, North. 

Bloomfield, South. 

Canaan 

{JCardington 

Chester 

Congress 

Franklin 



April 22, 1817. 



June 23. 1817.. 



Dec. 1, 1823.... 
April 10, 1812. 



Dec. 3, 1823. 



Gilead 

Harmony. 
Lincoln.... 



June, 1835 

June 5, 1820.... 
March 8, 1828.. 



Perry. 



Peru. 
Troy. 



March, 1817... 
April 22, 1817. 



Washington. 
Westfield 



1824 

i March 6. 1822. 



Villages. 



Marengo , 

Pagetown 

Blooming Grove., 

West Point 

Sparta 

Bloomfield 

Denmark 

Cardington 

Chesterville 

Williamsport 

Pulaskiville 

Levering Station. 
Mount Gilead 



Johnsville 

North Woodbury... 
South Woodbury... 

West Liberty 

Steam Corners 

Iberia Station 

Iberia 

Westfield '... 



When laid out. 



Post Offices. 



March 5, 1836. 



Marengo ... 
*Pagetown. 
^Corsica.... 
Whetstone . 

Sparta 

Bloomfield. 

Marits 

Cardington. 



18X.9 

1829 jChesterville. 

Oct. 11, 1836.... Andrews 

1834 1 Pulaskiville 

1874 'Gilead Station. 

Sept. 20, 1824...tMount Gilead. 



Shauck's .... 
Woodview... 
Benning-ton. 



Dec. 17, 1834...; 
June 21, 1830... 
About 1834... 

1838 

Not laid out.. 

Not laid out Jberia Station. 

1832; 'iberia 

1828 IWestfield 



Steam Corners. 



When, established. 



June 27, 1848. 
April 18, 1859. 
February 16, 1844. 
May 18, 1850. 
April 1, 1837. 
February 7, 1834. 
April 29. 1833. 
August 17, 1827. 
May 22, 1832. 
April 23, 1842. 
December 3, 1838. 
June 24, 1874. 
January 20, 1827. 



No date. 

October 27, 1843. 

May 13, 1823. 

June 30, 1865. 
March 8, 1880. 
December 10,1832. 
March 17, 1821. 



* Established as Macon. 



t Established as Whetstone. 



I Established as Barcelona. 



§ Erected as Morven Township . 



Apropos of this table, it may be said that there 
are now three money-order offices in this county, 
Mount Gilead, Cardington and Chesterville. In 
1831, we find from an old post-office directory, that 
there were but five post offices within the terri- 
tory that now belongs to Morrow County. These 
were VVhetsone, John Roy, Postmaster ; Carding- 
ton, Slocum H. Bunker, Postmaster ; Shauck's, 
John Shauck, Postmaster; Bennington, Jacob 
Vandeventer, Postmaster ; Westfield, George 
Claypool, Postmaster. The rates of postage were, 
according to the acts of March, 1825 and 1827, 
then in force, " on a letter composed of otie piece 
of paper" for any* distance not exceeding 30 
miles, 6 cents ; over 30 miles and not exceeding 
80 miles, 10 cents; over 80 miles and not exceed- 
ing 150 miles, 12J cents; over 150 miles and not 
exceeding 400 miles, I84 cents ; over 400 miles, 
25 cents. "A letter composed of tivo pieces of 



pajjer was charged with double these rates ; of 
three pieces, with triple^ and of four pieces, with 
quadruple. One or more pieces of paper, mailed 
as a letter, and weighing an ounce, shall be charged 
with quadruple postage ; and at the same rate 
should the weight be greater." The contrast be- 
tween that day and this needs no learned homily 
to set it forth. 

The present demands of the county having been 
accommodated, as recounted above, the Commission- 
ers turned their attention to providing the necessary 
buildings to accommodate the business of the 
county. Advertisements, asking for sealed pro- 
posals for the building of a brick jail building, 
were authorized to be inserted in the Democratic 
Messenger^ the only paper then published in the 
county; and July 7, 1849, a contract was en- 
tered into with Auld & Miller. The specifications 
are not given in the Commissioners' journal, but 



w 



lis 



HISTORY OF MORROAV COUNTY 



I the structure itself suflBciently sets forth what was 
desired by the authorities, as it had their approval 
in the various stages of its building. It is a two- 
story, rectangular brick building, standing in the 
rear of the court house lot, looking very much 
like a dormitory attachment to a country academy. 
The barred windows, however, give it an ominous 
look on a near inspection, but from its general 
reputation it is not considered, by the experienced 
rogue, a hopeless doom to be incarcerated therein. 
In the latter part of 1850, it was ready for busi- 
ness, and has been, more or less, actively engaged 
ever since. The stipulated $7,000 had been paid 
in, partly in real estate and partly in cash ; but 
the Commissioners did not feel prepared to com- 
mence the work of building a court house until 
1852. In the March session of that year, pro- 
posals were advertised for, and later a contract 
was entered into with Messrs. Auld & Miller for 
$10,800, the building to be completed by Janura-y 
1,1854. Lots 121 and 122, of Ustic's Addition, had 
been selected, and on this site the building went 
up. In the mean while, the offices of the court 
and county were scattered about the town. A 
long, barrack-like frame building, standing where 
the probate office now is, accommodated the 
Clerk and SheriiF, the old town hall others, and a 
building on the west side of the upper square the 
rest. On January 1, 1854, the limit of the con- 
tract, the new court house was nearly completed, 
and in July it was accepted by the Commissioners, 
the contractors being paid in full the 15th of that 
month. The same contractors took the job of 
grading the yard and building the stone wall about 
it. The iron fence was supplied by Seaman & 
Benjamin Taber, at $1.25 per foot, and manufact- 
ured at their foundry, situated where the Short 
Line Depot now stands. The court house is a 
plain brick, rectangular building, standing upon a 
natural plateau, about four feet above the grade of 
the street. The end fronts on the main street, 
and on either side of the hall, which runs length- 
wise of the building, are the offices of Sheriff, 
Auditor, Treasurer, Prosecuting Attorney, Clerk 



and Recorder. The Probate Judge shared the 
office of the Recorder, but it proved so inconvenient 
that, about 1861, the county purchased the brick 
law office of James Olds, built just east of the 
court house, where the Probate Court has since 
been held. The upper story of the court house 
is reached by a double flight of stairs in the front 
end of the building. Here, a good-sized court 
room, divided in nearly equal proportions for the 
accommodation of the bar and public, takes up the 
principal part of the building. Over the stairways 
on either side are comfortable jury-rooms. The 
accompanying cut shows the court house from 
the southwest corner, with the Probate Judge's 
office on the right, and the jail on the left. 

The purchase of the " poor farm " and the erec- 
tion of an infirmary is of a more recent date. The 
poor were originally cared for by a township tax — 
such care as they had. In 1848, but two town- 
ships made any such provision. Congress levying 
two-thirds of a mill, and Peru levying one-half a 
mill for this purpose. An agitation was begun as 
early as 1866, to provide better accommodations 
for this class of the community, and, under the 
law then existing, the proposition of purchasing 
land for a " poor farm " was submitted to a vote 
of the people. Owing to the natural jealousy or 
carelessness of the people, this proposition was 
defeated by a vote of 1612 to 927. This vote 
can hardly be taken as a fair expression of the 
people on the subject, as it is almost impossible, 
when the vote is by " yes " or " no," appended to 
a regular ticket, to get everybody to register an 
opinion. It is so easy to say nothing, and, as the 
blanks count in the negative, thereby save their 
conscience and money at the same time. The law 
on this subject was soon after changed, authorizing 
the Commissioners to purchase land for this pur- 
pose at their discretion, and in 1869, the subject 
was again made prominent. The Commissioners 
hesitated somewhat, in face of the vote of 1867, 
although heartily in favor of establishing an in- 
firmary. They finally invited a few of the promi- 
nent citizens from each of the townships to meet 



^ 



^1 



liL 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



319 



at the court house, to confer on the subject. The 
meeting thus convened, with but a single excep- 
tion, approved of the proposition, and in January, 
1870,the Board boughtthe farm of W.Smith Irwin, 
situated two miles northeast of Mount Gilead, 
in Gilead Township. The farm consisted of 207 
acres, situated on high, rolling ground, and admi- 
rably adapted for farming purposes. A one story 
and a half brick house was enlarged by the addi- 
tion of a mansard roof, and in March, 1870, aeon- 
tract was made with Miller & Smith, to erect across 
the end of the original structure a main building of 
brick, three stories high, 30x50 feet, at a cost of 
$6,990. The building thus forming a large " T " 
was further enlarged in 1878, by the addition of 
an " L " to the original part of the building. Con- 
siderable expense has been put upon the farm in 
the way of i-epairs, bringing up the gross expense 
of the institution to about $23,000. The farm 
has two old orchards, beside a young orchard, con- 
taining 200 apple-trees and 100 pear-trees, which 
have now begun to bear fruit. A plat devoted to 
the culture of small fruit yields an abundant sup- 
ply of blackberries and raspberries, while a herd 
of thirteen grade Durham cows supplies the " home " 
with butter, milk and cheese. The latter article is 
obtained from the surplus milk, that is taken to 
the factory recently started in Gilead. Two years 
ago, a thoroughbred Short-horn Durham bull was 
added to the stock of the place, which will prove a 
valuable addition. The calves are all reared for 
sale or use on the place. The product of the farm 
last year was 300 bushels of corn, 278 bushels of 
potatoes, 1692 bushels of wheat, 367 bushels of 
oats, 51 bushels of buckwheat, 30 tons of hay, 
3,920^ pounds of pork, and 1,873 pounds of beef, 
besides the fruit, butter and milk. There are 
about thirty-nine inmates of the infirmary, three of 
whom are insane, and some seventeen are children, 
most of whom are natives of Morrow County. 
Burials from the home have been made heretofore 
in the "potters' field" in the cemetery at Mount 
Gilead, but of late the cemetery belonging to the 
Old School Baptist Church, at Whetstone, has been 



donated to the county for this purpose, and it is 
now being put in order by G. E. Miller, the pres- 
ent efficient Superintendent of the Infirmary. It 
is proposed to make it attractive as a cemetery, 
and to number each grave to correspond with the 
number of the deceased on the register, so that 
the occupant of any grave may be identified at any 
time. 

In the accompanying table is shown the num- 
ber of inmates for each year since the beginning, 
the townships from which they came and the 
totals. It will be observed that the total for 1877 
far exceeds that of any other year. This is ac- 
counted for by the fact, that the pressure of the 
hard times had just then reached Morrow County, 
and there was a general disposition in all parts of 
the county on the part of each community to rid 
themselves of every burden possible. The num- 
ber who have died in the infirmary is twenty-one ; 
the number born, six. 



Townships. 


JO 


00 


CO 
CO 


00 


00 


CO 
00 


00 


00 
l- 

oo 


00 


o 

00 
00 


1 

H 




1 

2 

10 




1 


1 




3 
6 
3 


12 

7 








15 




i 


1 

7 


7 
8 

4 


13 


Ciirdington 


y 


fi 


4 


1 

3 


51 




4... 


lH 




1 




7 
4 

2 

1 


i 

7 
1 

1 
1 


1 
2 

"i 


9 








1 

i 


i 
1 


8 


Gilead 


1 


2 


1 4 


20 






1 


4 




1 
1 






4 


North Bloomfield 




... 1 




i 

1 
1 


4 
1 








! 






2 
1 


2 
2 

2 
18 


'2 
21 


3 




1 
3 


1 


t 




3 


Troy 






3 


Westfield 


i 

4 

17 


1 ... 

3... 


1 








6 


9. 


2 

9 

44 


1 
3 

19 


7 


Non-residents 


3 

V,4 


... 1 

T?.0 


27 


Total 


196 



























One of the old orchards on this place, 
tradition has it, was planted by that eccentric 
frontierphilanthropist," Johnny Appleseed." This 
tradition is very generally believed, and others in 
Chester and Washington Townships are pointed 
out to the stranger as originating in that way. 



13) 



320 



HISTORY OF MORKOW COUNTY. 



It ifl certain that he was a frequent visitor in this 
county at an early, and is well remembered by a 
number of persons still living in the county. 

But little is known of the history of this strange 
character.* His proper name was Jonathan Chap- 
man, and he was, it is supposed, a native of New 
England. He was a Swedenborgian in religious 
faith, and, it seems, became crazy on this subject, 
his eccentricity consisting in a peculiar gentleness 
toward all living creatures, and the planting of 
apple-seeds on the frontier far in advance of the 
white settlements. It was his custom to go into 
the older settlements of Pennsylvania at the time 
of making cider, and carefully gathering a peck or 
more of apple-seeds from the pomace, place them 
in a bag and start on foot for the western wilds. 
He was familiar with all the trails, and seemed as 
welcome with the Indians as with the whites. 
Whenever, in his wanderings, he found a fit open- 
ing, he would plant his seed, sometime in the vil- 
lages of the natives, sometimes in the villages of 
whites, but more often in some loamy land along 
the bank of a stream where an open space gave 
promise of their growing. These plantings he 
frequently revisited to insure their triumph over 
the choking influence of grass and underbrush. 
The traditions of his operations are found from 
Wayne County in Ohio, to Fort Wayne, Indiana, 
a space of some two hundred miles long and fifty or 
sixty miles wide forming the principal scene of his 
labors. He was quite as earnest in the propaga- 
tion of his religious views as of his apple-trees. 
Wherever he went, he carried and distributed 
books relating to his sect's peculiar tenets, and 
when his stock ran low he would tear a book in 
two, giving each part to a different person. His 
aim was to follow the life of the primitive Chris- 
tians, taking no thought for to-morrow, and lead 
a moral, blameless life. " His personal appearance 
was as singular as his character. He was a small, 
chunked' ujan, quick and restless in his motions, 
and conversation. His beard and hair were long 



* We learned, somewhat indefinitely, tJiat there is in existence 
a printed work supposed to be an autobiography of tliis man, but 
we were uniible to find it. 



and dark, and his eye black and sparkling." This 
is hardly the picture of him remembered at the 
present day in Morrow County, but it may be ac- 
counted for from the fact that age had probably 
"dimmed the fire of his eye" before the living 
generation knew him. He lived the roughest kind 
of a life, sleeping a large part of the year in the 
woods with such accommodations as the bare 
ground or hollow log afforded. During the most 
severe weather of the winter, he usually spent his 
time in the white settlements, but even then, 
though barefooted, the rigor of the weather could 
not restrain* him from taking, short journeys here 
and there. In the matter of dress, he carried 
his eccentricity to the farthest extreme. He ex- 
changed his seedlings for old garments, and donned 
them without regard to their size or design, and 
frequently had nothing but an inverted coffee-sack, 
through which he thrust his head and arms, for 
an outer garment. In the matter of head cover- 
ing he was especially careless. At times he wore 
a cap fashioned from the skin of some animal or 
cloth, and frequently a cast-off tin can did service 
in preserving his head from exposure to the ele- 
ments. 

There are a large number of stories related in 
regard to his habits, which we reprint from " Howe's 
Historical Collections of Ohio," and " Norton's 
History of Knox County." For a time, it is said, 
Johnny Appleseed wore an old military ehapeau, 
which some officer had given him, and thus 
accoutered he came suddenly upon a Dutchman, 
who had just moved into the country. The sides 
were ripped, and the loose ends flopping in the 
wind, made it seem a thing of evil. Decked with 
this fantastic head-gear, Johnny came noiselessly 
upon the pioneer, and, without uttering a word, 
thrust his face, completely covered with a wilder- 
ness of black hair, out of which peered the un- 
natural light of his dark eyes, into the astonished 
man's presence. The backwoodsman, suddenly 
confronted by such an apparition, would not have 
been more disconcerted had he met a painted 
savage in the act of appropriating his hair, and he 



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HISTORY or MORROW COUNTY 



221 



never ceased to relate what a scare he got from 
Johnny, standing with bare feet and " one tarn 
muscle-shell cocked on his head." His tender- 
ness for all of " God's creatures " was proverbial, 
and many incidents in this connection are related. 
In the " Historical Collections of Ohio " is found 
the following : " On one cool-, autumnal night, 
while lying by his camp-fire in the woods, he 
observed that the mosquitoes flew in the blaze and 
were burnt. Johnny, who wore on his head a tin 
utensil, which answered both as cap and mush-pot, 
filled it with water and quenched the fire, and 
afterward remarked, ' God forbid that I should 
build a fire for my comfort, that should be the 
means of destroying any of His creatures.' 
Another time, he made his camp-fire at the end of 
a hollow log in which he intended to pass the 
night, but finding it occupied by a bear and her 
cubs, he removed his fire to the other end, and 
slept on the snow in the open air rather than to 
disturb the bear. On one occasion, while on a 
prairie, a rattlesnake attacked him. Some time 
after, a friend inquired of him about the matter. 
He drew a long, sigh and replied, ' Poor fellow ! 
he only just touched me, when I, in an ungodly 
passion, put heel of my scythe upon him and went 
home. Some time after, I went there for my 
scythe, and there lay the poor fellow dead.' " He 
was a zealous Christian, and was always to be 
found where religious services were held, if in the 
neighborhood. ' At one time, when he was at 
Mansfield, an itinerant preacher held an out-door 
service and Johnny was enjoying the sermon, lying 
on his back upon a piece of timber. The minis- 
ter was describing the Christian's way of trial, on 
his journey to the better land, and had described 
the tedious journey of a barefooted man through 
the wilderness. Pausing in his description of such 
physical difficulties, he cried out, in an elevated 
tone, " Where is the barefooted Christian traveling 
to heaven ?" Throwing his feet high in the air, 
Johnny responded, " Here he is !" It was not 
quite what the speaker expected, but the audience, 
doubtless, recognized the fitness of the response. 



Speaking of his bare feet, it is related that by con- 
stant exposure, and the roughness of his way 
through the wilderness, his feet became incredibly 
tough and insensible to cold. At one time, he 
attempted to cross Lake Erie barefooted on the 
ice in company with another man. Night over- 
took them before they had completed the journey, 
and, in the bitter coldness of the night, his com- 
panion froze to death. Johnny, by rolling vio- 
lently about the ice, kept warm, and in after times 
appeared none the worse for this trying adventure. 
In the early part of the war of 1812, he was 
very active in Richland and Knox Counties, car- 
rying the news of approaching danger to the whites 
settled along the river courses in these counties. 
He did not seem to have any fear of personal 
violence to himself, and often in the dead of night 
a settler would arouse his neighbors with the an- 
nouncement that Johnny Appleseed had brought 
news of the approach of danger. His word was 
never doubted, and no further confirmation of the 
tidings was asked. It was he that brought the 
news of the Seymour and Copus massacres to the 
startled settlements in Perry and Franklin Town- 
ships, and later the alarm of the murder of Jones 
at Mansfield. He was faithful to his trusts, and 
his word was as good as his bond. Norton, in his 
History of Knox County, relates that, "in 1819, 
Isaiah Roberts, then on his way so Missouri, find- 
ing no boat at Zanesville ready to start on the trip 
down the river, footed it to Marietta, and on the 
road met Johnny Appleseed, who promised to call 
at his father's in Knox County, and tell him when 
he parted with him, etc. Shortly afterward, Johnny 
made his appearance one night about dark, and 
was cheerfully received. He then had on an old 
tattered coat and slouch hat, with hair and beard 
uncut and uncombed, and barefooted. After 
eating some supper, he espied a copy of Ballou on 
the Atonement, which he took and read for some 
time by candle light, thinking at first it was good 
Swedenborg doctrine, and desired to take it with 
him, but after reading further, and finding the 
kind of doctrine it inculcated, he threw it down, 



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222 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



expressing his disappointiuent, and in a few mo- 
ments after stretched himself out and went to 
sleep." About 1830, he left this region and went 
to the newer portion of the West. "The last 
time he was in this country," says Norton, " He 
took Joseph Mahaffey aside, and pointed out to 
him two lots of land at the lower end of Main 
street, Mount Vernon, west side, about where 
Morey's soap factory was carried on, which he 
said belonged to him, and some time he might come 
back to them. The tail-race of the Clinton Mill 
Company passed along there, and some of the 
ground has since been washed away by the water, 
and upon another portion stands the Mount Ver- 
non Woolen Factory building." In the same 
work, it is said that the Rev. John Mitchell, when 
traveling on the Plymouth circuit in 1837, met 
Johnny wending his way along the road on foot 
and in his shirt sleeves. He told him then he 
was living " out West." The latest account we 
find of this character, so intimately associated with 
the early history of this region, dates in the fall 
of 1843. He was then on his way from the Iowa 
prairies going to Philadelphia to attend a Sweden- 
borg convention. He stopped all night with old 
aci|uaintances in Whiteside County, HI. Since 
then, he has been lost to sight, but his memory 
will linger in the hearts of the present generation 
for years to come, and their children will learn to 
revere the decaying monuments of his industry as 
the memorials of one whose mind, though un- 
balanced, swayed to the brighter side of human 
nature. 

In the curreiil number of St. Nl holas (.Tune) we 
find the following; tribute to his character and work, 
written by Lydia Maria Child, which we copy in full : 

Poor Johnny was bended well-nigh double 
With yeiirs of toil, and care, and trouble ; 
But his large old heart still felt the need 
Of doing for others some kindly deed. 

"But what can I do?" uM .Johnny said; 
"I who work so hard for daily bread? 

It takes heaps of money to do much good; 

I am far too poor to do as I would." 



The old man sat thinking deeply awhile, 

Then over his features gleamed a smile, 

And he clapped his hands with a boyish ^\6e, 

And he siiid to himself, " There's a way for me ! " 

He worked and worked with might and main, 

But no one knew the plan in his brain. 

He took ripe apples in pay for chores, 

And carefully cut from them all the cores. 

He filled a bag full, then wandered away. 

And no man saw him for many a day. 

With knapsack over his shoulder slung. 

He marched along, and whistled or sung. 

He seemed to roam with no object in view, 

Like one who had nothing on earth to do ; 

But, journeying thus o'er the prairies wide, 

He paused now and then, and his bag untied. 

With pointed cane deep holes he would bore, 

And in every hole he placed a core ; 

Then covered them well, and left them there 

In keeping of sun;<hine, rain and air. 

Sometimes for days he waded through grass, 

And saw not a living creature pass. 

But often, when sinking to sleep in the dark, 

He heard the owls hoot and the prairie-dogs bark. 

Sometimes an Indian of sturdy limb 
Came striding along and walked with him ; 
And he who had food shared with the other, 
As if he had met a hungry brother. 

When the Indian saw how the bag was filled, 
And looked at the holes the white man drilled, 
He thought to himself 'twas a silly plan 
To be planting seeds for some future man. 

Sometimes a log cabin came in view. 
Where .Johnny was sure to find jobs to do. 
By which he gained stores of bread and meat. 
And welcome rest for his weary feet. 

He had full many a story to tell. 
And goodly hymns that he sung right well ; 
He tossed up the babies, and joined the boys 
In many a game full of fun and noise. 

And he seemed so hearty, in work or play. 
Men, women and boys all urged him to stuy ; 
But he always said, "I have something to do. 
And I must go on to carry it through." 

The boys who were sure to follow him round, 
Soon found what it was he put in the ground : 
And so, as time passed and he traveled on, 
Ev'ry one called him, "Old Apple-seed John. ' 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



223 



Whenever he'd used the whole of his store, 
He went into cities and worked for more ; 
Then he marched back to the wilds again, 
And planted seed on the hillside and plain. 
In cities, some said the old man was crazy ; 
While others said he was only lazy; 
But he took no notice of gibes and jeers, 
He knew he was working for future years. 
He knew that trees would soon abound 
Where once a tree could not have been found : 
That flick' ring play of light and shade 
Would dance and glimmer along the glade ; 
That blossoming sprays would form fair bowers, 
And sprinkle tlie grass with rosy showers ; 
And the little seeds his hands had spread 
Would become ripe apples when he was dead. 
So he kept on traveling far and wide. 
Till his old limbs failed him, and he died. 
He said at the last, " 'Tis a comfort to feel [deal." 
I've done good in the world, though not a great 
Weary travelers, journeying West, 
In the shade of his trees find pleasant rest ; 
And they often start with glad surprise. 
At the rosy fruit that round them lies. 
And if they inquire whence came such trees, 
Where not a bough once swayed in the breeze. 
The answer still comes, as they travel on, 
"These trees were planted by Apple-seed John." 
The formation of a county as late as 1848 was 
a matter that attracted considerable attention 
in professional and business circles, and a tide of 
immigration set in toward the county seat, bring- 
ing an influx of strangers that made the little 
town of Mount Gilead take on a considerable im- 
portance in its own estimation. Among the first 
to take possession of the land thus opened was 
John W. Dumble. He came from Marion Village, 
bringing with him an old Foster hand press and 
the appurtenances of a printing office. The new 
county was Democratic by a large majority, and 
the Democratic Messenger soon dispensed the word 
of political promise to the faithful, from a home 
institution. It is not known whether the proprie- 
tor of the new paper had formerly conducted a 
paper or not, but he published the Messenger with 
fair satisfaction for some years, and was one of the 
best writers the paper ever had. He was promi- 



nent in public enterprises, and was among the first 
to put the Fair Association on its feet. He was 
succeeded in the sanctum by George A. Sharpe, 
and at his death a few years later, his son, George 
S., took up the editorial pen. During the admin- 
istration of the Sharpes, father and son, politics 
changed, and what was once a firm Democratic 
county, rebelling at the repeal of the Missouri 
Compromise, went over to the enemy. The 
younger Sharpe was perhaps not well suited to the 
profession of journalism, and under the adverse 
political fortune the paper went down. The county 
was then for some time without an exponent of 
Democracy, when Reuben Riblet resuscitated the 
Messenger under the name of the Union Register. 
He sold the paper in a short time to William H. 
Rhodes, who was too dissipated to make the paper 
a success. Not only did the paper miss success, 
but it came near a second extinction. At this 
juncture. Judge Judson A. Bebee came to its sup- 
port. He was an ardent Democrat, and felt that 
the party, while not in the ascendant, was suf- 
ficiently vigorous to demand an organ, and through 
his influence sixteen or twenty of the prominent 
members of that party formed a stock company 
and revived the drooping Register. Judge Beebe 
acted as editor, and at the same time continued to 
attend to his practice at the bar. The result was 
a confirmation of the old proverb, "An' two 
ride a horse, one must ride behind," and finding 
that one must be neglected, he declined to serve 
longer as editor. Through his influence, C. M. 
Kenton undertook the duties of editor, Mr. Beebe 
lending such assistance as the duties of his pro- 
fession would allow. This, however, proved un- 
satisfactory, and the company, becoming tired of 
an enterprise that not only failed to pay dividends, 
but, owing to the inevitable expense of that way of 
conducting the paper, failed to pay expenses, be- 
came desirous of getting rid of the establishment. 
Through Mr. Beebe's eff"orts, the Hon. H. S. 
Prophet was induced to take the paper ofi" the 
company's hands, the price being regulated more 
by the desire of the stockholders to get rid of the 



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224 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



burden than by the purchaser's desire to buy it. 
Mr. Prophet was more successful in the manage- 
ment of the concern, and for six years made the 
paper of some power in Democratic councils, and 
paid expenses. His chosen profession, however, 
was the law, and he soon began to look about for 
some one to relieve him of his newspaper work. 
Samuel Shaffer, now of the Ohio State Journal, 
undertook the task, leasing the office for one year, 
but he became satisfied at the end of his term 
that he was unequal to the occasion, and retired, 
paying one hundred dollars for his experience. C. 
S. & W. G. Beebe succeeded Shaffer, the former 
leaving the office in a few months to give his whole 
attention to the practice of law. With such a 
history it could hardly be expected that a paper 
would be successful, and when the present pro- 
prietor assumed control, the paper had barely five 
hundred subscribers. Confidence in the office had 
been destroyed, and it failed to get the support of 
its own party, while the paper, printed on the 
same old hand-press, and with largely old material, 
was too forlorn an object to make friends. With 
commendable perseverance, Mr. Beebe addressed 
his energies to building up the character of the 
paper, a task that he has accomplished with so 
much success as to command not only the support 
of his political friends, but many subscriptions 
from his Republican acquaintances. Under his 
administration the office has been completely re- 
modeled. New type has been added, the paper 
enlarged, and new improved presses supplied. The 
old hand-press was taken out and its place supplied 
by a new " Walkup press" in 1876. This press 
was a new invention, made at Lima, and did not 
prove a success. In an issue of the Register in 
July of that year, the editor rises to explain, as 
follows: "Type and everything but the new 
paper power-press were in readiness for us to issue 
the paper at the regular time. Saturday evening 
the press came, and as soon as possible it was put 
in what was supposed to be in running order. 
The outside forms were placed upon the machine 
after one day's delay, and by the time three quires 



of paper had been run through in a rough style, 
the manufacturer, Mr. Walkup, who was here in 
person, discovered a deficiency in the cylinder of 
the press which caused a great wrinkling in the 
printed sheets. So the press was stopped, the 
forms removed, and the cylinder, weighing near 
three hundred pounds, taken from its position and 
shipped to the machine-shops at Galion for per- 
fecting. Thus we were 'put out on the home 
stretch.' " The press proved a failure, and a Cin- 
cinnati press was substituted. The office of the 
Register, in the Post Office building, is now one 
of the most attractive offices in the central part of 
the State. The machinery is all kept neatly cov- 
ered with dust blankets, the material is neatly 
stowed away in convenient and sightly cabinets, 
and everything exhibits a well-to-do air o^ neatness 
and convenience. The Register is an eight- 
column folio, with a circulation put by the pro- 
prietor at eleven hundred, and sustains a good 
reputation as a lively local newspaper. 

Following closely upon the establishment of the 
Messenger came the Whig Sentinel. David Watt 
was originally from Carrol ton, Carroll Co., Ohio. 
During the struggle for the erection of the new 
county, he was introduced to the Mount Gilead 
lobby as the proper man for them to employ in 
their behalf, and he was engaged. The end justi- 
fied the choice. He was the main prop of their 
declining cause, and was largely instrumental at the 
last in plucking victory out of the jaws of defeat. 
After the struggle was over, he decided to throw 
in his interest with the new county, and in the 
latter part of 1848, established the Sentinel. He 
conducted the paper about three years, when Will- 
iam P. Dumble bought the office. Mr. Dumble 
was a brother of the proprietor of the Democratic 
cotemporary, and it is said that the discussions be- 
tween the two papers were not the less " spicy " 
from the fact the rival editors were brothers. 
They were naturally fitted for the literary manage- 
ment of a paper, but both failed in a financial way. 
In 1855, J. W. Griffith came to Mount Gilead, 
and three years late bought the paper, and has 





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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



227 



since conducted it with credit to the county and 
profit to himself. Mr. GriflSth is a native of Penn- 
sylvania, and early learned the printer's trade. A 
short time previous to his coming to Mount Gilead, 
he came from his native State to Shelby, to assist 
his uncle, who then had an eating house in that town. 
Disliking the business, he went to Mansfield to find 
a situation at the case, in one of the offices at that 
place. There was no vacancy, but, just before 
he called, a compositor who had formerly been 
employed in the office of the Sentinel, received a 
dispatch to the eflfect that one of the hands was 
sick, and asking him to come right over. The 
compositor was glad to delegate this duty to Grif- 
fith, who, coming to the office, has stayed ever 
since. The paper, owing to the frequent illness of 
the editor and proprietor, had greatly degenerated, 
and was financially on its " last legs," and in 1858, 
Griffith bought the office on long time, paying the 
advance money from his accumulations since com- 
ing to the office. The paper was known then as 
the Mount Gilead Sentinel, the Whig having been 
dropped with the party in 1854. Since then, the 
paper has been in the hands of one man, and its 
progress has been a steady rise, until now it com- 
mands the hearty suppport of two-thirds of the 
newspaper readers of Morrow County. When the 
present proprietor took the office, it was a seven 
column folio, 27x35 inches, set in small pica, bre- 
vier and nonpareil type, and commanded the half- 
hearted support of 350 subscribers. In two years, 
notwithstanding the discouraging effect of the 
June frost in 1858, he had increased the circula- 
tion to 600 subscribers. In 1860, the paper came 
out in new dress, and with its name changed from 
" Mount Gilead" to ^^ Morrow Sentinel^ In March, 
1866, the first jobber ever in the town was added 
to the Sentinel office, in the shape of a quarto- 
medium nonpareil. In the following July, the 
paper was enlarged from seven to eight columns, 
provided with a new dress and a Cincinnati cylin- 
der newspaper press, bought to accommodate the 
growing circulation, and in 1874, a half-medium 
Gordon " jobber " made the facilities for doing job 



work second to none. This steady application to 
business, and the quiet, regular issue of each edi- 
tion, though affording the historian less material 
for his purpose, has raised the office from issuing 
a paltry edition, crudely printed on a Washington 
hand-press, to the present establishment, where 
there are but two articles to represent the old office. 
The office is over the store of Talmadge's hardware 
store, in a room it has occupied for some eight 
years. The weekly edition reaches 1,250 and still 
receives additions. The current edition is the 
first number of the thirty- third volume, and in it 
the editor takes occasion to say : 

" The issue of last week rounded to its close 
the thirty-second volume of the Sentinel, and on 
the threshold of the new year it is befitting that 
we should look back with our readers over the 
checkered path we have trod together. Thirty- 
two years ! Could the Sentinel speak and tell us 
of the changes it has witnessed, the trials passed, 
the triumphs achieved, the friends it has seen pass 
away, or grown gray as it has grown strong, how 
the tale would enthrall our breathless attention ! 
But thirty-two is not the age of gushing confes- 
sion, and we cannot expect to hear of its early 
loves and disappointments, the frolics and vicissi- 
tudes of its youth. A generation has passed since 
its birth, and while its servants and friends have 
grown older and fonder of the ease earned by a 
life of toil, it has just arrived at maturity and 
' rejoices like a strong man to run a race.' 

" In public life, what revolutions it has seen ! 
Parties have fulfilled their mission and passed 
away like autumn leaves ; the cause of freedom, 
rising in the cloud of ' free soil ' not larger than a 
man's hand, has spanned the heavens, and equal 
rights, casting its shadow over a weary land, has 
delivered that which was holy from the dogs, and 
set the oppressed free. The public life of the last 
thirty-two years has been eventful, charged with 
potencies for weal or woe to the nation, and the 
Sentinel, in its place and way, has borne its part 
without v^avering and without regret ; and stand- 
ing; now on the eve of another conflict between 



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228 



HISTORY OF MORROAV COUNTY. 



the old elements of antagonism, it draws fresh in- 
spiration from this birthday retrospection, and 
renews its faith in the policy of honesty, liberty, 
and equal rights before the law and at the ballot- 
box. 

" The Senfmel tinds another source of congrat- 
ulation in the fact that its labors have not been 
without their reward. Its circle of friends have 
enlarged with every added year, and as these 
friendships have ripened they have grown more 
intimate and personal. Though sometimes divided 
as to means, there has been no division as to sen- 
timent or ends. It is in such an union that 
strength abides, and glad in the bright auspices 
of the coming year, the Sentinel sends its response 
to the happy congratulations of all."' 

" The Cardington Independent has had a check- 
ered career. It was established in 1856, by 
Messrs. Hastings & Nichols, under the name of 
the Cardington Flag. They published it a little 
less than a year, when they sold it to Charles 
Maxwell. Under his proprietorship, the name was 
changed to the Morrow County Herald, It then 
passed into the hands of James St. John ; from 
him it passed to W. I. Lattridge. In 1863, it 



was suspended for several months, and in Decem- 
ber of that year, it was revived by W. F. and F. 
L. Wallace. After passing through several hands, 
it again suspended in 1866, and the material was 
sold to A. M.Smith and R. M. Weamer, for $300. 
In the meanwhile, the name had been changed 
to the Cardington Reville. This name was 
changed to the Republican by the last pur- 
chasers, who conducted the paper for some time. 
In 1872, it passed from hand to hand in rapid 
succession, making ten changes in that year. It 
finally lodged in the hands of Stephen Brown. Esq., 
who changed the name to the Cardington Inde- 
pendent, and in 1876, sold it to W. L. Ensign, 
the present editor and proprietor. It is not sur- 
prising that a paper should lose character with 
such a history. The ablest editor and the shrewd- 
est manager in the world would find the task of 
making such a paper ' pay ' an impossibility." In 
the hands of Mr. Ensign, however, the paper is 
recovering lost ground, and is beginning to prove 
valuable property. It is independent in politics, 
but its columns are principally devoted to local 
news. 




HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



329 



CHAPTER III 



THE COURT AND BAR— MEDICAL PROFESSION— EARLY CHRISTIANITY— EDLTATION—rOLlTICAL 

HISTORY— THE RAILROADS. 



THE history of the court and bar of Morrow 
County does not possess that degree of in- 
terest which attaches to the older counties of the 
State. The formation of the county, in 1848, 
was a period so modern in the history of the 
country that the backwoods simplicity of the 
courts of fifty years before had been pretty well 
obliterated by the hand of civilization, and the 
new county was enabled to start out with a well 
organized court and a corps of able, well-read and 
intelligent lawyers. 

The formation of the new county brought to 
Mount Gilead, its seat of justice, a large number 
of lawyers who fancied they saw in the field thus 
opened an excellent opportunity for the display of 
their talents, and a chance to reap a rich harvest 
by adopting the advice of the philosopher of the 
New York Tribune, to " settle down and grow up 
with the country." Many of the host of lawyers 
who emigrated to the county in the early part of 
1 848 left, after a residence of a few months, some 
returning whence they came, and others moving 
on in a further search for "pastures new." They 
discovered that even here they lacked room. A 
few remained, however, and became the nucleus 
of the Morrow County bar. 

The first- session of the court — the Common 
Pleas — of Morrow County was held on the 31st 
day of May, 1848, Hon. Ozias Bowen, President 
Judge. His Associate Judges were Richard 
House, Stephen T. Cunard and E. B. Kinsell, 
well-known citizens of Morrow County. William 
S. Clements was Clerk of the Court, and Ross 
Burns, Sheriff". Thus organized, the court pro- 
ceeded to business, and although it was the 
first term of court in a new county, several cases 
came up for trial, but none of them possessed 



much interest, all being civil cases. The first 
on the docket was David E. Patterson vs. Jud- 
son and Adah Lanson, on appeal from a magis- 
trate's court in Congress Township. Messr.'fi. 
Kelley & Bushfield were the attorneys for the 
plaintiff", and Messrs. Delano* & Lapp for the de- 
fendants. The next case was Margaret Bingham 
vs. William Phares — Winters & Dunn for the 
plaintiff", and G. W. Elmer for the defendant. 
These, however, will serve to show the beginning 
of the court, and a further transcript of its pro- 
ceedings is doubtless of no special interest to our 
readerS: 

From the first records of the County Commis- 
sioners' Court, held in June, 1848, in the days 
when the county charged lawyers a license to 
practice at the bar, and also made them pay an in- 
come tax, we find in their proceedings a list of the 
Morrow County bar of that period, which is as 
follows : Samuel Kelley, M. R. Willett, A. K. 
Dunn, J. M. Bushfield, J. H. Y. S. Trainer, 
George William Elmer, Henry P. Davis, William 
A. Oliver, William Bacon, Daniel Marvin, Will- 
iam Robinson, Judson A. Beebe, Robert B. 
Mitchell and J. H. Stinchcomb, of Mount Gilead, 
and Gilbert E. Winters, of Chesterville. Judge 
Dunn is the sole remaining representative of this 
edition of the Morrow County bar. He is a 
native of Maryland, and came to Ohio in 1830. 
He was admitted to the bar in 1847, and located 
in Mount Gilead in the early part of the year 
1848, and has remained in the county ever since, 
a prominent member of the bar. In 1876, he 
was appointed to fill a vacancy as Judge of the 
Court of Common Pleas. 



* Columbus Delano, late Secretary of the Interior under Presi- 
dent Grant. 



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230 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



Two tithor lawyers of the early bar of the 
county deserve something more than a mere men- 
tion, viz., Hon. Judson A. Beebe and Gen. Rob- 
ert B. Mitchell — the former deceased, the latter a 
prominent soldier and politician. Judge Beebe 
was born in Columbia County, N. Y., and came to 
Ohio about 1840, locating in Waldo, Delaware 
County. He commenced the study of the law 
with Gardner A. Knapp before leaving his native 
State, and, upon his settlement in this county, 
completed his studies with Franklin Adams, of 
Bucyrus, and was admitted to the bar in July, 
1842. After his admission, he began the practice 
of the law with Hon. Charles Sweetser, of Dela- 
ware, and, at the formation of Morrow County, he 
removed to Mount Gilead. In 1873, he was 
elected one of the Judges of the Sixth Judicial 
District, and, immediately after his election, was 
appointed by Gov. Noyes to fill out the unexpired 
term of Judge Geddes, resigned. Politically, 
Judge Beebe was a stanch Democrat of the old 
school, and took an active interest in the workings 
of that party. He died August 24, 1874, sin- 
cerely lamented by a large circle of friends and 
acquaintances. 

Mr. Mitchell had read law with Gen. Mor- 
gan, of Mount Vernon, and had been ad- 
mitted to the bar previous to locating here. 
His legal attainments were somewhat limited, 
but he made up the deficiency in dash and 
tact. To these latter traits were due his 
success, more than to any sound knowledge he had 
of the law. He was a politician of some note, 
and took an active interest in the elections and 
public men of the time. He married a daughter 
of St. John, formerly a member of Congress from 
Tiffin. Mitchell left here about 1857, and went 
West, and we next hear of him about the begin- 
ning of the rebellion as Colonel of the Second 
Kansas Infantry. He was wounded at the battle 
of Springfield, Mo., and afterward promoted to 
Brigadier General. At the close of the war he 
was made Governor of New Mexico. Of his ca- 
reer since then we know nothing definite. 



Of the other early members of the Morrow 
County bar whose names have been given, not 
much information can be obtained. As we have 
said, most of them became discouraged at the gen- 
eral outlook, and retired from the field after a so- 
journ of a few months. The scraps of history 
picked up in regard to them may be given in a 
few words. Bushfield was a man of fine intellect 
and an able lawyer. He remained in Mount Gilead 
a year or so, and then returned to Cambridge, 
Ohio, the place from where he came, and arose, 
we are told, to prominence. Elmer was a native 
of New York, and remained in the county about 
a year. Stinchcomb was an Ohioan, and practiced 
law at the Morrow County bar some eight or ten 
years. Winters was also an Ohioan, and lived for a 
while at Chesterville, but upon the formation of the 
county came to Mount Gilead, where he remained 
some five or six years. Kelly & Robinson were 
partners, and stayed but ayearortwo; Willett also 
stayed about a year ; Trainer, Oliver and Marvin 
were all Ohioans, and remained in the county but 
a few months. The most remarkable feature 
about Trainer was his name, which was reported 
to us as John Henry Yarrington Sleymaker 
Trainer, name enough to drag down anybody. 
Davis stayed about a year and Bacon left in the fall. 
Sanford and Brumback came in the fall of 1848 ; 
the former remaining some five years, and the lat- 
ter until the beginning of the late war, when he 
enlisted in the Twenty-sixth Regiment, in which 
he was made a Lieutenant. 

The following incident is related of the early 
practice in the Courts of Morrow County : Dur- 
ing a term of court, Judge Geddes presiding, a 
case came up in which Columbus Delano, and 
Col. Vance, of Mount Vernon, were pitted against 
each other. In his speech, Col. Vance said some- 
thing that ruffled the dignity of Mr. Delano, when 
hot words followed, and finally the two dropped 
their coats for a fisticuff, right in the presence of 
the Court. Judge Geddes without the least 
apparent excitement, quietly, but emphatically 
observed, " Mr. Sheriff", take those men to jail." 



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HISTOEY OF MORROW COUNTY 



231 



This quelled the disturbance, the angry couple 
shook hands, put on their coats and apologized 
handsomely for insulting the Court, and business 
proceeded as usual. 

The present bar of Morrow County comprise 
the following members : Judge Dunn, Thomas 
H. Dalrymple, James Olds, Judge J. J. Gurley, 
Thomas E. Duncan, Burt Andrews, Jabez Dickey, 
H. L. Beebe, C. W. Allison, L. K. Powell, A. A. 
Gardner, J. C. Dunn, S. C. Kingman, of Mount 
Gilead; Stephen Brown, R. F. Bartlett, George P. 
Styles, Theodoric S. White, of Cardington, and 
Joseph Gunsaulus, of Chesterville. Some of these 
gentlemen are prominent in their profession, possess 
fine legal abilities, and are veterans at the bar, while 
others are young, and are just starting out on the 
high road to fortune and fame. None but a 
prophet can foretell how many of them will yet be 
President. Judge Gurley was admitted to the bar 
in 1844, and has held several positions of trust, 
among them Prosecuting Attorney, Probate Judge ; 
has also served in the Legislature, and was a 
member of the Constitutional Convention. Next 
to Judge Dunn, Messrs. Dalrymple and Olds are 
the longest in practice at the bar of Morrow 
County, Their practice extends over a period of 
some thirty years. They have acquired the 
reputation of honest and able lawyers, and hold 
their position in the entire confidence of their fel- 
low-citizens. Mr. Andrews was admitted in 1846, 
and located in Mount Gilead in 1860. Mr. Duncan 
is a native Ohioan and was admitted to the bar in 
Columbus in 1863, and soon after came to Mount 
Gilead. He has been Prosecuting Attorney and 
a member of the Legislature. 

It is somewhat embarrassing to write eulogiums 
of men still living, particularly lawyers, who are 
supposed the most modest men in the world anyway, 
therefore we will leave the present bar of Morrow 
Countyto receive its further deserts from some fu- 
ture historian, indulging in the hope that the words 
of Shakespeare, as regards them, will he reversed, 
and that " the good they do may live after them," 
while " the evil be interred with their bones." 



The following sketch of the medical profession 
of Morrow County was written by Dr. D. L. 
Swingley especially for this work, and will be found 
of considerable interest to the profession through- 
out the county : 

A history of Morrow County would be incom- 
plete without a sketch of the medical fraternity 
as it rose and progressed during the early settle- 
ment of the territory which sixty years ago was 
part of the counties of Richland, Knox, Delaware 
and Marion, and whose towns were rather remote 
from the territory referred to, so that to obtain 
medical aid, the early settlers had to travel from 
fifteen to twenty-five miles, much of the distance 
without roads, through swamps and muddy creeks 
which were without bridges and almost without 
bottoms. Such was the condition of things when 
the early physicians of Morrow County com- 
menced the practical part of their professional 
lives. As the population increased, the demand 
for doctors also increased, and was supplied, not 
by any particular class or school of physicians, but 
by every imaginable kind that could be brought 
into service. There was the Indian doctor, the 
fire doctor, the water doctor, the charm doctor 
and also the old-school doctors or "regulars." 
Some of these systems of practice survived but a 
short time and then disappeared never to be 
known again, except as lingering recollections of 
the past. Time nor space will not admit of a de- 
tailed account of all these curative modes of ac- 
tion in disease, nor of their friends and advocates, 
but we will confine our work principally to the old- 
school fraternity and the systems of practice that 
have sprung up since the settlement of the 
county and continue to exist at this time. 

At the period when this sketch commences, like 
most new and timbered countries, the mass of the set- 
tlers in this country were in moderate circumstances 
as regards worldly wealth. They and their sons 
had all the difficulties to contend with incident to 
pioneer life. • The land was to clear, cabins to 
build and roads to construct. The inducement at 
that early day to become doctors could not have 



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282 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



been to obtain wealtb. The remuneration for 
professional services was so very small compared 
with the difficultes and dangers they had to un- 
dergo in the discharge of their duty, as to dis- 
courage any one bent on money-making alone. 
The practice of medicine in a new country forty 
or fifty yeas ago was no easy task. We will give 
the experience of a pioneer doctor for one night, 
which will serve as a fair sample of the time. After 
a hard day's ride over execrable roads, to say noth- 
ing of the rain which had perhaps drenched him 
to the skin, he retires at night in the hope of 
a good rest atjd sleep. But not long does he in- 
dulge in this hope, for, scarcely has his head 
touched the pillow, when a sharp " hello!" salutes 
his ear, followed by the well-known inquiry, " Is 
the Doctor at home?" " Well, what is wanted? " 

is asked. " W^ant you to go to ; a very sick 

child there." "How far is it?" "About six 
miles." " How is the road?" " Well, the truth 
is, there is no road ; it is through the woods." 
"Is it very dark?" "No, not very, after you 
have been out awhile. But hurry up, the creek 
is rising, and I should not wonder if we have to 
swim our horses; I will lead the way.' This was 
all very well, but the Doctor on his return, having 
no guide, got lost and spent the remainder of the 
night in the woods, subjected to all the dangers 
and vexations of a dark, rainy night, surrounded 
by dismal swamps, in the midst of fireflies of every 
species, and regaled by the musical notes of the 
whole bullfrog family. The above is no fancy 
picture, but is drawn from actual experience, and 
doubtless every physician who practiced in this 
county from twenty-five to fifty years ago can 
give similar testimony. It is only within the 
past two or three decades that doctors could en- 
joy the luxury of bugsy-riding in the pursuit of 
their daily — and nightly — vocation. 

As we have said, these early practitioners were 
of the laboring classes, and consequently had 
never enjoyed the advantages of the preparatory 
education that at this lime exists, nor had they 
the facilities for attending medical colleges, and 



so, comparatively few of them were graduates. 
Most of them had attended one course of lectures 
before commencing practice, and, as a general 
thing, made practical men, who were equal to the 
exigencies of the times. They were not so for- 
tunate, however, as to have the field to them- 
selves, for their competitors, as we have seen, were 
on hand in the doctors of other systems. We 
will leave the difficulties experienced by the pio- 
neer physician and devote a brief space to these 
men of science and iheir professional labors in 
the county. 

Dr. David Bliss, the first practicing physician 
in Morrow County, settled in South Bloomfield 
Township prior to 1820. He was a man of robust 
constitution, well suited to the time and condition 
of things when he began his professional life, 
which was one of hardship and toil for a number 
of years. Several years previous to his death, 
which occurred before the late war, he paid little 
attention to the practice of medicine, but devoted 
his time to farming. 

Dr. Richard Randall was the second physician 
in the county, and located in Mount Gilead about 
the year 1827, when the roads were bad, or none 
at all, more properly speaking ; mud at that time 
lasted through about two-thirds of the year. He 
continued in practice in Mount Gilead until 1840, 
when he removed to William.sport, then to North 
Woodbury, and subsequently to one of the West- 
ern States, where he shortly after died. 

Dr. R. E. Lord, another of the early physicians 
of the county, and the first in the town of Ches- 
terville, was a man of rather delicate constitution, 
yet possessed tif that degree of resolution and will 
which enabled him to perform his laborious duties 
during the most inclement weather and bad con- 
dition of the roads with as much alacrity as the 
most able-bodied man. He located in Chesterville 
about 1830, and continued his professional work, 
without interruption, until 1860, when he rather 
withdrew from active labor, but practiced in cases 
of emergency until his last sickness. He died in 



rv 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



233 



Chesterville in 1864, highly esteemed by all who 
knew him. 

Dr. T. P. Glidden was the first physician to 
locate in the town of Westfield, this county. He 
commenced his good work in 1833, and continued 
there for a few years, when he removed to Carding- 
ton, and practiced his profession in that town until 
his death, a few years ago. 

Dr. Jesse S. Hull settled in North Woodbury 
in 1842, where he practiced medicine until 1857, 
when his general health failed, and he soon after 
died of consumption. 

The following physicians located in Chesterville : 
Dr. John McCrory, in 1840 ; Dr. Hamilton Main, 
in 1847; and Dr. William T. Brown, in 1849. 
Dr. McCrory continued in active practice for about 
ten years, when his health failed and he was una- 
ble to do any business up. to the time of his death, 
which occurred in 1872, from cancer of the stom- 
ach. Dr. Main was an active practitioner until 
1864, when he died of pneumonia. Dr. Brown 
practiced in the town and neighborhood until the 
breaking-out of the late war, when he volunteered 
as regimental surgeon, and died while in the serv- 
ice of his country. 

Dr. E. Weatherby located in Cardington about 
the year 1862, and began the practice of medicine. 
He was a man of delicate organization, but of un- 
usual mental endowments ; energetic in his calling 
and a social companion. He died of consump- 
tion. Dr. William Farquer settled in Chesterville 
in 1834, and practiced there for about six years, 
when he removed to Mount Vernon, Knox Coun- 
ty. Dr. Richards was a native of Vermont, and 
came to this county in 1830, locating in Sparta, 
where he practiced his profession until 1838-40, 
when he removed to a western county of this 
State. Dr. L. H. Corie located in Mount Gilead, 
about 1838, and in 1854 moved away to the West. 
Dr. Fred Swingley commenced the practice of 
medicine in Chesterville, and labored there until 
1842, when he came to Mount Gilead, and two 
years later removed to Bucyrus, where he still 
resides. Dr. Steikels located in Mount Gilead in 



1832, but did not remain long. About the same 
time. Dr. Welch settled in Mount Gilead, but only 
remained some four or five years. 

Dr. D. L. Swingley commenced the practice of 
medicine in Chesterville in 1840, where he con- 
tinued for a number of years. He came to Mount 
Gilead in 1863, and still is in the active practice 
of his profession. 

Dr. S. M. Hewett came from Vermont to this 
State in 1842-43, and located in Chesterville. 
He practiced medicine there until 1852, when he 
came to Mount Gilead and continued his profes- 
sional labors. When the rebellion broke out he 
entered the service, and remained in it until the 
close of the war, when he located in Cincinnati 
and resumed his practice. He lives there at the 
present time. 

Dr. I. H. Pennock commenced the practice of 
medicine at South Woodbury in 1843. He was a 
man of great energy, and soon obtained an exten- 
sive reputation and practice. He accumulated 
considerable wealth, and, in 1864, removed to 
Cardington, where he continued in his profession 
about eight years, when he retired from practice 
and devoted his attention to the banking business. 
Drs. Horace White and McClure located in Car- 
dington, and practiced medicine there, the latter 
for a few years, and Dr. White until 1861-62, 
when he died. Dr. William Geller located in 
Mount Gilead about the year 1840, and, after 
remaining some fifteen years, removed to Califor- 
nia. Dr. Mansier located in Mount Gilead about 
the same time. Dr. Frank GriflSth commenced 
the practice of medicine at Iberia about 1842, 
and, after remaining a few years, removed to 
Indiana. Dr. Reed commenced practice at Iberia 
at an early period, and is an active practitioner to 
the present day. 

Dr. Talmadge Beebe settled in Mount Gilead 
about the year 1845, where he continued in active 
professional life until 1864, when he removed to 
Iowa. Dr. L. B. Vorhries settled in Iberia about 
1850. He remained there some four years and 
then removed to Mount Gilead, where he still 



^ s ^-" 






it±* 



234 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY, 



prac'ices his profession. Drs. Dufl' and Weath- 
erby commenced medical practice about 1845, at 
Williamsport. They continued there a year ^ or 
two, when Dr. Weatherby removed West and Dr. 
Duff, after a few more years in the neighborhood, 
removed to Galion. where he died. Dr. Eaton 
settled in Sparta about the year 1842, where he 
practiced his profession for about twenty-five 
years. Dr. Alfred Burns also located at Sparta, 
about 1846, and practiced his profession there 
until 1864, when he died of erysipelas. 

Drs. Shaw and James Page located in Sparta, 
the latter in 1843, and the former in 1858. Dr. 
Page practiced bu' a short time, then removed to 
Mansfield, where he died of cholera. Dr. Shaw's 
health gave away and he died in 1864, of con- 
sumption. Dr. Samuel Page located at Pagetown 
about 1839-40. He continued his profession 
some thirty years, when he retired and turned his 
attention to agricultural pursuits. Dr. Doty 
located at Westfield about 1859, went into the 
army and sickened and died. Dr. J. M. Lord, 
a son of Dr. R. E. Lord, commenced the prac- 
tice of medicine in Chesterville about the year 
1862, and continued until 1870, when he died 
with pulmonary hemorrhage. 

Dr. Sylvester settled near Pulaskiville in 1842, 
and practiced his profession for about twenty 
years and then engaged in agriculture. Dr. New- 
comb located at Johnsville about the same year, 
and continued in practice eight or ten years, and 
then removed to Westerville, Ohio. Dr. H. H. 
Shaw located at Johnsville in 1858-59, and entered 
into practice, which he continued until 1865, when 
he removed to Mount Gilead, where he is still en- 
gaged in his profession. Dr. Denison settled at 
Johnsville about the time Dr. Shaw moved to 
Mount Gilead, and is there at present in active 
practice. Dr. Ruhl, Sr., has practiced for a num- 
ber of years in North Woodbury, and his 
son, Dr. Rhul, Jr., located at West Point in 
1877, and continues the practice of the profession 
there to this time. Dr. Howell located at Will- 
iamsport about the year 1868, where he practiced 



for two years, then removed to West Point and 
remained there until 1877, when he removed to 
Southern Indiana. Dr. Kelley settled at West 
Point about the year 1856, and remained there 
several years, when he removed to Galion and is 
in active practice there at the present time. Dr. 
James Williams located in Chesterville in 1864-65, 
and is still practicing his profession there. About 
the same date. Dr. Whitford located in Chester- 
ville, and is still a practicing physician in the town. 
Dr. Thoman located at Williamsport about the 
year 1876, where he still remains. 

Dr. Calvin Gunsalus commenced practice in 
Sparta about the year 1864, and continued there 
until 1875, when he removed to Mount Gilead, 
where he still resides. Dr. Bliss, Jr., a grandson 
of Dr. David Bliss, commenced business in 1862, 
and is still in active practice. Dr. Green began 
the practice of medicine at Cardingtoni n 1868-69, 
where he still continues and has an extensive prac- 
tice. Dr. Williams studied medicine with Dr. 
Green and graduated at Miami Medical College, 
Cincinnati, in 1876. He located in Cardington, 
where, by energy and industry, he has won a 
large practice. Dr. Conner located also at Card- 
ington about 1877. He is a man of ability and is 
rapidly gaining a large practice. Dr. J. N. 
Thatcher located at Denmark about 1870, where 
he still continues the practice of medicine. Dr. 
Miller commenced business in the county at West 
Point, and is still in active practice. Dr. Tucker 
located in Mount Gilead about the year 1865, 
where he is still residing. Dr. Coble commenced 
business in Johnsville in 1868-69, and, after prac- 
ticing there some five years, removed to the south- 
ern part of the State. 

Dr. Cook commenced business at Pulaskiville 
about 1870 and pursued his calling successfully 
six or seven years, when he turned his attention 
and talents to the ministry, and is at present a 
prominent divine of the Christian Church. Dr. 
Morgan located at Westfield in 1879, where he has 
acquired a large practice. Dr. Bennett located 
at Iberia about 1877, and formed a partnership 



*71 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



235 



with Dr. Reed, and is now doing a large business 
in the profession. Dr. F. C Shaw located at 
South Woodbury about 1870, where he has since 
been actively engaged in his profession. Dr. T. 
J. Williams located at Marengo about the year 
1875. He remained but a short time and then 
removed to Sunbury, Ohio. Dr. Merriman also 
located in Marengo, in the spring of 1878, but 
soon after removed to Centerburg, Ohio. Dr. A. 
D. James commenced the practice of medicine in 
the spring of 1880, in Mount Gilead, iu partner- 
ship with Dr. D. L. Swingley, one of his former 
instructors. Dr. Howard commenced his profes- 
sional labors at Marengo about the year 1876. 
He continued there but a short time and then 
removed West, Dr. S. Shaw also located at Ma- 
rengo, in 1870, where he is gaining a large prac- 
tice. Dr. Paxton practiced medicine at Iberia in 
an early period of its history, but we are unable to 
give any particulars in regard to it. Dr. Aaron 
Neff moved from Marion County to Williams- 
port, where he has established a good practice. 

Dr. Charles Kelley began practice at Williams- 
port about the year 1846. He remained there 
some eight or ten years, and then removed to the 
neighborhood of Mount Gilead, and continued his 
work there until 1877, when he removed West. 
Dr. John Ressley begun business in Cardington 
in 1839-40, and practiced medicine there for 
thirty years or more. Dr. J. W. Russell, Jr., 
located at Johnsville in 1859-60, where he prac- 
ticed medicine very successfully for a few years, 
when his health failed. Dr. Alf. McConica 
studied medicine with Dr. Pennock, about 1845, 
and practiced at South Woodbury until 1855-56, 
when he removed West, where he died. Dr. J. 
F. Vigor located at Levering Station in 1878, 
where he is rapidly gaining an extensive practice. 
Dr. W. H. Lane located at Cardington about 1875, 
and continued but a few years, when he removed 
to Columbus. Dr. S. Ewing commenced business 
at Cardington in 1876-77, but remained a few 
years only. Dr. J. M. Randolph located, about 
1840, in the neighborhood of Marengo, where he 



has practiced medicine uninterruptedly ever since. 

In the above sketch we have given as complete 
a record of the practicing physicians, past and 
present, of Morrow County, as it is possible to 
make up from memory, and the meager informa- 
tion to be obtained in the short time we have had 
to complete the work. If there are omissions, as 
doubtless there are, they are the result of a lack 
of information, and are not intentionally left out. 
We shall now make a brief mention of the medical 
societies of the county. 

About the year 1850, the first eflfort was made 
in Morrow County to organize a medical society. 
After a general call had been made, a number of 
physicians met at the court house in Mount Gilead, 
viz., Drs. I. H. Pennock, Hiram R. Kelley, 
Hamilton Main, Charles Kelley, S. M. Hewitt, 
W. T. Brown, James M. Briggs and D. L. Swing- 
ley, who proceeded to organize a society, by elect- 
ing Dr. J. M. Briggs President, with other 
requisite oflScers. A few meetings of this society 
took place, when the members became lukewarm, 
and all efforts to keep up the organization ceased. 
Again, in 1867, another effort was made for a 
county medical society. A number of physicians 
met together and, after considering the matter, 
decided that the old society was dead, and it would 
be necessary to form a new one, with an entirely 
new constitution and laws. Accordingly, with Dr. 
Briggs in the chair, an election for officers was 
held, which resulted as follows: Dr. I. H. Pen- 
nock, President; Drs. J. M. Lord and D. L. 
Swingley, Vice Presidents, and A. S. Weatherby, 
Secretary. The business of the society went on 
prosperously, and many matters of importance to 
the profession were brought up and discussed at 
its meetings. At the second annual meeting, the 
following officers were elected : D, L. Swingley, 
President, and A. S. Weatherby, re-elected Sec- 
retary. Toward the close of this year, occurred 
the death of I. M. Lord, first Vice President of 
the society. September 30, 1869, the election of 
the following officers took place : Dr. A. S. 
Weatherby, President; C. Gunsalus and H. R. 



T^ 



VSG 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



Kelley, Vice Presidents ; H. S. Green, Secretary, 
and T. H. Pennock, Treasurer. The society con- 
tinued to flourish, until the failure of Dr. 
Weatherby's health rendered him unable to at- 
tend the meetings. An indifference then grew up 
on the part of the members, and on the l-lth of 
July, 1870, the last meeting of the association 
was held, at which there were present but five 
members. Another meeting was appointed for 
the 25th of August, but whert the day came, there 
was not a quorum present, and further effort to 
keep the society alive was abandoned. 

It seems that after a lapse of nearly five 
years, a few of the old members met at the court 
house for the purpose of again re-organizing the 
medical society of the county. The old constitu- 
tion and by-laws of the previous association were 
adopted with few amendments, and the following 
officers elected: Dr. Gunsalus, President; D. L. 
Swingley and D. A. Howell, Vice Presidents ; H. 
S. Green, Secretary ; and H. H. Shaw, Treasurer. 
The next meeting was at Cardington, August 19, 
1875. There seems to have been another break 
in the society, as the next meeting after this was 
held in August, 1877. This meeting took place 
in Cardington, and, upon again organizing a medi- 
cal society, proceeded to elect officers, as follows : 
Dr. H. S. Green, President; Drs. Connor and 
Tucker, Vice Presidents ; Dr. J. L. Williams, 
Secretary ; and Dr. Gunsalus, Treasurer. The 
old constitution and laws were again adopted for 
their government, and used until June 7, 1878, 
when a new constitution was adopted. At the 
meeting in October. 1878, the following officers 
were elected : H. S. Green, President ; Drs. 
Gunsalus and Miller, Vice Presidents ; Dr. Will- 
iams, re-elected Secretary, and Dr. Tucker, Treas- 
urer. The meetings of the society now occurred 
regularly, and, at the next annual meeting. Dr. 
Miller, of Iberia, was elected President, and Dr. 
Williams re-elected Secretary. The association is 
now regarded by the inhabitants of the county, as 
well as by the physicians, with a good degree of 



interest, and the indications are that it is now 
established on a permanent basis. 

As we stated in the beginning of this article, 
we shall now devote a brief space to some of the 
other schools,- or systems of practice, that have 
sprung into existence since the first settlement of 
the country, and have continued in vogue to the 
present day. 

About the year 1843, Edward Smith, formerly 
of Pittsburgh, Penn., introduced homoeopathy into 
Morrow County. Since that time this fraternity 
has increased, and now numbers six practitioners 
in the county, viz. : Drs. A. D. Wright and 
William L. Case, of Mount Gilead ; Drs. Watson 
and Ivey, of Cardington ; Dr. Jackson, of Ches- 
terville, and Dr. Timms, of Sparta. 

At a somewhat later period, the eclectic school 
of medicine was started. Among the first disci- 
ples of this system were Dr. Granger, of Westfield ; 
Dr. Brown, of Denmark ; Dr. Llewellen, of West- 
field; Dr. Conklin, of Woodbury ; Dr. Buxton, of 
Sparta ; Dr. Pratt, of Marengo ; and Dr. Emie, 
of South Woodbury. These are all living, and 
practicing their branch of the profession at the 
present day, except Dr. Granger, who died about 
the year 1862. There are some other systems 
that have had a brief existence in the county, but 
were short-lived and do not possess sufficient in- 
terest to require notice here. 

The introduction of the Gospel into Morrow 
County was coeval with its settlement by the 
whites. The pioneers were mostly moral. God- 
fearing people, who, at the close of the day's toilj 
and before retiring to their humble couches, would 
take down the old family Bible, and reading a 
portion of the precious word by the aid of " fire 
light," would kneel down and earnestly implore 
the protection of Heaven, and thank the Great 
Ruler for their preservation from the dangers of 
wilderness life. In this way, the teachings of the 
Christian religion were felt and realized in the 
most remote settlements. Among the pioneers 
were numbered the pioneer preachers. They came 
as " one crying in the wilderness," and " without 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



237 



money and without price," exposed to danger and 
disease, subject to trials and privations, and fore- 
going all the joys of home and the society of 
loved ones, labored " in season and out of season" 
for the advancement of truth and the salvation of 
men. What a rebuke their self-sacrificing devo- 
tion is to the ministers of the present day, who, 
partaking of the spirit of this fast age, can only 
proclaim the word from marble pulpits to parish- 
ioners dozing in silk-cushioned pews. The first 
were not unlike the " holy men" described by 
Bryant : 

" * * * Who hid themselves 

Deep in the woody wilderness, and gave 

Their lives to thought and prayer, till they outlived 

The generation born with them, nor seemed 

Less aged than the hoary trees and rocks 

Around them." 

While the latter class are of those 
" * * * * holy men 
Who deemed it were not well to pass life thus." 

The pioneer preacher, with no companion but 
his faithful horse, traveled over the country by the 
aid of his knowledge of the cardinal points, and 
thus reaching the desired settlement, would present 
the claims of the Gospel to the assembled hearers, 
after the toilsome and long day's journey. After 
a night's rest iu the humble cabin, and partaking 
of the simple meal, he enters upon the journey of 
the day, to preach again at a distant point. Thus 
was the '* circuit" of hundreds of miles traveled 
month after month, and to these faithful ministers 
of Christ do we owe the planting of churches and 
the Christianizing influences seen and felt in 
society everywhere. 

Among the pioneer preachers of Morrow County 
we may mention Revs. David James, Henry 
George, John Cook, S. Leiter, William Ashley, 
George Fuller, Benjamin Green, Henry Shedd ; 
and the well-known Methodist Evangelist, llev. 
Russell Bigelow, used sometimes pass through this 
part of the '' moral vineyard," and preach to the 
people. Many other faithful ministers were in 
the county at an early day, but their names have 



passed from memory. The pioneer's cabin served 
them as preaching places, until the building of 
schoolhouses and churches. As the population 
increased, and the country grew in wealth, churches 
were built in every neighborhood, until at the 
present day, there is not a township in the county 
but has from one to half a dozen churches in its 
territory. But it is not our purpose to go into a 
detailed church history in this chapter. The 
subject will be more fully treated in the townships 
respectively. We have only intended to glance 
briefly at the introduction of Christianity into the 
county. 

The cause of education received the early at- 
tention of the people of this section of the country, 
thanks to New England. As early as 1647, the 
question of common schools was agitated in that 
that region, the birthplace, as it were, of education 
and civilization. In the year mentioned, an act 
' was passed to enable " every child, rich and poor 
alike, to learn to read its own language." Soon 
after, it was enacted that " every town or district 
having fifty householders should have a common 
school ; " and, that " every town or district hav- 
ing one hundred familie s should have a grammar 
school, taught by teachers competent to prepare 
youths for college." A writer, commenting upon 
this act in after years, of our New England 
fathers, notices it as the " first instance in Chris- 
tendom in which a civil government took meas- 
ures to confer upon its youth the blessings of 
education." " There had been," he said, " parish 
schools connected with individual churches, and 
foundations for universities, but never before was 
embodied in practice a principle so comprehensive 
in its nature and so fruitful in good results as that 
of training a nation of intelligent people by educa- 
ting all its youth." And when our forefathers, 
nearly a century and a half later, declared in the 
famous ordinance of 1787, that " knowledge, with 
religion and morality, was necessary to the good 
government and happiness of mankind," they 
suggested the bulwark of American liberty. 
Science and literature began to advance, after the 



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238 



HISTORY OF MORROAV COUNTY. 



adoption of that ordinance, in a manner they had 
never done before, and the interest awakened at 
that time is still on the advance. 

In the early settlement of this part of the State, 
there were a great many influences in the way of 
general education. Neighborhoods were thinly 
settled, money was scarce, and the people generally 
poor. There were no schoolhouses, nor was there 
any public school-fund, either State or county. All 
persons, of both sexes, who had physical strength 
enough to labor, were compelled to take their part 
in the work — the labors of the females being as 
heavy and important as that of the men ; and this 
strain upon their industry continued for years. 
And another drawback to education was a lack of 
teachers, and of books. Taking all these facts to- 
gether, it is a wonder that the pioneers had any 
schools at all. But the early settlers deserve the 
highest honors for their prompt and energetic 
efforts in this direction." Just as soon as the settle- 
ments would at all justify, schools were begun at 
each one, and any vacant cabin, stable, barn or 
other outhouse, was used as a temple of learning. 
The schools were paid for by subscription, at the 
rate of about 50 or 75 cents a month per scholar. 
Although the people displayed this early interest 
in educating their children, yet, when the Legis- 
lature passed a law in 1825, making education 
compulsory, it raised quite a tempest. The tax- 
payers heartily indorsed the Legislature in passing 
the Canal Law, which voted away milHons of 
money, but as heartily condemned it for passing a 
law compelling them to support ^^ pauper schools," 
and the poorer classes were loud in their con- 
demnation, because the law made "pauper scholars" 
of their children.- 

Those who remember the early school laws of 
Ohio will remember the fre(|uent changes made in 
them. It was, indeed, changed every session of 
the Legislature, until it became a perfect chaos of 
amendments, provisions, etc., which none were 
wholly able to explain. One district would act 
under one law, and its neighbor under another. 
But the adoption of a new constitution gave the 



State a revised school law, said, at the time of its 
adoption, to be the best and most perfect within 
the broad bounds of the Union. And from that 
day to the present, it has kept its place as the best 
and most liberal school law of any of the States. 

The schoolhouses of an early day, as a general 
thing, were of the poorest kind. In towns, they 
were dilapidated buildings, either frame or log, 
and in the country they were invariably of logs ; 
usually but one style of architecture was used in 
building them. They were erected, not from a 
regular fund, or by subscription, but by labor 
given. The neighbors would gather together at 
some point previously agreed upon, and, with ax in 
hand, the work was soon done. Logs were cut, six- 
teen or eighteen feet in length, and of these walls 
were raised. Broad boards composed the roof, 
and a rude fireplace and clapboard door, a pun- 
cheon floor, and the cracks filled with " chinks," 
and these daubed over with mud, completed the 
schoolhouse, with the exception of the windows 
and the furniture. These were as rude and prim- 
itive as the house itself. The window was made 
by cutting out a log the full length of the build- 
ing, and over the opening, in winter, paper, satu- 
rated with grease, served to admit the light. Just 
under this window, two or three strong pins were 
driven in the log in a slanting direction. On these 
pins, a long " puncheon " was fastened, and this 
was the writing-desk of the whole school. For 
seats, they used benches made from small trees, 
cut in lengths of ten or twelve feet, split open, 
and, in the round side, two large holes were bored 
at each end. and in each a stout pin, fifteen 
inches long, was driven. These pins formed the 
legs. On the uneven floors these rude benches 
were hardly ever seen to have more than three 
legs on the floor at one time. And the books ! 
They were as promiscuous as the house and fur- 
niture were rude. The New Testament was the 
most popular reader, " Introduction to the English 
Reader," "Sequel to- the English Reader " and 
finally the reader itself " The New England 
Primer," in which the child was taught that in 



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HISTOEY or MORROW COUNTY 



239 



" Adam's fall, we sinned all," was one of the 
primary books. The higher spellers were Dilworth's 
and then Webster's. Grammar was scarcely ever 
taught ; when it was, the text-books used were 
Murray's and Kirkham's Grrammars. But we will 
not follow the description further. Those who 
have known only the perfect system of schools of 
the present day can scarcely form an idea of the 
limited capacity of educational facilities fifty or 
sixty years ago. There are many, however, still 
living in Morrow County, who can very clearly 
realize the above picture of the pioneer school- 
house. 

It may not be out of place to glance hastily at 
some of the early schoolhouses and teachers of 
Morrow County. In the Owl Creek settlement, 
as it was called, and what is now the southern 
part of Perry Township, Lawrence Van Buskirk 
taught school as early as 1817, in a small log 
cabin built for school purposes, near where Joshua 
Singrey lives. Isaac Morris was an early teacher 
in what is now Peru Township, and Benjamin 
Trux in Congress. In Gilead Township, some of 
the early teachers were Peleg Mosher, T. Randall, 
William Campbell, and Elizabeth and Martha 
J. Foster. Mrs. Mary Shedd taught the first 
school in the village of Mount Gilead. Arch. 
McCoy was an early teacher in North Bloomfiold, 
John Gwynn is supposed to have taught the first 
school in Chester. Enos Miles was an early 
teacher in this section. A schoolhouse of the 
primitive type was erected as early as 1815, in 
Franklin Township, on the site of the Baptist 
Church, in the northeast part of the township. 
W. P. Cook and W. T. Campbell were among the 
early teachers in Franklin. Dr. Floyd and a man 
named Spears were early teachers in North 
Woodbury. 

In addition to the public schools of the county, 
may be mentioned Iberia College, Hesper Mount 
Seminary and Alum Creek Academy. Iberia 
College is located at the village of Iberia, in 
Washington Township, and has been in operation 
a little more than a quarter of a century. It was 



started as a select school, and, having passed 
through all the grades of select school, seminary 
and academy, it finally became a college, endowed 
with all the rights and benefits belonging to such 
an institution. It will, however, be more fully 
written up in the chapter devoted to Washing- 
ton Township. 

Hesper Mount Seminary and Alum Creek 
Academy are both located in Peru Township. 
The former was opened in 1845. It is near the 
church of the Friends, and has generally been 
known as the " Quaker School." Alum Creek 
Academy is situated a little west of Ashley, and 
was founded in 1875 by Dr. Townsend. It is 
now conducted by Bachel E. Levering. A more 
extended history, of these institutions is given in 
the chapter on Peru Township. 

The following statistics are from the last annual 
report of the Commissioners of Common Schools, 
and will be found of interest to all friends of edu- 
cation : 

Amount of school moneys received within the year ; 
Balance on hand Sept. 1, 1878...|22,697.90 

State Tax 9,096.75 

Irreduceable School Fund 1,625.56 

Local tax for school and school- 
house purposes 32,174.34 

Fines, licenses and other sources 571.30 

Total $66,165.85 

Amount of school moneys expended within the year : 

Primary ; .«28,275.41 

High 1,900.00 

$30,175.41 

Sites and buildings $2,151.25 

Interest on redemption of bonds.. 1,233.22 
Fuel and other contingent ex- 
penses 7,862.45 

$11,246.92 

Total expenditures $41,422..33 

Balance on hand Sept. 1, 1879 $24,743.52 

Payment of Common School Fund of counties 9,100.50 

Received from counties 12,189.10 

Excess of receipts 3,088.60 

Section 16 School Fund $1,844.51 

United States Military District 

School Fund 218.13 

Total $2,062.64 



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240 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



No. of youth (white and colored ) between 6 and 21 years: 

While, males 3,084 

White, females 2,884 



Total 

Colored, males... 
Colored, females. 



5,968 



Tola'. 



Whole number between ti and 21 years.. 

Whole number between 16 ami 21 years 

Number in United States Military District 

Population of county in 1870 1 

Knumeration of youth in 1879 

Per cent enumeration is of population in 1879.... 

Number of townships in county 

Number of sub divisions 

Number of separate districts 

Schoolhouses erected within the year (primary) 

Cost 

Whole number of schoolhouses 109 

Separate districts, (primary) 5 



58 
6,016 

1 ,593 

2,273 

8,583 

6,016 

.32 

16 

108 

5 

1 

1400 



Total in county. 



114 



Value of school property : 

Primary $74,700 

Separate districts (primaryj 90,000 



Total. 



$164,700 

Number of difiFerenf teachers employed within the year: 

Males 107 

Females 101 



Total. 



Separate districts : 

Primary, males 3 

Females 14 

High, males 3 

Total 20 

Grand total 



208 



228 



Average wages of teachers per month : 

Males $36.00 

Females 20.( 

Separate districts : 

Primary, males $45.00 

Females 32.00 

High, males 87.00 

Number of ditferent pupils enrolled within the year : 

Primary, males 2,347 

females, 1,955 



To^al , 



5,302 

Separate districts : 

Primary, males 383: females, 374 757 

High, males, 121; females, 91 212 

Grand Total 5,271 



Average daily attendance within the year : 

Primary, males, 1,351 ; females, 1,232 2,.589 

Separate districts : 

Primary, males 278; females, 260 ^538 

High, m.iles, 63; fiiuales, 56 119 

Grand total 3,246 

A. R. Duiju, Esq., in his report to the Com- 
missioner of Common Schools, speaks thus of the 
schools of this county : " Morrow County has 
made very commendable advancement in the edu- 
cational advantages aflPorded to her people, and, al- 
though the progress made in each succeding year 
is not as great as is desirable, yet in the course of 
the last twenty-five years the improvement is very 
obvious. Much has been done by way of improv- 
ing the appearance and comfort of the buildings 
erected for the use of the public schools, although 
a great deficiency in these respects still exists in 
many districts of the county. The graded schools 
and schools in special districts are well conducted, 
under the control of well-qualified and eflScient 
teachers, by whose eflbrts the proficiency in the 
branches taught has been made very creditable, 
and by reason thereof the districts are supplied 
with better qualified teachers than formerly, and 
the standard of qualifications has been gradually 
raised, from time to time, until the teachers and 
schools of the county will compare favorably with 
other counties in the State. 

"A great evil in our county, that requires a 
speedy remedy, is the many very small districts, 
enumerating but a small number of scholars, in 
many instances not half enough to make a school 
respectable in numbers if all in the district should 
be in daily attendance. In these small districts 
teachers are usually employed, not so much with a 
view to their qualifications as to tiieir cheapness, 
and to confer a favor im some relative, friend or 
neighbor. In such districts, usually, the teachers 
who are barely able to obtain fourth-class certifi- 
cates are employed. If these small districts could 
be combined or consolidated in such way as to 
make each district contain the necessary number 
of scholars to form a school large enough to gen- 
erate a spirit of emulation atnnng pupils and 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



241 



teachers, the tendency would be to make qualifica- 
tion in the teacher the chief object in their em- 
ployment, instead of low price and favoritism, and 
teachers of fourth-class qualifications would find no 
place to impose themselves on the community. 

" One of the main difficulties in the way of ob- 
taining well-qualified teachers is the entire neglect 
on the part of many directors to make a high 
standard of qualifications a requisite for employ- 
ment, it being sufficient, in the estimation of such 
directors, that a teacher have a certificate to en- 
able him to draw the public money, no matter 
how low the grade. The only remedy for this 
evil is in the directors and the people in such dis- 
tricts." 

A few extracts from the annual report of Hon. 
J. J. Burns, State Commissioner of Schools, ap- 
pear to us altogether appropriate in this connec- 
tion, and we make them for the benefit of all who 
feel an interest in the education of the rising gen- 
eration. He says : " How shall we cause our 
pupils to make the largest possible attainments in 
these foundation branches, and also have them, 
when they leave school, thirsting for more knowl- 
edge, and possessing trained mental faculties, so 
that they may acquire it, the organ of these fac- 
ulties to be contained in a healthy body, while 
mind and body are under the guidance of correct 
moral principles? To avoid waste of time and 
labor is to be able to better do the work in hand, 
and to apply the savings to something beyond. 
A search for wastage is a highly practical thing, 
and economy here, a moral duty. 

" I have often asserted that there is a wastage 
in having pupils spend time learning to spell hun- 
dreds, yes, thousands of words which they never 
have occasion to use outside of the spelling class, 
while probably the dictionary, which should be in 
constant use, rests in pensive quietness on the 
teacher's desk, if, indeed, there is one in the 
room. The meaning of words and their pronun- 
ciation are of far more moment than^ their spell- 
ing. The best text-books from which to learn 
these are the reader and , dictionary ; the best 



proofs of progress are correct oral reading and 
written compositions. In penman.ship, we want 
more drill in writing from dictation, in having the 
pupils put their thoughts or recollections upon paper 
rapidly and neatly. Copying that beautiful line 
at the top of the page with care and patience is a 
good exercise, but some better gymnastic is re- 
quired to fit the writer for hours of real work. 
In one way or another, language rightly claims a 
large share of the attention of the teacher. It is 
the grand characteristic which distinguishes man 
from the other animals, the most direct product of 
his inner consciousness. 

" The child has begun the study of language 
before his school life commences. Learning to 
talk seems as natural as learning to laugh, or cry, 
or play. But so much of knowledge and of the 
world is hidden in books, that a key must be 
found to unlock these treasures, and that key is 
reading — the power to translate the written word ; 
to recognize it as the graphic symbol of an idea 
before in possession, so that the ability to reverse 
the process will follow, and printed words become 
the source of ideas. As the pupil masters words 
and their meanings, he is getting into his posses- 
sion the tools with which he may dig in books for 
further knowledge, make his own knowledge more 
useful to him as a social being, and secure a body 
for his thoughts, without which incarnation they 
are as little subject to control as the weird fancies 
of a dream. The art of silent reading deserves 
more attention in school — practice in grasping 
the meaning of a passage in the shortest possible 
time, and reproducing it with pen or tongue. But 
along with this, in its earlier stages, and for a 
short time preceding it, is the oral reading exer- 
cise, wherein the reader must serve as eyes to the 
listener, so that they may, through his voice, see 
the printed page. 

'' The translation of a written sentence into a 
spoken sentence is much more than the mere 
translation, in their right order, of the icords of 
the written sentence ; and to do this well requires, 
besides the names of the written characters, 



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242 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



culture of voice, training of eye, quickening of emo- 
tion. To serve as medium through which others 
may know the printed page, catching the syllables 
upon the ear, is not low art. To breathe life into 
dead words, and send them into the depths of the 
moral and intellectual nature of the hearer, and 
that with power to convince, to arouse, to subdue, 
greater than if the hearer had been his own inter- 
preter, is high art indeed. 

****** * 

" One very good result of increased attention to 
literature in the schools is the marked increase in 
the amount of wholesome reading — history, bio- 
graphy, travels, poetry, popular science, and 
the lessened demand for dime novels and other 
low fiction. Few questions are, in their bearing 
upon the future of our country, more important 
than this : What are the hoys and girls reading? 
I would not then have less time spent in our 
schools upon language, but teachers may well 
look into the subject, and see whether that time is 
spent to the best advantage. 

" The public regard arithmetic, par excellence, 
as the practical study. It is the practical educa- 
tor's strong tower, and we have it taught in season 
and out. Measured by any definition of the prac- 
tical, as a means either to fit one directly for bi'ead- 
getting in the common business of life, or as a 
means of mental culture and discipline, a large 
part of arithmetic, as found in our books, and 
taught from them, falls short. Instead of intro- 
ducing at an early stage the science of geometry, 
we fritter away valuable time upon annuities, and 
alligation and progressions ; and as for interest, 
one would think that mankind in general made a 
living by shaving each other's notes. Children 
begin early to develop the idea of number. It 
concerns matter of their daily life. The elemental 
steps of writing and reading numbers, or the sym- 
bols of numbers, naturally follow, and usually are 
not diflBcult of acquirement. But there is such a 
gap between the conditions needed for the ready 
learning of these things, and the more mature 
judgment, and that knowledge of business and the 



world demanded in the intelligent solution of or- 
dinarily difficult problems in discount, and certain 
other branches of applied arithmetic. Back and 
forth, across this stretch, the boy's mind must 
swing like a pendulum, repelled by what it cannot 
comprehend, and by what it has grown tired of. 
He marks time when he could so readily oblique 
into some other study and march forward. Then, 
by and by, if these advanced parts of arithmetical 
science are needed, their acquisition would be 
needed. Meanwhile, the child may give increased 
attention to literature, and be learning interesting 
and profitable lessons about this world into which 
he has come, and in what body he came, and how 
to take care of it. While these priceless practical 
lessons are in progress, one can fancy that the 
arithmetic itself would enjoy the rest. 

" In the time which can be saved, also, a few 
short steps could be taken in some other branches 
now much neglected. The reason and the 
practical mode for doing many things which are 
to be done in real life by the citizen, the man of 
business, the manager of a household, might be 
taught in the schools. Something of the nature 
of the materials which we eat, drink and wear, 
and economy in the buying and using, would be 
excellent lessons. If he is a benefactor of man- 
kind who causes two blades of grass to grow where 
one grew before, the language does not furnish a 
name for him or her who shall cause the laboring 
man to know how to make one dollar produce the 
good results for which he must now expend two. 
No matter whether we regard the school as estab- 
lished primarily for the good of the children, or 
for the preservation of the State, we must admit 
that the most valuable result of all education is 
the building of good characters. This, to speak 
definitely, is to instill correct principles and train 
in right habits. Citizens with these ' constitute a 
State.' Men and women with these are in posses- 
sion of what best assures rational happiness, the 
end and aim of human life." 

The State Commissioner, in his report of 1878, 
upon the subject of " compulsory education " — a 



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t7j^^O-7x<>A^ty^^^ . 




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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



245 



subject which is now receiving considerable atten- 
tion in many parts of the country — says : " Con- 
cerning the right of State or Government to pass 
and carry into effect what are known as compul- 
sory laws, and require parents and guardians, even 
against their will, to send their children to school, 
there does not appear to be much diversity of 
opinion. Concerning the policy thereof, dependent 
upon so many known and unknown conditions, 
there is the widest diversity. T can write no his- 
tory of the results of the act of March 20, 1877, 
for it does not seem to have any. A great good 
would be wrought if the wisdom of the General 
Assembly ccukl devise some means which shall 
strengthen and supplement the powers of boards 
of education, and enable them to prevent truancy, 
even if only in cases w^here parents desire their 
children to attend school regularly, but parental 
authority is too weak to secure that end. The 
instances are not few in which parents would wel- 
come aid in this matter, knowing that truancy is 
often the first step in a path leading through the 
dar^. •''izes of idleness, vagabondage and crime. 

" Whatever may be said of young children 
working in mills or factories, youthful idlers 
upon the streets of towns and cities should be 
gathered up by somebody and compelled to do 
something. If they learn nothing else, there will 
be at least this salutary lesson, that society is 
stronger than they, and, without injuring them, 
will use its strength to protect itself While we 
are establishing reform schools for those who have 
started in the way to their own ruin and have 
donned the uniform of the enemies of civil so- 
cieties, it would be a heavenly importation to pro- 
vide some way to rescue those who are yet only 
lingering around the camp." 

The political hif^tory of Morrow County is 
somewhat limited in interest, as compared to 
older counties. In the early times, when in 
four quarters of Morrow belonged respective- 
ly to Richland, Knox, Delaware and Marion 
Counties, there was but little party strife, and 
the scramble for office very different to what it is 



at a later day. The office sought the man then, 
not the man the office, and people were more 
honest, or the temptation to evil less, than in this 
fast age. An unfaithful "steward" was rarely 
heard of Many of the most lucrative oflSces were 
filled by appointment, and not by popular election, 
and, as a general thing, by faithful and competent 
men, who discharged their duties without fear or 
favor. 

But to take up the organization of political par- 
ties recalls a period several decades anterior to the 
formation of the county, and scarcely comes within 
the scope of this work. A few words upon the 
the subject, however, may not be considered wholly 
out of place. 

At the Presidential election of 1824, the can- 
didates for this exalted position were Henry Clay, 
of Kentucky; William H. Crawford, of Georgia; 
John Q. Adams, of Massachusetts, and Gen. 
Jackson, of Tennessee. These candidates had 
each his friends, who supported their favorite 
from personal motives and not from party con- 
sideration or party discipline. Presidential 
booms were not invented yet, at least not from 
political standpoints. At that election, Mr. Clay, 
though not the choice of the majority of voters in 
this section, was the choice of a majority of the 
voters in the State, but he was overwhelmingly 
defeated for the Presidency. Neither of the can- 
didates had a majority of the votes in the Electo- 
ral College according to the constitutional rule, but 
stood, Jackson in the lead, Adams second, Craw- 
ford third and Clay fourth, the latter being 
dropped from the canvass when it came to the 
count. Upon the House of Representatives de- 
volved the duty of making choice of President. 
Each State, by its Representatives in Congress, 
cast one ViOte. The choice fell upon Mr. Adams 
by the casting vote of Kentucky. Mr. Clay was 
Speaker of the House of Representatives, and it 
was doubtless owing to Ohio's influence that the 
Kentucky delegation was induced to cast the vote 
of that State for Mr. Adams instead of Gen. Jack- 
son. By this little stroke of policy, Mr. Clay was 



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246 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUXTY. 



itistrumentul in organizing political parties that 
survived the generation in which he lived, and 
ruled in turn the destinies of the liepublic for 
more than a quarter of a century. At the next 
Presidential election, party lines were closely 
drawn between Mr. Adams and Gen'. Jackson, and 
the result of a hot and bitter contest was the 
election of the hero of New Orleans by both the 
electoral and popular vote. For several years 
after the political power and official patronage had 
passed into the hands of Old Hickory, parties 
were known throughout the county as the Jackson 
and Anti-Jackson parties. These, however, with 
a few changes and modification, became the Whig 
and Democratic parties, the latter of which has 
retained its party organization down to the present 
day, and is still one of the great political parties 
of the period. 

The first election o\ any great political impor- 
tance in which Morrow participated as an independ 
ent county was that of 1848, when Gen. Taylor, 
the hero of Buena Vista, and Hon. Lewis Cass were 
the Presidential candidates. Morrow County gave 
a large majority to the Democratic candidate, and, 
four years later. Gen. Franklin Pierce was elected 
President over Gen. Scott, the former reteiving a 
majority of the votes cast in this county. When 
the next Presidential election rolled around (1856), 
a new party had sprung into existence, and, al- 
though then no larger "than a man's hand," was 
destined to wield a vast influence in the country 
and in its turn to rule it for a lonsj period of years. 
In 1854, the Know-Nothing party carried the 
county, the first time since its formation that the 
Democrats had failed to carry it by several hun- 
dred majority. The dissolution of the Whig party 
followed the organization, in 1856, of the Repub- 
lican party, which came into full power in 1860, 
and has since that time piloted the ship of state. 
With few exceptions, the Republicans, since their 
organization as a party, have carried oflP the " loaves 
and fishes" of offices, as shown by the following 
vote since 18G(I, the epoch from which we may date 
a new era in the political history of the country: 



In 1860, the highest Republican majority in the 
county was 235; in 1861, the majority of Gov. 
Tod (Rep.) was 857; in 1862, the Democrats 
elected a Representative in the Legislature — other 
majorities were Republican ; in 1863, th*' majority 
of <iov. Brough (Rep.) was 609 ; in 1864, a Dem- 
ocratic Representative was elected, while other ma- 
jorities were Republican ; in 1865, the aggregate 
Republican majority was about 500, and, in 1866, 
upward of 600 ; in 1867, Gov. Hayes (Rep.) had 
a majority of 475 ; in 1868 and 1869, the Repub- 
lican majorities were from 400 to 600 ; in 1870, 
the Democrats elected a Representative, while the 
other majorities were largely Republican ; in 1871, 
the county went Republican by some 500 majority ; 
in 1872, it resulted similarly to 1870 ; in 1873, a 
mixed ticket of Democrats and Republicans was 
elected ; in 1875, the majority of Gov. Hayes 
(Rep.) was 130, the Democrats electing Auditor, 
Probate Judge and Commissioner ; in 1876, Re- 
publican majorities were from 200 to 350 ; in 
1877, the majority of Gov. Bishop (Dem.) was 3, 
while other majorities were Republican; in 1878, 
a Democratic Representative was elected, while 
other majorities were Republican ; in 1879, Re- 
publican by about 300 ; in 1880 — we'll see. 

From these figures it will be seen that the 
county, upon a full vote, is Republican in politics, 
although the Democrats now and then step in and 
elect a man. At present the county officers are 
thus divided politically : Clerk — D. L. Chase, Re- 
publican ; Recorder — J. B. Gatchell, Republican ; 
Probate Judge — W. D. Mathews, Republican ; 
Auditor — S. Rosenthal, Democrat ; Sheriff, D. C. 
Sanford, Republican ; Prosecuting Attorney — C. 
W. Allison, Republican ; Commissioners — G. W. 
Hershner, Democrat, and William Brooks and J. 
C. Swetland, Republicans ; Surveyor — J. T. Buck, 
Republican ; Coroner — Stephen Brown, Republi- 
can ; Infirmary Directors — Hiram Payne, Demo- 
crat ,and N. Noble and E. C. Haskins, Republi- 
cans. 

In conclusion of the political history, we present 
the following list of Representatives in the State 



5 V 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



247 



Legislature* since the formation of the county 
and their political faith at the time of their election : 
George N. Clark (Dem.), 1852-53; J. J. Gurley 
(Dem.), 1854-55 ; T. S. Bunker (Know Nothing), 
1856-57; David Reese (Rep.), 1858-61 (two 
terms) ; Joseph Gunsaulus (Rep.), 1862-65, (two 
terms) ; J. H. Rhodes (Rep.), 1866-67 ; J. M. 
Dunn (Rep.), 1868-69 ; Col. A.H. Brown (Rep.), 
1870-73 (two terms; T. E. Duncan (Rep.), 
1874-77 (two terms) ; Allen Levering (Dem.), 
1878-79; James Carlisle (Rep.), the present 
Representative. The county has four times repre- 
sented the district in the State Senate, in the per- 
sons of John T. Creigh, 1854-55 ; Davis Miles 
(Rep.), 1858-59 ; J. H. Benson (Dem.), 1866-67 ; 
H. S. Prophet (Dem.), 1868-69 ; and once in 
Congress in the person of Gen. John Beatty. 

The study of the railroad system of the country 
is one of exceeding interest, and holds unquestion- 
ably the front rank in modern improvements. 
There are but few occupations of any importance, 
perhaps not a single one, but it has radically af- 
fected. Agriculture, commerce, manufactures, 
city and country life, law, finance, and even gov- 
ernment itself, have all felt its influence. Since 
the invention of railroads, or, rather, their intro- 
duction into the United States, a little more than 
fifty years ago, the improvements made in them 
almost surpass belief. From wooden rails over 
which cars were drawn by horses and mules, we 
have to-day palatial coaches propelled by steam 
over steel rail tracks, with a velocity simply as- 
tounding, and with an ease scarcely equaled by 
any other mode of transportation. 

At our Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, 
in 1876, the Pennsylvania Railroad had on exhi- 
bition a locomotive named the " John Bull," built 
in 1831, by George and Robert Stephenson, of 
Newcastle-on-Tyne, England. It was made about 
three years after Stevenson had built the " Rock- 
et," the first railroad locomotive ever constructed. 
The " John Bull " was ordered by t,he Camden 
& Amboy Railway, and stood in the Exposition, 

* Furnished by Mr. George N. Clark. 



to which it had not only worked its way, but had 
drawn several passenger cars of an equally venera- 
ble antiquity with itself, upon pieces of the origi- 
nal iron rails, rolled in England for the first con- 
struction of the road. 

The first railroad in the United States was built 
in Massachusetts in 1827. It extended from the 
granite quarries of Quincy, a distance of three 
miles, to the Neponset River, and was operated by 
horse-power alone. In January, 1827, a second 
railroad was laid out from the coal mines of 
Mauch Chunk, Penn., to the Lehigh River, a 
distance of nine miles, and, with various changes 
and additions, its whole length did not exceed 
thirteen miles. In 1828, the Delaware and Hud- 
son Canal Company constructed a railroad from 
their coal mines to Honesdale, the terminus of 
their canal, and sent a commissioner to England, 
for the purchase of rail, iron and locomotives. In 
the spring of 1829 these locomotives arrived, and 
were the first ever seen in this country. In De- 
cember, 1830, the first locomotive built in this 
country was finished at the West Point Foundry. 
Doubtless there are many young men still living, 
and in a vigorous, state of manhood, who witnessed 
its completion. At but few eras within recorded 
history has the good fortune been afibrded within 
the compass of a single life to witness such wonder- 
ful changes as those produced by the locomotive. 

This first locomotive was, by a happy chance, 
called the " Best Friend," and was constructed 
for thQ South Carolina Railroad, from Charleston 
to Hamburg, in that State, under the personal 
supervision of E. L. Miller, who was a strong- 
advocate for the use of steam power in this early 
day, when its success was still problematical. 
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, which was origi- 
nally chartered in 1827, was in process of con- 
struction, and was ranked among the supporters of 
the claims of horse power. The first roads in the 
United States, viz., from the granite quarries of 
Massachusetts and from the coal mines of Mauch 
Chunk, used horse power, and these were then 
(1827) the only railroads in existence. 



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248 



HISTOEfY OF MOHHOW COUNTY 



Mr. Miller had such a faith in the success of 
steam that he agreed to take the responsibility of 
the construction of this first locomotive, which, on 
trial, proved its efficiency. From a report made 
by the Commissioner of the South Carolina Rail- 
road in 1833, another fact concerning this first 
locomotive appears, which is singularly suggestive. 
The Commissioner says : " The ' Best Friend ' was 
accepted by the company and performed with 
entire success until the next summer, without a 
single day's interruption, until the negro who 
acted as fireman, being incommoded by the un- 
pleasant noise of the steam escaping through the 
safety-valve, ventured on the experiment of eon- 
fining it by pressing the weight of his body on the 
lever-gauge of the safety-valve, which experiment 
resulted in the explosion of the boiler."' 

Thus slowly, and with much precaution, did 
the people of this country take hold of railroads. 
In January, 1832, it was reported that there were 
nineteen railroads, either completed or in process 
of construction in the United States, and that 
their aggregate length was nearly 1,400 miles. 
Though Congress afforded no material aid to this 
new era of internal improvements — the land-grant 
system not having yet been invented — yet this 
same year it exempted from duty the iron im- 
ported for railways and inclined planes, and act- 
ually used for their construction. In 1840, it 
has been estimated that our yearly average of 
railroad construction was about 500 miles. In 
1850, this average had increased to l,50y. In 
1860, it was nearly 10,000, and, in 1871, it was 
stated that enterprises requiring an expenditure 
of §800,000,000, and involving the construction 
of 20,000 miles of railroad, were in actual process 
of accomplishment. In 1872, the aggregate cap- 
ital of the railroads of the United States, which 
were estimated to embrace one-half of the rail- 
roads of the civilized world, was stated to amount 
to the enormous sum of $3,159,423,057, their 
gross revenue being 8473,241,055. 

As a matter of some interest to the reader of 
railroad history, we would mention the building 



of the Union Pacific Railroad, which may be 
termed the perfection of the railroad system in 
this country. The event, though probably still 
fresh in the minds of many, will, no doubt, in 
future years, become one of surpassing interest. 
The bill for the building of this road was signed by 
President Lincoln on the 1st of July, 1862, and, 
on the same day, he issued a call for 300,000 men 
to fight the battles of the Union. The idea of 
building the road was suggested by the generally 
felt necessity of a closer communication between 
the distant parts of the country. By the terms of 
the grant to the Union Pacific, the whoL line, 
from the Missouri River to the Bay of Sacra- 
mento, was to be completed not later than July 
1, 1876. The road was, however, complet:^d, and 
the last tie — of polished laurel wood bound with 
silver bands — laid May 10, 1869, and fastened 
with a gold spike furnished by California, a silver 
one furnished by Nevada, and one of a mixture of 
gold, silver and iron furnished by Arizona. 
This ceremony took place near the head 
of the Great Salt Lake, where the roads — the 
Central Pacific, chartered by California, and the 
Union Pacific, starting from the Missouri River 
— met. It was the culmination of the period of 
railroad growth, and had a poetry about it that 
was sublime and grand. By a preconcerted ar- 
rangement, the wires of the telegraph had been 
connected with the sledge used to drive the last 
spike, and the intelligence that the country had 
been spanned by the railroad was known at the 
instant of its accomplishment, at San Francisco 
and New York. 

But to return to the early period of railroads. 
From 1830 to 1835, railroads in the East received 
a considerable impulse. Improvements of all kinds 
were being made in them, and, as the system de- 
veloped in the older-settled States of the East, 
the Western people caught the fever, and, with a 
laudable ambition to give their own States a full 
share of the advantages thus attained by th» East- 
ern States, they voted away large sums of money 
for the construction of roads. Ohio, as well as 



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HISTORY or MORROW COUNTY. 



249 



other Western States, took position early in favor 
of internal improvements. As to her first rail- 
road, there are some conflicting statements. One 
of these statements is to the effect that a little 
road about thirty miles in length, extending from 
Toledo into the State of Michigan, was the first 
built in the State. Another authority states that 
the first was the Cincinnati & Sandusky Railroad, 
and another, the Little Miami Railroad, while 
still another authority claims the Sandusky & 
Mansfield Railroad. It was chartered as the 
Monroeville & Sandusky City Railroad March 9, 
1835. The project had been agitated for a year 
or two before its friends succeeded in getting it 
chartered. Other roads followed in rapid succes- 
sion in different parts of the State, and, as the 
years went by, finally reached the perfect system 
we have to-day. 

The first completed railroad, in which the people 
of Morrow County took particular interest was 
the Cleveland & Columbus Railroad, now known as 
the " Bee Line," or the Cleveland, Columbus, 
Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway. From a pub- 
lished history of the road we extract the following : 
" The question of building the Cleveland & Co- 
lumbus Railroad was agitated as early as 1835. 
A charter was granted March 14, 1836, for the 
purpose, as it states, of constructing a railroad 
from the city of Cleveland through the city of 
Columbus and the town of Wilmington to Cincinnati. 
Several amendments were made to the charter 
prior to the commencement of the work, among 
them that of relieving the company from any obli- 
gation to ' construct its road to or through any 
particular place.' Cleveland and Columbus were 
finally, after years of agitation of the question, 
settled on as the northern and southern termini, 
and work commenced in the fall of 18-18. A corps 
of engineers and surveyors had, in the mean time 
run several lines between Cleveland and Columbus, 
and all necessary steps had been taken looking to 
a permanent location of the route. It was long a 
matter of doubt where the road would run; whe- 
ther over the present line or further east, passing 



through Mount Vernon, and several surveys were 
made of both routes. It was finally located on the 
present line; preliminaries were definitely arranged, 
and work begun at both the northern and southern 
termini, as we have said, in the latter part of 
1848 ; notwithstanding most of the country 
through which the road passed was new, the work 
was rapidly pushed forward, and, early in 1851, 
trains were running over the road." 

In the years to come, it may be a matter of in- 
terest to some to know why this road did not 
come through Mount Gilead instead of passing two 
miles to the westward. One great reason, perhaps, 
was a feeling possessed by the people of Mount 
Grilead, somewhat akin to that of the old man who 

swore that 

" A line due north and south 

Would strike his house from any place," 
and they stood back, believing the road would 
strike their town, or be compelled to come through 
it anyway. No inducements, we are told, were 
offered the company to bring their road this way, 
under that impression. Finally the company be- 
came a little stiff-necked, and determined to leave 
them out in the cold." Cardington made special 
offers, and, as both places could not very well be 
touched. Mount Gilead discovered, when too late, 
that she, to use a trite expression, was "left with 
the bag to hold and both ends of it open." 

At the time of its completion, the Cleveland 
& Columbus Railroad was considered an enterprise 
of the greatest magnitude, and excited as much 
interest then, perhaps, as did that of the Cincinnati 
Southern, recently completed. In this enterprise 
Cleveland gave a celebration, to which she invited 
her southern neighbors (as far south as Colum- 
bus), just as Cincinnati did upon the completion 
of her southern road. This celebration took place 
at Cleveland in January, 1851, and, as a part of 
the proceedings, we give the following song, which 
was sung in honor of the occasion : 

" We hail from the city — the capital city, 
We left in the storm and the rain ; 

The cannons did thunder, the people did wonder, 
To see pious folks on a (rain! 



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250 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



The iron horse snorted and puffed when he started, 

At such a long tail as he bore; 
And lie put for the city that grew in the woods — 
The city upon the lake shore. 
Chorus — Tiie be.uitiful city, the forest-tree city, 
The city upon the lake shore. 

"The mothers ran out with their children about, 
From every log cabin they hail: 
The wood-chopper he stood delighted to see, 

The law-makers ride on a rail .' 
The horses and cattle, as onward we rattle, 

Were never so frightened before ; 
We are bound for the city that grows in the woods, 
The city upon the lake shore. 
Chorus — The beautiful city, the forest-tree city, 
The city upon the lake shore. 

"From lake to the river, united forever, 
.May roads such as ours environ. 
The forest, the queen, and the capital cities. 

Like network all woven with iron. 
Magnificent trio — bright gems of Ohio — 

Ivnriching the State evermore. 
Hurrah I for the city built up in the woods. 
The city upon the lake shore ! 
Chorus — The beautiful city, the forest-tree city, 
The city upon the lake shore." 

Thus was completed the Cleveland & Colum- 
bus Railroad. Its Cincinnati connection was 
made via the Little Miami until the building of 
the Springfield, Delaware & Mount Yernon Rail- 
road. This road was completed early in 1854, 
making connection at the town of Delaware with 
the Cleveland & Columbus road. The Springfield, 
Delaware & Mount Vernon was never completed 
further east than Delaware, and from some cause 
or other, seems to not have paid very well, and 
became involved in financial difficulties. Unable 
to stem the tide of its misfortunes, it was sold in 
January, 18G2, and purchased by the Cleveland 
& Columbus Railroad, for $1 34,000. Some time 
after, an arrangement was made, or consolidation 
effected, with the Cincinnati & Dayton Railroad, 
and thus a direct route was formed to Cincinnati, 
via Springfield and Dayton, which was considerably 
shorter than that by way of Columbus. A line 
had previously been established by way of Gallon 



and Bellefontaine to Indianapolis, but, upon the 
opening of the new route to Cincinnati, direct 
communication was also made with Indianapolis 
by way of Cincinnati. Thus it was that the road 
obtained the title of the Cleveland, Columbus, 
Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway. 

From the report of the Railroad Commissioner, 
in 1868, the road at that time had 25 stations, 
9 engine-houses and shops, 45 engines, about 800 
cars of all kinds, and 1,315 employes. The main 
line, in 1868, had 138 miles of track, 29 miles of 
double track, and Springfield Branch, 50 miles. 
Average cost of road, $34,000 per mile. 

The following extract, pertaining to the route 
between Cincinnati and Cleveland, is from a pub- 
lication made in August, 1872 : '' Six magnifi- 
cent sleeping-cars, to cost S55,000 a piece, and -to 
be unrqualed in style, comfort and convenience, are 
being built at the factory at Philadelphia, for the 
Short Line route between Cincinnati and Cleve- 
land, and will be on the road in a few days." A 
week or two later, the Cincinnati Commercial 
said : " The Empress, one of the fine sleeping- 
coaches now being built, made its first trip out 
on Monday, at 9:30, in charge of Capt. F. Long, 
over the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & In- 
dianapolis Railway, to Cleveland. The exterior of 
these coaches is plain, and they are provided with 
rotundas at each end, and balconies with iron rail- 
ing, and a patent safeguard over the steps. The 
gates close securely, and travelers desiring a whiff 
of fresh air and a view of the country while they 
enjoy their Havanas, can regale themselves while 
sitting on the verandahs." 

A railroad enterprise that has, perhaps, created 
even more excitement, and interested the people of 
Morrow County more than the "Three C's & I," 
is what was formerly known as the " Atlantic & 
Lake Erie Railway," but is being pushed forward 
at present, with a fair prospect of early completion, 
under the title of the Ohio Central Railroad. This 
project was agitated as early as 1808-69, and 
meetings held in neighboring towns and sections 
of the country, at which the question of a railroad 






HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



251 



through this county from the southeast to the 
northwest was thoroughly discussed. During the 
summer of 1869, the question of a road from 
Poraeroy to Toledo began to assume a tangible 
form. A number of meetings were held in towns 
along the proposed route, and considerable enthu- 
siasm manifested in the enterprise. Alluding to 
this road, which had been incorporated as the 
Atlantic & Lake Erie E ail Way, the Mount Gilead 
Sentinel said : " Here is an important matter 
right upon us for the active consideration of our 
town and county. There is a very good prospect 
that the road will be built, ai d with so fine an 
opportunity of having it brought through -our 
town as an earnest effort on the part of our citi- 
zens will insure, we should press energetically for- 
ward in the matter without delay." 

In the fall of 18(39, a survey of the route was 
commenced, and the county papers announced the 
fact that "work had actually commenced; that a 
corps of engineers had been employed at each end 
of the route; one corps leading south from Chan- 
cey, and the other north from Newark to Toledo, 
and that the citizens of Morrow County will know 
within sixty days, weather permitting, where the 
road will run." The Columbus Journal in May, 
1870, has the following: "Our local columns 
yesterday morning contained a notice of the let- 
ting of a contract for the construction of 118 
miles of the Atlantic & Lake Erie Railway, being 
so much of the line as lies north of Trimble Town- 
ship, Athens County, and south of Bucyrus, Craw- 
ford County; passing through or nciu- Millerstown, 
Oakfield, New Lexington, Rehoboth and Mount 
Perry in Perry County ; Newark, Greenville, Alex- 
andria, Johnstown and Hartford in Licking County ; 
Sparta and Mount Gilead in Morrow County, and 
Bucyrus, and other puints, in Crawford County. 
The contractors, A. M. Huston & Co.,. are gentle- 
men whose financial and business reputation afford 
a sure guaranty that the work will be prosecuted 
with energy." And upon the same subject, the 
Sentinel says, editorially : " We have the pleasure 
of announcing that the Board of Directors of the 



Atlantic & Lake Erie Railway, at their meeting in 
Columbus on last Thursday (May 5), concluded a 
contract with A. M. Huston & Co., for the con- 
struction of so much of the above road as lies be- 
tween the Athens County line and Bucyrus, by 
which the road is to be completed ready for trains 
as far as Newark by the 1st of January, 1872, 
and to Bucyrus the 1st of April following. We 
also learn that the board is now negotiating for 
the construction of the road from Bucyrus to To- 
ledo, and confidently expect that portion of the 
line to be under contract within a few weeks at 
furthest." 

On the 22d of June, some three thousand peo- 
ple assembled near New Lexington, to witness the 
breaking of ground, and amid great enthusiasm 
and excitement, the ceremony of throwing the first 
shovelful of dirt was performed by the President, 
Col. D. W. Swigart. The work of grading now 
commenced in earnest, and everything appeared 
favorable for an early completion of the road. A 
movement was set on foot looking to the organiza- 
tion of a company for the purpose of erecting a 
furnace on the grounds of the Great Vein Mining 
Company, and so energetically pushed on to suc- 
cess that it was believed at the time that it would 
be making railroad iron within six months. In 
February, 1872, a contract was let to Michael 
Moran and W. V. & A. M. McCracken, of Bu- 
cyrus, to grade the road from the latter place to 
Toledo. The work was to commence as soon as 
the weather would permit, and be completed dur- 
ing the summer. A contract was awarded in 
July, 1872, to B. B. McDonald & Co., of Bucyrus, 
to put iron on two sections of the road from 
Pomeroy, north. A contract was made about the 
same time for the bridge across the river at Bu- 
cyrus. 

With varying progress the work on the road 
moved along through the summer and fall. The 
following extract is from a letter of the President 
to a gentleman in Toledo, under date of December 
6, 1872 : " A carefully revised estimate of the 
cost of construction, made with more than one 



7. 



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252 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



half the road-bed between Toledo and Ferrara, in 
the very heart of the ' Great Vein ' coal-field com- 
pleted, shows an excess of reliable stock subscrip- 
tion, applicable to that portion of the work, of 
more than $200,000 over estimated cost. That 
stock subscriptions have not been more rapidly 
collected, and the work vigorously prosecuted dur- 
ing the past summer is the result of a well-con- 
sidered conclusion, arrived at in the early part of the 
season, that with the prevailing prices of iron and 
equipment, the interest of the company would not 
be subserved thereby. It has now been deter- 
mined by the board to collect the subscriptions 
and push forward the work as fast as possible, 
with a view to its completion the coming summer." 
But with all the favorable circumstances at- 
tending the enterprise, the first year or two after 
it was inaugurated, it dragged along rather slowly, 
and in September, 1875, a meeting was held at 
Bueyrus, when the following was brought to light, 
in its history : " That the road was in imminent 
danger ; that it had been proposed to sell portions 
of it, and this would virtually sacrifice Wyandot, 
Crawford, Morrow and other counties ; that this 
proposition was defeated in the board, for the 
present; that the road was in debt, and that if some- 
thing was not done within thirty days, the proj- 
ect would have to be abandoned." In view of 
this, it was proposed to organize a joint-stock com- 
pany to finish the road upon terms similar, though 
not quite as favorable, to those secured by the 
Ohio Construfition Company — that this joint 
company be formed by a subscription of $450,000, 
to be apportioned among the counties along the 
line as follows: Lucas, $100,000; Wood, $25- 
000 ; Seneca, $35,000 ; Wyandot, $15,000 ; 
Crawford, $50,000 ; Morrow, $50,000 ; Licking, 
$50,000; Fairfield, $20,000; Perry, $25,000; 
Athens, $25,000; Meigs, $55,000; total, $450- 
000." The following was to be the the terms of 
subscription : " The undersigned hereby severally 
subscribe the sums set opposite their names to the 
capital stock of the Toledo & Pomeroy Construc- 
tion Company, to be paid in installments not 



exceeding 10 per cent each month, as may be re- 
quired by the Board of Directors. No installment 
shall be payable until $400,000 of reliable sub- 
scriptions shall have been made." 

The Bueyrus papers of March, 1876, referring 
to the progress of the work on the road, mentions 
the fact that two locomotives have been bought, 
and arrangements made for the third, for " our 
new railroad." Fifty miles of the road was to be 
completed, and the cars running over it by June. 
The 1st of September, 1876, it was announced 
that fifteen cars were being painted and finished at 
the Bueyrus Machine Works, to be used for the 
purpose of delivering rails on the road, and that 
the rails for the division from Moxhala to New 
Lexington would all be delivered within two weeks. 

With all these cheering prospects, however, some 
four years have passed, and the completion of the 
Atlantic & Lake Erie Railway is yet an achieve- 
ment of the future. But during the winter of 
1879-80, it seemed to take a new lease of life, and 
work upon it at the present writing is being pushed 
forward with such energy as to warrant the belief 
that the entire road will be finished in as short a 
time as circumstances will allow. During the 
years of 1877 and 1878, it indulged in a 
kind of Rip Van Winkle sleep. In the latter 
year (March 26 ) it was sold, and bid off for $106,- 
668 in trust for certain bondholders. Previous to 
the sale of the road, its name and title had been 
changed from Atlantic & Lake Erie Railway to 
the Ohio Central Railroad. This change of name 
was made for the purpose of selling the bonds to 
better advantage than could be done under the 
old name and title. 

The time was taken up mostly in talk and ex- 
amination of the route, until the beginning of the 
present year. On the 24th of January, 1880, a 
meeting was held at the court house, in Mount 
Gilead, at which Col. Brice, of Lima, and Col. 
Lemert, of Bueyrus, were present, and set forth 
the plans of the new company, and its demands 
upon Morrow County, which were, substantially, 
an additional $30,000 to complete that portion of 






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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



253 



the road lying in the county ready for the ties. 
The following committee was appointed to wait on 
the property owners for the purpose of raising the 
required amount, viz., Dr. L. B.Voorhies, W. C. 
Wilson, D. C. Mozier, W. M. Carlisle, J. H. Pol- 
lock, Allen Levering, M. B. Talmage, Elzy Bar- 
ton, Minor Herod, William Hazen, S. T. Galleher 
and James Fulton. 

The Ohio State Journal., some weeks later, 
contained the following in regard to the road: 
" Mr. Howard, General Manager of the Ohio Cen- 
tral Railroad, and Master of Construction for the 
northwestern extension of that road from Bush's 
Station to Fostoria and Sandusky, is now iu the 
city, making contracts and directing the building 
of the road, which is to give a greater outlet to 
the exhaustless resources of the Sunday Creek 
Valley coal fields and iron-ore beds. Mr. Howard 
is a member of the firm of Brown, Howard & Co., 
of Chicago, the lessees of the road, who have con- 
tracted with the New York syndicate for the con- 
struction of the northwestern line. While Col. 
Pease is the General Superintendent in operating 
the road, Mr. Howard has the general management 
of the interests of bis firm and the syndicate in 
both the road and the great coal lands recently 
purchased. He is now directing the work of the 
contractors and arranging for the laying of the 
iron, the work being already in progress, and to 
be pushed forward with all possible dispatch from 
Bush's Station, on the Sunday Creek Road, to 
Fostoria. Forces of workmen have been put at 
work on the grading at difi'erent points, starting 
both from Bush's Station and Fostoria, and they 
will work toward each other. There are about 
twenty-five miles of new road to be built in Mor- 
row County, and the contract for this has been let 
to Mr. McLean, of Michigan, who has begun 
operations, and has the facilities for pressing the 
work to the most speedy completion. The grad- 
ing on the old Ohio Central will soon be made 
ready for the ties and iron, and laying, of the track 
will soon be begun from Bush's Station and Fos- 
toria — in about two weeks. The company will 



use steel rails exclusively, and thirty-eight car 
loads of steel rails have already arrived at Bush's 
Station, to be used on the southern end. The iron 
will now be received in daily consignments, and 
twelve hundred and fifty will be on hand at Bush's 
Station by to morrow, and fully as much furnished 
at Fostoria next week. Mr. Howard expects to 
have the northwestern branch of the road in run- 
ning operation by August next. The company 
have secured what local aid they want, have an 
abundance of capital, and are prepared for every- 
thing as they go along for the immediate construc- 
tion of the road." 

Such is the progress of the read at the present 
time. As we have said, everything is favorable, 
and the probabilities are that it will now be 
completed without any further delay. A large 
number of workmen are engaged along the whole 
line, and doubtless but a short time will elapse 
before Morrow County can rejoice in having 
another railroad. 

Another railroad enterprise that created consid- 
erable excitement in its day, and withal, interested 
the citizens of this county, was the Baltimore, 
Pittsburgh & Continental Railroad. Strong 
hopes of ultimately buildiog this road was for a 
time entertained, and about the year 1872 its 
prospects seemed quite as good, if not even better 
than the Atlantic & Lake Erie. In the early 
part of March, 1868, a certificate of incorporation 
was filed with the Secretary of State, for a new 
railroad, to be known as the Mount Vernon, Mount 
Gilead & Marion Railroad. The corporators were, 
0. Bowen, W. Peters, J. J. Williams, T. J. Wal- 
lace, T. H. Holden, of Marion ; L. B. Harris, J. 
S. Trimble, J. M. Briggs, David Richards, of 
Mount Gilead ; E. W. Miles and D. B. Kinsell, of 
Chesterville ; Samuel Israel, W. T. Bascom and 
L. Harper, of Mount Vernon ; with a capital stock 
of $500,000. A meeting was held at Mount Ver- 
non, soon after, at which the building of an east 
and west railroad was favorably discussed and 
stronijly advocated, to connect at Marion with the 
Bellefontaine & Indianapolis, and the Atlantic & 






254 



HISTORY OF MOIIKOW COUNTY. 



Great Western Roads. This project seemed a fea- 
sible one, and for a time was looked upon us a cer- 
tainty. Meetings were held at Mount Vernon, 
Chesterville, Mount Gilead, Johnsville, Marion, 
and the liveliest interest was manifested in the 
enterprise. 

The title of the road was finally changed to Bal- 
timore, Pittsburgh & Continental. A meeting 
was held at Bellville April 12, 1870, at which 
meeting was present Judge Richards and J. A. 
Beebe, of Mount Gilead, who addressed the meet- 
ing on behalf of Morrow County, showing the ad- 
vantages and importance of the road to Bellville, 
Mount Gilead, and all other places along the route. 
By a unanimous vote, Bellville and JeflFerson 
Township were pledged to subscribe $80,000 in 
stock, and the right of way through the township, 
and to double the amount of stock if necessary. 
It was stated, that by a recent survey of the line, 
it was found that nature had so well graded 
the way, that a road could be built from that 
place to Pittsburgh on an air line nearly, with but 
one grade of thirty-five feet per mile, and most of 
the way with but sixteen feet per mile. Referring to 
this meeting the Seittinel said : " We would advise 
the people of Morrow County to foster and en- 
courage the location and construction of the Bal- 
timore, Pittsburgh & Continental Railroad and 
thereby, if possible, secure the great enterprise. 
Although our citizens, and the people along the 
line of the Atlantic & Lake Erie Railroad, have 
subscribed liberally for the building of that road, 
and have nobly done their duty by way of individ- 
ual stock subscription, the building of the Bal- 
timore, Pittsburgh & Continental Railroad does not 
interfere or deter, in the least, the building of the 
Atlantic & Lake Erie Railroad, as it, if ever built, 
will pass through Morrow County from south to 
north, and the Baltimore, Pittsburgh & Conti- 
nental from east to west, passing through a difier- 
ent tier of townships, thereby benefiting the 
immediate interests of different villages, and the 
individual interests of an entirely different commu- 
nity. This great thoroughfare contemplates pass- 



ing through the State of Ohio from east to west, 
entering our State in Columbiana County at Arch- 
ertown ; thence proceed through Columbiana, Car- 
roll, Stark , Tuscarawas, Holmes, Ashland, Richland, 
Morrow, Marion, Hardin, Auglaize and Mercer 
Counties, making Omaha, for the present, its west- 
ern terminal point." This was a railroad enter- 
prise of stupendous magnitude, and there is little 
room for wonder in its failure. It seems almost as 
if the bold projectors had taken for their motto, 
the idle boast of Puck, that he would " put a 
girdle around the earth." But that it meant busi- 
ness was indicated by meetings being held in many 
parts of the country along the proposed route, and 
the utmost enthusiasm manifested. A company 
was organized in Indiana to carry the road on 
through that State, under the title of '' Celina, 
Huntington & Chicago Railroad." In the fall of 
1870, this road and the Baltimore, Pittsburgh it 
Continental were consolidated, and afterward 
known as the " Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Continental 
& Chicago Railroad," and the following gentlemen 
were elected Directors of the new company : L. T. 
Hunt, of Kenton, Ohio; David Richards, of 
Mount Gilead, Ohio; J. M. Osborne, of Bellville, 
Ohio ; A. Waddle, of Columbiana, Ohio ; J. G. 
Chamberlain, of Leetona, Ohio; George Hardisty, 
of Malvern, Ohio ; John H. Page, Jr., of Pitts- 
burgh ; Clifton Wharton, of Pittsburgh ; John 
Studebaker, of Bluff"ton, Ind.; John Roche, of 
Huntington, Ind.; William Sturgis, of Rochester, 
Ind.; William Elmendon, of Knox, Ind.; T. A. 
E. Campbell, of Valparaiso, Ind.; and the board 
organized by electing L. T. Hunt, President ; T. 
A. E. Campbell, Vice President ; George S. Bell, 
Secretary ; and David Richards, Treasurer. At 
the election of the above board, representatives 
from all points along the line were present, and 
seemed fully alive to the importance of the enter- 
prise. 

But " the best-laid plans of mice and men aft 
gang aglee," wrote the poet of Bonny Doon, and 
with all the interest with which the enterprise had 
hitherto been nurtured, it died out, and for a year 



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HISTORY OF MOREOW COUNTY. 



255 



or two nothing was heard of it. In the spring of 
1872, it awoke to life, and we find the following 
in tha. Fredericktown Independent of that date : 
" We take pleasure in informing our people that 
the western end of the Pittsburgh & Continental 
line, as far east as Marion, Ohio, is under con- 
tract. The route to be taken from Marion east 
is still undecided. Energetic measures are being 
taken by the citizens of Bellville and Johnsville 
for its location in that section of country, but as 
that course will cut ofi" all support from Mount 
Gilead, besides being the longest and most difficult 
route, the attempt will undoubtedly fail if the cit- 
izens of Mount Gilead, Chesterville and Frederick- 
town will take prompt action in the matter. The 
route via Mount Gilead is much the best route of 
the two. It takes in Claridon, Denmark, Mount 
Gilead, Chesterville and Fredericktown, runs 
through Amity and crosses the C, Mt. V. & C. 
Railroad, at some point near Orville, Wayne 
Co., Ohio. Now is the time for the people 
along the line to work. Mount Gilead has another 
railroad on hand, but we are reliably informed that 
the citizens of that city will do their full share." 
This seems to have been one of the last struggles 
of the expiring company, which finally died a 
natural death. Morrow County is still without an 
east and west railroad, and whether the Baltimore, 
Pittsburgh & Continental will ever be resurrected 
is somewhat problematical. 

In 1874, a certificate of incorporation was filed 
with the Secretary of State for the " People's 
Freight Railway Company," and again hope sprung 
up, that Morrow County would yet have an east 
and west railroad. The route was much the same 
as that of the Baltimore, Pittsburgh & Continental, 
and it is not altogether improbable that the new 
company was founded upon the old one. The Union 
Register of September 9, 1874, gives the pro- 
ceedings of a convention of the People's Freight 
Railway Company of Pennsylvania, held upon a 
circular of the Cheap Transportation Company of 
New York. The object of the convention was to 
perfect an organization in the States of New Jersey, 



Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, for the 
purpose of surveying a line for a cheap freight 
railway between New York and the Mississippi 
River, and arranging for the incorporation of a 
People's Freight Railway Company ; Ohio division 
to be under the laws of this State. The line of the 
road was to pass through this State, as before 
stated, upon the old route of the Baltimore, Pitts- 
burgh & Continental line. A report, supplemented 
with a recommendation from the committee on the 
order of business, was made, in accordance with 
which a committee was appointed in each State 
along the proposed line of the road, to obtain sub- 
scriptions for the purpose of perfecting a prelim- 
inary survey of the People's Freight Railway 
Company, along the entire route from New York 
to the Mississippi River, and branches diverging 
to Chicago and St. Louis. A central committee 
was also appointed, with headquarters at Pitts- 
burgh, to which the committees were to report. 

When the company was incorporated in this 
State the names of the following gentlemen ap- 
peared upon the certificate as incorporators : J. 
C. Devin, P. H. Updegrafi", George Rogers, Samuel 
Israel, James Boyd, David Richards, John C. 
House and W. A. Coulter. They incorporated 
with a capital of $100,000, with the privilege of 
increasing the amount to $15,000,000. Says the 
Mount Vernon Banner upon the subject: •' Mor- 
row County has upon the subscription-books her 
full quota for the preliminary survey of the road, 
and Knox County has within a few dollars of the 
estimate made for that county. We hope all the 
counties from the Ohio River to Marion, Ohio, 
(^from which point surveys have been made), will 
at once subscribe their proportion, and then the 
surveyors will be put in the field at once. Every 
farmer is interested in this road, because it will 
reduce the cost of the transportation of his prod- 
ucts to the East more than one-half Every 
merchant is interested because it will reduce the 
rate of freight on his goods in the same ratio, and 
certainly every unprejudiced consumer must wish 
its completion and success, as it will reduce the 



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256 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUXTY 



price of commodity in proportion to the reduction 
of transportation, 75 per cent of which comes out 
of his pocket." As a proof of the interest taken in 
the enterprise by Morrow County, the Union Reg- 
ister has a report of a meeting held in Mount Gilead, 
on the 3d of October, 1874, a few weeks previous 
to the publishing of the notice copied above from 
the Banner, the object of which was to decide 
upon some plan by which a fund might be raised 
to defray the expenses of a preliminary survey 
through this State, the route of the People's 
Freight Railway Company. A committee of six 
was appointed, consisting of Messrs. Charles 
Shedd, Henry Talraage, Joseph Pollock, J. S. 
Trimble, Dr. Voorhies and Henry Snyder, to wait 
on the citizens and solicit subscriptions to said 
funds. An executive committee, consisting of 
three members, was appointed, viz., Henry Tal- 
Mage, Joseph Pollock and J. S. Trimble. 

This, like a number of railroad projects that 
have been agitated, never amounted to anything 
beyond what is given above. The enterprise 
finally died out, as did the Baltimore, Pittsburgh 
& Continental line a few years previously. 

An extension of the Pittsburgh & Marietta road 
on through to Coshocton and Lima by way of 
Mount Vernon, Mount Gilead and Marion, over the 
old Owl Creek route, was another of Morrow Coun- 
ty's railroad enterprises. For some time this proj- 
ect was agitated, and the interest manifested ex- 
cited hopes in the minds of its supporters that it 
might eventually be built. But other enterprises 
came up in which the people felt a livelier interest, 
and this road was suffered to go by default. The 
Cambridge & Lima road, and the Wheeling, 
Lima & Chicago road were also projects that 
created light breezes for a time, but they were 
short-lived, and never received much encourage- 
ment from this county. 

Last, if not least, in the railroad history of Morrow 
County, is the " Short Line," a trunk route from 
Mount Gilead to Levering Station on the Cleve- 
land, Columbus. Cincinnati & Indianapolis Rail- 



road, and which, as its name indicates, is a short 
line, being some two and a half miles in length. 
This road was agitated several years before it be- 
came an accomplished success. The act for the 
present road was passed by the Legislature in the 
spring of 1878, but it was not until April, 1879, 
that the Mayor issued his proclamation for an 
election, at which election a vote should be taken 
for or against the road. The election resulted 
favorably to its building, and work commenced at 
once. It was pushed forward without unneces- 
sary delay, and opened to the public for travel 
and traffic on the 1st of May, 1880. It is in good 
running order, with eight trains passing back and 
forth each day between Mount Gilead and Lever- 
ing Station, for the accommodation of passengers 
and freight, thus proving very beneficial to the 
town and surrounding country. We shall al- 
lude to the road again in the history of Gilead 
Township. 

Before the building of the Short Line, the little 
town which is its western terminus, was known as 
Gilead Station. After the road got into opera- 
tion, it became necessary to change the name of 
Gilead Station, as it seemed a. little out of place to 
have the same name at both ends of this great 
through route. So it was changed to Levei'ing, 
in honor of a prominent citizen of Mount Gilead. 
Soon after this change of name, the following inci- 
dent occurred, which was related by the gentle- 
man who took part in it. He boarded a Cleve- 
land, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis train 
at a station south of Levering, some fifty miles or 
more. When the conductor came around, he 
handed that important functionary his ticket upon 
which was written (instead of printed) " Levering 
Station." The conductor took the ticket, looked 
at it, turned it over, looked at it again, then looked 
at the passenger from whom he had received it, 
then back at the ticket, stuck it in his punch, but 
took it out without punching it, looked at the 
passenger again, and finally blurted, '' where in 
the h — is Levering Station ?" 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



257 



CHAPTER IV. 



WAR HISTORY— THE REVOLUTION— SECOND WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN— MEXICAN WAR— THE 

REBELLION. 



THE history of Morrow County in the wars in 
which the country has been involved is of 
a character that her people may ever refer to with 
pride and satisfaction. Many of her early settlers 
were not only the descendants of Revolutionary 
soldiers, but some were Revolutionary soldiers 
themselves. Referring to the latter, we copy the 
following fi'om the Sentinel of July 2, 1863: 
" We had the pleasure of a call on Friday morn- 
ing of last week from Mr= John Baker, a resident 
of this county, who is now one hundred and 
three years old. He was a soldier of the Revolu- 
tionary war, and volunteered April 10, 1777, serv- 
ing during the remainder of the war. He belonged 
to the " Maryland Blues," under Col. Hammond 
and Gen. Ridgely. He knew Gen. Washington 
and was present at his funeral. Mr. Baker was 
also a soldier of the war of 1812, and was sta- 
tioned at Fort McHenry, etc." Just what num- 
ber among the early settlers were Revolutionary 
soldiers, we have no means of knowing. But 
coming to the country as early as 1808-10, a little 
more than a quarter of a century after the close 
of the Revolution, it is altogether probable that 
they included quite a number of the patriots of 
the war for independence. So far, we have ob- 
tained the names of the following Revolutionary 
soldiers, but whether these are all, we are unable 
to say : John Stilly, Jacob Foust, William Mun- 
son, Ebenezer Wood, Alexander Dixon, Sr., John 
Baker, Reuben Martin, Alexander Kingman, Eben 
Holt, Lodwick Hardenbrook, William Lockhart. 
The impoverished Government for which they 
had fought long and faithfully had no other means 
of rewarding its soldiers, than to pay them in 
Western lands, and thus many of them found 
homes in Ohio, the lands of which territory was 



then coming into market. Many others, however, 
were poor, and had not the means of reachiug 
their Western homes, and were forced to sell them 
for whatever they could get for them, thereby 
deriving but little benefit from what was intended 
by the Government to be a munificent bounty. 
But these facts are all matters of history, and do 
not really belong to the history of Morrow County. 
They are only mentioned as illustrative of the 
germ of patriotism planted in the citizens of the 
county which has grown and flourished with the 
advancing years. 

In the Indian wars of the frontier, and the 
war of 1812, the territory now embraced in Mor- 
row County comprised but a handful of settlers, 
but these came forward with a hearty good will. 
They took down the old flint-lock fowling pieces 
used by their fathers at Trenton, Brandywine, 
Monmouth, Saratoga and Yorktown, and whether 
contending with the well-trained legions of King 
George, in the open fields, according to the rules 
of civilized warfare, or fighting the red man in his 
own way — popping away at each other from 
behind trees and rocks, their valor was the same ; 
their bravery of a quality worthy of being trans- 
mitted to their descendants. A company was 
raised in the north part of Delaware which con- 
tained several men from what is now Morrow 
County, but at that time embraced in Delaware 
County. It is impossible to obtain the names of 
all who served in the war of 1812 from this sec- 
tion, after the lapse of so many years. Among 
them we may mention, however, the names of 
William Williams, John Baker, William Blair, 
John Stilly, Jacob Shur, Alexander Walker, 
Charles Russell, Jacob Conklin, Jonathan Lewis, 
Benjamin Olds, James Trindle, John Foust, 



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258 



HISTORY OF MORROAV COUXTY. 



Abraham Foust, Elisha Barry, Lawrence Xamb, 
John Shauek, Samuol Scribner, Joseph Kingman, 
William Rush and Isaac Laning. 

As a matter of some interest to our modern 
soldiers, we ^ive the following abstract from the 
Quartermaster's Department during the war of 
1812: Rations — One and a (juarter pounds of 
beef, three-quarters of a pound of pork, thirteen 
ounces of bread or flour, one gill of whisky. At 
the rate of two quarts of salt, four (|uarts of 
vinegar, four pounds of soap and one and three- 
quarter pounds of candles to every 100 rations. 
And from the Paymaster's Department — Colonel, 
$75 per month, five rations and $12 for forage; 
Major, §50 per month, and three rations ; Captain, 
$40 and three rations ; First Lieutenant, $30 and 
two rations; Second Lieutenant, $20 and two 
rations; Ensign, $20 and two rations; Sergeant 
Major, $!:) ; Quartermaster Sergeant, $9 ; other 
Sergeants, $8 ; Corporals, $7 ; Musicians, $6 and 
Privates, $6 per month. 

As Morrow County was, as yet, not only un- 
heard of, but unthought of, and the territory com- 
posing it populated only by a few families, it is 
scarcely to the point to enter into a history of the 
war of 1812 in all its details. With the follow- 
ing extract from a chronicle of the time, we will 
pass on to matters and events of more recent oc- 
currence : " Defeats, disaster and disgrace marked 
its opening scenes ; but the latter events of the 
contest were a series of splendid achievements. 
Croghan's gallant defense of Fort Stephensun ; 
Perry's victory upon Lake Erie ; the total defeat, 
by Harrison, of the allied British and savages, 
under Proctor and Tecumseh, on the Thames, and 
the great closing triumph of Jackson, at New 
Orleans, reflected the most brilliant luster on the 
American arms. In every vicissitude of this con- 
test, the conduct of Ohio was eminently patriotic 
and honorable. When the necessities of the Na- 
tional Government compelled Congress to resort to 
a direct tax, Ohio, for successive years, cheerfully 
assumed and promptly paid her quota out of her 
State treasury. Her sons volunteered with alacrity 



their services in the field ; and no troops more 
patiently endured hardship or performed better 
service. Hardly a battle was fought in the North- 
west in which some of these brave citizen soldiers 
did not seal their devotion to their country with 
their blood." And what is true, and to the honor 
of the State at large, is equ illy true of the soldiers 
of this particular section. 

The country was no more disturbed by " wars 
and rumors of wars," after the close of the 
troubles of 1812, until the Mexican war came up. 
If war with " blood-red tresses deepening in the 
sun," and "death-shot glowing in his fiery hands" 
raged and maddened to and fro in climes beyond 
the great deep, the thunder of his goings came to 
us but as the " dying cadence of the voice of a 
distant cloud, whose lightnings could harm us not." 
There were occasionally little outbursts with the 
Indians on the distant frontiers, but nothing cal- 
culated to disturb or alarm this portion of the 
country. 

The circumstances which led to the war with 
Mexico resulted from the admission of Texas as 
a State into the American Union. The " Lone 
Star State" had been a province of Mexico, but 
had seceded (as in after years she and ten of her 
sisters attempted to secede from the Federal Gov- 
ernment, but without success), and for years its 
citizens had been carrying on a guerrilla warfare 
with the mother country. This warfare had been 
attended with varying results, sometimes the one, 
and sometimes the other, being successful. But, 
in 1836, a battle was fought at San Jacinto, at 
which Santa Anna, then Dictator of Mexico, was 
captured, and his whole army either killed or 
made prisoners. Santa Anna was held in strict 
confinement, and finally induced to sign a treaty 
acknowledging the independence of Texas. But, 
in violation of the treaty and every principle of 
honor, the Republic of Mexico treated Texas and 
the Texans just as she had previously done. From 
this time on, petitions were frequently presented 
to the I'nited States praying admission into the 
I'nion. But Mexico, through sheer spite, en- 



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HISTORY OF MORROAV COUXTY. 



259 



deavored to prevent the admission of Texas by 
constantly declaring that her reception would be 
regarded as a sufficient cause for a declaration of 
war, thinking, perhaps, that this would serve to 
intimidate the United States. In the Presidential 
canvass of 1844, between Henry Clay, of Ken- 
tucky, and James K. Polk, of Tennessee, the an- 
nexation of Texas was one of the leading ques- 
tions before the people, and Mr. Polk, whose party 
favored the admission of Texas, being elected, 
this was taken as a public declaration on the sub- 
ject. After this, Congress had no hesitancy in 
granting the petition of Texas, and, on the 1st of 
March, 1845, formally received her into the sister- 
hood of States. Mexico at once, in her indigna- 
tion, broke oiF all diplomatic relations with the 
United States, calling home her Minister imme- 
diately, which was a clear declaration of war — 
and war soon followed. Congress passed an act 
authorizing the President to accept the services of 
50,000 volunteers (which were at once to be 
raised), and appropriating $10,000,000 for the 
prosecution of the war. 

In the President's call for 50,000 men, Ohio 
was required to furnish three regiments. With 
her characteristic patriotism, she filled her quota 
in a few weeks. Upon the organization of the 
three regiments, at Cincinnati, the place of ren- 
dezvous, there were almost troops enough left to 
form another regiment. These were furnished 
transportation to their homes at the expense of the 
Government. The regiments, as organized, were 
officered as follows : First Regiment — A. M. Mit- 
chell, Cincinnati. Colonel ; John B. Weller, of But- 
■ ler County, Lieutenant Colonel ; T. L. Hamer, of 
Brown County, Major. Second Regiment — Gr. 
W. Morgan, of Knox County, Colonel ; William 
Irvin, of Fairfield, Lieutenant Colonel ; William 
Hall, of Athens, Major. Third Regiment — S. R. 
Curtis, of Wayne County, Colonel ; G. W. Mc- 
Cook, of Jefferson, Lieutenant Colonel, and J. S. 
Love, of Morgan, Major. 

Morrow County was still unborn, yet the sec- 
tion now embraced in it showed the martial spirit 



displayed by its citizens in the war of 1812, and 
many enlisted in the first call for troops. We 
have been unable to obtain the names of all who 
took part in the war from the present territory of 
Morrow. Among the gallant band, however, we 
have the names of Capt. Jesse Meredith, a soldier 
of the late rebellion as well as of the Mexican 
war ; Didymus Benson, William T. George, Jesse 
B. Herrod ; A. H. Brown, Lieutenant Colonel of 
the Ninety-sixth Regiment during the late war ; 
David Morton, Thomas Turner, James Runyon. 
Quite a number of others were from this section, 
but their names cannot be recalled. 

In the war of the rebellion, which com- 
menced in the spring of 1861, the old men of 
Morrow County were not wanting in council, nor 
her young and middle-aged men in true martial 
spirit. With a firm, unswerving faith in the 
righteousness of the Union cause, her citizens, 
without distinction in age or sex, or party predi- 
lections, were imbued with a determination to con- 
quer, or die rather than survive defeat. It was 
this kind of martial spirit that bore the Union 
cause through defeat as well as victory ; and when- 
ever the oft-repeated news was brought home of 
depleted ranks, it was this spirit that hurried on 
fresh legions to fill up the broken regiments. Mor- 
row County valor is attested on every street of her 
cities, towns and villages, throughout her fertile 
lands, and last, but not least, within the silent 
" cities of her dead." It is withip the " pale 
cemeteries of the sheeted dead," that, with each 
recurring anniversary, surviving friends gather 
together, and moisten with their tears, the graves 
of slumbering heroes, and, with loving hands, lay 
immortelles upon the green hillocks above them. 
This is eminently proper. The custom of strew- 
ing floral mementoes on the graves of departed 
friends is time-honored and ancient. It is of 
Oriental origin, and we read that 

" In Eastern lands they talk in flowers, 
And tell in garlands their loves and cares," 

and that each little velvet petal that spreads itself 
to the light contains a mystical language more 



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260 



HISTORY OF MORKOAV COl'XTY. 



powerful and sympathetic in its nature than tongue 
can express. In ancient times, the people were as 
careful in guarding the memory of their dead, of 
embalming their virtues and erasing their errors, 
as they were mindful of their liberties. This 
sweet privilege, through the long roll of years that 
have passed, has ftillen a blessed boon to our peo- 
ple, and they have felt it a duty to recall the vir- 
tues and the heroic deeds of noble sons, who 
endured the stern discipline of the camp, and dared 
the storm of battle for a cause in which their 
hearts and natures were enlisted. Coincident with 
the subject upon which we write, the people of the 
county have assembled to-day (May 31) in their 
metropolis, for the purpose of bedecking the graves 
of their beloved dead with spring's sweetest flow- 
ers. And while this affectionate tribute is paid to 
those who sleep beside their ancestors in the village 
churchyard, it is but meet that tho.se should be 
remembered who rest in neglected graves, far from 
home and loved ones. Their memory is immortal ; 
and beautiful as a crown of gold, the rays of the 
sunset lay upon the hill-tops where they repose 
after their battles. Many went out to fight for 
the Union, with only the benediction of a mother's 
tears and prayers, and came not back to that 
mother's arms. They sleep in the swamps of 
the Chickahominy, on the banks of the Rapidan, at 
Fredericksburg, Stone River, Chick amauga, Look- 
out Mountain, and in the Wilderness. But they 
should be reijiembered as they slumber there in 
glorified rest. 

'• Winds of summei", oh! whisper low 
Over the graves where ihe daisies grow, 
Blossoming flowers and songs of bees, 
Sweet ferns tossed in the summer breeze — 
Flouting sb.idows and golden lights, 
Dewy mornings and radiant nights — 
All the bright and beautiful things 
That gracious and bountiful summer brings, 
Fairest and sweetest that earth can bestow, 
Brighten the graves where the daisies grow." 

When the first alarm was sounded of the com- 
ing war, and President Lincoln called for 75,000 
men to defend the cause of the Union, the call 



received a hearty response from Morrow County. 
From that time until the finishing-stroke was 
given to rebellion at Appomattox, April 19, 1865, 
the patriotic little county was ever ready to do her 
whole duty. But few counties of the same popu- 
lation equaled her in patriotism. Although the 
draft was three times forced upon her, it was each 
time for so small a number that her people scarcely 
felt the humiliation of having been exposed to 
conscription. From those who carried muskets 
and bore the brunt of the fight, to those who wore 
shoulder-straps, every duty was faithfully and un- 
complainingly performed. In the pages which 
follow, we shall attempt to do full justice to all 
whose valor sent them forth to maintain the Union. 
The first regiment that drew anything like an 
organized body of men from Mori'ow County was 
the Third Ohio Lifantry, which, as its number 
indicates, was among the first Ohio regiments in 
the field. It was recruited originally for the three- 
months service under President Lincoln's first 
call for troops in April, 1861, but before the term 
had fully expired, nearly the entire regiment had 
re-enlisted for three years. Of the original officers 
of the Third, John Beatty, of Cardington, was 
elected Lieutenant Colonel. The following sketch 
of this distinguished soldier is by Whitelaw Reid : 
" Early in April, 1861, he enlisted as a private in 
a company rai.sed in his own town. Of this com- 
pany he was unanimously elected Captain, and on 
the 19th of the month he reported his men for 
duty to the Adjutant General of the State. Eight 
days later, he was elected Lieutenant Colonel of the 
Third Ohio Infimtry, of which his company was a 
part. It was originally a three-months regiment ; 
but on the 12th of Jum, previous to taking the 
field, it rc-organized for the three years' service ; 
the field officers remaining the same. On the 23d 
of June, the regiment was sent to West Virginia, 
and during a summer and fall campaign in the 
wild and mountainous region at Middle Fork, at 
Rich Mountain, at Cheat Mountain and at Elk- 
water, it illustrated its own excellence, and the 
skill and bravery of its officers. 





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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



263 



" Transferred to Kentucky in November, the 
regiment had the good fortune to be assigned to 
the old Third Division of the Army of the Ohio, 
commanded by Gen. 0. M. Mitchell. While at 
Bacon Creek, Ky., Lieut. Col. Beatty was pro- 
moted to the colonelcy of his regiment, and in 
that capacity he accompanied Gen. Mitchell 
through his campaign in Southern Kentucky, 
Middle Tennessee and Northern Alabama. In 
the fight at Bridgeport, and in the operations 
about Decatur and Point Rock, Col. Beatty took 
a conspicuous and useful part. Selected by Gen. 
Mitchell as Provost Marshal of Huntsville, he 
discharged the delicate and difficult duties of that 
office with fidelity and tact. 

"Returning to Louisville with Gen. Buell in 
September, 1862, he joined in the pursuit of Bragg 
through Kentucky, and on the 8th of October 
fought at the head of his regiment in the battle of 
Perryville. Here he first attracted general atten- 
tion. Holding the extreme right of Gen. Rous- 
seau's division, his regiment was assailed, both in 
front and flank, by an overwhelming force ; and 
though in an hour's time one-third of his men 
were killed and wounded. Col. Beatty refused to 
yield an inch of ground until relieved by Col. 
Pope, with the Fifteenth Kentucky. 

"On the 26th of December, Col. Beatty as- 
sumed command of the old Seventeenth Brigade, 
which had been formed previously, with such lead- 
ers as Lytle and Dumont. On Wednesday, the 
31st of December, at Murfreesboro, this brigade, 
forming the third part of Rousseau's division, as- 
sisted in checking the onset of Hardee. Col. 
Beatty had two horses shot under him, but he came 
out uninjured. On Saturday night, Jan. 3, 1863, 
he was ordered to attack the enemy's works lying 
near Murfreesboro turnpike. Placing himself at 
the head of his brigade, he charged over the rebel 
works, and carried them at the point of the bayo- 
net. On the 12th of March, 1863, Col. Beatty 
was commissioned Brigadier General of Volun- 
teers, to rank from the 26th of November, 1862. 

" Being assigned to the first brigade of Neg- 



ley's division, he participated in the Tullahoma 
campaign, and after the rebels had been driven out 
of that stronghold, he led the column which pur- 
sued them, skirmishing successfully with their 
rear-guard, until he gained the lofty plateau of the 
the Cumberlands. In the Chattanooga campaign. 
Gen. Beatty had the honor of being the first to 
lead his command to the summit of Lookout 
Mountain. The rebels, after a feeble resistance at 
Johnson's Creek, retired rapidly before him. In 
the masterly retreat from Dug Gap, which elicited 
warm commendation, both from Gen. Rosecrans 
and Gen. Thomas, Gen. Beatty was assigned by 
Gen. Negley to the responsible and difficult duty 
of protecting and bringing away a large wagon- 
train in the face of an immense force of rebels. 
Not a single wagon fell into the enemy's hands. 

" In the battle of Chickamauga, it was Gen. 
Beatty's fortune to commence the fighting, both on 
the 19th and 20th of September — the first day 
upon the extreme right, and the second upon the 
extreme left of the line. Assailed early on the 
morning of the 19th, he handsomely repulsed the 
enemy after a fight of three hours' duration, and 
held his ground until ordered to the center of the 
line, late in the afternoon. On Sunday morning, 
he reported to Gen. Thomas with his command, 
and was placed on the extreme left along the 
La Fayette road, with orders to hold it at all haz- 
ards. Hour after hour, with his comparatively 
feeble force, he maintained his position against the 
masses of the foe which swayed around him. He 
was re-enforced at last by Col. T. R. Stanley with 
his brigade, and in conjunction they charged and 
drove the rebels half a mile, capturing a large part 
of Gen. Adams' Louisiana Brigade, with its leader 
at its head. Later in the day. Gen. Beatty was 
among the heroes who held the last position 
against the combined efforts of the rebel army. 
Again, on the 21st, while in position near Ross- 
ville, a heavy reconnoitering column attacked Gen. 
Beatty's brigade, but it was driven back with con- 
siderable loss. 

" In the re-organization of the army. Gen. 



264 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



Beatty was assigned to the Second Brigade of 
Davis' division, and during the operations which 
resulted in the expulsion of the rebels from Mis- 
sion Ridge and Lookout Mountain, his command 
held the left of the line. Though not actively 
engaged at that time, it joined with great vigor in 
pursuit of the retreating foe. On the 20th of 
November, Gen. Beatty, in conjunction with Col. 
Daniel McCook, overtook the rebel Gen. Maury at 
Graysville, and, after a sharp conflict, entirely de- 
feated him. 

"On the 1st of December, Gen. Davis' di- 
vision commenced its march toward Knoxville for 
the relief of Gen. Burnside, not returning to its 
camp at Chattanooga until the 18t.h of the same 
month. Gen. Beatty participated in this march, 
sharing fully the fatigues and hardships of the 
humblest private soldier in the command. On the 
13th of January, 18G4, he tendered his resignation 
for reasons of a private nature. 

" Gen. Beatty was never absent during his entire 
term of service, from any command to which he 
was assigned, while thit command was actively 
engaged. He was thoroughly impressed with the 
duties and responsibilities of his position, and his 
soldierly reputation was stainless. In fact, so 
marked were his honesty and open-hearted integ- 
rity, that his name became a synonym for these 
qualites among his men ; and when they wished to 
express their unquestioning trust in any one, they 
said he was 'honest as John Beatty.' Gen. Beatty 
remarked to Gen. Thomas, after he had tendered 
his resignation, that he hoped there would be no 
misunderstanding of the motives which induced 
him to resign. Gen. Thomas replied, 'General, 
we know you too well to suspect your motives in 
anything.' In the camp, in the bivouac, or upon 
the field of battle, it is said that he never laid 
down or even closed his eyes in sleep, without first 
reading a passage in the Bible and commending 
himself, his soldiers and his country to God in ear- 
nest prayer. An orderly whose business took him 
around to various places said that Gen. Beatty's 
were the only headquarters which he visited where 



he never heard an oath. Mirth and amusement 
were by no means unknown at these headquar- 
ters; but gaming and intemperance were utter 
strangers, and on no pretense could Gen. Beatty 
be induced to con.sent to the sale of liquors within 
his command. 

" His power of endurance was wonderful. When 
occasion demanded, he could perform the longest 
and most fatiguing marches without any complaint, 
and seemingly without sufi'ering the slightest in- 
convenience for want of sleep. Changes of tem- 
perature were nothing to him, and snow, rain and 
sleet were equally unable to affect hi.s equanimity. 
Whatever was the soldier's bed, that also was his 
couch ; and whatever was the soldier's fare, he also 
partook of it. A soldier once said, 'If '%" were 
compelled to eat the bark of trees, T believe Gen. 
Beatty would find it delicious food.' The evening 
before leaving Chattanooga, he received a com- 
munication from the commanders of the several 
regiments in his brigade, tendering their sincere 
thanks for his kindness and general bearing to- 
ward all, and expressing their high appreciation 
of his valuable services. Indeed, it did not often 
happen that the resignation of an oflScer excited 
more universal regret than did that of Gen. 
Beatty." 

We deem no apology necessary for this lengthy 
sketch of a patriot and a soldier. Long a citizen 
of Morrow County, he was well known among the 
people, and cherished and respected as an upright 
and honorable man. Higher praise would appear 
fulsome and extravagant. 

Company I, of this regiment — the Third Ohio 
Infantry (Beatty's) — was raised in and around 
Cardington, by John Beatty, in the very begin- 
ning of the war. When the requisite number of 
men were obtained, they were taken to Columbus 
by Beatty, who, as we have seen, was elected 
Lieutenant Colonel. Upon the organization of the 
regiment, the following oflBcers were elected in 
Company I, viz.: H. E. Cunard, Captain ; James 
St. John, First Lieutenant ; J. D. Moore, Second 
Lieutenant. Capt. Cunard was killed at the bat- 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



265 



tie of Perry ville, Ky., October 8, 1862. Lieut. 
St. John had been detached on staff duty, leav- 
ing the command of Company I to Second Lieut. 
J. Gr. Blue, who had been promoted to the posi- 
tion on the death of Second Lieut. Moore in Sep- 
tember, 1861. The company lost severely in this 
battle, going in with sixty-seven men and coming 
out with forty-seven. Lieut. Blue was afterward 
promoted to First Lieutenant, and then to Captain, 
which position he retained until his term of ser- 
vice had expired, though a large portion of it was 
spent in Libby Prison. Edwin Reed became Sec- 
ond Lieutenant on the promotion of Capt. Blue, 
and died in prison at Charleston, S. C, with 
yellow fever. 

The Third Regiment was orgnuized at Camp 
Jackson, near Columbus, April 21, ISGl. Upon 
the election of officers, by ballot, according to the 
old militia law, Isaac Morrow was elected Colonel; 
John Beatty, Lieutenant Colonel, and J. W. Kie- 
fer, Major. On the 27th of April, it was mustered 
into the United States service, and the most rigid 
drill at once commenced, to prepare it for the field. 
Near the last of May, it was supplied with arms 
of a very poor character. Before orders for the 
field arrived, a considerable portion of the three 
months' term had expired ; but upon the three 
years' call, the regiment almost unamimously re- 
enlisted for that period, re-electing their old officers. 
On the 20th of June, it was uniformed and sup- 
plied with better arms, and ordered to Virginia, 
arriving at Grafton on the 23d, where it at once 
reported to Gen. McClellan. On the 25th of June, 
at Clarksburg, whence it had moved from Grafton, 
the regiment was brigaded with the Fourth and 
Ninth Ohio and Loomis' Michigan Battery, Brig. 
Gen. Schleich commanding. From Clarksburg, 
the Third advanced with the army, and on the 5th 
of July, while lying at Buckingham, Va., a 
scouting party of fifty men, under Capt. Lawson, 
was sent out by Gen. Schleich to reconnoiter the 
road leading to the rebel position at Rich Mount- 
ain. Cautiously the little band proceeded, when, 
approaching Middle Fork bridge, they discovered 



that it was occupied by the enemy. An un- 
successful effort was made to dislodge them, 
in which one man was killed and five wounded. 
This was the first man in the Third Ohio killed in 
battle. At the battle of Rich Mountain it was in 
the division which was to advance on the enemy's 
works, but es the fight occurred in the rear of the 
fortifications, it was not engaged. 

On the 4th of August, the regiment marched to 
Elkwater Creek, and, in company with the 
Fifteenth Indiana and Loomis' Battery, com- 
menced a scries of fortifications across the valley. 
These fortifications were attacked, September 11, 
by the rebels, under Gen. Lee. The Third Ohio, 
with the Fifteenth and Seventh Indiana and a 
portion of Loomis' Battery, contested the advance 
of the rebels in several sharp skirmishes. In one 
of these. Col. John A. Washington, one of Gen. 
Lee's staff officers, of Mount Vernon, Va., was 
killed. In all the subsequent movements of that 
period, resulting in the repulse of the rebel army 
and its retirement to Mingo Flats, the Third Ohio 
took an active part. 

In November, the regiment proceeded to Cin- 
cinna,ti, and from there to Louisville, Ky., and 
went into camp four miles from the city. At this 
place (Camp Jenkins), the Army of the Ohio was 
formed, and the Third Ohio assigned to the Third 
Division, in command of Gen. Mitchell. On the 
7th of December, the regiment and its division 
marched to Elizabethtown, Ky., and went into 
winter quarters at Bacon Creek, or Camp Jeffer- 
son, as it was called. It remained here until the 
22d of February, 1862, when it proceeded over 
roads tramped into mire by the passage of artillery 
trains, to Bowling Green, where it arrived just in 
time to have a bird's-eye view of the rear guard of 
the rebel army, as it pulled out for Nashville. 
The Third reached the banks of the Tennessee 
River, opposite Nashville, some' twelve hours in 
advance of the troops under Gen. Nelson. From 
Nashville, the regiment marched southward with 
Gen. Mitchell's column — the famous Third Di- 
vision — and took an active part in all the stirring 



:£ 



260 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUXTY. 



events of that brilliant campaign, including the 
capture of Murfreesboro and the occupation of 
Shelbyville and Fayetteville, Tenn. It also took 
part in the descent on Huutsville, and closely pur- 
sued the enemy through Tuscumbia to luka. In 
the battle of Bridgeport it acquitted itself with 
credit. After these achievements, a considerable 
time passed inaTJtively, during which the regiment 
remained at Huntsville. 

In the latter part of August, 1862, Gen. Bragg, 
it will be remembered, made a bold dash for 
Louisville. Ky., and the Third Ohio, on the 23d 
of that month, with other troops, left Huntsville 
and joined in the race between Buell and Bragg. 
The march to Louisville was one of great severity. 
The weather wus warm, the roads dusty, and many 
of the water-courses dried up. What water there 
was to be had was often very filthy and loathsome. 
Almost every day the rebels were in striking dis- 
tance, and the army eager for battle, but no stand 
was made. At Green River, the army waited 
almost within sound of the battle in which Wilder 
and his gallant little band were allowed to be 
overpowered. Thus the northward march con- 
tinued through clouds of dust and a country almost 
without water, until, on the morning of September 
25, the 'J'hird Ohio again entered the city of 
Louisville. After a few days of rest, the national 
troops agdin resumed their movements. The first 
encounter of any importance with Bragg's forces 
was at Perryville, Ky., in which battle the Third 
bore an honorable part. It was in Col. Lytle's 
brigade, and, in the beginning of the action, took 
its position in an open field on the right of the 
Perryville road, protected only by a rail fence. 
The rebel attack was fierce and deadly, but not- 
withstanding thtir exposure, it stood its ground 
and returned volley for volley, until more than 
one-third of itsnumber had fallen, dead or wounded. 
In the opening of the battle. Color Sergt. Will- 
iam V. McCoubrie stood a little in advance of the 
color guard, bearing the regimental standard 
proudly aloft. His exposed and marked position 
instantly brought upon him a fierce fire from the 



enemy, and the gallant fellow was killed. Five 
others shared the same fate, until the sixth rushed 
forward and caught the colors ere they touched 
the ground. This last hero was a beardless boy of 
seventeen, named David C. Walker, of Company 
C, who successfully carried the flag through the 
remainder of the action, and was rewarded fdr his 
bravery by being made Color Sergeant on the battle 
field by Col. Beatty. Before the close of the battle 
the regiment was ordered to withdraw to the 
second line, which command it executed in good 
order, though sorely pressed by the enemy. It 
remained in its last position until night put an 
end to the unequal contest. While in line, Gen. 
Rousseau rode up to the regiment and thanked it 
in the name of the army for its gallant conduct. 
He said, " You stood in that withering fire like 
men of iron." Its valor is fully attested in its 
loss in the battle, which was 215 officers and men 
killed and wounded. Among the officers killed 
were Capt. McDougall, of Company A ; Capt. H. E. 
Cunard, of Company I ; Lieut. James St. John, 
of Company I, aid-de-camp to Col. Lytle, and 
Lieut. Starr, of Company K. 

In the further and fruitless pursuit of Bragg's 
army to and beyond Crab Orchard, Ky., the Third 
Ohio joined. Then, ill-clad and dispirited, the 
regiment and army turned their weary steps west- 
ward, and once more marched along the same 
beaten roads to Nashville, Tenn,, where they 
arrived on the 30th of November, and the Third 
Ohio went into camp on the south side of the city. 
In the mean time. Gen. Rosecrans had completely 
re-organized his army, and had placed the regiment 
in the Reserve Division, Gen. Rousseau command- 
ing. It remained quietly in camp until the ad- 
vance on Murfreesboro, and in the bloody battle 
of Stone River which followed, the brigade to 
which the Third Ohio belonged was commanded 
by Col. Beatty, while the regiment itself was com- 
manded by Lieut. Col. Lawson. The Third oc- 
cupied a position upon the right center, and be- 
came engaged early in the day. As the right 
wing of the army was forced back, the center. 



■^ — A>^^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



367 



which was partially engaged, changed front to 
accommodate itself to the changes made on the 
right. Maneuvering among the thick cedars in 
the face of a vigilant enemy was difficult, but the 
regiment preserved its line until, upon reaching 
the edge of an open cotton-field, the whole tide of 
battle seemed to roll down from the right and 
launch itself upon the center. It then began to 
give ground, stubbornly, delivering its fire steadily 
and eflfectively, though receiving two volleys for 
one. At last orders came to fall back upon the 
new line which had been formed under cover of 
the artillery. In its new position, the regiment 
was exposed to a galling fire and lost heavily. It 
was not actively engaged again during the day, 
but in the afternoon was exposed to a heavy fire 
of artillery. Early in the second day's battle, it 
was posted on the extreme left, and employed in 
guarding a crossing of Stone River. The first day 
and night of the new year (1863) it spent at this 
ford. On Friday morning it was relieved, and 
returned to the center, just in time to receive a 
share of the heavy cannonade opened by the rebels 
on that day. On the morning of January 3, it 
took a position in the front, where it skirmished 
briskly during the furenoon, and in the afternoon 
the regiment was withdrawn to make preparations, 
with others, to charge the woods in front of the 
Nationals' center, from which the rebel sharp- 
shooters kept up a galling fire. The charge was 
made at dark, and proved to be the last struggle 
on the well-fought field of Stone River, as during 
the night the rebel army retreated toward Shelby- 
ville and Tullahoma. 

Another long rest now occurred, which brings the 
record of the regiment up to April, 1863, the be 
ginning of a sad chapter in its history. The Third, 
with the Fifty-first and Seventy-third Indiana, 
Eightieth Illinois Infantry regiments, and two 
companies of the First Alabama Cavalry, was dis- 
patched under command of the Colonel of the 
Fifty-first Indiana, on a raid into Northern Geor- 
gia, with the intention of destroying the iron works 
near Rome. On the 8th of April, the Third Ohio 



left Murfree^boro for this purpose, and proceeded 
to Nashville, thence by water down the Cumber- 
land to Palmyra, Tenn.; here a part of the expedi- 
tion landed and ravaged the country between there 
and Fort Henry. The remainder of the expedi- 
tion went by water, and at Fort Henry joined the 
command, and together proceeded to Eastport, 
Miss. After scouring the country some time, it 
was, on the 30th of April, overtaken at Sand 
Mountain and attacked by Gen. Roddy with a 
large force of cavalry. The rebels, after a severe 
fight of several hours, retreated. The conduct of 
the Third in this battle was gallant in the extreme. 
It captured a battery of twelve-pounders, with a 
large amount of ammunition. Soon after, the com- 
mand was overtaken and attacked by Gen. Forrest; 
the Third Ohio, being in the rear, was the first to 
partake of the rebel General's compliments. A 
severe fight ensued, which the regiment was com- 
pelled to maintain for a time against heavy odds. 
The fight lasted until dark, when, under cover of 
darkness, the Nationals again took the road, in the 
attempt to escape. But the little band seemed 
doomed. After succeeding in destroying the Rome 
Mountain Iron Works, they again took up the 
line of march, and in crossing the Catoosa River 
at a deep ford, their ammunition became wet and 
rendered almost useless, leaving them in a bad con- 
dition for battle. The rebels were closing around 
them, and the morning of May 3 dawned upon 
the brigade with a gloomy outlook. Gen. Forrest 
and his cavalry appeared in their front and rear, 
and the rebel General at once sent in a demand 
for surrender. Owing to the condition of their am- 
munition, there was no other alternative but to 
accede to the demand, and the men of the gallant 
Third Ohio found themselves prisoners of war. It 
was at once marched to Rome, and then to At- 
lanta, and after remaining there a few days, were 
sent via Knoxville to Richmond, Va., where it re- 
mained until the 15th of May, at which time the 
men were paroled, but the officers of the regiment 
were incarcerated in Libby Prison. The regiment 
was transferred to Camp Chase, Ohio, there to 



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268 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



await excliange. It remained in Ohio till August 
1, 1863, and took part in the pursuit and capture of 
the rebel Gen. Morgan, during his raid through 
this State. 

August 1, 1863, the Third received orders to 
report to Gen. Granger at Nashville, Tenn., for 
duty, and, upon reaching that place, was again 
armed and equipped, and ordered to rejoin its old 
brigade, under command of Gen. John Beatty, then 
on duty at Stevenson, Ala. The regiment, in- 
spired with joy at the prospect of again being as- 
sociated with their old companions in arms, marched 
at once, but arrived at Stevenson too late to join 
their command, as it had already crossed the Ten- 
nessee, and moved to a point beyond Chattanooga. 
Reporting at Stevenson, it was temporarily attached 
to the reserve corps, and with it proceeded to 
Bridgeport, where it guarded pontoons and escorted 
trains to Chattanooga until after the battle of 
Chickamauga, when the south-side road to Chatta" 
nooga was abandoned. They then went to Battle 
Creek, thence against Wheeler's cavalry raid, to 
Anderson Gap, Tenn., thence down Sequatchie 
Valley to Looney's Creek, where it remained some 
time, repairing the roads and facilitating the pas- 
sage of trains to Chattanooga. 

The Third Ohio being still without its officers, 
it was marched to Kelly's Ferry, on the Tennessee 
River, November 18, 1863, where it remained 
until after the battle of Mission llidge. It then 
proceeded to Chattanooga, where it did garrison 
duty until the 9th of June, 1864, when it received 
orders to report at Camp Dennison, Ohio, its term 
of service having expired. The officers being re- 
tained in prison for such a great length of time, 
no effort was made at the proper time to re-enlist 
the regiment as veterans, and hence, at the end of 
three years, they were mustered out of service. A 
majority of them, however, after a visit to their 
homes, enlisted in other regiments and performed 
gallant duty till the close of the war. 

The Fifteenth Ohio Infantry was the next regi- 
ment in which Morrow County was represented by 
an organized body of men. Company C, the color 



company of the regiment, was from this county, 
and was organized with the following officers: 
Hiram Miller, Captain ; J. M. Dunn, a brother of 
Judge Dunn, of Mount Gilead, First Lieutenant; 
John G. Byrd, Second Lieutenant. Capt. Miller was 
from Mansfield, and resigned in July, 1862. Lieut. 
Dunn was promoted to the captaincy in his stead, 
and resigned April 1, 1863. Lieut. Byrd was 
promoted to First Lieutenant in place of Dunn, 
and upon his resignation was promoted to Captain. 
He was a brave officer, and was wounded several 
times, and finally mustered out on account of dis- 
ability. T. C. Davis succeeded him as Captain. 
He was from Blooming Grove, and went up from 
Sergeant in the regular line of promotion, and was 
mustered out with the regiment. Franklin Arm- 
strong was promoted to Second Lieutenant, and to 
First Lieutenant, March 29, 1865, and as such 
mustered out with the regiment. Alexander 
Moore was also promoted to Second and then First 
Lieutenant, and D. C. Thurston was promoted to 
Second Lieutenant just before the mustering out 
of the regiment. The regiment to which this com- 
pany belonged was originally organized for three 
months. During this period of its service it was 
engaged mostly in West Virginia, then the active 
field of operation, where it performed much ardu- 
ous duty. 

Upon the call of President Lincoln for 300,000 
men for three years' service, the members of the 
Fifteenth, with no abatement of their patriot- 
ism through their service of three months, almost 
unanimously re-enlisted. It was re-organized at 
Camp Bartley, near Man.«field, with M. R. 
Dickey, Colonel, and, on the 26th of September, 
1861, proceeded to Camp Dennison. Being armed 
and equipped, on the 4th of October, the regi- 
ment left for Lexington, Ky., where it remained in 
camp until the 12th, when it was transported by 
rail to Louisville, and thence to Camp Nevin, near 
Nolin Station, Ky. Here it was assigned to the 
Sixth Brigade (Gen. R. W. Johnson), Second Di- 
vision (commanded by Gen. A. McCook) of the 
Army of the Ohio, then commanded by Gen. 



L^ 



HISTOKY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



269 



Shernjan, and afterward by Gen. Buell. The Fif- 
teenth remained at Camp Nevin until the 9th of 
December, when it proceeded south, and on the 
following day, occupied Munfordsville. While 
lying at Munfordsville, an incident occurred 
illustrative of the discipline of army life. Gen. 
Alexander McCook, who commanded the division 
to which the Fifteenth belonged, went out in per- 
son one dark night to see if his pickets were all at 
their posts. He made quite a circuit, crossed 
Green River, ' came around and endeavored to 
cross back, and, when about the middle of the 
river, was halted by a picket (George C. Earley, 
of Company C, Fifteenth Regiment). The Gen- 
eral, to try the picket, commenced a parley, but, 
hearing the click of his gun, he was forced to dis- 
mount in the middle of the stream and give the 
countersign. The General, in telling it afterward, 
said he did not think when he heard the click of 
the man's gun that it would be healthy to prolong 
the parley. On the 27th, the command marched 
for Nashville, Tenn., where it arrived on the 2d 
of March, 1862. Here the troops rested until 
the 16th, when the march to Savannah com- 
menced, which jjoint was reached on the 6th of 
April. In the battle of Pittsburg Landing, which 
followed, the Fifteenth was engaged from 8 o'clock 
A. M. until 4 P. M., during which time it lost 
six men killed and sixty-two wounded — one of 
the killed belonged to Company C. 

The division of which the Fifteenth was a part 
formed the reserve of the army during the opera- 
tions against Corinth until the 27th of May, when 
it was ordered to the front, and from that time 
until the 30th, when the town was occupied by 
the national forces, was continually engaged in 
skirmishing. June 10, it proceeded to Battle 
Creek, Tenn. 

While at Battle Creek, Col. Dickey, of the Fif- 
teenth, who was in command of a brigade, called 
them out one night and marched several hours 
to fight — thunder. Distant thunder reverberat- 
ing through the mountains had much the 
sound of heavy cannonading, and was mistaken 



by the gallant Colonel for artillery firing. They 
remained at this point doing camp duty until 
August 20, when Gen. McCook's command, 
including the Fifteenth, moved to Altamont, 
on the Cumberland Mountains, in which direc- 
tion the invading army of Bragg was march- 
ing. From Altamont, the command, at least one- 
fourth of it barefoot, marched, via Manchester and 
Crab Orchard, to Louisville, Ky., arriving on the 
25th of September. October 1, it marched to 
Shelbyville, then to Lawrenceburg, where a skir- 
mish was had with the enemy, and, on the following 
day, another skirmish at a little place called " Dog 
Walk," in both of which the Fifteenth partici- 
pated. The division then marched to Perryville, 
where it arrived a few days after the battle of 
Chaplin Hills, and there joined the main army 
and marched in pursuit of Bragg as far as Crab 
Orchard. After remaining here a few days, the 
division marched for Nashville, where it arrived 
on the 7th of November, 1862. While here, the 
army was re-organized and thoroughly drilled, and, 
on the 26th of December, advanced on Murfrees- 
boro. In the battle of Stone River, the Fifteenth 
was hotly engaged, as its loss will show, being 
eighteen killed and eighty-nine wounded. Com- 
pany C went into the battle, as we were informed 
by a member of it, with 101 men, and on the fol- 
lowing day, it had but 16 to answer at roll-call, and 
some of them were slightly wounded. Of Com- 
pany C, John Messmore, T. A. Jolly and M. A. 
Byrd were among the killed. The latter w'as a 
brother of Capt. Byrd. Mr. S. U. Earley relates the 
following incident of this battle : He was carry- 
ing a wounded officer of an Indiana regiment ofi" 
the field, when he was struck in the calf of the 
leg and brought to his knee. The wounded officer 
begged him to leave him and save himself, but 
Earley told him he was not yet hurt bad enough 
for that, and, after recovering himself, moved on 
with his charge, and was soon wounded again in 
the thigh, and for a time disabled, but finally got 
to the hospital with the wounded officer. 

After the capture of Murfreesboro, the regiment 



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.£. 



270 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUXTY. 



was occupied in drilling, foraging and skirmishing 
until the 24th of July, 1863, when the advance 
was commenced on TuUahoma and Shelbyville, 
which places were occujiied by the National forces 
after the dislodgement of the enemy. Liberty 
Gap was carried by the Second Division, and the 
Fifteenth took a very prominent part, losing one 
oflBcer and seven men killed, and twenty-three 
wounded. Its division was stationed at TuUa- 
homa till the 1 6th of August, when it was ordered 
to Bellefonte, Ala., and proceeded via Win- 
chester and Salem, arriving at its destination on 
the 22d. In September, it proceeded to the vicin- 
ity of Lookout Mountain, where it maneuvered 
until the 19th, when it marched to the battle-field 
of Chickamauga, a distance of thirteen miles, and 
went into the engagement immediately upon its 
arrival. Company C had one man killed before 
the regiment got fairly into line of battle. In 
this battle the Fifteenth lost one officer and nine 
men killed, two officers and sixty men wounded, 
and forty men missing. At the siege of Chatta- 
nooga, the gallant Fifteenth bore its full share in 
the arduous labors and privations, and participated 
in the battle of Mission Ridge, capturing a num- 
ber of prisoners and some artillery. In this battle, 
R. L. Wren, of Mount Gilead, Company C, Ab- 
ner Ward, color bearer, were wounded, and Smith 
Walker, of Company C, was killed. On the last 
of November, the regiment, having been trans- 
ferred to the First Brigade, Third Division of the 
Fourth Army Corps, marched to the relief of 
Knoxville, where it arrived on the 8th of Decem- 
ber, and on the 2rith, moved by way of Flat Creek 
to Strawberry Plains. 

The greater portion of the regiment re-enlisted 
in January, 1864, and was sent home on veteran 
furlough, arriving at Columbus with three hun- 
dred and fifty veterans on the 10th of February. 
By the time its furlough had expired, it had filled 
its ranks to upward of nine hundred men, and 
upon the 14th of March, left Camp Chase for 
Nashville, where it arrived on the 22d, and was 
at once ordered to Chattanoo2;a. On the 8th of 



April, it moved to Cleveland, and on the 20th to 
McDonald's Station, where it remained until the 
opening of the spring campaign. On the 3d of 
May, it marched to Tunnel Hill, and with Sher- 
man's army was engaged in skirmishing with the 
enemy until the 13th, when the rebels withdrew 
and the national forces took possession of Dalton. 
In the pursuit of the enemy, and in the battles of 
Resaca and Dallas which followed, the Fifteenth 
bore an honorable part. In the latter engagement, 
its loss was nineteen men killed, three officers and 
sixty-one men wounded, and nineteen missing, who 
were supposed to be either killed or badly wounded. 
The color guard, with the exception of one cor- 
poral, was either killed or wounded, but the colors 
were safely brought off by the surviving member 
of the guard, Corp. David Hart, of Company I. 
On the 5th of June, the army moved to Acworth, 
and on the 10th advanced toward Kenesaw 
Mountain. During a sharp skirmish on the 14th, 
the Fifteenth lost one man., an officer killed, and 
five men wounded, all belonging to Company A. 
The following incident shows the pluck and pres- 
ence of mind some men will display in moments 
of peril : "After the rebels had withdrawn, a 
party of three or four men from the Fifteenth ad- 
vanced to reconnoiter, and picking up a couple of 
stragglers, they were sent back in charge of Peter 
Cupp, a private of Company H, who, in returning 
to his post unexpectedly, came upon a rebel out- 
post whiph had been left by accident in the hasty 
retreat of the enemy. Cupp announced the with- 
drawal of their army to them, and ordered them 
to stack arms and surrender. His order was at 
once complied with, and one Captain, one Lieu- 
tenant and sixteen men of the First Georgia Volun- 
teers were marched into our lines by Private 
Cupp." 

From this the advance was made steadily each 
day, until the National army closed around the 
rebel works at Atlanta. Here the division to 
which the Fifteenth belonged skirmished with the 
enemy until Hood's raid, when it marched via 
Marietta and Rome to the relief of Resaca, on the 
d,j. 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



271 



3d of October. It moved to Columbia and then 
toward Franklin, but did not participate in that 
battle, being assigned to the duty of covering the 
withdrawal of the forces and the retreat to Nash- 
ville. At Nashville, the Fifteenth formed the ex- 
treme left of the army, and when the order came 
for the left to move forward, the regiment advanced 
rapidly, capturing a fine battery of four brass guns 
and some thirty prisoners. The regiment partici- 
pated in the skirmishing during the month of 
December, and in the early part of January, 1865, 
went into camp at Bird Springs, where it remained 
until the 15th of March, when it was ordered to 
move into East Tennessee. It arrived at Green- 
yille on the 5th of April, and on the 22d returned 
to Nashville, arriving on the 1st of May. It re- 
mained here in camp until the 16th of June, when 
it was ordered to Texas. It proceeded to New 
Orleans, and on the 5th of July, shipjied for 
Texas,, arriving at Indianola on the 9th, and, dis- 
embarking, marched the same evening to Green 
Lake, a distance of twenty miles, in order to ob- 
tain a plentiful supply of fresh water. After re- 
maining here until the 10th of August, it proceeded 
to San Antonio^ a distance of 150 miles. Among 
the disadvantages to which it was exposed, were 
an insufficiency of water, poor rations and inade- 
quate transportation. These difficulties combined 
rendered this one of the hardest marches the 
regiment endured in its whole term of service. It 
remained at San Antonio on post duty until the 
21st of November, when it was mustered out 
of the service. It arrived at Columbus, Ohio, 
on the 25th of December, where it received 
its final discharge from the United States ser- 
vice. 

To sum up in a few words, the Fifteenth was 
among the first regiments mustered into the serv- 
ice, and among the last to be mustered out. It 
was in the service as an organized body some four 
years and eight months, and few regiments present 
a better record upon battle-fields and marches than 
the gallant old Fifteenth. 

The Twentieth Infantry also drew a company of 



men from Morrow County during the late rebell- 
ion. Company A was from this county, and or- 
ganized with the following commissioned officers : 
Elisha Hyatt, Captain ; William Rogers, First 
Lieutenant ; and L. M. Ayers, Second Lieutenant. 
Capt. Hyatt resigned in February, 1 862, and was 
succeeded by Lieut. Rogers, who resigned April 
26, 1862. Ayers was promoted to First Lieuten- 
ant, and, upon the resignation of Rogers, was 
promoted to Captain, which position he held when 
mustered out with the regiment. Peter J. 
Weatherby was made Second Lieutenant after the 
promotion of Ayers, and went up by regular pro- 
motion to Lieutenant Colonel, and as such was 
mustered out with the regiment. After the pro- 
motion of Weatherby, W. W. McCracken was 
elected Second Lieutenant. He was wounded at 
the battle of Champion Hills (and still carries a 
part of the ball), and was honorably discharged 
August 19, 1863. The company was officered 
as follows, when mustered out: J. E. McCracken, 
Captain ; C. W. McCracken, First Lieutenant ; 

and , Second Lieutenant. In 

addition to the sketch of the regiment which fol- 
lows, some casualties of the company are here 
noted : At the battle of Raymond, Miss., Eph- 
raim Harris was killed, and a brother, Daniel 
Harris, was killed at the battle of Champion Hills. 
Daniel B. James was killed in one of the fights 
around Atlanta, and R. M. Fogle in one of Sher- 
man's fights on his march to the sea. 

The Twentieth was organized under the first 
call for troops, and enlisted for three months. 
During this period of its service, its history was 
scarcely of sufficient importance to require men- 
tion here. It was re-organized for the three-years 
service at Camp King, near Covington, Ky., on 
the 21st of October, 1861. Col. Whittlesey, its 
first commander, was a graduate of West Point, 
and while superintending the defenses of Cincin- 
nati, which were commenced just back of Coving- 
ton, he, together with Lieut. Col. Force, infused 
such a spirit of enthusiasm into the members 
of this resiment, as to cause them to almost 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



unanimously re-enlist for three years, after the ex- 
piration of their three-months term. 

During the winter of 1861-G2, the Twentieth 
Regiment was employed on guard duty in and 
around Covington and Newport. On the 11th of 
February, 18G2, with the exception of Company 
K, the entire regiment embarked for the Cumber- 
land River, and arrived at Fort DoneLson on the 
14th, and was under fire for a short time on the 
15th. It was marched to the extreme right of the 
army, where it was placed in reserves, and com- 
pelled to stand a severe test in seeing crowds of 
strangers falling back from the front, and listening 
to their exaggerated reports of defeat and disaster. 
But notwithstanding these discouragements it 
passed through this, its first battle, with credit to 
every man. After the surrender of Fort Donel- 
son, the Twentieth was sent North in charge of 
prisoners, and thus became considerably scattered. 
By the middle of March, however, seven com- 
panies had been brought together. These went on 
the expedition to Yellow Creek on the steamer 
Continental. In April, while on inspection in 
camp at Adamsville, the Twentieth heard the 
booming of cannon at Pittsburg Landing, and at 
3 o'clock on the afternoon of the 6th left for that 
point. Upon reaching the field, they went into 
position on the right of the army, and spent a 
comfortless night standing in the rain. It partici- 
pated in the next day's battle with a heavy loss, 
and is justly entitled to a share in the glory of the 
victory. During the advance on Corinth, the 
Twentieth remained on duty at Pittsburg Land- 
ing, in which time sickness and death waged a 
heavy war upon it, and it was accustomed to ap- 
pear on parade with scarcely one hundred men in 
its ranks. 

After the fall of Corinth, the regiment moved 
to Purdy, and, there joining its division, marched 
to Bolivar, where it was left as part of the garri- 
son on the 6th of June, 1862. On the 30th of 
Aueust, the rebel Gen. Arm.strong, v?ith fifteen 
regiments, was held in check all day by the Twen- 
tieth Ohio, a portion of the Seventy-eighth Ohio, 



and two companies of the Second Illinois Cavalry. 
Late in the afternoon, two companies, G and K of 
the Twentieth, were captured by a cavalry charge, 
but not until they had emptied many a saddle in 
repulsing two previous charges. On the 20th of 
September, the regiment assisted in driving Gen. 
Price from luka, and in the engagement between 
Hurlburt and Price at the cros.sing of the Hatchie, 
near Matamora, Tenn., it arrived on the field at 
4 o'clock P. M., with a wagon-train loaded with 
supplies, having marched twenty-eight miles since 
10 o'clock the previous evening. The supplies 
were immediately turned over, and the regiment 
marched in pursuit of the rebels the same night. 

The Twentieth marched southward on the 28th 
of November, as a part of the Second Brigade of 
Logan's division, and on the 4th of December, en- 
tered Oxford, Miss. It advanced as far as Water 
Valley, Miss., and on the capture of Holly Springs, 
it returned northward, halting for a few days at 
Abbeville, where ou Christmas and New Year's 
Days, the men regaled themselves on dinners of 
parched corn. By slow marches it reached Mem- 
phis on the 28th of January, 1863, where it re- 
ceived an addition to its force of 200 recruits and 
drafted men. February 22, it moved down the 
Mississippi River to Lake Providence, and a few 
weeks later marched to the relief of Porter's fleet, 
at the time blockaded in Steele's Bayou, and after 
spending a few days in the Louisiana swamps re- 
turned to its camp. It proceeded to Milliken's 
Bend, where it arrived on the 18th of April, and 
marched to Hard Times Landing, and crossing the 
Mississippi, it pursued the retreating rebels to 
Hawkinson's Ferry on the Big Black. 

The division to which the Twentieth belonged 
having, in the organization of the Seventeenth 
Army Corps, been attached to that body, deployed 
in its front, on the 12th of May, as the corps ap- 
proached Raymond, Miss., and, while resting with 
arms stacked, was fired upon from a thicket be- 
yond a little stream. It immediately formed and 
advanced across the creek, using the steep bank as 
a breastwork. The struggle, though short, was a 



,[> 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



273 



severe one, especially so to the Twentieth, as the 
regiments en the right withdrew their lines a little 
distance to the rear, thus leaving the flank of the 
Twentieth exposed to a raking cross fire. Every 
man stood firm until the line again advanced and 
the rebels gave way. In this engagement the 
Twentieth lost twelve men killed and fifty-two 
wounded. Private Canavan, of Company E, was 
promoted to Sergeant for skillfully managing his 
company when all the officers and sergeants were 
struck down. Capt. Wilson was decorated with 
the Seventeenth Army Corps Medal of Honor, in 
silver, for gallantly assembling his skirmishers 
under the very muzzles of the enemy's guns in the 
first charge. Lieut. Weatherby, of Company A, 
being on the extreme right of the skirmish line 
with his company, and being cut oflf from his regi- 
ment, assembled his company and reported to the 
Colonel of the nearest regiment, the Eighty-First 
Illinois, and fought as a part of that regiment till 
the end of the battle ; when, as the company 
marched to join its regiment, the Eighty- First 
acknowledged its gallantry by giving three hearty 
cheers for the " Twentieth Ohio boys." The regi- 
ment, after this fight, moved on through Clinton, 
Jackson, Bottom Depot, to Champion Hills, where 
it bore an honorable part. It was pushed forward 
to a strong position in a ravine, under such a fire 
that it was dangerous for a stafi" officer to approach 
with orders. Though the regiments on each flank 
were pushed back as the enemy moved up in mass, 
the Twentieth held its ground without wavering 
till its ammunition was exhausted, when it fixed 
bayonets and prepared to maintain its position, 
but the Sixty-fifth Ohio came to its assistance 
from the reserve, and the enemy was driven back. 
Crossing Big Black, the Twentieth reached the 
rear of Vicksburg and acted as support to the as- 
saulting party on the 21st of May. The regiment 
did its portion of the work in the saps, and mines, 
and trenches, until the 29th, when, with the 
brigade, it withdrew from the line, and accom- 
panied an expedition to the Yazoo Valley. It 
returned ajrain to Vicksburs on the 4th of June 



and was held in reserve. On the 26th, it, with 
the Second Brigade, withdrew to Tiffin, near Black 
River, to watch Johnston's movements. After 
the fall of Vicksburg, it camped at Bovine Station, 
on the Mississippi Southern Railroad, but shortly 
after was ordered to join Sherman's army, besieg- 
ing Jackson. It finally, on the 30th of July, 
returned to Vicksburg and encamped in the out- 
skirts of the city. Its operations, for some months, 
were confined to skirmishing in and around Vicks- 
burg. In February, 186-i, it crossed Big Black 
and joined the celebrated Meridian expedition. 
After several weeks of marching, with a good deal 
of skirmishing and some hard fighting, the regi- 
ment returned to Vicksburg as part of a convoy of 
seven hundred wagons, where it arrived on the 
4th of March. 

In January preceding, about two-thirds of the 
Twentieth re-enlisted, and soon after the Meridian 
expedition it went home on veteran furlough. 
After spending thirty days at home it rendez- 
voused at Camp Dennison on the 1st of May, and 
proceeded to Cairo, 111., and from there to Clifton, 
Tenn. From this point it marched to join Gen. 
Sherman on the 9th of June, after a tramp of two 
hundred and fifty miles from Clifton, and, on the 
23d, joined its brigade near Kenesaw Mountain. 
It engaged in the battle at this place, where it 
acquitted itself with its accustomed bravery. On 
the 16th of July, it crossed the Chattahoochie, and 
on the 20th reached the rebel works before At- 
lanta. Here it did its hardest fighting of the war, 
perhaps. During the hottest part of the battle, 
their cartridges becoming scarce. Companies A, F 
and D risked their lives, and obtained, in the very 
face of the enemy, five cases of ammunition, which 
were piled near regimental headquarters ; but even 
this supply was insufficient, and the ammunition of 
the dead and wounded was distributed among the 
living. Finally, orders came to withdraw from the 
works and form a new line, and the Twentieth 
slowly retired, the men now and then turning to 
throw their last cartridge at the enemy. In this 
engagement the regiment lost forty-four killed. 



IZ 



374 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



fifty-six wounded and fifty-four missing. Many 
of the oflScers and luen distinguished themselves 
in this battle. 

The Twentieth left Atlanta with Sherman's army 
on the 15th of November for Savannah, and on the 
19th of December it was detached from the brigade, 
and sent to the Ogeechee, near King Bridge, 
where it engaged in building wharves on which to 
land supplies for the army. This was stopped by 
the surrender of Savannah, and the regiment 
joined the brigade December 24, on the out- 
skirts of the city. On the 6th of January, 1865, 
the regiment proceeded to Beaufort, S. C, crossed 
Port Royal Ferry, and advanced until the enemy 
was found entrenched beyond a rice swamp. The 
Twentieth deployed as skirmishers, and soon cap- 
tured the enemy's works. In all of the fighting 
of Sherman's army in North and South Carolina, 
the regiment bore its part. On the 15th of April, 
it moved on to Raleigh. After the surrender of 
Gen. Johnston, an event that caused the most 
unbounded joy, the regiment on the 1st of May 
left Raleigh, marching via Richmond to Washing- 
ton. It was in the grand review. May 24, was 
then sent to Louisville, Ky., and, July 18, back 
to Columbus, where it was paid off and mustered 
out of service. 

The Twenty-sixth Infantry is the next regiment 
in which this county was represented. Company 
E was recruited in and around Mount Gilead, 
while Company C, though known as a Delaware 
County company, yet contained quite a number of 
men from IMorrow County, particularly from 
Westfield Township. The first Captain of Com- 
pany C was Jesse Meredith, a resident of West- 
field, and an old soldier of the Mexican War. 
The First Lieutenant was K. A. Hicks, and Will- 
iam Clark Second Lieutenant. Lieut. Hicks was 
promoted to Captain and resigned. Capt. Mere- 
dith resigned in August, 1862, and Second Lieut. 
Clark promoted to Captain, and December 1>, 1864, 
to Lieutenant Colonel. 

Company E organized with the following ofi&- 
cers: Sylvester M. Hewett, Captain ; Henry C. 



Brumback, First Lieutenant; and James E. God- 
man, Second Lieutenant. Cape. Hewett was pro- 
moted to Major of the Thirty-second Regiment in 
September, 1861, and was honorably discharged in 
1863. James K. Ewart was promoted to the 
captaincy after the resignation of Hewett, and re- 
signed December 2, 1862. Lieut. Brumback 
resigned December 27, 1861. Second Lieut. God- 
man was promoted to First Lieutenant upon the 
resignation of Brumback, and in April, 1862, re- 
signed on account of ill health, and shortly after 
died. The company was without a regularly 
elected Captain from the resignation of Capt. 
Ewart until the regiment veteranized, when Wal- 
den Kelley became Captain, and was mustered 
out at the close of the war as its commanding officer. 

The Twenty-sixth was organized at Camp Chase, 
in July, 1861, and as soon as its numbers were 
complete, it was ordered to the Upper Kanawha 
Valley, where its first active service was per- 
formed. The regiment remained in that vicinity 
until the next January, occupying the most of its 
time in scouting duty. In the movement of Gen. 
Rosecrans on Sewell Mountain, the Twenty-sixth 
led the advance, and afterward brought up the 
rear in the retreat from that place. In the early 
part of 1862, it was transferred from the Depart- 
ment of West Virginia to the Department of 
the Ohio, afterward the Department of the 
Cumberland. It was brigaded with the Fif- 
teenth, Seventeenth and Fiftieth Indiana Regi- 
ments, under command of Col. M. S. Haskell 
(afterward Brigadier General), and placed in Gen. 
Wood's Division, of which it constituted a part 
until October, 1863. 

After the capture of Fort Donelson, the 
Twenty-sixth Regiment formed a part of the col- 
umn of advance on Nashville, and shared in the 
forced marches, hardships and privations of Gen. 
Buell's army in its advance to Pittsburg Landing 
to relieve Gen. Grant. In the movement from 
Shiloh, through the swamps of Northern Missis- 
sippi upon Corinth, the Twenty-sixth occupied the 
front line, and was among the first to enter the 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



275 



place. The last of August, 1862, the regiment, 
together with the Seventeenth and Fifty-eighth 
Indiana, about fourteen hundred strong, com- 
manded by Col. Fyflfe, had a slight engagement 
near McMinnville, Tenn.,with Forrest's brigade of 
cavalry. In the memorable forced marches of 
Buell and Bragg from the Tennessee to the 
Ohio, and thence toward Cumberland Gap, in the 
fall of 1862, the Twenty-sixth performed its 
whole duty. In the battle of Perryville it suf- 
fered severely. Company E had one man killed 
and several wounded ; among the latter were 
John Derr, of Mount Gilead, and William John- 
son and Henry Clifton. 

Gen. Rosecrans commenced his advance on the 
26th of December against Murfreesboro, and in the 
engagement which followed, the Twenty-sixth, 
under Major Squires, supported in part by the Fifty- 
eighth Indiana, made a gallant and successful 
charge, storming and driving from a strong posi- 
tion in the village of Lavergne a far larger force of 
the enemy, that for hours had held the left wing 
of the army at bay, and seriously impeded the 
execution of the movements in progress. In this 
skirmish. Company E lost seven men killed and 
wounded. At the battle of Stone River, the 
regiment was one of several which stood firm 
against the charge of the rebels on the 26th, when 
three-fourths of the National forces on the right 
had given away and were in full retreat. 
Although for hours the columns of the enemy 
were hurled against it, yet it stood its ground firm 
as a rock. It was this regiment which "formed 
the apex of that little convex line of battle that 
all Bragg's victorious army could not break or 
bend." In this sanguinary engagement, it lost 
one-third of its number in killed and wounded. 

About the 1st of January, 1863, Col. Young 
returned to duty, and took command of the reg- 
iment, and retained it until his resignation. In 
the advance on Tullahoma and Shelbyville, the 
Twenty-sixth bore an honorable payt. At Chat- 
tanooga, in December, 1863, it led the advance of 
Crittenden's corps (which first entered the place), 



Col. Young leading the regiment in skirmish line 
over the northern bluff of Lookout Mountain. At 
Chickamauga, it was in the thickest and bloodiest 
of the fight, where it acquitted itself with honor, 
losing nearly three-fifths of its force engaged. 
Company E went into the fight with thirty-eight 
men, and came out with nine who were able to 
answer at roll-call. Col. Young's horse and equip- 
ments were badly cut up with bullets. Capt. 
Ewing, Acting Major, had his horse killed under 
him, himself wounded and captured. Capt. Ross, 
Lieuts. Williams, Burbridge and Ruby were killed ; 
and Capts, Hamilton and Potter and Lieuts. Piatt, 
Hoge, Morrow and Shotwell wounded. Company 
H lost all its officers, and twenty-one out of twenty- 
four men engaged. At the storming of Mission 
Ridge, the gallant Twenty-sixth fully maintained 
its good reputation. It occupied nearly the cen- 
ter 'of the front line of assault, and was then called 
upon to sustain the concentrated fire of the rebel 
circular line of forty cannon and thousands of 
muskets. Says a war report of the time : " The 
assault was made in the face of a terrible fire, and 
the column worked its way slowly and painfully, 
yet steadily and unfalteringly, up the long and 
rugged slope of that blazing, smoking, jarring, 
blood-drenched and death-laden mountain, fight- 
ing its way step by step, every minute becoming 
weaker by the exhaustive outlay of strength in so 
prolonged a struggle, and thinner by the murder- 
ous fire of the foe from above, until, with less than 
half the command, with the entire color guard dis- 
abled, the Colonel, bearing his own colors, spurred 
his foaming and bleeding horse over the ememy's 
works, and they threw down their arms, abandoned 
their guns, and gave themselves to precipitate 
flight." In this engagement, the Twenty-sixth 
captured about fifty prisoners and two cannons. 
LjdBr in the day, it, with the Fifteenth Indiana, 
under command of Col. Young, captured a six-gun 
battery the enemy were endeavoring to carry off 
in their retreat, and flanked and dislodged a large 
body of the enemy, who, with two heavy guns, 
were attempting to hold in check the National 



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276 



HISTORY OF ^rOKKOW COUNTY 



forces until tlu'ir train could be withdrawn. In 
this battle, the regiment lost about one-fourth of its 
strength in killed and wounded. It was now re- 
duced from 1,000 men to le^s than 200, but with 
this handful they moved with the Fourth Corps 
to the siege of Knoxvillo. None but those who 
participated know the hardships of that campaign. 
They marched barefoot over frozen ground, and 
camped without shelter in midwinter, and were 
half dressed and half fed. Yet, under all these 
discouraging circumstances, in January, 1864, the 
regiment (or what was left of it) reenlisted almost 
to a man. It was the first regiment in the Fourth 
Army Corps to re-enlist, and the first to arrive 
home on veteran furlough. 

On its return to the field, it was with Sherman 
in his campaign against Atlanta; also, at Resaca, 
Kencsaw, Peach Tree Creek, Jonesboro and all the 
minor engagements of that vigorous campaign. It 
participated in the battle of Franklin, the last 
great battle of the war, and in this hard fight 
maintained fully its reputation for bravery and 
fighting ((ualities. It took part in the Texas cam- 
paign, and in the long and toilsome march across 
the country, from Port Lavaca to San Antonio, 
suffered intensely from the extreme heat and from 
thirst. But this was the close of its long term of 
service. On the 21st of October, 1865. it was 
mustered out of the service at Victoria, and im- 
mediately sent home to Camp Chase, and paid ofi" 
and discharged. 

The Forty-third Infantry contained a large 
number of men from Morrow County. Besides 
quite a scattering in other companies, B was 
■wholly from this county. Its original officers were 
James Marshman. Captain ; Samuel McCiarin, 
First Lieutenant, and H. S. Prophet, Second 
Lieutenant. Marshman re.signed, September 3, 
1862, on account of disability ; Lieut. McCiarin 
was wounded and resigned same date, and 
Lieut. Prophet was transferred to another com- 
pany, of which he afterward became Captain. 
Moses R. Shaker TFirst Lieutenant) was promoted 
to Captain after the resignation of Mar.shmaii, and 



in that position served out his three years. After 
the regiment veteranized, he held the captaincy 
until the expiration of his enlislment, although 
he did not veteranize. When Shaker was made 
First Lieutenant, George W. Purcell was pro- 
moted to Second Lieutenant, and then to First, 
and declined promotion to Captain. When he 
became First Lieutenant, Jonathan McCiarin was 
promoted to Second, and afterward to First Lieu- 
tenant. After the regiment vetei'anized, J. 0. Mc- 
Donald became Second Lieutenant, and in January, 
1865, was prnmoted to Captain, and as such was 
mustered out with the regiment at the close of the 
war. George W. Purcell was First and A. L. 
Pendergast Second Lieutenant at the muster-out. 

The Forty-third Infantry was organized at 
Mount Vernon, on the 2d of February, 1862, and 
on the 21st left for the front, in command of Col. 
J. L. Kirby Smith, a nephew of the Confederate 
General, Kirby Smith. On the 26th, it reported to 
Gen. John Pope, commanding the District of Mis- 
sissippi, and was consigned to the Ohio brigade, 
composed of the Twenty-seventh, Thirty-ninth, 
Forty-third and Sixty-third Regiments, First Di- 
vision, Army of the Mississippi. It was not long 
until the regiment had a taste of the duties before 
it, as it took part in the affair of New Madrid, 
Mo., and was also at Island No. 10, as well as in 
the subsequent capture of the forces of Gen. 
McCall at Tiptonville, Tenn. Its next movement 
was against Fort Pillow, but this was abandoned 
that the troops might take part in the operations 
against Corinth. In all of these engagements, the 
Forty-third bore an active part. In the battle of 
the 4th of October it particularly distinguished 
itself, and, together with the Sixty-third Ohio, did 
more, it is claimed, to save the day than any troops 
engaged. Company B, of the Forty-third, lost 
Creighton Orr and Bradford Auld, killed. 

As a testimonial to the bravery of the Forty- 
third and its brigade, we make the following ex- 
tract from an address by Gen. Fuller, at a re-union 
of the Ohio Brigade held at Columbus in 1878: 
" That thrill of ecstacy which victory brings was 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



277 



here intensified by an act of the commanding 
General. Rosecrans had lost his temper when the 
troops attacked by Price had temporarily sdven 
way, and had hardly time to become appeased by 
their subsequent good conduct. Still nursing his 
wrath, and having seen that Van Dorn had met with 
a different reception at the hands of this brigade, 
he was disposed to extol the men who fought near 
Robinet, at the expense of those who had fallen 
back. So, riding to the crest we occupied, and 
pointing to the right, he said : ' I have just come 
from a part of the field where some of our troops 
retreated like old women ; but now I know, not 
only from what I heard and what I saw from a 
distance, but also from these piles of dead along 
your front, that I am in the presence of brave 
men ! so brave that I take my hat off in your 
presence, and thank you, in our country's name, 
for your great valor ! ' No soldier who heard 
these words will be likely to forget them, nor the 
appearance of Rosecrans as he addressed us, hat 
in hand." 

The following description of this battle is given 
in a war chronicle of the time : " The Sixty-third 
Regiment was posted on the right, and the Forty- 
third on the left of Battery Robinet, and between 
that battery and Battery Williams, and were 
entirely without works or protection of any sort. 
In descriptions of this battle, other regiments 
have been assigned to this ground, but the above- 
named occupied and held it during the battle. 
The grand assault by the rebels was made at day- 
light on the 4th. They opened upon Battery 
Robinett with artillery at three hundred yards, 
and at 10 o'clock A. M., led by Col. Rogers, of 
the Second Texas, moved forward to the assault. 
The Forty-third and Sixty-third Regiments stood 
firmly at their posts, and succeeded in staggering 
the assaulting column, and in hurling it back, at 
a time when our lines were broken and our troops 
were seen flying from every other part of the field. 
The opposing forces were but a few feet apart, 
and fought almost hand to hand, and men went 
down on both sides in great numbers. Col. Smith 



fell mortally wounded at the first onset, while 
gallantly discharging his duty. Adjt. Heyl and 
Capt. Spangler were killed about the same moment, 
Capt. S. F. Timmons and Lieuts. S. McClarin, A. 
L. Howe and H. S. Prophet received honorable 
wounds. The casualties among the men were 
very severe. In a few moments of fighting, over 
one-fourth of those engaged of the Forty-third 
were either killed or wounded. Col. Smith died 
of his wounds on the 12th of October, eight da}s 
after the battle. He was a young soldier of great 
promise, and mourned by every man in his regi- 
ment." The regiment next participated in the 
movement of Grant against Oxford, Miss., and in 
the campaign against Forrest in West Tennessee ; 
also in the raid of Gen. Dodge in Xorth Alabama, 
in April, 1863. From this time until October, 
the Forty-third was stationed at different points on 
the railroads of West Tennessee, and at Memphis, 
assisting to keep open the communications of Gen. 
Grant's army, then operating against Vicksburg. 
When Gen. Sherman made his memorable march 
from Memphis, for the relief of the Army of the 
Cumberland, the Forty-third accompanied him, in 
Gen. Dodge's column. 

The regiment almost unanimously re-enlisted as 
veterans in December, 1863, and went home on a 
furlough of thirty days, in company with the other 
regiments of the Ohio Brigade. At the expira- 
tion of their furloughs, the brigade returned to 
the field in a body. Immediately after its return, 
its commander, Col. Fuller, was directed to cross 
the Tennessee River, and capture the town of 
Decatur, Ala., then held by the rebels, under Gen. 
Roddy. This was accomplished, after a slight 
skirmish, in which the Forty-third participated. 
While lying at Decatur, the old Ohio Brigade 
was discontinued, and a new brigade was formed, 
consisting of the Forty-third and Sixty-third Ohio, 
Twenty-fifth Wisconsin and Thirty-fifth New 
Jersey Regiments, which was placed under the 
command of Col. J. W. Spragae, of the Sixty- 
third Ohio, and designated as the Second Brigade, 
Fourth Division of the Sixteenth Army Corps. 



27S 



HISTORY OF MORROAV COUNTY. 



On the 3d of May, 1864, the command to which 
the Forty-third belonged reached Chattanooga, 
and in the advance of the Army of the Tennessee 
in the Atlanta campaign it took the front, and on 
the 8th was in line of battle before Resaca. In 
the battle which followed on the 13th, the 
regiment fought bravely and suffered a severe loss, 
in which Company B had Nathan Thornberg 
killed. During most of the time, it occupied a 
'' front seat " in the line of battle. On the next 
day, the brigade to which it belonged was sent 
forward to support Gen. Logan, who had taken a 
position commanding the bridge across the Coosa 
River. The position thus gained was held against 
repeated efforts on the part of the enemy to dis- 
lodge them. " All that day (the 15th) was spent 
in heavy skirmishing with the enemy. The mem- 
bers of the Forty-third, as was their custom, took the 
advance in this mode of fighting, and it was made 
a day memorable in the annals of the regiment. 
The rebel skirmish line was literally annihilated, 
and the dead found next morning lying where 
they had fallen, the rebels having left during the 
night. Of the Forty-third, Companies A, Lieut. 
0. M Davis, and H, Capt. A. L. Howe, were the 
first to enter the enemy's works.""'' The regiment 
bore an important part at Dallas, and in the ad- 
vance on the enemy near Big Shanty, Company 
D participated in a most brilliant charge of skir- 
mishers, capturing a strong barricade from the 
Twenty-ninth Tennessee and numerous prisoners. 
Following closely upon this, came the severe battle 
of Kenesaw Mountain, in which the Forty-third 
maintained well its reputation for bravery. 

In the general movements of its corps, the 
regiment took an active part until the advance on 
Decatur, when it was detached to hold the bridge 
across the Chattahoochie, at the former place, un- 
til the army transportation then loading at Ma- 
rietta should cross the river. On the 22d of July, 
Col. Swayne in command of the Forty-third Ohio 
and the Ninth Illinois Mounted Infantry, started for 
Decatur, twenty miles distant, with a train of some 

* Keid. 



fifteen hundred wagons. Approaching the town, 
it was discovered that a battle was in progress, and 
Capt. Williams, who had been sent forward early 
in the day with two companies, hurried his detach- 
ment forward until he learned that Col. Sprague, 
after a most gallant resistance against overwhelm- 
ing numbers, had been compelled to retreat. 
This detachment was then placed in position in 
order to protect the train while it was filing off in 
the rear of the National army. In the mean time, 
Col. Swayne arrived with the remainder of the 
Forty-third on the double-quick, and a section of 
artillery. At this time, the train was menaced by 
Iversen's division of rebel cavalry which had been 
assigned the duty of capturing it, while two other 
divisions under Wheeler were to capture Sprague 
and his three small regiments in Decatur. Through 
the audacity of Col. Sprague and the fearless spirit 
of his men, combined with the promptitude of Col. 
Swayne, not a single wagon of the train was lost. 
During the remainder of the Atlanta campaign, 
the Forty-third shared in the glories and trials 
of the Sixteenth Army Corps, and on the 7th of 
August earned the thanks of Gen. Ransom, the 
division commander, by its splendid fighting. 

After the fall of Atlanta, the Forty-third did 
little fighting till Sherman started on his '' march 
to the sea." In the operations around Savannah, 
it performed its share of the duty. In January, 
1865, the regiment moved to Beaufort, and di- 
rectly afterward on Pocotaligo on the Charleston 
& Savannah Railroad, where it remained until 
the march commenced through the Carolinas. 
On the 2d of February, the Seventeenth Army 
Corps marched from Pocotaligo, and in due tiae 
confronted the enemy posted at River Bridge. At 
this place. Col. Swayne, while making preparations 
to charge the enemy, lost a leg by a shell. He 
had been with the regiment from its organization, 
and was a brave and gallant oflBcer. He was 
brevetted Major General afterward for his meri- 
torious services. In all these fights and skirmishes 
the Forty-third fully maintained its reputation. 
After the close of the war, which occurred soon 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



281 



after, the regiment went to Washington, partici- 
pated in the grand review, and was then sent to 
Louisville, Ky., with the Army of the Ten- 
nessee. From there it went to Ohio, and on the 
13th of July, 1865, was paid off and mustered out 
of the service. 

The Sixty-fifth Infantry is the next regiment 
claiming a representation from Morrow County. 
Company D was recruited in this county by James 
Olds, and organized with the following officers : 
James Olds, Captain ; J. C. Baxter, First Lieuten- 
ant ; and D. H. Rowland, Second Lieutenant. 
Before the regiment left for the field, Capt. 
Olds was promoted to Major, and Lieut. J. C. 
Baxter was elected Captain of Company D. ; 
D. H. Rowland. First Lieutenant, and J. T. 
Hyatt, Second Lieutenant. Maj. Olds resigned 
from ill health October 7, 1862. Capt. Bax- 
ter resigned February 26, 1862; Lieut. Row- 
land resigned June 16, 1862. Lieut. Hyatt 
died before leaving camp. Upon his death, 
A. A. Gardner was made Second Lieutenant ; pro- 
moted to First Lieutenant, October 7, 1862, and 
to Captain, October 14, 1863, and as such wag 
mustered out with the regiment. J. S. Talmadge 
became Second Lieutenant February 1, 1863, 
was promoted to First Lieutenant. June 14, 1864, 
and afterward resigned. This was the only full 
company made up and mustered into the Sherman 
Brigade. The recruiting for the brigade was done 
mostly by lieutenants, who would take a squad of 
men to camp and consolidate it with two or three 
other squads, thus forming a company. Maj. 
Olds recruited Company D during a term of court ; 
tried law cases all day, and recruited at night after 
the adjournment of court. 

The Sixty-fifth was organized at Camp Buck- 
ingham, near Mansfield, on the 3d of October, 
1861, and was one of the regiments included in 
the brigade raised by Hon. John Sherman. It 
was mustered into the United States service on the 
1st of December. It left Mansfield fqr active duty 
on the 18th, and proceeded to Louisville, Ky., 
and thence to Camp Merton, near Bardstown, Ky., 



arriving at that place on the 30th of D-ecember. 
It was assigned to a brigade composed of it and 
the Sixty-fourth Ohio, Fifty-first Indiana and 
Ninth Kentucky. Col. Harker, of the Sixty-fifth, 
commanded the brigade, and Gen. Wood, the 
division. The brigade took up the line of march 
January 13, 1862, passing through Bardstown, 
Springfield, Lebanon, Haysville, Danville and 
Stanford, Ky., arrived at Hall's Gap, on the 24th 
of the same month. On the 7th of February, it 
proceeded to Lebanon, and on the 12th, embarked 
on the cars for Green River, and on the 13th of 
March, arrived at Nashville, where it went into 
camp. This march was long and toilsome, as in 
many places the rebels had destroyed bridges and 
turnpikes, and otherwise damaged the route. 

The brigade, of which the Sixty-fifth was a 
part, left on the 29th of March, in command of 
Gen. Garfield, and marched by way of Columbia 
to Savannah, arriving on the 6th of April, and on 
the 7th, moved by steamer to Pittsburg Landing. 
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon it arrived on the 
field, but was not actively engaged. It participated 
in the movements against Corinth, and during the 
siege was almost hourly under fire. After the 
evacuation, it marched to Bridgeport, Ala., where 
it WHS engaged in guarding the Tennessee River 
until the 29th of August, when it marched north- 
ward in pursuit of Bragg's army, and, with its 
brigade, arrived at Louisville on the 24th of Sep- 
tember. After resting here for a week, it moved 
to the vicinity of Perryville, and thence to Nash- 
ville. 

In the re-organization of the army at Nashville, 
under Gen. Rosecrans, the Sixty-fifth remained in 
its old brigade, with Col. Harker in command, the 
brigade forming a part of Crittenden's corps. On 
the 26th of December, it proceeded via the Nash- 
ville pike to Lavergne, fighting its way as it went. 
On the 29th it crossed Stone River under orders, 
the men wading in water to their armpits in the 
face of a murderous fire, and upon gaining the 
opposite bank, a line was formed, but support 
failed to come up, and it was ordered to retire, 



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282 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



which was accomplished in good order. Critten- 
den's corps lay on its arms all night, and during 
the whole of next day ; it was waiting for McCook 
to move on the right. McCook's corps was driven 
back early in the morning of the 31st, and Barker's 
brigade was ordered to its support, meeting a per- 
fect storm of bullets and a solid column of exult- 
ant rebels. For eight hours, the brigade was closely 
engaged, and finally succeeded in checking the rebel 
army, but at a terrible price. The Sixty-fifth 
alone lost two officers killed and eight wounded, 
and thirty-eight men killed, one hundred and six 
wounded and nineteen missing ; three deserted in 
the face of the enemy. All the commissioned 
officers of Company A were either killed or 
wounded ; but Sergt. Culbertson Kenwood brave- 
ly took command of the company, and led it 
through the battle, for which act he was shortly 
after promoted to Second Lieutenant by Gov. 
Tod. The regiment was under fire throughout 
the entire engagement. 

After the battle of Stone River, the Sixty-fifth 
remained at Murfreesboro until June 7, 1863, 
when it moved to the vicinity of Chattanooga. 
During the first day of the battle of Chickamauga, 
it was held in reserve at Lee & Gordon's mills 
until 5 o'clock in the afternoon, when it became 
briskly engaged in the fight. It moved to the 
left center, and lay on its arms all night. The 
next morning at 10 o'clock, it advanced about a 
mile, but was driven back to a ridge, on which it 
re-formed ; fighting continued all day with alternate 
success and reverse. On the 20th, the entire 
army fell back to Mission Ridge, and from there 
to Chattanooga. In this engagement, the regi- 
ment lost three officers killed and five wounded, 
and thirteen men killed, sixty wounded and 
twenty-four missing. The Sixty-fifth participated 
in the battle of Mission Ridge, with a loss of one 
officer wounded, one man killed and thirteen 
wounded. It was under fire almost constantly 
during the Atlanta campaign. At Lookout Moun- 
tain it lost three men wounded and one mi.ssing ; 
at Resaca, one officer wounded, two men killed 



and twenty-five wounded ; at Dallas, one officer 
wounded, one man killed and four wounded ; at 
Marietta, one officer killed, one man killed, and 
ten wounded; in a skirmish near Kenesaw, two 
men wounded, and in a charge on Kenesaw, one 
officer killed, one wounded, and two men killed, 
and six wounded. In this -charge, Brig. Gen. 
(formerlyjColonel) Barker, of the Sixty-fifth, was 
killed. 

After the fall of Atlanta, the regiment went 
into camp there, and, after a short rest, was sent 
in pursuit of Hood, after which it was ordered to 
Chattanooga, where it was engaged in guarding 
the railroad near the Tennessee River. On the 
29th of November, 1864, it participated in the 
battle of Springfield, and on the 30th was en- 
gaged in the battle of Franklin, with a loss of one 
man killed, twenty-two wounded and twenty-one 
missing. A part of the regiment had re-enlisted 
in the beginning of the year, and the term of 
service of the remainder having now expired, they 
were discharged, leaving the regiment with an ag- 
gregate of but about one hundred and thirty men. 
The regiment was engaged in the battle of Nash- 
ville, and in pursuit of the rebel army across the 
Tennessee, after which it returned to Nashville 
and went into camp. 

In June, 1865, the regiment proceeded to New 
Orleans, where it remained a few weeks, and was 
then ordered to Texas. It performed garrison 
duty at San Antonio until December, when it was 
ordered home, and on the 2d of January, 1866, 
it was paid off and discharged at Camp Chase. 

The Eighty-first Infantry was represented by 
a company from this county, viz., Company H, 
which was recruited mostly in Chester and Frank- 
lin Townships, and went out with R. B. Kinsell, 
Captain ; E. A. James, First Lieutenant, and 
Caleb Ayres, Second Lieutenant. Capt. Kinsell 
resigned August 15, 1862. Lieuts. James and 
Ayres also resigned. 

This is one of the regiments that was com- 
menced under an order from the War Department 
for the command of Gen. Fremont. But by some 



7Ti 






HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



283 



mismanagement it was not sent to his army, and 
finally became the Eighty-First Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry. Upon the completion of its organization 
it was sent to Missouri. It operated in Missouri 
until the 1st of March, 1862, when it was ordered 
to St. Louis, where it was armed with Enfield 
rifles, and sent at once to Pittsburg Lauding. 
Upon its arrival it was assigned to the Second 
Brigade, Second Division of the Army of the 
Tennessee — the brigade commanded by McArthur, 
and the division by Gen. C. F. Smith. It par- 
ticipated in the battle of Pittsburg Landing, with 
considerable loss in killed and wounded, among 
whom was Capt. Armstrong. Its next active work 
was at Corinth, and in the pursuit of the enemy, 
and the return of the troops, the regiment suf- 
fered severely from the extreme heat. After this. 
Companies H and G were consolidated with 
other companies, thus reducing the regiment to 
five minimum companies. On the 19th of 
October, five new companies arrived from Ohio, 
which, added to the Eighty-First, increased it to a 
full regiment. The reception of these recruits 
was made a formal matter, and is thus described : 
" The recruits slept at the depot, having arrived 
late. The next morning, the old troops were 
formed and marched toward the depot, with drums 
beating and colors flying. When they had pro- 
ceeded far enough, they halted, formed in line in 
open order, and faced inward. The recruits ap- 
proached by the right flank, and when the head 
of the column entered the lines the old troops 
came to a 'present arms.' When the new 
troops passed through, they were formed in the 
same manner, and the old troops passed through 
their lines, receiving the same salute. When this 
was done, the regiment formed on the color-line 
and stacked arms." The winter and spring of 
1863 was spent in scouting and skirmishing, in 
which the regiment performed arduous service, 
though it was not engaged in any severe battles. 
In January, 1864, the old troops of the 
Eighty-first mostly re-enlisted and went home on 
furlough. Upon the expiration of their furlough, i 



the regiment concentrated at Pulaski, Tenn., on 
the 26th of April, and on the 29th moved for 
Chattanooga. On the 5th of May, it entered on 
the Atlanta campaign, and at the battle of Re- 
saca, though in line, did not participate in the 
battle. It was engaged in the battle of Rome 
Cross Roads on the IGth, with some loss. At 
Kenesaw, as at Resaca, it was in line, but was not 
called into action. On the 22d of July, it par- 
ticipated in the battle of Atlanta, where it dis- 
played a determined bravery surpassed by no regi- 
ment during the war. 

In September, the Eighty-first was ordered to 
Rome, and assigned to the Fourth Division of the 
Fifteenth Corps. Soon after its arrival it set out 
for Atlanta, and, on the 16th of November, con- 
tinued the march toward Savannah. It bore its 
full share of privations in the campaign " to the 
sea." It passed in review, at Goldsboro, before 
Sherman, Schofield and Logan. After the sur- 
render of Johnston, the regiment started on its 
homeward march. It reached Washington City 
on the 20th of May, and on the 24th passed in 
review. Early in June, ic started for Louisville, 
Ky., where it was mustered out on the 13th of 
July, and on the 21st was paid oif at Camp Den- 
isoa, Ohio, and honorably discharged. 

The Eighty- fifth Infantry was recruited for the 
three-months service, but never, we believe, 
reached the dignity of a regiment, but was mus- 
tered into the service as a battalion (four com- 
panies), and was on duty mostly at Camp Chase. 
One of the four companies was raised in this 
county, and was organized with the following 
oflScers : Thomas S. Bunker, Captain ; Silas Holt, 
First Lieutenant, and L. W. Nichols, Second Lieu- 
tenant. The regiment was organized in June, 
1862, and mustered into the United States serv- 
ice at Camp Chase, and placed on duty there, as a 
guard of the large number of rebel prisoners con- 
fined there at the time. At the end of its terra 
of service, it was mustered out and discharged. 

The Ninety-sixth Infantry drew the larger part 
of two companies from this county, viz.. Com- 



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284 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



panics C and D. The tbiiner organized with the 
following oflacers : Levi Reicholderfer, Captain ; 
T. C. Shunk, First Lieutenant; and D. A. Stark, 
Second Lieutenant. Capt. Reichelderfer resigned 
March 2(5, 1863. Lieut. Shunk died March 27, 
1863 ; Lieut. Stark, appointed Adjutant June 26, 
1863, and afterward resigned. Sergt. John W. 
Godman promoted to First Lieutenant, and trans- 
ferred to Company E. Sergt. Charles 0. Old- 
field promoted to Second Lieutenant Jan. 26, 
1863, and mustered out in July. Company D 
went into the service with W. M. Dwyer, Captain; 
J. B. Williams, First Lieutenant, and Thomas 
Litzenburg, Second Lieutenant. Capt. Dwyer 
resigned Jan. 28, 1863. Lieut. Williams was 
promoted to Captain Jan. 25, 1863, and resigned 
March -4, 186-t. Lieut. Litzenburg resigned 
March 22, 1863. Sergt. J. M. Goodman pro- 
moted to First Lieutenant Jan. 26, 1863, and to 
Captain March 4, 1S64; resigned Nov. IS, 1864. 
Albert H. Brown, of Sparta, was Lieutenant 
Colonel, and led the regiment in nearly every 
battle it was engaged in. George N. Clark, of 
Morrow County National Bank, Adjutant of regi- 
ment, resigned January 26, 1863. 

The Ninety-sixth was organized at Camp Dela- 
ware, on the 29th of August, 1862, and was made 
up principally from the Eighth Congressional Dis- 
trict. The following sketch of the movements of 
this regiment was written by Maj. Charles H. 
McElroy, of Delaware, who went out as its Major, 
and may be relied upon as substantially correct : 

" A camp was established for this regiment on 
the Fuller farm, one and a half miles south of the 
city, known as Camp Delaware ; the ground occu- 
pied lying between the Columbus road and the 
river. On the 1st day of September, 1862, the 
Ninety-sixth left camp, 1,014 strong, for Cincin- 
nati, and, on the evening of the same day of its 
arrival, crossed over the river and went into camp 
at Covington, Ky. From that time until the 
close of the war, it was on continuously active, 
and most of the time hard, service. In the fall of 
1862, the regiment, in the brigade of Gen. Bur- 



bridge and under command of Gen. A. J. Smith, 
marched from Covington to Falmouth, thence to 
Cynthiana, to Paris, Lexington, Nicholasville ; 
through Versailles, Frankfort, Shelbyville to Louis- 
ville"; leaving Covington on the 8th of October 
and going into camp at Louisville, on the 
15th, From Louisville, it proceeded to Mem- 
phis, and on the 27th of December, with the 
forces under command of Gen. Sherman, left for 
' down the river ' to Chickasaw Bayou. From 
there it went to Fort Hindman, or Arkansas Post, 
where it was in the left wing, under command of 
Gen. Morgan. 

" After the battle of Arkansas Post, the regi- 
ment was at the siege of Vicksburg, where it 
formed a part of the Nineteenth Army Corps. 
Then followed the battle of Grand Coteau, La., a 
desperate struggle against fearful odds. After this, 
the regiment was sent into Texas on an expedition 
of short duration. Returning to -Brashear City, 
La., it entered upon the famous Red River cam- 
paign under Gen. Banks. The battles of Sa- 
bine Cross Roads (^wliere Col. Vance was killed), 
Peach Orchard Grove and Pleasant Hill followed. 
The regiment had, by continued losses, become so 
reduced in numbers that a consolidation became 
necessary, and was effected under a general order 
from Maj. Gen. Reynolds, commanding the De- 
partment of the Gulf. At the request of the 
officers and as a special honor to the regiment, it 
was consolidated into the Ninety-sixth Battalion, 
and not with any other regiment. This was the 
only instance in that department of any such favor 
being accorded. Soon after this, the regiment 
(now the Ninety-sixth Battalion) was ordered 
down the river and to Mobile, and was engaged in 
the capture of Forts Gaines, Morgan, Blakely and 
Spanish Fort, resulting finally in the capture of 
Mobile. The division was under the command of 
Col. Lundrum, of the Nineteenth Kentucky, and 
formed a part of the Thirteenth Corps under Gen. 
Granger. 

" The Ninety-sixth was mustered out of the 
service at Mobile, and on the 29th of July, 1865, 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



285 



arrived at Camp Chase, Ohio, where they were 
paid off and honorably discharged. During its 
service, the regiment marched 1,683 miles, trav- 
eled by rail 517 miles, and by water 7,686 miles, 
making a total of i),886 miles, exclusive of many 
short expeditions in which it took part." 

The One Hundred and Twenty-first Infantry 
was organized at Camp Delaware, in September, 
1862, and was composed of material from Knox, 
Union, Logan, Delaware, Hardin and Morrow 
Counties. The Colonel, William P. Reid, was a 
prominent lawyer of Delaware; the Lieutenant 
Colonel, W. Smith Irwin, a citizen of Mount Gilead, 
and the Major, R. R. Henderson (now of Dela- 
ware), was, we believe, from Union County. Com- 
pany E was raised in the county, and orgdnized 
with the following commissioned officers : David 
Lloyd, Captain ; Jacob M. Banning, Fir.st Lieu- 
tenant ; Elisha B. Cook, Second Lieutenant. Capt. 
Lloyd was wounded at Kenesaw Mountain, from 
the effects ot which he died. Lieut. Banning was 
promoted to Captain on the death of Capt. Lloyd, 
then to Major, and then to Lieutenant Colonel, 
which position he held at the muster out of the 
regiment. Second Lieut. Cook was promoted to 
First Lieutenant April 5, 1863, and resigned Sep- 
tember 17, 1863. James A. Moore became Sec- 
ond Lieutenant April 5, 1863, and was promoted 
to First Lieutenant April 12, 1864, and to Cap- 
tain January 6, 1865, and as such mustered out 
at the close of the war. George Shaffer was pro- 
moted to First Lieutenant April 20, 1865, and af- 
terward killed by guerrillas. Daniel J. Mathews 
was promoted to First Lieutenant, but mustered 
out as Sergeant. 

The One Hundred and Twenty-first was organ- 
ized, as we have said, at Camp Delaware, the old 
camp of the Ninety-sixth. From a published his- 
tory of the regiment during its term of service, 
we make the following extract: "On the 10th 
of September, the regiment, 985 strong, left for 
Cincinnati, where it was put on guard duty for a 
few days, but, on the 15th, crossed the river and 
went into camp at Covington, Ky. From there it 



moved to Louisville and was assigned to Col. 
Webster's brigade, Jackson's division and Mc- 
Cook's corps. Without an hour's drilling, it 
marched with Buell's army in pursuit of Bragg. 
In this condition, it participated in the battle of 
Perry ville, in which Capt. Odor, of Company K, 
was killed. After the battle, the One Hundred 
and Twenty-first was detailed to bury the dead, 
and remained in Kentucky on guard duty until 
January, 1863, when it proceeded to Nashville, 
and then to Franklin, Tenn., where it was en 
gaged protecting the right flank of Gen. Rose- 
crans' army, then lying at Murfree&boro. When 
the army moved forward from Stone River, the 
One Hundred and Twenty-first moved with it and 
was attached to the Reserve Corps, under Gen. 
Granger. At Triune they had a slight skirmish 
with the rebels under Gen. Forrest. The next en- 
gagement in which the regiiuent took part (and its 
first severe one) was the battle of Chickamauga, 
where it lost heavily. It made a gallant charge 
to save the only road to Chattanooga, and, in the 
charge, encountered the Twenty-second Alabama 
Rebel Infantry, capturing its colors and a major- 
ity of its men. The loss sustained by the One 
Hundred and Twenty-first was Lieuts. Stewart, 
Fleming and Porter, killed ; Capts. David Llnyd 
(of Company E) and A. B. Robinson, and Lieuts. 
Marshall, Stephens, Moore. Mather, Patrick, Bry- 
ant and Mitchell, wounded ; privates killed, four- 
teen, and seventy wounded. For its bravery in this 
engagement, the regiment was highly compli- 
mented by Gen. Granger. After the battle, it 
fel' back with the array behind the intrenchments 
at Chattanooga, where it remained until after the 
battles of Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge, 
in both of which it took a prominent part. 

"After these battles, it returned to its old camp at 
Rossville, and remained there until 1864, when it 
moved with the army on the Atlanta campaign, 
participating in the battles of Buzzard Roost, Res- 
aca, and, as a part of Gen. Jeff. C. Davis' divis- 
ion, was at the capture of Rome, Ga. It was at 
the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, in which it 






>> 



286 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY, 



participated with its accustomed bravery. It made 
a lodgment under the enemy's works and held it, 
thereby securing possession of the National dead 
and wounded ; but dearly did they pay for their 
bravery. Among the commissioned officers killed 
were Maj. Yeager, Capts. Lloyd and Clason, and 
Lieut. Patrick ; and eight officers wounded. At 
Chattahoochie River, on the Uth of July, it lost, 
in a skirmish at the railroad bridge, five men 
killed and four wounded. At Atlanta and Jones- 
boro it performed its usual hot work, where it lost 
several men killed and wounded. About the 29th 
of September, the regiment was sent back to Chat- 
tanooga, where it was attached to an expedition 
against Forrest's cavalry, then raiding on the rail- 
road some distance away. The expedition followed 
the rebel cavalry and drove it across the Tennessee 
River into Alabama, then returned and joined in 
the chase of Hood. The One Hundred and 
Twenty-first joined Sherman at Rome, 6a., and 
marched with his army to the sea. After the fall 
of Savannah, the regiment, then commanded by 
Lieut. Col. A. B. Robinson, went on the expedi- 
tion into the Carolinas, and took an active part in 
the battle of Bentonville, where it lost six men 
killed and twenty wounded ; among the latter were 
Capts. Charles P. Claris and M. E. Willoughby. 
Capt. Claris afterward died from the effects of the 
wounds received in this battle." 

On the 1st of May, 1865, the war virtually 
over, the One Hundred and Twenty-finst joined the 
march of the National forces through Richmond to 
Washington, where it took part in the grand re- 
view, after which it was mustered out and sent 
home, and, on the 12th of June, was paid off and 
discharged at Columbus. 

The One Hundred and Seventy-fourth Infantry 
contained two companies from this cDunty. Comp- 
any A was recruited mostly by William 6. Beatty, 
of Cardington. He was elected its Captain, 
but upon the organization of the regiment was 
promoted to Major. First Lieut. Henry Rigby 
was promoted to Captain, in place of Capt. Beatty, 
and resigned May 19, 1865. Second Lieut. 



J. B. White was promoted to First Lieutenant, 

December 80, 1864, and was discharged for disa- 
bility May 18, 1865. First Sergt. William F. 
Wallace was promoted to Se^nd Lieutenant, 
December 30, 1864, and as such was mustered 
out with regiment. Company K, was recruited 
in and about Mount Gilead, and was organized 
with the following commissioned officers : Henry 
McPeak, Captain ; B. B. McGowen, First Lieu- 
tenant, and T. J. Weatherby, Second Lieutenant. 
These officers held their positions without change, 
until mustered out, except receiving brevet pro- 
motions for meritorious services. 

The One Hundred and Seventy-fourth was 
raised under the call for one year's service, 
and organized at Camp Chase, on September 21, 
1864. It was composed chiefly of men who 
had seen service in other regiments, had been dis- 
charged, and, tiring of the monotony of home 
life, re-enlisted. On the 23d of September, 
the regiment left for Nashville, with orders 
to report to Gen. Sherman, then commanding the 
Department of the Mississippi It reached Nash- 
ville on the 26th, and was ordered to Murfrees- 
boro, which point was threatened with a raid from 
the cavalry of Gen. Forrest. On the 27th of 
October, it left Murfreesboro, with orders to 
report to the commanding officer at Decatur, 
Ala. From Decatur it proceeded to the mouth 
of the Elk River, leaving four companies as a 
garrison for Athens. In a few days, it returned to 
Decatur, and, on the 26th of November, it was 
again sent to Murfreesboro. It remained at Mur- 
freesboro during the siege, and participated in the 
battle of Overall's Creek, where it behaved with 
great gallantry, and was complimented by Gen. 
Rousseau, personally, for its bravery. Its loss was 
six men killed, two officers and thirty-eight men 
wounded. It took part in the battle of the Cedars, 
on the 7th of December, where it fully maintained 
its fighting reputation. In a gallant charge during 
the fight, it captured two cannon, a stand of colors 
and a large number of prisoners. Its loss was severe ; 
among its killed was Maj. Reid, who was shot 



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HISTOEY or MORROW COUNTY. 



287 



through the head while urging his men on to the 
the charge. The regiment participated in all the 
fighting around Murfreesboro, and after the siege 
was assigned to the Twenty-third Army Corps, 
which it joined at Columbia, Tenn. 

In January, 1865, the regiment was ordered to 
Washington City, where it arrived on the 20th. 
It remained here until the 21st of February, when 
it was ordered to North Carolina. Here it was 
attached to the column commanded by Gen. Cox, 
and took part in the battles of Five Forks and of 
Kingston, in both of which it acquitted itself with 
its accustomed bravery. This was the last battle 
in which the regiment was engaged, as the war 
soon after closed. It was mustered out of the 
service June 28, at Charlotte, N. C, and at once 
left for home, arriving at Columbus on the 5th 
of July, where it was paid off, and received its 
final discharge. 

The One hundred and Eighty-seventh Infantry, 
for the one year's service, was represented by a 
company from Morrow County, viz., Company Gr, 
which was officered as follows : John C. Baxter, 
Captain ; Warner Hayden, First Lieutenant, and 
B. G. Merrill, Second Lieutenant. Capt. Baxter 
and Lieut. Hayden were mustered out with their 
regiment in January, 1866 ; Lieut. Merrill resigned 
June 10. 1865. 

This regiment was among the last full regiments 
raised in Ohio, and was mustered into the service, 
as we have said, for one year. It was organized 
March 1, 1865, and two days later left Columbus 
for Nashville. It was ordered to Dalton, Ga., on 
its arrival at Nashville, where it went into camp, 
and for some two months was subjected to drill 
and discipline. The One Hundred and Eighty- 
seventh marched from Dalton to Kingston, and 
there received the paroles of about two thousand 
rebel soldiers, who presented themselves at that 
place, claiming to belong to the surrendered armies 
of Johnston and Lee. Returning to Dalton, the 
regiment again went into camp for some thirty 
days, and then proceeded to Macon. It performed 
provost duty here until the 1st of January, 1866, 



when it was sent home, and on the 23d of Jan- 
uary, 1866, was paid off and honorably discharged. 

The Fifty-sixth Battalion of the Ohio National 
Guard was called out in the spring of 1864, and 
went into the field officered as follows : W. Smith 
Irwin, Lieutenant Colonel, commanding; James 
McFarland, Major; W. M. Dwyer, Regimental 
Quartermaster; A. R. Boggs, Adjutant ; William 
Reed, Assistant Surgeon, and B. B. McGowan, 
Sergeant Major. Company A, First Lieutenant, 
Owen Tuttle, commanding ; Second Lieutenant, 
Jones, with aggregate force of eighty- 
three men ; Company B, First Lieutenant, Moses 
Shauck, commanding ; Second Lieutenant, George 
Marshman ; aggregate force, seventy -five men ; 
Company C, Captain, William Mitchell ; Second 
Lieutenant, 0. L. French ; aggregate force, 
seventy-three men ; Company D, Captain, John 
C. Baxter ; First Lieutenant, Thomas Litzenburg ; 
Second Lieutenant, Warner Hayden ; aggregate 
force, eighty-three men ; Company E, Captain, 
Zachariah Meredith ; First Lieutenant, James 
McCracken; Second Lieutenant, J. M. Moore; 
aggregate force, eighty-four men. Total force of 
battalion, 388 men. The services of the battalion 
while in the field were arduous, though it partic- 
ipated in no battles, but was occupied in guard 
duty mostly in and around Washington City. 

In the foregoing pages we have drawn, to some 
extent, on •' Ohio in the War," a work published 
by Whitelaw Reid. But as it is said to con- 
tain many errors, we have taken the pains to con 
suit members of the different regiments in which 
Morrow County was represented, compare notes 
with them, and endeavor to correct inaccuracies 
so far as possible, and doubt not but the sketches 
of the different regiments given are, in the main, 
substantially correct. 

Just how many men Morrow County furnished 
the Union army during the late war cannot be 
definitely stated, as quite a number, perhaps, en- 
listed from other counties, where they were 
credited, as was the case to a greater or less ex- 
tent in all the States. A tabulated statement of 



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288 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



the soldiers in the field at that time was published 
June 5, 1862, showing,' the (|UOta of this county 
to be as follows : Canaan Township, 39 ; Carding- 
ton Township, 65 ; Westfield Township, 78 ; Peru, 
Township, 25 ; Lincoln Township, 43 ; Gilead 
Township, 114 ; Washington Township, 29 ; North 
Bloomfield Township, 26 ; Congress Township, 
28 ; Harmony Township, 31 ; Bennington Town- 
ship, 36 ; South Bloomfield Township, 40 ; Ches- 
ter Township, 78 ; Franklin Township, 34 ; Perry 
Township, 25 ; Troy Township, 9 ; total, 700. 

As we stated in the beginning of this chapter, 
the county was three times drafted. Each time, 
however, the number to be thus selected was 
small, as enlistments were so patriotically made 
that it left but small quotas to be drawn from the 
" wheel of fortune." The first draft took place on 
the 1st of October, 1862, under the supervision of 
Commissioner A. K. Dunn, and was as follows, 
by townships : Canaan, 26 ; Cardington, 3 ; West- 
field, —; Peru, 19; Lincoln, 10; Gilead, 13; 
Washington, 17; Harmony, 13; North Bloom- 
field, 9 ; Bennington, — ; South Bloomfield, — ; 
Chester, 10 ; Franklin, 40 ; Congress, 38 ; Perry, 
26 ; Troy, 8. The next draft was May 19, 1864, 
for 146 men, distributed as follows: South Bloom- 
field, 6 ; North Bloomfield, 13 ; Bennington, 21 ; 
Chester, 12; Perry, 9 ; Congress, 15; Troy, 8; 
Franklin, 24; Peru, 18; Westfield, 20. And 
again October 12, 1864, for a small number of 
men, from a few townships that had not filled up 
their last calls, viz.: Washington, 6 ; Gilead, 4 ; 
Perry, 38 ; Congress, 26 ; Troy, 32 ; Peru, 6, and 
North Bloomfield, 18. 

To write a full history of the participation of a 
single county in the late war, hundreds of inci- 
dents might be gathered and woven into it that 
would prove highly interesting to all classes of 



press at the time, and we give it as it appeared in 
the Cleveland Herald: "Henry McPeak, of 
Morrow County, had been in the service nearly 
two years, when, in the summer of 1863, he was 
discjiarged on account of disability. Returning 
home, he was elected Captain of Company A, 
Fifty-sixth Battalion of the Ohio National Guard. 
Having recovered his health, and getting tired of 
Home Guard soldiering, he went to Columbus, ob 
tained a leave of absence from his company for 
three years, and enlisted in Battery E, First Ohio 
Light Artillery, as a private. Some time in the 
spring of 1804, when the National Guard was called 
into the field, Mr. McPeak made application to 
the Secretary of War for a furlough of one hun- 
dred days to take command of his company, which 
was granted." He took command of his company 
which was in the One Hundred and Seventy-fourth 
Infantry (one-3'^ear service), instead of the Fifty- 
sixth Battallion of National Guards, and performed 
good service while the regiment was in the field. 

About the close of the war, a movement was 
made, which, we are sorry to say, so far has proved 
a failure — that is, to erect a monument to the 
memory of the brave soldiers who laid down their 
lives in the defense of the Union. The county 
papers have an account of a meeting held on the 
24th of April, 1865, for the purpose of organizing 
a " Soldiers" Monumental Association of Morrow 
County." Officers were elected, by-laws and a 
constitution adopted, but it stopped there, and still 
remains a work of the future. While there are 
many of the soldier-dead resting in the village 
graveyards, where the afi^ection of surviving 
friends has reared above them marble slabs, yet 
there are still many who sleep far away, upon the 
fields where they fell. They rest, their warfare 
over, without " stone or lettered monument ' to tell 



readers. A work such as this, a general history of the passer-by that in that little mound sleeps a 



the county, can devote but little space to incidents, 
but must confine itself to facts. One incident, 
however, is given, which illustrates the valor and 
patriotism of Morrow County .soldiers. The inci- 
dent above alluded to went the rounds of the 



soldier of the Union. It is but justice to them 
that a monument should be erected to their mem- 
ory. Doubtless the movement will be renewed at 
a fitting time and carried forward to completion. 
It certainly should be. 



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HISTORY OF MOEROW COUNTY. 



289 



CHAPTER v.* 

GILEAD TOWNSHIP— DESCRIPTION, TOPOGEAPHY, ETC.— SETTLEMENTS— MILLS AND OTHER 
PIONEER i:MPR0VE:MENTS— VILLAGES— INCIDENTS AND EARLY SOCIETY — 
1830-1848— RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL— ANTI- 
SLAVERY MOVEMENT. 



THE territory now embraced in this township 
has been taken from several surveyed town 
ships, and may properly be divided into seven parts, 
viz.: No. 1. The south part of what is called "the 
three-mile s'rip," including ten and one-founh sec- 
tions or scjuare miles. No. 2. The north par" of the 
same strip, which was "school land," including 
fen and a half sections. No. 3. One section west 
of the "boundary," formerly belonging to what is 
now Cardington Township. No. 4. Three and a 
half sections also west of the boundary, formerly 
belonging to Canaan Township. No. 5. Three 
and one-eighth sections east of the sou'h part of 
the three-mile s'rip, formerly belonging to Frank- 
lin Township. No. 6. Four and a half sections 
east of the north part of the three-mile strip, for- 
merly belonging to Congress Township. No. 7. 
About one square mile souh of the three-mile 
strip and of the "Greenville Treaty line," for- 
merly belonging to Lincoln Township. The land 
east of the boundary line and north of the Green- 
ville Treaty line is wihin the Wooster District of 
land. The land west of the boundary line and 
north of the Greenville Trea'y line is within ihe 
Bucyrus Dis'ric of land, and a part of the " new 
purchase." The small pordon of the township 
lying south of the Greenville Treaty line belongs 
to the " United States Military Lands." 

The present limits of the township embrace 
nearly thirty-four sections or square miles, or 
about twenty-one thousand six hundred acres of 
land, and by the census just finished (1880), has 
a population of near two thousand five hundred 
inhabitants. 



♦Contributed by Rev. Henry Shedd. 



The principal stream of the township is the East 
Fork of the Whetstone, which runs a southerly 
course to the county seat, then in a westerly course 
till it passes out of the township. The largest 
tributary to this stream is Sam's Creek, in the 
east;ern part of the township. In the northwest- 
ern part of the township is Thorn Run, a tribu- 
tary of Shaw Creek, in Canaan Township. In the 
south and southeastern parts of the township, are 
the runs which constitute the headwaters of Alum 
and Rig Walnut Creeks. Alum Creek heads 
within a half mile of the Whetstone, just south of 
Mount Gilead. In general, the soil is good — a 
considerable portion deep, black and rich, other 
portions thinner and more clayey — none sandy and 
barren, none leachey, but retaining all the fertil- 
izing material put upon it. 

The land in its original state was very heavily 
timbered. The prevailing timber was beech and 
sugar-maple ; but there was a great variety and 
large amount of other timber, as white, burr and 
red oak, white and yellow poplar (tulip-tree), black 
and white walnut, shagbark and pig-nut hickory, 
white, black and blue ash, white and red elm, 
cherry, chestnut, basswood, white maple, quaking 
asp, sycamore, gum, buckeye, etc. It is a singu- 
lar circumstance that no chesinut was found on 
the west and north side of the Whetstone. There 
was also an abundant undergrowth of crab apple, 
wild plum, dog-wood, iron-wood, spice-bush, prickly 
ash, nettles, etc. There was in early times a 
vegetable called " ramps," a species of garlic or 
onion, which came up through the woods early in 
the spring and covered the ground in great abun- 
dance. This, being almost the only green thing, was 



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290 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



plentifully ea-en by the cows, and affected the 
milk and butter, to the great annoyance of the 
early settlers. 

The land generally has a natural drainage, and 
there is but little stagnant water, especially since 
the improvement of the country and the opening 
of the runs and swales ; although almost all the 
land is made much more productive by open 
ditches and underdraining. 

Springs are quite numerous; some of them 
strong enough to form runs of permanent water. 
There arc but few soft-water springs. The water 
generally is hard, impregnated with lime and iron. 
The early settlers selected the lands that had 
springs, and generally built their cabins near them. 
Hence the springs are found on the lands first 
settled in the township. 

Some good stone quarries have been worked in 
the township. Good building stone are abundant 
in the bluffs of the Whetstone near Mount Gilead. 
There are also two other quarries, one in the 
Quaker settlement, and another at Harshner's on 
the school land, from which considerable stone has 
been taken. 

The surface of the land is diversified — in 
some places level or but slightly rolling, in other 
places still more rolling, and in others considerably 
broken by bluffs and ravines ; especially is this the 
case on Whetstone and Sam's Creek in the vicin- 
ity of Mount Gilead. Nearly the whole of the 
land is fit for cultivation and for farming purposes 
— very little, if any, waste land in the township. 
The productions most congenial to the soil, and 
the most easily and profitably raised, are grass, 
timothy and clover, hay and seeds, corn, wheat, 
oats, rye and flax. The common vegetables and 
fruits are also easily raised. The original forests 
abounded with deer, wolves, raccoons, opossums, 
squirrels, porcupines, ground hogs and wild tur- 
keys. Old beaver dams were seen in several 
places. 

The south part of the Three Mile Strip origin- 
ally belonged to Delaware County. After the 
organization of Marion (!'ounty in March, 1824, 



the larger part of what is now Gilead Township, 
with most of what is now Cardington Township, 
and a portion of Washington Township, constituted 
Marvin Township. A new township, called 
Gilead, was organized in June, 1835 ; and since 
the formation of the new county additions have 
been made to it Jrom Canaan, Cardington, Con- 
gress, Franklin and Lincoln Townships until it has 
assumed its present size and shape. It is bounded 
on the north by Canaan, Washington and Con- 
gress, on the east by Congress and Franklin, on 
the south by Harmony and Lincoln, and on the 
west by Cardington and Canaan. 

Part No. 1. — The first settlers of the township 
were the two brothers, Lewis and Raljih Harden- 
brook, from Jefferson County, Ohio, who pur- 
chased and settled the southeast quarter of Sec- 
tion 2, in 1817. The next year, 1818, Jonathan 
Wood, Asa Mosher and Peleg Rogers, from the 
State of New York, settled on Section 14. The 
most of the children of their large families in 
course of time settled around them. Thus the 
foundation of the Quaker settlement was laid. 
The next year, 1819, Isaac DeWitt, from Knox 
County, and John Hardenbrook, from Jefferson 
County, settled on Section 3. The next year, 
1820, William Montgomery, from Jefferson County, 
and Joseph Worsley, a native of England, settled 
on Sections 11 and 3. In 1822, Henry Ustick, 
from Knox County, and Isaac Blazor, from Jeffer- 
son County, settled on Sections 2 and 10. The 
next year, 1823, the two brothers, John and 
Albert Nichols, and their brother-in-law, Alban Coe, 
all from Loudoun County, Va., and Charles Web- 
ster, originally from Massachusetts, settled on 
Sections 1 and 2. Joseph Peasely also settled the 
same year in the second set on Section 11. In 

1825, Abraham Newson and Frederick Lay, from 
Maryland, settled on Section 11. The next year, 

1826, James Johnston, James Bennett and James 
Montgomery, from Jefferson County, settled on 
Sections 10 and 3, also Joseph P. Newson, from 
Maryland, settled on Section 11. The next year, 

1827, Mrs. Nichols, from Virginia, settled on the 



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HISTORY 

,Z 



OF MORROW COUXTY. 



291 



quarter of L. and R. Hardenbrook, who had sold 
out, and Alexander Crawford, from Licking County, 
settled on Section 13. The next year, 1828, 
Allen Eccles and his sons, Jacob and Samuel, from 
Licking County, settled on Section 13, and Martin 
McGowan on Section 12. In 1830, Abraham 
Coe, from Virginia, and Samuel Rickey, from New 
Jersey, settled on Sections 12 and 10. There 
were also living in this part in 1830 (date of their 
settlement not known) Robert Bunker, Smith, 
Baruch, Butler, Devore, Joshua White, A. and 
0. and P. and S. Mosher, and D. and I. and J. 
and R. Wood, in the second settlement. 

Part No. 5. — In 1823, James Bailey and Samuel 
Straw, from Pennsylvania, settled on Section 6. 
In 1826, Lewis Hardenbrook and John Parcell 
settled on Sections 6 and 7. In 1829, Thomas 
Parr and James Shepard settled on Sections 18 
and 6. The next year, 1830, Amos Crichfield 
settled on Section 18. 

Part No. 3. — James Beatty, from Pennsylvania, 
settled in 1826; Hiram Channel and William 
Foreman in 1829, and Aubert in 1830. 

Part No. J/.. — Eli Johnston, from Jefferson 
County, and Rufus Dodd, from Knox County, 
settled on Section 35, about 1824. In 1826, Mrs. 
Campbell, from Jefferson County, settled on Sec- 
tion 35. In 1830, Andrew Dalrymple and Eze- 
kiel Clark settled on Sections 26 and 35. 

Part No. 5.— From 1825 to 1830, families set- 
tled about in the order of time as here written — 
most of whom were from Pennsylvania : Berkley 
Finley and Charles Hull on Section 29 ; Henry 
James and Mrs. Willot on Section 31 ; James 
Fulton on Section 32 ; David and John Moody on 
Section 31 ; John Forgy on Section 32 ; Noah 
Brooks on Section 29 ; William Miller on Section 
30 ; Fr ancis^ H ardenbrook and James Andrew on 
Section 32. 

Part No. 2. — Marvin G. Webster and his 
brother, Charles C. Webster, settled on Section 
35 in 1828 ; then followed, the next two years, 
John Harshner on Section 23 ; Jacob Wyrick and 
S. Hazen on Section 22 ; Samuel Doty, John 



Cooper, Jackson and William Dowling on Sec- 
tion 26. 

Part No. 7. — Paul White was the first settler, 
about 1819 or 1820, and Ashley Nutt next. 

The first grist and saw mill to accommodate 
these early settlers was built by Asa Mosher, on 
the Whetstone, in what is now Cardington Town- 
ship, in 1821. The next grist and saw mill was 
built on the same stream by Henry Ustick. A 
saw-mill was also built on Sam's Creek by Samuel 
Straw. These mills were carried on upon rather 
a small scale, but were of great utility in those 
early times. For many years, supplies for the 
families were scarce ; and it was difficult to obtain 
the necessary grain, and to get it ground in the 
dry time of the summer and fall. Corn meal and 
other supplies had to be packed on horseback 
from Owl Creek and Delaware County, but with 
hominy-blocks and roasting ears, mush and milk, 
pone and butter milk, venison and wild turkey, 
the people got along cheerily and hopefully. 

The first road laid out in the township was the 
Delaware and Mansfield State road. The nextwas 
the State road laid out by Col. Kilbourn, of Worth- 
ington, about the year 1823, leading through the 
township from Worthington to New Haven, Hu- 
ron County. There was also a trail or blazed 
track much used, leading from Owl Creek to Shaw 
Creek and the Sandusky plains. This route, in 
its somewhat winding course, passed Allen Kelley, 
Lewis Hardenbrookf^lbert Nichols, Alban Coe, 
Mrs. Nichols (crossing the Whetstone with the 
State road) at Ustick's mill, Isaac DcWitt, James 
Montgomery, Eli Johnston, Rufus Dodd, the Mer- 
ritt Settlement and so on. 

Three villages or towns were laid out in the 
township — one by the Moshers on the Delaware 
road, where it crosses the boundary, called Friends- 
boro ; but it was never built up. The next was 
laid out on a small scale on the knolls of the 
Whetstone, on the northeast half of Section 2, by 
Jacob Young, of Knox County, the proprietor of 
the soil, September 30, 1824. Its proper name 
was Whetstone, though it generally went by the 



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292 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



name of Youngstown. A county road was estab- 
lished leading from thit< village to Friendsboro, 
passing Ustick's mill, John Hardcnbrook, Joseph 
Worsely, James Johnston, Isaac Blazor and James 
Bennett, to the Delaware road. The first resident 
of the village of Whetstone was called Charles 
Webster, who built a cabin on the northeast cor- 
ner of the public square, in December, 1824. The 
next house was a small frame, built by Henry 
Ustick, on the southwest corner of the town, and 
first occupied by Henry James, Ustick's miller. 
John Roy, originally from New Jersey, moved from 
Martinsburg, Knox County, to the village in 1827, 
and occupied a house which he had had built, 
and kept the first store. This was the second 
frame house. The third frame house was built 
and occupied b}' Greenberry Merritt, the first hat- 
ter of the place. The fourth frame house was 
built by William Coo^er^on Main street, where 
>vas a cabin in which John Cooper, his brother, 
lived, and after having worked in the place two 
years, as the first carpenter, moved his family to 
his new house in the spring of 1829. The fifth 
frame house was built and occupied by George D. 
Crops, who came to the place in the fall of 1828, 
from New Jersey. Harmon R. Miller and Joseph 
I. Roy, from New Jersey, bought out Merritt, and 
established a tannery in 1829. There were three 
other cabins in town, occupied by Dr. R. H. Ran 
dall, the first physician ; Henry Smith, the first 
blacksmith, and Robert Moore, the first tanner. 
In 1829, John Cooper moved to the school land. 
In 1830, William N. Mateer bought out Moore, 
and became the first chairmaker, and Ayres bought 
out Smith, and became the secund storekeeper, 
having his store in a part of William Cooper's 
house. Rev. Henry Shedd became a resident of 
the village in 1830, he and his fomily boarding 
with G. D. Cross, and became the first resident 
preacher. Thus in 1830, six years from the ori- 
gin of the village, there were in it nine dwellings, 
five frames and four cabins, occupied by ten fami- 
lies ; and thus was laid the foundation of what 
was to be the county seat of Morrow County. For 



even when the town was laid out, the project of a 
new county and of its being the county seat was 
agitated and hoped for. 

About the same time that Youngstown was laid 
out, another village, as a rival town, was laid out 
on the Mansfield road, near Allen Kelley's, by 
James Bailey, named Jamestown. Bailey had there 
a small store, and Appleton Rich had a blacksmith- 
shop ; and this was the culmination of the town. 
Allen Kelley bought out Bailey, and the store was 
kept there for some time, last by R. & N. House. 

In 1830, there were in the several parts of the 
township, including the village of Whetstone, 
about eighty-five families. 

During several years after the settlements had 
commenced, the Wyandot and Delaware Indians 
were frequently seen passing to and fro, and en- 
camping for a time in the neighborhood, on 
their hunting and trading expeditions. They 
were generally friendly and quiet when well treat- 
ed. They tied their children with their backs to 
boards, and when they called at the cabins of the 
whites to trade or get refreshments, the squaws 
would set the little papooses up on the outside, and 
they would remain very (juiet, while the parents 
were engaged within. 

There was a curious character, ragged and bare- 
footed, with his bag of apple-seeds, who occasionally 
passed through the township — Jonathan Chap- 
man, or Johnny Appleseed, as he was called. He 
kept on the outskirts of the settlements, plant- 
ing apple-seeds in the woods, then going around to 
attend his young nurseries. He had at least one 
nursery, if not more, in this township, and that 
was on the "school land." He was, in religious 
sentiment, a Swedenborgian, and lived a moral and 
blameless life. 

During ten years, from 1824 to 1834, the elec- 
tions of the township were held at a schoolhouse 
near Mosher's Mill. Mount Gilead afterward be- 
came the voting place, an honor it still retains to 
the present day. 

For many years, the township had but one Jus- 
tice of the Peace. Those who filled the office were 



^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



293 



Lewis Hardenbrook (the first Justice), then Isaac 
Blazor, Henry Ustick, Isaac DeWitt and George 
D. Cross, who was first elected in April, 1833, and 
held the office, by successive re-elections, nearly 
forty-seven years. 

The first mail route through the township was 
from Mount Vernon to Marion, going and return- 
ing once a week, passing Kelly's and Whetstone. 
The mail was carried on horseback. The name of 
the post office was Whetstone, Marion County, 
and the first Postmaster was Charles Webster, and 
the second was John Roy. 

The early settlers of the township were not law- 
less renegades, but, with very few exceptions, 
moral and industrious people — many of them re- 
ligious. They were generally the owners of the 
soil — settling the country for the purpose of get- 
ting homes — living and letting live — but a few 
squatters, and some who cleared the land of others 
on a lease, having the use of it for a term of years, 
as a remuneration. They were distinguished for 
an open and generous hospitality — the latch-string 
of the cabin always out for travelers and new-com- 
ers — and for neighborly kindness, going at any 
time, and at almost any distance, to help at rais- 
ings and rollings and other cases of need. There 
were among them many good and noble and use- 
ful men and women. 

There were some noted men in the community 
in those early times, ^ewis Hardenbrook, with 
all his peculiarities, was one. He was generous, 
whole-souled and kind hearted. Those old patri- 
archs, Jonathan Wood and Asa Mosher, were 
noted for their sterling good qualities. They were 
active, enterprising and public-spirited. Henry 
Ustick was a prominent man — Justice of the 
Peace, Colonel of the militia, County Commis- 
sioner, and Associate Judge of the County. 
Abraham Newson was not only distinguished for 
his good humor, but for being the largest land- 
holder and the biggest settler — owning 1,000 acres 
of land, and weighing from 350 to 430 pounds. 
J/Lewis Hardenbrook, John Nicols and William 
Cooper were noted for their success in hunting. 



Neighbors were very friendly and sociable — 
running together and eating together without any 
ceremony. Social gatherings and bees and frolics 
were common for special purposes and on particular 
occasions. The mode of living was coarse and 
plain — eating corn bread, potatoes, cabbage,, pump- 
kins and turnips, wild hog, deer, ground hog, 
raccoon, squirrels, wild turkey and pheasants. The 
wearing apparel was home-made — manufactured by 
the women mostly from flax for summer, and from 
flax and cotton, and wool and cotton for winter. 
Wool was scarce ; for it was difficult to keep sheep 
on account of the wolves. Shoes and moccasins 
were made of the tanned skins of ground hogs ; 
and men's clothes were frequently made of diessed 
deer skin and caps of coon skin. The primitive 
cabin was in many cases built without nails or glass 
or any article of hardware. An ax, "frow," saw 
and auger were the only tools necessary to build a 
cabin. The component parts were round and 
straight logs, clapboards, eave-bearers, weight poles, 
split sticks and mud for the chimney and for chink- 
ing and daubing, a spacious fireplace to take in a 
big back-log, puncheon floor, ladder for the loft, 
greased paper for the windows, a door made of 
clapboards and an open porch with various useful 
articles hanging round. After awhile some prog- 
ress was made in building better houses, in the 
use of nails, glass, hewed logs, shingles, boards, 
lime, stone and brick. The great idea and aim of 
a new settler was to make a clearing for the rais- 
ing of some crops to support the family. This 
one thing must be done — the heavy forests of tim- 
ber must, by some means, be cleared away, and 
this was a Herculean task ; but by patient, perse- 
vering labor it was done ; the openings were made 
by the ax, handspike and fire, the fire being a 
good servant, but sometimes a bad master ; and by 
means of the maul and wedge the cleared spot was 
fenced in. There were three ways of clearing 
land — first, clearing all awaj^ for the buildings, for 
cultivation and for a small orchard ; second, clear- 
ing off" the underbrush and smaller growth, killing 
the largest trees by burning brush-heaps around 



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294 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



them, or by "girdling" them, and, third, by mak- 
ing large deadenings, which would become ripe for 
clearing by fire in about five years. This was the 
Oiisiest and most expeditious way and insured 
much better crops. These deadenings wore often 
very dangerous to man and beast, especially in a 
windstorm ; and it is remarkable, that so few ac- 
cidents happened amidst the falling timber. The 
labors, hardships and privations of the early set- 
tlers were shared by both men and women — the 
women working out heroically with the men in 
picking and burning brush, as well as doing the 
housework, spinning and weaving, knitting and 
sewing, etc. Some of the women were also excel- 
lent nurses and famous midwives, spending con- 
siderable time in acts of usefulness throughout the 
settlement. 

In early times the health of the people was re- 
markably, good in this township, though a few 
were broken down by the hardships of a new 
country. There were no deaths in the township 
for about eight years after its first settlement. The 
first death was that of Elizabeth Bryant, daughter 
of Mrs. H. IJstick by a former husband, Septem- 
ber 9, 1825, about eight years old; then there 
were some deaths of young children, and, in August, 
1832, Mrs. John McQuig died, probably the first 
married person who died in the township ; the 
next was Mrs. Charles Webster, who died in Jan- 
uary, 1833, a resident of the village. Some dis- 
asters occurred, which may be properly noticed. 
About 1830 or 1831, three sons, nearly grown up, 
of Mr. Smith, a blind man, perished in the well ; 
something like a snake was seen in the water, and 
one of them went down to get it out and fell, then 
another went down and he met with the same fate, 
and then another ; and all perished by what is 
called damps. A few years after, a man committed 
suicide by poison, and, in the year 1843, Isaac 
DeWitt, Esq., an old settler, was killed in his own 
house by lightning. 

The first child born in the township was Harriet, 
daughter of R. Hardenbrook. 

In cases of sickness, neighbors were very atten- 



tive ; frequently the cabin would be full of visitors 
by night and by day. Sometimes such an over- 
flow of kindness proved too burdensome and injur- 
ious to such as were very sick. Funerals were 
attended by the people generally, both near and 
remote. As a wedding was of rare occurrence, a 
general invitation was extended ; there was a wed- 
ding one day and an infair or reception on the 
next ; at both, the tables were loaded with the 
best that a new country could furnish. Much joy 
was loished to the newly married couple, and gen- 
eral hilarity and good feeling abounded. The 
earliest marriages of the township occurred among 
the Moshers and the Woods in the Quaker settle- 
ment, the ceremony being at the public meeting, 
according to the custom of the Friends. The two 
earliest weddings in the vicinity of the village 
were those of Charles C. Webster to Ann Worsely, 
and Marvin G. Webster to Maria Newson in 
December, 1828. The first person of the village 
that entered the marriage relation was Nathan T. 
Brown, who was married to Mary Moriarty in 
May, 1832. Those who officiated at weddings 
received from 50 cents to $2. Money was hard 
to be got, from the fact that there was scarcely any- 
thing to be sold that would bring money. It was 
very difficult to get money enough to pay the taxes. 
" Store pay," or orders on the store, was the gen- 
eral currency of those times. About all the sal- 
able products the early settlers had were ashes and 
maple sugar. The ashes were made into black 
salts ; these and the sugar were sold to the store, 
and exported to Portland on Lake Erie for New 
York City. Transportation, or hauling by wagons 
to the lake in such muddy and rutty roads, was a 
hard and tedious business. The wagons in return 
brought back salt, tobacco, coffee and some few 
dry goods — after awhile, pork, and wheat were 
hauled to the same market. 

Fifty years ago, the country presented a new 
and wild appearance. The deep and thick woods 
abounded with underbrush and rank vegetation 
and wild game. Honey-bees were also plenty ; 
and many a splendid tree, as poplar and black 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



295 



walnut, was cut down for bees or a coon, and left 
to decay. The roads consisted of trails among 
the beech roots and through the mud — in some 
places underbrushed, and in others only blazed — 
with no bridges or crossways. In passing from 
one neighborhood to another, or from one settle- 
ment to another, persons were guided by the 
blazed trees. The buildings generally were rude 
log cabins. Besides the five frame buildings in 
the village, Henry Ustick's house and mill, and 
the barns of Lewis Hardenbrook and Abraham 
Newson, and a little store at Jamestown, were the 
only frame buildings in the township. The main 
settlements were in the southern portion of the 
" three-mile strip," with a few settlers in the ad- 
joining corners of Knox and Richland Counties, 
while the " school land " on the north, and nearly 
all west of the " boundary," and northeast and 
southeast, were just beginning to be settled. When, 
in the latter part of 1829, the first resident 
preacher, with his wife, came to the township on 
horseback, in crossing the creek south of the 
village, where now is the fine iron bridge, the 
woman's bonnet was caught in the brush and left 
hanging there ; and the preacher, before escorting 
his lady into town, was obliged to go back and 
get her bonnet. There were in the village eight 
or nine families — two living in small frames in 
the western part, and seven about the public square 
in three frames and four cabins. The two parts 
of the town were separated from each other, and 
surrounded by dense forests. There was a little 
store and post office kept by John Roy, on the 
south side of the public square. To get a letter 
from the Eastern States out of the office, 25 cents 
must be paid. 

From 1830 to the formation of the new county 
in 1848, immigration into the township became 
more rapid, and nearly all the vacant land was 
settled. Many of the old settlers sold out to new- 
comers, and 'large farms were opened and put un- 
der cultivation, new and better buildings erected, 
the roads improved and new ones laid out and 
opened, bridges and mills built, and the whole 



country improved in many respects. And just 
here we might as well speak of one of the most 
extensive mill enterprises that has ever been in 
the township, perhaps — that of Judge House, 
built on the Whetstone Creek, east of town, some 
forty years ago. It was originally built as a grist- 
mill, but some ten years later a saw-mill was 
added, and still later, a planing-mill. At first 
they were all operated by water only, but after- 
ward steam machinery was put in, so that when 
water fails in the dry season, the mills are run by 
steam. It has three run of buhrs and does a large 
business, running the year round. It was built 
about 1840, as we have said, and in 1855 it passed 
into the hands of John C. House, a son of Judge 
House, who still runs and operates it. 

Among the men who came into the township dur- 
ing that period(1830-1848)and who were the most 
active and efficient in making improvements, and 
who have passed away either by death or emigration, 
may be mentioned Allen Kelly, a cattle-dealer and 
drover ; William Timanns, who built a large mill ; 
Charles Russell, at the stone quarries ; Solomon 
Gellar, John Snider, William Loren, Richard 
Wells, John Blakely, Samuel Peasely, Ebenezer 
Brown and Simeon Brooks. 

The construction of the Cleveland, Columbus 
& Cincinnati Railroad, which runs through the 
township, and was opened for business in 1851, 
has undoubtedly done more than anything else to 
increase the material prosperity of the township 
in opening convenient and good markets, and in 
rapidly advancing the value of real estate. 

How things have changed in fifty years ! Well- 
cultivated and productive farms, with good houses 
and barns, and horses and cattle and sheep and 
hogs ; good roads and bridges and mills ; rail- 
roads and telegraph wires ; fine schoolhouses and 
good churches, now occupy the place of the almost 
unbroken heavy-timbered land, and the log cabins, 
and the rooty and muddy and miry roads. 

The people, instead of trudging around on foot 
in the woods, or riding " double " on horseback, 
or perchance jolting along among the roots in a 



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2! to 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUXTY. 



big wagon, or getting stalled with a load in the 
mud, are riding about on smooth roads, in splen- 
did buggies and carriages, or gliding swiftly from 
town to town, or from city to city, in elegant 
palace cars. 

The improved farming implements and multi- 
plied machinery of the present day have taken 
the place of the ax, the grubbing-hoe and the 
maul, the utensils of the fathers ; and in the 
house are heard ihe click of the sewing machine 
and the music of the parlor ortjan and the piano, 
instead of the buzz and hum of the spinning 
wheels and the racket of the loom. And we now 
see much .shirking of labor and love of fashion, 
and exciiement and extravagance and display; 
much hurry and bus le in speculation, and much 
running about selling all kinds of patent rights and 
books and pic'ures, instead of the steady, hard 
work and frugal habits and rustic simplicity of 
early lime.*. 

The village of Whetstone, when originally laid 
out, contained the south public s((uare and eighty 
lots, four by eight rods each. On December 7, 
1832, Henry Ustick, the proprietor of the soil, 
laid out an addition to the town of seventy lots 
more, including the north public square. In 1832, 
the name of the town was changed by an act of 
the Legislature, from Whetstone to Mount Gilead. 
The name was suggested by Daniel James, after a 
town in Virginia. Warsaw was also suggested by 
Henry Ustick. A paper with the two names was 
carried around among the citizens of the village, 
and it was found that Mount Gilead received the 
majority of votes. The town had a slow growth. 
The ground was so uneven, much grading, cut- 
ting down and filling up had to be done at a great 
expense of labor. 

The following early business men, in addition to 
those already mentioned, resided in the town : 
Joseph Axtell and Nathan T. Brown, hatters; 
Grafton B. Rigdon, John P. Garrigus and Charles 
Stott, blacksmiths ; Oliver Sayre, Joseph B. 

Lyon and Levi Thurston, shoemakers; 

Conkling and Stephen Taylor, saddlers and har- 



ness-makers ; Hugh Kearney, William Linn and 
Elzy Barton, tailors; John Giles, cooper; Alfred 
Brees, wagon-maker ; Nathan Williams and Craven 
0. Yan Horn, cabinet-makers; Joseph Lash and 
Elias Cooper, carpenters ; John Mateer, mill- 
wright ; Jonathan Wilson and FLshback, 

stonecutters; R. and N. House, H. Ustick and 
Ira Miller, merchants; John Merrell, Silas Miller 
and James R. Sage, tavern-keepers ; Drs. John 

Stickel, Welch, R. L. Roberts and Johnston, 

physicians ; Samuel Kelly, the first lawyer. Will- 
iam and Elias Cooper, George D. Cro.«s, Joseph 
B. Lyon, Richard House, C. 0. Van Horn and 
Levi Thurston continued longer in a permanent, 
business than other citizens of the village. 

The village of West Gilead was laid out at the 
railroad station some years ago, as elsewhere 
noticed. 

It was a great event to the village of Mount 
Gilead, when, about the years 1845-46, there was 
a line of stages passing through the town, carry- 
ing the mail and passengers from Delaware to 
Mansfield. When the stage-driver, with his four- 
horse coach full of passengers, wheeled into town, 
cracking his whip, and stoppeil for the change of 
horses and for dinner, there was almost as much, 
perhaps more, excitement and interest than now, 
when the trains on the Short Line arrive. There 
was another great event — when the town, after a 
long and earnest struggle, and much expense of 
time and money, became an established county 
seat. There was then a great jollification — bon- 
fires and a large assembly of people in the old 
Presbyterian Church. Speeches were made and 
mutual congratulations were passed ; and amid 
the excitement of the occasion, Capt. Rigdon got 
his leg broken by tumbling over the bank of a 
deep cut in the street. For, in anticipation of 
becoming a county seat, the citizens had begun in 
good earnest to improve the uneven town. 

The first brick building erected in the village 
was the little shoemaker's shop of Joseph B. Lyon 
in 1833. He obtained the brick of Joseph 
Peasely. The next was the blacksmith-shop of 



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Z2feo 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



299 



Charles Stott. Andrew Donan built the first 
brick dwelling-house in the town in 1842. 

The formation of a new county and the mak- 
ing of Mount Gilead the county seat in Febru- 
ary, 1848, gave a new impulse to the life and en- 
terprise of the town, especially by the influx of 
groceries, lawyers, physicians, newspaper presses 
and office seekers. 

The citizens of the town made a gross blunder, 
when, by misapprehension and indiflference and 
want of united eflPort, they let the golden oppor- 
tunity slip of securing the Cleveland, Columbus 
& Cincinnati Railroad. The consequence has 
been, that the town has had to depend upon the 
mere fact of its being the county seat, and upon 
some share of the patronage of the country for 
support and gi'owth ; though it has, without doubl, 
received indirectly much benefit from the railroad. 

Within the last thirty-five years the town has 
been visited by several destructive fires, consum- 
ing business houses, four taverns, a large grist- 
mill, a saw and planing mill, a foundry, etc. New 
and elegant brick blocks have, however, been built 
in the place of some of the burnt frames. 

Many of all trades and occupations have come 
and gone ; some succeeded and some failed, some 
changed their employment, and others went West ; 
some have retired from business and some have 
died. It would take quite a volume to describe all 
the changes that have occurred during the last fifty- 
six years among the citizens of this small town. 

The advantages for a common school education 
were for a number of years rather poor. The 
first settlers were not compact enough to form good 
school districts ; and well-qualified teachers were 
scarce. There was but little school money for the 
payment of teachers ; and they had to be sup- 
ported mainly by subscription. Notwithstanding, 
the early settlers manifested considerable interest 
in the education of their children. The first 
school of the township was in the Quaker settle- 
ment, the next in the settlement on the Whetstone^ 
and an old-fashioned log schoolhouse was built and 
occupied near Ustick's mill about 1823 or 1824. 



Afterward there was a school and log schoolhouse in 
the eastern part; another in the southeastern, and 
another at what is now Levering Station. Among 
the early teachers of the township were Peleg 
and Peace Mosher, Taber Randall, William Camp- 
bell, Jacob Eccles, the two sisters, Elizabeth and 
Martha J. Foster, from New Hampshire ; Luther 
D. Mozier and William N. Mateer. Luther D. 
Mozier has probably taught more in the township, 
outside of the town, than any other person. Forty 
and fifty years ago male teachers received for their 
services from SIO to |15 per month; and female 
teachers from 75 cents to $1.50 per week. Board 
was thrown in as being of not much account, and 
teachers generally boarded around in the cabins 
of the families, as best suited their convenience. 
By contrasting the past and present systems of 
education, we give the following statistics of 
Gilead Township for the year 1879, as reported to 
the County Auditor : Balance on hand, Septem- 
ber 1, 1878, $1,224.07; State tax, $444; local 
tax for school and schoolhouse purposes, $2,053.30 ; 
total from all sources, $3,862.40. Amount paid 
teachers within the year, $1,589. Whole number 
of schoolhouses in township, outside of the town 
of Mount Gilead, eight ; value of school property, 
$8,000 ; number of teachers employed — male 9, 
female — 6, total 15 ; wages paid them per month 
— males $37, females $20 ; pupils enrolled — males 
150, females 125, total 275 ; average daily attend- 
ance — males 100, females 91. total 191. Balance 
on hand, September 1, 1879, $2,050.43. 

Mrs. Mary G. Shedd taught the first school in 
the village, in a part of the house of G. D. Cross, 
in 1831. Other schools were taught in various 
buildings of the town. About 1 834, a new frame 
schoolhouse — round, or rather octagonal — was 
built, and continued to be the chief schoolhouse 
for many years. Philander K. Francis, John 
Ustick, Miss Barnes, Miss Hayden, Joel Bruce, 
J. M. Rogers, Samuel B. Morgan and others, 
taught in the town in former years. Erasmus G. 
Phillips was a famous teacher for many years, and 
had a good schoolhouse of his own. Of late years. 



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300 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



education has been gradually rising in the town 
and township ; and its progress is still onward and 
upward. In 1854, the union graded school sys- 
tem was adopted by the town district, and has 
been continued with a good degree of success. 
Milton Lewis, as principal teacher and superintend- 
ent of the schools for fifteen years, did an efficient 
work in pronooting education in the township and 
the county. In 1854, a large two-story brick 
schoolhouse was built by the district ; and, in 
January, 1873, another schoolhouse, more spacious 
and elegant, was dedicated and begun to be oc- 
cupied. 

Quite a number of the youth of both sexes have 
received an education above the branches generally 
taught in the common schools. Eleven young men 
have pursued a regular course of study at colleges, 
and received their graduating diplomas; while many 
others have entered the professions, not having 
completed the regular course of college study — all 
from this town and township; a number of young 
women have also graduated at seminaries. The 
township has furnished ministers of the Gospel, 
lawyers, physicians, teachers, and many active 
business men. here and elsewhere. 

In February, 1S29, a Sunday school was estab- 
lished in this township by Rev. Eldad Barber, an 
agent of the American Sunday School Union. It 
was a union school for the whole neighborhood, 
and was held during the summer season for four 
years in the old log schoolhouse, near Ustick's 
Mill. John Roy was the Superintendent for the 
first year, Henry Ustiek for the second, William 
N. Mateer for the third, and John Mateer for the 
fourth. It had nine or ten teachers and about 
seventy scholars ; it also had a library. After the 
Methodists and Presbyterians had regular preach- 
ing and organized churches, the school was taken 
first to the Methodist Church, then to the Pres- 
byterian Church, and after awhile became two 
schools. 

The good fruits of this institution have been 
obvious in the community. Many excellent men 
and women have been raised up from the Sunday 



schools of the township — members of the church — 
to fill various useful stations in society. N o less than 
twelve young men, who were members of these 
schools, have become ministers of the Gospel. 

In the spring of 1830, the first temperance 
movement in the township was made in the little 
village of Whetstone. Rev. H. Shedd delivered 
a lecture, and formed a temperance society of about 
forty members. During the last fifty years, 
various eiforts have been made to promote temper- 
ance and to prevent intemperance, and various 
societies and organizations, both open and secret, 
have been formed, have flourished, and passed 
away ; and still the desired reformation, and pro- 
tection of community against the liquor traffic 
and the evils of intemperance are not yet realized. 
A great change has been eff"ected in the habits, 
practices and sentiments of many people in refer- 
ence to the manufacture, sale and use of intoxicat- 
ing drinks — and some good done by every move- 
ment — but the sad fact remains that the liquor 
power is still outraging ihe community by its secret 
and open violation of law ; and neither the professed 
temperance principles of the men, for want of de- 
cided and united action, nor the tears and prayers 
of virtuous women, in all their untiring quiet ef- 
forts, and in all their bold and earnest crusades, 
have been able to overthrow it. 

In early times, there were two small distilleries in 
the township. They were then considered very use- 
ful institutions, accomplishing two great objects — 
furnishing a market for corn, and furnishing that 
indispensable article, which was regarded so useful 
in stimulating the pioneers in their arduous la- 
bors. In after years, there was another distillery, 
established in connection with a large grist-mill, 
near the mouth of Sam's Creek. This establish- 
ment did an extorsive business for a number of 
years. 

The attention of the community was first 
aroused and directed to the subject of slavery in 
March, 1836. William T. Allan, the son of a Pres- 
byterian slaveholding minister of Alabama, after 
much difficulty obtained the use of the Presbyter- 



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HISTOEY OF MOEB.OW COUNTY. 



301 



ian Church at Mount Gilead, and attempted to 
deliver a course of lectures on the abolition of 
slavery. On the first evening, there was blowing 
of horns, beating of tin pans, etc., around the 
house. As he proceeded in his lectures, the excite- 
ment and opposition on the part of a certain class 
of people increased, and showed itself first in an 
attempted reply to his arguments, and in a regular 
built mob, which broke up the meeting. Other 
lectures were delivered and other meetings held, 
at diiferent times, and in diff"erent parts of the 
township, till March, 18-10, when S. W. Streeter 
lectured in the same church in Mount Gilead, and 
there was another mob. But an antislavery con- 
stitution (for a society) was bravely signed on 
the spot, in the midst of throwing of eggs and 
uproar, by twenty-three persons — fourteen men 
and nine women, and the meeting was broken up 
in disorder. In May, 1840, L. D. Butts lectured 
at the same church, and there was another mob, 
more violent and furious than any of the preced- 
ing ones, which followed the antislavery people 
some distance with hooting and yelling, and rails 
and other usual accompaniments of mobs. For 
some years the question was, not whether slavery 
onght to be abolished, so much as whether the 
right of free speech on that subject should be 
allowed. 

It may be a matter of some interest to know 
what were the real sentiments of the early Aboli- 
tionists of this township. They believed that im- 
mediate emancipation was the duty of the master and 
the right of the slave — that slave-holding is a sin 
and should be dealt with as other sins — by reason and 
argument, moral means and appeals to the best in- 
terests of all concerned. They endeavored to create a 
public sentiment in the church and in the country 
so strong and influential, that the system of ini- 
quity might be abolished peaceably, and as soon as 
possible by the slaveholders themselves. They did 
not advocate emancipation by physical force or 
resort to arms, or any interference \yith slavery 
in the States, except by moral means — by free 
speech and a free press — neither did they coun- 



tenance the amalgamation of the whites and 
blacks, nor even advocate negro sufi"rage. They 
believed in the natural and inalienable rights of 
man, according to the Great Declaration, and they 
believed it is right and safe to carry into practice 
the Golden Rule of our Savior, ''To do unto 
others as we would wish others to do unto us." 

A branch of the " underground railroad " passed 
through this township, which did quite a business, 
though the principal depots were in Peru and 
Washington Townships. It is not necessary to 
pursue the subject further, or notice the wonder- 
ful change that has taken place in these modern 
times in regard to slavery and human rights. 
Slavery is abolished ! Liberty is triumphant and 
universal ! 

The religious denominations of the township 
were Methodists, Presbyterians, Friends, Regular 
Baptists, Disciples, Secedera and Universalists. 
The Friends had a society and log meeting-house. 
About fifty years ago they divided into two bands, 
Orthodox and Hicksites, and had separate houses 
of worship. The latter have become extinct as 
an organization, the former are a large and flour- 
ishing church with a respectable house of worship. 

Methodist meetings and classes began to be 
held over fifty years ago at the houses of Joseph 
P. Newson and James Beatty and others, with oc- 
casional preaching. They built a frame church in 
Mount Gilead, in 1832, in the southwest part of 
the town. It was occupied about twelve years, 
and then passed into a tan-house. The present 
Methodist Episcopal Church was built in •184-4. 
About the year 1830, a new circuit was formed, 
including the town and vicinity. Revs. Silas En- 
sign and Russell Bigel^w were the first preachers ; 
S. Ensign and Z. Bell first traveled the circuit, and 
Russell Bigelow was the first Presiding Elder that 
attended the quarterly meetings. 

In November, 1829, Rev. Henry Shedd came 
to the township and commenced preaching regu- 
larly a part of his time to the Presbyterians. The 
places of preaching were at the houses of Henry 
Ustick, John Roy and George D. Cross, and in 



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302 



HISTORY OF MORKOAV COUNTY. 



H. Ustick's mill and in Lewis Hardenbrook's barn. 
Previous to that time, Revs. William Matthews, 
E. Washburn and John McKinney had preached 
occasionally in the township. 

Some of the early settlers in the eastern part of 
the township were Baptists. A church was 
formed in Congress Township, called Brin Zion, 
about 1 824. A frame meeting-house was built in 
1833, and, in 1857, a new church edifice was 
erected on the old site, where is a cemetery. Revs. 

David James and Dakin were among the 

first preachers. 

A church of the Old School Baptists was or- 
ganized a short distance from Brin Zion some years 
after the foundation of that church, and a church 
edifice built. It is located on Section 30, in the 
southwestern corner of Congress Township, which 
has recently been attached to the township of 
Gilead. Among the early members of this con- 
gregation were Mr. Mellott, Enoch Hart, Mr. 
Jacobs, Rev. Mr. Frye and others of the early set- 
tlers in that vicinity. There is no regular preach- 
ing at this church at present, but a union Sabbath 
school is carried on during the summer, and the 
ministers of Mount Gilead go out occasionally and 
preach to the congregation. A cemetery was laid 
out adjacent to the church, and is among the old- 
est burying grounds in either Gilead or Congress 
Townships, and contains the mortal remains of 
many of the pioneers of the neighborhood. 

About the year 1848, a Baptist Church was or- 
ganized by Rev. Benjamin H. Pearson, and a 
church edifice erected in Mount Gilead. The 
house remained unfinished a number of years, be- 
ing occupied also as a court house, schoolhouse, 
etc., till 1857, when it was sold, the church hav- 
ing become extinct. A new Baptist Church has 



since been organized, and their present church 
edifice was erected in 1856. There were also in 
early times a few families of Disciples, of Camp- 
bellite Baptists, and William Dowling was their 
preacher. Also, there were two or three families 
of Seceders, and Rev. S. Hindman, of Iberia, 
preached among them occasionally. The Univer- 
salists have an organization, and built a church in 
1860. They have generally had preaching since. 

A new Methodist Episcopal Church was built 
at the boundary, about four miles northwest from 
Mount Gilead in 1858. 

Methodist camp-meetings were held about three- 
fourths of a mile northwest from the town, in 1830 
and 1831, also half a mile w^st of the town in 
1832 and 1833. The Methodist preachers at these 
meetings were Revs. R. Bigelow, W. B. Christie, 
Shaw, S. Ensign, Z. Bell, Smith, McDowell, Goff, 
Westlake, Felton and Lorain. Presbyterian camp- 
meetings were held in the eastern part of the 
township in 1833 and 1834. The Presbyterian 
ministers who preached at these meetings were 
Revs. A. Jinks, C. N. Rawson, J. McKinney, J. 
Thompson, B. W. Higbee and H. Shedd. These 
meetings were largely attended and the behavior 
good ; the privileges of the Gospel were appreci- 
ated and improved. The hospitality of the peo- 
ple was unbounded. These Christian pioneers 
lived about a week at each meeting in their well- 
prepared log tents in the woods, holding family, 
social and public worship. God blessed their la- 
bors for the spiritual good of themselves and their 
fellow-men. 

With this brief glance at Gilead Township, and 
the early history of the town of Mount Gilead, we 
will close this chapter, and leave the further his- 
tory of the town to be completed in a new chapter. 



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HISTOKY OF MORROW COUXTY 



303 



CHAPTER YI. 



MOUNT GILEAD— ITS . INCORPORATION— THE CENSUS— MANUFACTURERS— BUSINESS BLOCKS- 
SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES— SECRET SOCIETIES— GILEAD STATION. 



THE history of Gilead Township and of the town 
of Mount Gilead, may very properly be divid- 
ed into two parts — their ancient (if not a misnomer) 
and modern history. The first part comprises the 
early settlement, the laying-out of villages, their 
growth, pioneer improvements and the introduction 
and advancement of Christianity and education. 
This part has been thoroughly and completely 
written up in the preceding chapter by the Rev. 
Mr. Shedd, whose residence in the town of half a 
century has eminently fitted him for the work, and 
faithfully has he performed it. He has marked 
the coming of the pioneer ; his settlement in an 
unbroken wilderness among savages and wild 
beasts, and his hard-fought battle for very existence 
on the distant frontier of civilization. That period 
that is veiled in all the romance of pioneer life, he 
has well and truly portrayed. He has noted the 
planting of the standard of the Cross, the intro- 
duction of the schoolmaster, and the influence for 
good that religion and education have exercised in 
the community. He has given the laying-out of 
the town, and its rise and growth. All of these 
subjects Mr. Shedd has noticed in a satisfactory 
manner, and with far more ease than a stranger 
could have done it. A pioneer himself, he has 
witnessed the development of the country, and has 
been enabled to paint the scenes of real life from 
personal observation and recollections. With great 
accuracy he has traced the history of the town and 
township to a period within the memory of the 
present generation. 

In this chapter we shall take up the "modern" 
history of the town particularly, noting some of 
the more important facts that have transpired 
within the past few years. Its progress in man- 
ufactures and trade, the perfecting of its educa- 
tional and religious institutions, together with 



other subjects that scarcely belonged in the pre- 
ceeding chapter, will be noticed here. These of 
themselves are sufficient groundwork for a lengthy 
chapter, but in order not to exceed allotted space 
must be treated briefly. 

The laying-out of the town of Mount Gilead has 
already been noticed by Mr, Shedd, and its 
natural growth followed from a puny village to a 
substantial town, noted for its prosperity and bus- 
iness enterprise. It was incorporated by an act 
of the Legislature, passed February 16, 1839. 
The act embraced a number of towns in the State, 
and was as follows : " Be it enacted by the General 
Assembly of Ohio, the several towns hereinafter 
named be and the same are hereby respectivelv 
created bodies corporate and politic, with perpetual 
succession, as follows, to wit ; * * * 

' The town of Mount Gilead, in the county of 
Marion, ***** together 
with such additions as may from time to time be 
to them respectively made, and the above-named 
towns shall be entitled to all the privileges secured 
by, and shall in all respects be governed by the 
provisions of an act entitled, ' An act for the 
regulation of incorporated towns.' " Thus legally 
constituted, Mount Gilead moved along the " even 
tenor of its way" for nine years, when, upon the 
formation of Morrow County, in 1848, it became, 
almost without opposition, the county seat of the 
new county. In anticipation of such an event, 
some little preparation had been made in the lay- 
ing-out of streets and grading them, and otherwise 
beautifying the town, that'it might, as the seat of 
justice, present an attractive and inviting appear- 
ance. By the census of 1850, the first taken after 
the formation of the county, Mount Gilead had a 
population of 646 ; in 1860, it was 789; in 1870, 
it had increased to 1,087 ; and at the census just 



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304 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



completed (1880), its population has reached 1,262, 
showing a steady increase in numbers, as well as in 
prosperity, during the past thirty years. 

The records of the corporation have not been 
as well kept, and are not as perfect as some towns 
of our acquaintance, and it is no easy task to ex- 
tract information from them. We can find none 
extending back to the incorporation of the town 
in 1839, but to the beginning of the year 1849 
only. We learn, however, that " Samuel Bush- 
field was the first Mayor ; S. J. Cromer the first 
Recorder," and that the " first Councilmen were 
John H. Young, James M. Talmadge and others." 
In 1848, J. S. Christie was Mayor, and Cromer 
Recorder. In 1 850, J. H. Stinchcomb was Mayor, 
and, in 1852, when the records became somewhat 
perfect, we find the following Board : Thomas H. 
Dalrymple, Mayor; Ross Burns, Recorder, and 
John J. Gurley, E. R. Fally, George D. Cross, 
Joseph D. Rigour and C. D. Ensign, Councilmen. 
In 1854, Robert Mitchell was elected Mayor, and 
Mathew Roben, Recorder. The records, however, 
are too imperfect to try to trace out the names of 
the different oflBcers down to the present time, and 
we shall make no attempt to do so, but merely 
give the present incumbents, who are as follows : 
L. K. Powell, Mayor ; W. G. Irwin, Recorder ; 
James Carlisle, R. P. Halliday, Bradford Dawson, 
Allen Levering, Howard Whitby and Valentine 
Meader, Councilmen. 

In the preceding chapter is noticed the laying- 
out of the " Village of Whetstone," the original 
name of Mount Gilead, and also the laying-out of 
an addition by Henry Ustick in February, 1832, 
of "seventy lots, including the north public square." 
Some of the additions laid out since that of 
Ustick's are those of Dalrymple, in June, 1854; 
of Talmadge & Young, in January, 1859 ; of 
House, in April, 1867, and Richards' Addition in 
March, 1874. Besides these additions, J. D. 
Rigour laid out an addition to the town in an 
early day of rather peculiar shape, being somewhat 
that of an " obtuse-angled triangle," extending 
from Main out between Marion and Hi";h streets ; 



narrowing down to a point at the west end. These 
several additions, together with the original plat, 
give the town a suflScient area for a much larger 
population than it has at present. There is plenty 
of room for its people to flourish without getting 
in each other's way. 

Mount Gilead is located in the heart of as rich 
a farming community as may be found in Central 
Ohio, and in this respect is not surpassed by any 
of its neighbors. Cut off" from all railroad facili- 
ties until the building of the Short Line, interfered 
materially with its prosperity as a manufacturing 
center. While the building of the Cleveland, 
Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad was a benefit in- 
directly, yet its great distance from the town did 
not fulfill the requirements of a manufacturing 
community. Hence while many of the surround- 
ing towns have become lively with the hum of ma- 
chinery, Mount Gilead, for the lack of railroad 
communication, has been forced to depend chief- 
ly upon her mercantile trade. The few manu- 
facturing enterprises which have been from time 
to time started in the town we shall now proceed 
to mention briefly. 

One of its largest manufactures, perhaps, was 
its woolen-mills. The first eff'ort of this kind was 
made many years ago — far back beyond the be- 
ginning of this chapter. In 1866, a large woolen- 
mill, costing some $25,000 or more, was built by 
a stock company. The stock finally passed mostly 
into the hands of James Meeker, one of the prin- 
cipal men in inaugurating the enterprise. During 
his career, he had several diff"erent partners, at 
different times, and did an extensive business. In 
1870, a flax-mill was added to the concern by put- 
ting in machinery adapted to the purpose, and, as 
a combined woolen and flax mill, its business cor- 
respondingly increased. On the 5th of April, 
1872, it was burned to the ground, entailing a loss 
of about $17,000, which was but partly covered 
by insurance — having about $5,000 insurance. 
This so crippled Meeker financially, that he made 
no effort to rebuild, and so ended that branch of 
business in Mount Gilead. 



■r?7 



HISTORY or MORROW COUNTY. 



305 



A large planing-mill, saw-mill and sash factory 
in the southwest part of the town, owned by 
George N. Clarke, J. M. Andrews and Dr. 
Briggs, after being in operation for a time, doing 
a flourishing business in its several lines, was 
burned in September, 1870. The loss to the 
owners was about $5,000, which so discouraged 
them that they never rebuilt the establishment, 
but left it a heap of " smoldering ruins." 

In 1846, a grist-mill was built in the south part 
of the town, by Cooper & Son. This mill was 
also burned in the fall of 1862. A sympathizing 
community rendered them substantial assistance, 
and in 1863 they were enabled to rebuild. This 
was much superior to the mill that was burned, 
and is still in active operation. It has three run 
of buhrs, and its reputation as a first-class mill is 
without contradiction. In 1877-78, Cooper & 
Son sold out to House & Dawson, who are the 
present owners. Cooper & Son, before disposing 
of the mill, erected a foundry (the building now 
used as a cheese factory), which was run by power 
from the mill. The foundry was known as the 
"Mount Gilead Turbine Wheel Manufactory," 
but as an investment it never paid, and in the end 
the Coopers lost money, and finally discontinued 
the business. The foundry building is now used, 
as we have said, as a cheese factory, which is more 
particularly referred to in the general history of 
the county. The Tabors built a foundry before 
the war, near the Short Line depot, and for a num- 
ber of years carried on a large business in repair- 
ing machinery and general custom work. They 
turned out some fence and plow work, but their 
specialty was custom. The fate of this establish- 
ment was that of the woolen-mill and the sash 
factory ; it was burned, and never rebuilt. 

Mount Gilead has been singularly unfortunate 
in her manufacturing enterprises ; indeed, a fatal- 
ity has seemed to follow almost every enterprise 
of the kind that has been inaugurated, and but 
few have escaped destruction by the " fiery ele- 
ment," which so often breaks loose in the town. 
About all that remains in the way of manufactures 



are House & Dawson's mill, Carlisle Brothers' 
carriage-works, and Doty & Co.'s planing-mill. 
The carriage-works of Carlisle Brothers were 
established in 1866, and are doing a large and 
flourishing business. The planing-mill is of recent 
origin. The Mount Gilead Tile Works, which 
may also come under the head of manufaciuring 
enterprises, were established in the summer of 
1875 by B. B. McGowen, Smith Thomas and 
William C. Wilson. In the summer of 1878, 
McGowen sold out to the other two partners, and 
in the spring of 1879 established the " Stone Tile 
Works," out near the stone quarries southeast of 
town, from which the works take their name. W. 
W. McCracken is a partner in the Stone Tile Works 
"with McGowen, but the business is wholly man- 
aged by the latter gentleman. Both these, and 
the Mount Gilead Tile Works, west of town, do a 
large business in the way of manufacturing all 
kinds and sizes of drain tiling. Some of the fires 
alluded to were, that destroying Meeker's woolen 
and flax mill, the steam saw and planing mill and 
sash factory of Clark and others. Cooper & Son's 
mill. Tabor's foundry, and a fire that burned several 
business houses on Main street. These frequent 
fires led to the organization of a fire company, 
and on the 16th of June, 1870, the Olentangy 
Fire Company was organized. The company, or 
town, more properly speaking, purchased an exel- 
lent hand engine, which is still in use. It was 
operated for eighteen months by the "Old Guard" 
Military Company. The "Old Guards" took 
charge of it as a fire company in October, 1878, 
and continued as such until April, 1880. Since 
that time, the Town Marshal, J. E. McComb, 
has had charge of the engine as Chief of the Fire 
Department. 

The first tavern — that great place of resort in a 
country town — was built and kept by John 
Merrill. It was of the regular pioneer pattern — 
a small log structure — and the bill of fare was 
"corn pone" and "wild meat," with coffee occa- 
sionally, sweetened with maple sugar. This pio- 
neer tavern was the great resort of the surrounding 






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306 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



community, and the news emporium where all 
the male gossips met to smoke their pipes and ex- 
chaniie their daily experiences. Ah, how few now 
know the importance of the frontier tavern. It 
was, of course, the place of rest for the weary 
traveler, whether on foot or on horse. It was the 
market-place for all ; the hunter with his venison 
and turkeys, the trapper with his furs and skins, 
and the knapsack-peddler here gladdened the hearts 
of all with his " bough ten " wares. At the tav- 
ern, too, were all public gatherings called — to ar- 
range for a general hunt, to deal out justice to 
some transgressor, or to put up the stakes for the 
horse race. But this pioneer institution is among 
the things of the past, and as we sit at the well- 
laden boards of the American and Globe, it is hard 
to realize the frugal fare of the pioneer tavern. 
Few towns of the size of Mount Gilead are better 
supplied with hotel accommodations than it is at 
the present day, and the American and Globe ho 
tela are very models of excellence in their way. 

A few words as to the beauty of the thriving 
little city and its business blocks, buildings, etc. 
It is but seldom that in a small town we find as 
many handsome residences and substantial busi- 
ness houses. The Van Home Block would be an 
ornament in a large city. It was built in 1876, 
and contains three large stores on the ground floor, 
together with the town hall. The second floor is 
devoted to offices in the front part, while the rear 
comprises a very elegantly appointed theater 
known as " Levering Hall." The Granite Block, 
the third story of which is a Masonic hall, Union 
Block and the bank blocks are all substantial and 
even elegant buildings. Several other business 
blocks are in course of construction, which will 
add much to the beauty of the town, and to Main 
street especially. The court house, more particu- 
larly mentioned in the chapter on organization of 
the county, was built in 1852-53, and is a sub- 
stantial brick building, possessing, however, little 
beauty or modern appearance. A few thou- 
sand dollars might bo spent in adorning 
and modernizing the ungainly structure. The 



post office and mail facilities of the town have 
grown to some extent since the first office was es- 
tablished, with one mail a week, and as Postmaster 
General Ustick slings around his mail-bags, now he 
perhaps don't realize that the first representative 
of that department in Mount Gilead could carry 
the week's mail-receipts in his hat. 

The first effort made at banking in Mount 
Gilead was about the year 1854. A bank was 
established by James Purdy, John Anderson, John 
Shauck, Beoustock and Sowers, Richard House, 
A. C. Dunn and W. Smith Irwin. Richard 
House was President of the institution, and W. 
Smith Irwin, Cashier. About three years after- 
ward, it wound up its business and became the 
banking-house of Richard House & Co., or the 
Granite Bank. This finally drifted into the First 
National Bank of Mount Gilead, and the first 
bank of issue ever in the county. The First 
National was organized in 1864, with Dr. J. M. 
Briggs as President, a position he held from or- 
ganization up to 1880, with the exception of two 
years. R. J. House was the first Cashier. At 
present, W. F. Bartlett is President ; Allen Lev- 
ering, Vice President ; R. P. Halliday, Cashier — 
a position held for thirteen years in succession. 
For the same period, R. P. Miller has been Teller. 
About the commencement of the banking busi- 
ness, J. D. Rigour opened a small bank or broker's 
office. J. S. Trimble also did a banking business 
in connection with an extensive grain bu.siness in 
which he was engaged at West Gilead. He 
finally took in the business of Rigour, occupying 
Rigour's banking-house and carrying on a large 
banking business until his fi^ilure, in 1878. The 
Morrow County National Bank was established in 
February, 1880, and hence is a young institution. 
William Marvin is President, George N. Clark, 
Vice President, and M. B. Talmadge, Cashier. 

The town of Mount Gilead has two flourishing 
newspapers, the Union Register and the Morrow 
County Smtinel, the latter Republican and the 
former Democratic in politics. They are both 
live, V(ide-awake papers, and fiiithfully stand up 



:v 



'k. 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



307 



for the doctrines of their respective parties. As 
their history is more particularly given in another 
chapter, we will not repeat it. A library was 
established in Mount Gilead some years ago, but 
it has never amounted to much. The few books 
it once possessed, we believe are still stowed away 
in the town, but are of little use to the public, or 
as a library, and the organization, we are sorry 
to say, is no longer kept up. 

In the educational history of the county, given 
in another chapter of this work, the introduction 
of schools and the schoolmaster is noticed at some 
length, and the pioneer mode of teaching After 
the town of Mount Gilead became large enough 
to have a school, Mrs. Mary Shedd, we are told, 
was the first teacher, and taught a school in 1831. 
Without going into the early history of the 
schools of Mount Gilead, which have been noticed 
in the preceding chapter, we will merely glance at 
the present school of the town, as we find it to- 
day, under the successful management of Prof. T. 
J. Mitchell, Principal. The town forms a special 
district, and present the following statistics as 
reported to the auditor ; 

Balance on hand September 1, 1878 $2,343 64 

State tax 567 00 

Irreducible fund 232 39 

Local tax for school and schoolhouse pur- 
poses 2,498 41 

From other sources 92 81 

Total 15,734 25 

Amount paid teachers during the year $1,610 63 

High school 900 00 

Total $2,510 63 

Number of schoolhouses, 1 — value §35,000 00 

Balance on hand September 1, 1879 §2,185 34 

Number of teachers — male, 1 ; female, 5 ; 

total 6 

Average wages per month, primary $ 36 00 

Average wages per month, high 100 00 

Number of pupils enrolled : 

Primary, males 113 

Primary, females 124 

High, females 19 

High, males lo 

Total enrolled 271 



Average daily attendance : 

Primary, males 95 

Primary, females 100 

High, females 17 

High, males 13 

Total 225 

The church history of Mount Gilead extends 
back to the early settlement of the town. The 
organization of the first church society is accred- 
ited, in the preceding chapter, to the Methodists. 
More than half a century ago, the itinerants of 
this denomination made their appearance and 
formed classes at the cabins of the early settlers. 
The official records of this early period, however, 
are not at hand, so that only general facts can be 
given of its early history. The present genera- 
tion can hardly realize the changes that have 
taken place since those primitive times, when the 
Methodist " circuit-rider " traveled over the thinly- 
settled country, and proclaimed to the scattered 
settlers the glad tidings of salvation. The pioneer 
evangelist, Rev. Russell Bigelow, was one of the 
first Methodist ministers in this section of the 
country. From data as reliable as can be found, 
Mr. Shedd places the erection of the first Metho- 
dist Church at Mount Gilead in the year 1832, 
but societies or classes had been formed several 
years previous to that date. This edifice was used 
by the church as a place of worship, we are told, 
for about twelve years, when it passed into a " tan- 
house." The present church building was erected 
in 1844, at a cost of about S8,000 (as we were 
informed by Judge House, one of the oldest 
members now living in the town). The present 
Pastor is the Rev. Mr. Pollock, and the member- 
ship is not far from one hundred and fifty. A 
large and flourishing Sunday school is maintained 
throughout the year, of which Mr. Z. B. Plumb 
is Superintendent. This church, with a history 
extending back over more than half a century, 
it is only truth to say, that the most sacred mem- 
ories and hallowed associations cluster around it. 
Without being wealthy, it is a church that gives 
liberally, and its reputation in this regard is well 



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308 



HISTOEY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



known in the county and in the conference to 
which it belongs. 

The first Presbyterian Church* was organized 
at the house of Geortre D. Cross, in the village of 
Whetstone, November 2, 1831, and was called 
"the Presbyterian Church of Morven." Rev. 
Henry Shedd, assisted by Rev. Eldad Barber, of 
Marion, organized the church under the authority 
of the Presbytery of Columbus. The church con- 
sisted of twenty-six original members — nine males 
and seventeen females ; seven men and their wives, 
ten other women and two young men. Three 
Elders were elected. In October, 1835, the name 
of the church was changed to the " First Presby- 
terian Church of Mount Gilead." 

During the years 1834-35, by a great effort of 
the people, a frame church edifice was built, forty 
feet square. It was erected at the old graveyard 
on a spot of ground donated to the church by 
Jacob Young, the original proprietor of the town. 
Previous to the division, Rev. Henry Shedd was 
stated supply and Pastor six years, and Rev. Will- 
iam Matthews stated supply one year. The Ruling 
Elders were James Bennett, John Roy, Thomas 
Mickey and John Mateer. Other leading active 
members were Henry Ustick, Joseph Axtell, Will- 
iam N. Mateer, John Hardenbrook, John Ustick, 
Nathan T. Brown, William Cooper, George D. 
Cross, Joseph B. Lyon, Ebenezer Brown, Simeon 
Brown, Jesse Fisher and Lewis Hardenbrook. 
The division into what was called Old and New 
School took place in 1888-39. Of the seventy- 
five members of the Mount Gilead Church, forty- 
four went into the New School Branch and 
thirty-one into the Old School. 

The old church building was occupied until 
October, 1859, receiving a complete course of re- 
pairs in 1849. After it was left as a house of 
worship, it was occupied as a carpenter shop until 
consumed by fire November 5, 1860. In 1857, 
the unfinished Baptist Church was purchased by 
James S. Trimble for §250, and presented to the 
New School Presbyterians, on condition that it 

• Contributed by Rer. H. Shedd. 



be moved and fitted up as their house of worship. 
The condition or proposition of Mr. Trimble was 
complied with ; the whole cost of the house, and 
the lot on which it stood, was $1,500. The church 
was dedicated January 1, 1858, and occupied un- 
til the re-union of the two branches of the church, 
when it was sold to the Disciples, and is now con- 
verted into a grain warehouse at the Short Line 
Depot. The house in which the society now 
worships, was erected by the Old School Branch 
in 1851-52. It required great sacrifice on the 
part of the people to get the house ready for hold- 
ing public services. It has been repaired from 
time to time at considerable expense. 

The reunion of the two branches was efiected in 
October, 1865. At the time of the reunion, the 
church had 126 members — 75 from the Old School 
and 51 from the New School, and 8 ruling Elders. 
Rev. Milton McMillen was Pastor of the reunited 
church for seven years. The present Pastor is 
Rev. William S. Eagleson, six ruling Elders — 
Joseph B. Lyon, James M. Briggs, John P. 
Mateer, James S. Trimble, Charles Shedd and 
John W. Cook, and three Deacons — William 
Pennyard, Ross N. Mateer and William F. Blaney. 
The membership is 185. A Sunday school is 
carried on during the year, and is at present under 
the superintendence of J. G. Miles. It is in a 
flourishing condition, with an average attendance 
of about one hundred. 

The Baptists * living in Mount Gilead and 
vicinity, by invitation and agreement met on the 
10th of December, 1853, at the house of Rev. 
William Branch, for the purpose of organizing a 
church. Thirteen Baptists were present, nearly 
all of whom favored organization. Five of the 
thirteen had letters of dimission and recommend- 
ation, while the eight were not so provided — 
having failed to take recommendations from their 
respective churches. It was decided that the five 
should organize under the name of the " Siloam 
Baptist Church of Mount Gilead." The five con- 
stituent members were Rev. William Branch, L. 

* Contributed by Rev. A. J. Wiant. 



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HISTORY OF MORROAV COUNTY. 



309 



C. K. Branch, Simeon Werrick, Mary Ann Bar- 
ton and Mrs. A. B. Gurley. These declared them- 
selves the church as above named, and then the 
eight following names were received upon their 
Christian experience : David Auld, Louisa Auld, 
Charles Carpenter, Eliza Darland, Joseph Waldorf, 
Martha Waldorf, Esther Harshner and John 
Smith. This new organization at once made pro- 
vision for weekly prayer meetings and monthly 
covenant meetings, and secured the court room in 
which to hold public service on Sabbath. Erastus 
Waldorf was the first one baptized into the fellow- 
ship of this church. Rev. William Branch was 
invited to serve as a supply, and also clerk until 
oflScers could be elected. David Auld and Joseph 
Waldorf were chosen the first Deacons, on the 3d 
of June, 1854, and on the same date Rev. William 
Branch was chosen the first Pastor. 

By request of the society, it was recognized as 
the " Siloam Baptist Church of Mount Gilead," 
by the Mount Vernon Baptist Association, and 
also received into the fellowship of that body, as 
one of the sisterhood, in communion, in September, 
1854. On the 25th of January, 1855, Rev. 
William Branch closed his pastorate, and in June 
following Rev. E. D. Thomas became Pastor. In 
August of the same year the church decided to 
build a house of worship, and accordingly the trust- 
ees were instructed to contract for the same, with 

D. Auld, for $1,800. The house was dedicated 
February 1, 1857 ; afterward, it was furnished at 
an additional cost of $230. Rev. E. D. Thomas 
closed his service as Pastor, in April, 1858, and 
was succeeded by Rev. A. Pratt, who took charge 
in June following. In 1860, the name of the 
church was changed to the " Baptist Church of 
Mount Grilead." May 14, 1861, Rev. J. G. Bowen 
became Pastor in place of Rev. A. Pratt, who 
closed his pastorship in March preceding. 

The church, deeming it proper to express her 
mind on the question of temperance, declared by 
vote that it was the imperative duty of every 
member to abstain from the use of liquors as a 
beverage. Rev. J. G. Bowen did not continue 



long as Pastor, and the church was without a 
pastor until March 11, 1864, when Rev. Lyman 
Whitney took charge, and remained one year, and 
was succeeded by Rev. Charles Merton. He va- 
cated the field at the end of four months, and was 
followed by Rev. J. G. Turieson, who supplied 
the pulpit for three months, closing in January, 
1867. Rev. S. J. Bostwick became Pastor in 
February, 1867, and closed his labors November 
following. Repairs were now made on the house 
at a cost of $225. Rev. Watson Clark served 
the church for seventeen months, ending June, 
1869, and was followed by Rev. J. B. Hutton, 
who remained until May 14, 1871. Rev. Ed- 
ward Jones supplied the pulpit now for two months. 
In May, 1872, Rev. D. B. Sim began pastoral 
labor, and gave his service to the church until 
September, 1878, when he was succeeded by the 
present Pastor (the writer) in December following. 
In 1879, the church was newly painted, and other 
repairs made, at a cost of $200. Thus, from a 
small beginning in 1853, the Lord has led us along. 
With a membership now of two hundred — officered 
with Deacons and Trustees, and enjoying stated 
Sabbath preaching, weekly prayer meetings, Sun- 
day school, and co-operative Christian work in 
education, home and foreign missions, we may take 
courage and persevere. 

The citizens of Mount Gilead are particularly 
proud of their union school building, which is an 
ornament to the town. As a matter of interest 
to many, we give the following description of it, 
from the Mount Gilead Sentinel of January 30, 
1873: 

" Our New Schoolhouse. — To gratify many 
of our readers, who, though residing remote from 
the county seat, yet feel a proper interest in the 
improvement of our town, and particularly in our 
improved educational facilities, we will here give a 
brief description of the interior of our new union 
schoolhouse, which was opened for the reception 
of its army of little pupils on Monday last. 
While disclaiming any special reliance on archi- 
tectural lore to render our description formally 









_§) 



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310 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



accurate, we hope for a reasonable degree of suc- 
cess in making it intelligible to our readers. 

" Without hazarding the assumption that the 
external beauty of our school edifice approaches 
that architectural perfection which Madame de 
Stael terms ' frozen music,' we think it probable 
that in its interior arrangement, it is not excelled 
by any similar building in the State. We may 
describe it as consisting essentially of two build- 
ings, each 66x33 feet, and each including two lofty 
stories and a basemtrut. These buildings stand 
side by side eighteen feet apart ; and into each 
end of this central space is recessed a porch l-AxlS, 
leading into the hall 18x38, which serves to con- 
nect the two buildings, and provides ready access 
to the upper and basement stories ; the whole, of 
course, constituting a single building under the 
same slate roof 

" We thus have, on the first floor, four fine 
rooms, each about thirty-one feet square in the 
clear, and each occupying a corner of the building, 
with ample light from two sides. Each room is 
wainscoted all around, from the floor to the level 
of the windows (the wainscoting grained in imi- 
tation of alternate panels of walnut and other 
woods), and above this is the ample blackboard 
surface, so indispensable in every schoolroom. 
Each room is also provided with a large ventilat- 
ing stove, receiving pure air from without, while 
registers in the floor at each side convey the foul 
air into the draft. By a peculiarity in their con- 
struction, these stoves can also be adjusted, in a 
moment's time, to warm by radiant heat simply, 
like an ordinary stove. Every window in the 
building is weighted, and is provided on the inside 
with a series of folding blinds, by which the direc- 
tion and intensity of the light desired is under 
complete and instant control. It must thus be 
conceded that, in the highly important matters of 
heating and lighting, our new school building is 
not only unexcelled by any, but strikingly surpasses 
not a few more pretentious edifices. 

As we emerge from either of these rooms into 
the hall, it will be observed how convenient each 



door is to the main entrance, and to the stairway 
leading to the second floor. Ascending this broad 
flight to the second floor, we find, at the right, two 
more rooms corresponding in size and finish with 
the two below ; while on the left, or south side of 
the hall, the entire space on this floor is thrown 
into a single room, 63x30 feet, which is flooded 
with light on three sides. This room is designed 
for the High School Department, while the lower 
departments of the school, while as at present or- 
ganized, will occupy the rooms on the lower floor. 
This leaves the two north rooms above to be used 
for recitation rooms, for library, or any suitable 
purpose. 

" Descending to the main hall, we pass directly 
below into the basement. Under the north wing 
are the two cellars, for the storage of coal, etc., 
while on the south side the two large rooms with 
floors will serve as play-rooms. 

" The contract for putting up and completing 
the entire structure was let to Miller & Smith for 
$24,000, and it is the general impression that 
these gentlemen have most faithfully acquitted 
themselves of their important duty. Aside from 
their wish to honorably fulfill their obligations to 
the School Board, they have evidently been act- 
uated by a laudable pride to complete a building 
that should be an honor to the town in which they 
live. Only the best materials — brick, wood and 
stone — have been used, and. with the corps of 
excellent workmen, they have combined these ma- 
terials in a thoroughly workmanlike manner. 

" On Monday last the new schoolhouse received 
its precious freight of immortal growing minds, 
which, encouraged and guided by faithful teach- 
ers, shall, in the unfolding future, 'shine as stars 
forever and ever.' " 

The Universalist Church in ]Mount Gilead was 
formed in I860 by the Rev. H. R. Nye. The 
following persons united with the church at its or- 
ganization : J. S. Ilurd, Catharine Talniadge, 
Jane Harris, Smith Thomas, Abram Coe, R. J. 
House, Sarah Dawson, J. J. Gurley and wife. H. 
E. Lambert and wife, Frank M. Ru.ssell, Huuh 



\ 



:£ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



311 



Thomas, Mary J. Turner, and Charlotte E. Daw- 
son. The church building is a substantial frame, 
and was built soon after the formation of the so- 
ciety. The Trustees were Smith Thomas, R. J. 
House, F. M. Russell ; and Henry E. Lambert, 
Treasurer ; J. J. Gurley, Clerk. John Hurd and 
Abram Coe were Deacons. The present Pastor is 
Rev. H. L. Canwell, and the membership is one 
hundred and twenty-four. A Sunday school, with 
an average attendance of about sixty, is main- 
tained under the superintendence of Smith Thomas. 

The Disciples or Christians had a church in 
Mount Gilead at one time, as noticed in the his- 
tory of the Presbyterian Church, but it eventually 
became extinct, and their building is now doing 
duty as a grain warehouse at the Short Line Depot. 

The benevolent and charitable institutions fol- 
low close in the wake of the Christian churches, 
and, in their way, exercise as great an influence 
for good as the churches themselves. Freema- 
sonry, the oldest of all the secret organizations 
now in existence, is an order of "kingly origin and 
heavenly aim," and takes for its guide the Holy 
Bible as its greatest light. To go back to the 
origin of Masonry would be to go back almost to 
the beginning of time itself, and our space will not 
admit of such research. A Masonic Lodge was 
organized in Mount Gilead more than thirty years 
ago. Mount Gilead Lodge, No. 206, was char- 
tered in October, 1851. The following are the 
original members: W. C. Clark, Jas. W. Stinch- 
comb, A. K. Dunn, John B. Dumble, Andrew 
Poe, T. P. Glidden, Israel Hite, J. A. Beebe, and 
S. T. Cunard. W. C Clark was the first Master, 
James W. Stinchcomb the first Senior Warden, and 
A. K. Dunn the first Junior Warden. The charter 
is signed by !Most Worshipful W. B. Hubbard, 
Grand Master, and B. F. Smith, Grand Secretary. 
The first meeting was held January 6, 1851, the 
lodge having been organized under dispensation 
at that time, and chartered in October following. 
The following additional officers were elected : T. 
P. Glidden, Treasurer; Andrew Poe, Secretary ; 
John B. Dumble, S. D. ; J. A. Beebe, J. D., and 



Israel Hite, Tiler. W. C. Clark, as stated, was 
the first Master, A. K. Dunn the next, J. W. 
Stinchcomb the next, and then A. K. Dunn 
served as Master for eighteen years in succes- 
sion. The next Master then was J. E. Smith, 
who served two years, then Allen Levering two 
years. J. G. Miles is now serving his second 
year as blaster. The present membership is forty- 
three, and J. G. Miles is Worshipful Master ; W. 

C. Wilson, Senior Warden ; W. W. McCracken, 
Junior Warden; A. K. Dunn, Treasurer; W. G. 
Irwin, Secretary ; Allen Levering, Senior Deacon ; 
James Fulton, Junior Deacon, and S. W. Preston, 
Tiler. 

Gilead Chapter, No. 59, Royal Arch Masons, 
was organized October 16, 1854, with the follow- 
ing charter members : A. J. Smith, J. A. Beebe, 
W. C. Clark, J. W. Stinchcomb, A. K. Dunn, J. 

D. Vore, W. H. McKee, S. xM. Hewett, C. P. 
Shurr and D. L. Swingley. The original officers 
were W. C. Clark, High Priest; J.W. Stinch- 
comb, King ; A. K. Dunn, Scribe. Grand High 
Priest H. M. Stokes issued the charter, and it was 
countersigned by J. D. Caldwell, Grand Secretary. 
The first meeting was held December 7, 1854, and 
Dr. I. H, Pennock was the first initiate. There 
are fifty- two members upon the roll, and the fol- 
lowing are the present officers : A. K. Dunn, M.-. 
E.-. High Priest; B. B. McGowen, E.-. King; 
Allen Levering, E.-. Scribe; W. C. Wilson, 
Captain of the Host ; W. H. Burns^ Principal 
Sojourner ; W. W. McCracken, Royal Arch 
Captain ; G. S. Newhouse, J. R. Miles, C. B. 
Levering, Grand Masters of the Veils; W. W. 
McCracken, Treasurer ; W. Smith Irwin, Secre- 
tary, and S. W. Preston, Sentinel. A move was 
made some years ago toward establishing a Council 
of Royal and Select Masters, and permission ob- 
tained, but from some cause the movement was 
finally abandoned. There are several Knights Tem- 
plar among the members of the fraternity, but not 
a sufficient number to establish a commandery. 
So, at present, a blue lodge and chapter are all 
the Masonic bodies in Mount Gilead. 






312 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



Odd Fellowship, the companion in charity and 
good works of Freemasonry, is represented here 
by a lodge and encampment. Mount Gilead 
Lodge, No. 1(59, I. O. 0. F., w:u> instituted Octo- 
ber 20, 1850, by William C. Earl, Grand Master of 
the Order, and Alex. E. Glenn, Grand Secretary. 
The charter members were William Johnson, 
Joseph D. Rigour, James R. West, John W. 
Place and David Smith. The following were the 
first officers : John W, Place, N. G.; J. D. Rigour, 
V. G.; Da\'id Smith, Treasurer, and William Rob- 
bins, Secretary. The lodge has tifty-six members, 
and its officers at present are John W. Gallaher, 
N. G.; John G. Russell, Y. G.; George Jago, R. 
Secretary ; E. F. Cooper, P. Secretary, and J. G. 
Miles, Treasurer. 

Morrow Encampment, No. 59, I. 0. 0. F., was 
instituted December 29, 185.3, by Henry Lamb, 
D. G. P., and A. K. Foote, Grand Scribe. The 
followinjj were the original members : J. D. 
Rigour, D. L. Bartlett, Stephen Casey, Daniel L. 
Case, Stephen Morehouse, and J. W. Stinchcomb ; 
of whom the first officers were J. D. Rigour, C. 
P.; J. W. Stinchcomb, S. W.; Stephen Casey, 
Treasurer, and S. Morehouse, Scribe. The records 
show twenty-six members, and the following list 
of officers: H. Campbell, C. P.; J. G. Miles, H. 
P.; H. M. Whitby, S. W.; George Jago, Scribe, 
and William Jacobs, Treasurer. 

The Short Line Railroad is a Mount Gilead enter- 
prise that should be mentioned in this chapter, 
although it is noticed at some length in the rail- 
road history of the county. The project was 
authorized by the Legislature of the State, in what 
is termed the " Enabling Act," by which a vote 
was taken for a tax of $18,000, an amount that 
was supposed to be sufficient to build the road. 
The sum was found insufficient, however, and an 
additional $3,000 was voted afterward. These 
sums built the road and made it ready for the 
rolling stock, which was put on by the Cleveland, 
Columbus; Cincinnati iNc Indianapolis Railroad, 
in consideration of a lease given to that road for 
twenty years by the Board of Trustees (of the 



Short Line), of which Mr. J. H. Pollock, 
of Mount Gilead, is President. The grading of 
the Short Line was done by M. G. Doty & Co., and 
about 175 tons of iron were used in laying the 
track, side tracks, switches, etc., which was bought 
at $36 per ton, a sum much lower than it could 
have been bought for six months later. The road 
was completed and opened for travel on the 1st 
day of May, 1880, and the first two months it 
was in operation, the passenger traffic alone 
amounted to about $500. Its construction has 
been of incalculable advantage to the town of 
Mount Gilead and the surrounding country. 

In the beginning of the war of the rebellion, 
the young men of the county laid down their 
work, shouldered their guns and went forth to bat- 
tle for the Union and the old flag without delay, 
and without faltering in their duty to the Govern- 
ment. Their deeds of valor, as well as the suffer- 
ings they endured, have been chronicled elsewhere, 
and in this chapter we can but briefly note some 
of the good deeds of those whom duty called to 
stay at home. One of the earliest organizations 
in the State for furnishing comfort and encourage- 
ment to the able-bodied men in the field, and deli- 
cacies to the sick, was the " Ladies' Soldiers' Aid 
Society." This society found a ready response 
among the ladies of Mount Gilead and Morrow 
County and an organization, in the early part of 
the war, was effected, which, throughout the long 
and arduous struggle, was productive of great good. 
Many a ray of comfort, many a blessing upon the 
fair ones, and m?inj a prayer for their happiness, 
pervaded gloomy hospital wards upon the receipt 
of" good things " from the hands of those "angels of 
mercy/' furnished through the influence and energy 
of the Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Societies. An auxiliary 
society was formed in Mount Gilead, with brunches 
in each township in the county, which joined 
heartily in those kind ministrations of devoted love 
and affection that nerved the hearts and upheld 
the arms of those who were called to bear the 
brunt of the strife. The ablest orators and the 
most eloquent pens have sought to pay a fitting 



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HISTOKY OF MORROW COUNTY 



313 



tribute to woman for the noble part she bore in the 
late war. Some have compared her to the angel 
of pity and forgiveness, and others to the " seraphim 
bending in awe and rapt devotion over the 
mercy seat;" but her devotion and self-sacri- 
ficing labor of love to her dear ones away at the 
" post of honor and danger," will insure her, when 
she arrives upon the other shore, " a crown, bright 
with many jewels." Her reward here is an inner 
consciousness of having done her duty. 

Volunteers were easily secured for the army, and, 
as the fresh recruits were hurried away to the front, 
the town, realizing that many were illy prepared to 
leave their families, did all in its power to relieve 
the necessities of those who were left unprovided 
for. Large sums were subscribed, and disbursed 
where most needed. The Cleveland, Columbus, 
Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railroad subscribed 
S10,000 to the diflFerent counties through which 
the road passes, and Morrow County's portion was 
divided among the families of soldiers according to 
their actual wants. But our space will not permit 
a notice of all the noble acts of the people of the 
county, and the workings of the Ladies' Aid So- 
ciety and kindred enterprises for the benefit of the 
"brave boys in the field; " it would make a volume 
of itself. "With a few words of the local military 
companies, we will leave the subject. 

The warlike spirit that has descended from the 
old Revolutionary ancestors of the citizens of Mount 
Gilead, and which caused them to respond so nobly 
in times of national peril, is still to be found in 
the military organizations of the town. jMount 
Gilead has two military companies, which are com- 
posed of the flower of her able-bodied men. " The 
Old Guard Military Company "is an independent 
company, and owns its uniforms and arms. Its 
organization was suggested as early as May, 1878, 
for the purpose of acting as a kind of escort, or 
guard of honor, on the national Decoration Day, 
in decorating with flowers the graves of the 
county's fallen soldiers. The company was uni- 
formed and re-organized on the 30th of October, 
1878, with the following list of commissioned offi- 



cers, which was furnished us by the Orderly Ser- 
geant, J. B. Gatchell : "W. W. McCracken, Cap- 
tain ; J.R. McComb, First Lieutenant ; and M. B. 
Talmadge, Second Lieutenant. Many of the mem- 
bers of the company were soldiers of the late war, 
and, when the organization of such a company was 
first thought of, it was designed to have none in it 
but those who had seen service, from which fact it 
obtained the name of "The Old Guards." The 
idea, however, was subsequently abandoned, and 
others admitted members. From October, 1878, 
until April, 1880, the " Old Guards" acted as vol- 
unteer firemen. 

The " Levering Guards," or Company E, Four- 
teenth Regiment, Ohio National Guards, was or- 
ganized in August, 1878, with A. A. Gardner, 
Captain ; R. P. Miller, Fu-st Lieutenant ; and Wil- 
liam H. Scheetz, Second Lieutenant. This company 
was originally organized as Company I, of the 
Twelfth Regiment, but subsequently transferred to 
the Fourteenth Regiment, when it became Com- 
pany E, as above designated. The muster rolls 
show fifty-eight names, with the following com- 
missioned officers: R. P. Miller, Captain; W. H. 
Scheetz, First Lieutenant ; and D. P. George, Sec- 
ond Lieutenant. 

The Old Guard Band is a sort of attache of the 
Old Guard Military Company, and was organized 
in August, 1879. Upon its organization, Prof. 
James Porter, of Gallon, came down and in- 
structed it for about sis weeks. Since that time 
it has been under the leadership of Mr. Thomas 
Darby, an accomplished musician. The members 
(twelve in number) are as follows: Thomas Darby, 
leader ; Cahdn Cooper, Frank Cooper, Elliott Dum- 
ble, William Kinnear, Berwick Barton, Morris 
Fogle, Carlton Keyser, Roscoe Gallaher, Roy C. . 
Russell, Sanford Early, and Isaac DeWitt. The 
town has had several bands previous to this, but 
none of them have survived any great length of 
time. The present Old Guard Band is an excel- 
lent one, well trained and good "blowers" gener- 
ally. The town council has recently erected a 
handsome band stand in the public square, and 



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314 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



now when the b(iys gather upon it of a summer 
evening, induliring in their ".sweet discords," all are 
ready to agree that 

"Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast." 

The first cemeteries or burying-grounds of Mount 
Gilead were the old Methodist and Presbyterian 
Cemeteries, as they were called, and were east, or 
southeast, of the town. In 18G1, Mount Gilead 
Cemetery was laid out and incorporated. It com- 
prises an addition of sixteen acres to the old 
Methodist burying-ground, which is included 
in the new cemetery. The first burial in 
this new addition was that of Mrs. Catharine 
Wieland, and took place on the 27th of 
August, 1862. The grounds thus devoted 
to the "loved and lost" of the town are 
well adapted to the purpose for which they were 
designed, being somewhat rolling in surface, and 
abounding in sites which are being nicely improved 
by the planting of trees and evergreens, and by other 
artificial means. It is a lovely place, and a stroll 
amid its flowers and shrubbery is sufficient to in- 
spire such sentiment as is embodied in the follow- 
ing lines : 

" Beneath these shades, how sweet to sleep, 
And know affection's care 
Hath made this home, this resting place, 

Anil laid our bodies there. 
These evergreens shall emblems be 

Of that bright state above, 
Where truth and mercy concentrate 
In one eternal love." 

West Gilead, as it was originally known, was 
laid oiF by Luther Mozier, July 23, 1851, soon 
after the completion of the Cleveland, Colum- 
bus, Cincinnati <fc Indianapolis Railroad. The 
character of improvements begun in the place, 
and which render so many small railroad towns 
somewhat disreputable, disgusted the proprietor 
of West Gilead, Mr. Mozier, and he succeeded 
in having the town discontinued, and bought 
back the lots he had sold, thus restoring the place 
to its original condition. April 12, 1876, he 
again laid out a town, which was known and 



platted as " Gilead Station," but the name of 
which has recently been changed by the railroad 
company to " Levering Station." The new town 
occupies the old site of West Gilead, which is the 
southeast quarter of Section 35, of the fifth town- 
ship. The necessity for a town here was partly 
for the accommodation of Mount Gilead, and 
partly for the benefit, as a shipping point, of a 
large scope of country surrounding it. Mr. 
Mozier gave ground for depot purposes, and was 
for many years the agent of the railroad. In- 
deed, with the exception of a short interval, he 
and his sous have been the agents of the road ever 
since the establishing of Gilead as a station. 

Mr. Mozier built the first house in Gilead, as he 
owned the land before the town was laid out, and 
had erected several buildings. The first dry goods 
store was kept by John Tucker, and the first gro- 
cery store by Davenport Rogers. A post office was 
established in 1877, with I. T. McLain as Post- 
master. The present Postmaster is J. S. Tucker. 
The business of the town may be summed up 
about as follows : three general .stores ; one hard- 
ware and drug store ; two blacksmith-shops ; one 
saw and planing mill ; one lumber-yard ; one millin- 
ery shop and dress-making establishment, and last, 
but not least, one of the best little hotels in the 
county, which is kept by that prince of landlords, 
Seth McCormiek. He has a knack of making one 
feel at home whether or no, and a genial hospital- 
ity that will prompt a man to partake heartily at 
his well-spread table, even if he is not hungry. 
The schoolhouse is small and rather uncomfort- 
able, but, as the town has succeeded in getting a 
special district, it is designed to build a new house 
during the coming year. There is no church in 
the place, but most of the citizens worship at 
Mount Gilead. Occasional preaching is had at the 
school house, and a union Sunday school main- 
tained throughout the year, and h:\s been cai'ried 
on without break for the past four years. The 
average attendance is not far from eighty, and the 
present Superintendent is A. Tucker. 

The y-rain business of West Gilead. Gilead Sta- 



^ 




y->-ff'^ 



^1 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY, 



317 



fK 



tion, or Levering (our readers can choose which 
name they like best), is the most extensive business 
(and has ever been) carried on in the town. 
Messrs. Young and Harrison built the first grain 
warehouse, soon after the completion of the rail- 
road. J. D. Rigour and Mr. Mozier built the 
other, or north warehouse. Mr. Mozier sold out 
his interest, and Rigour finally failed. * The Rail- 
road Company then took the warehouse, which was 
bought by J. S. Trimble about 1860-61, who 
did a large grain business here until his fail- 
ure in 1878. He also traded largely in wool, 
and also did a banking business, as elsewhere 
noted. 

The most extensive grain-dealers in the county, 
perhaps, are the Mozier Brothers & Cover, who 
have a warehouse both at Mount Grilead and at Lev- 
ering Station. D. C. Mozier was the first of the 
Mozier boys to go into the grain business, and com- 
menced operations about 1861. J. J. Gurley was 
interested with him for one year, after which he 
conducted it alone until 1866, when his brother, 
W. H. Mozier, went in with him, and continued 
about a year. He was again alone from that time 
until 1872, when another brother, George W. 
Mozier, entered into partnership with him. These 
two worked together until the admission of Mr. 
Cover in June, 1880, when the firm became Mozier 
Brothers & Cover. Several other parties have 
handled grain at Grilead Station at dilFerent times, 
l)ut of them we have been unable to learn particu- 
lars. Mr. Cover had been dealing in gi-ain for 
some time previous to his partnership with the 
Moziers. 



It is the railroad facilities that have been the 
making of Gilead Station ; indeed it is indebted 
to the railroad for any existence at all, and the 
town was formed, as we have said, as a shipping- 
point for the surrounding country. The comple- 
tion of the Short Line has made it a sort of railroad 
center, by giving it a connection east with Mount 
Gilead. All that is now wanted to make a city, is 
for some enterprising individual to lay out the space 
between Mount Gilead and West Gilead into lots 
and streets ; it would soon build up. 

An incident which occurred in the vicinity of 
Gilead Station about forty-five years ago will serve 
as an interesting finale to this chapter. A couple 
of neighbors, named Noah Webster ( not the Dic- 
tionary man) and Ben. Leonard, who were on the 
most intimate terms with each other, growing 
weary of the monotony of their family relations, 
agreed upon an exchange of helpmeets, on the 
principle, perhaps, that a fair exchange is no rob- 
bery. All the preliminaries being arranged, the 
females, entering into the spirit of the scheme, 
readily consented to transfer their allegiance to a 
new lord. The prime cause for this change is said 
to have been owing to the fact that Webster kept 
a distillery three miles north of Gilead Station, to 
which his wife was very much opposed, while Mrs. 
Leonard made no opposition to such a business. 
How well they were satisfied with the new order 
of things we do not know, but their contentment 
was evinced by their living under the new dis- 
pensation without further change, so long as they 
remained in the neighborhood. All parties to 
this novel proceeding are long since dead. 




■^ 



(5 W. 



318 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUXTY 



CHAPTER VII.* 

CARDINGTON TOWNSHIP— ITS SETTLEMENT BY THE WHITES— NATIVES AND GAME— EARL\ 

BEGINNINGS OF THK VILLAGE— PIONEER INDUSTRIES— FIRST SCHOOL 

AND TEACHERS— EDUCATIONAL STATISTICS OF . 

THE TOWNSHIP. 



SIXTY-SEVEN years ago " there was not a 
.stick amiss "in what is now the thriving town- 
ship of Cardington. The gaunt wolf sought his prey 
unseated by the crack of the rifle, deer stalked the 
woods unstartled by the ringing ax, and the red 
man, closely allied to these denizens of the forest, 
had reared his wigwam on the banks of the 
streams, in the vain hope that the tide of civiliza- 
tion was soon to ebb, and that this land of nature 
would be left to her children. But the rude 
awakening was not far distant. The ax of the 
surveyor, the signal for the advance of a mighty 
host, was already heard in the distance ; the neigh- 
boring settlements, ready to send forth their sur- 
plus population, were arming and equipping to 
possess the land ; while far to the East the story 
of rich lands to be won by little more than hard 
labor, had brought up the second line, and ere the 
dazed senses of the natives had taken in the situa- 
tion, the victory was won, and they, helpless and 
homeless amidst the resources and villages of civili- 
zation, retreated to the deeper recesses of their 
native woods. In this oft-repeated story, there is 
much to attract the attention of the thoughtful 
mind. Why should it be written in the fate of 
the red man that he, banished from the birthplace 
of his children and the grave of his sires, should 
be driven gradually to inevitable extermination ? 
Does not the love of race, kindred and country, 
burn with a bright and joyous flame in his heart? 
Does not his arm stretch forth a ready and power- 
ful hand to avenge their wrongs? Does not his 
"untutored mind" do reverence to the Great 



* The writer is under obligations to certain newspaper publica- 
tions of VV. C. Nichols, for much of the information contained In 
this chapter. 



Spirit in the moon and stars ? Shall we say that 
Grod and Nature forsake their children ? or is their 
history but a link in that mighty chain of provi- 
dences that is leading the world up to the higher 
plane — a progress where each in his turn must give 
way to the inexorable law of "the survival of the 
fittest"? If this be true, when shall the fiital 
symbol, lehabod, be written over the history of the 
white race ? 

Cardington, as we find it to-day, is a township 
of rectangular shape, lying in the eastern boundary 
of Morrow County, just south of the middle line 
drawn east and west. The regularity of its east- 
ern boundary is somewhat broken by the absence 
of a section from the northeast corner, and of a 
similar piece from the southeast corner of the 
township. With the exception of these corners, 
it is five miles square, containing about twenty- 
three square miles of territory. The original 
township of which Cardington formed a part was 
erected by the Commissioners of Delaware County, 
December 1, 1823, of which action the following 
is the record : " Ordered, that Township G, Range 
17, in the ' new purchase,' south of the base line, 
and so much of the twenty-first Range, commonly 
called the -three-mile strip,' as lies east of said 
Township 6, and west of the Richland line, be 
and the same is hereby erected into a separate 
township by the name of Morven Township." In 
tracing out this description on the map, there may 
be some difficulty experienced in clearly determin- 
ing the exact territory embraced. The treaty of 
1796 opened the country south of the Greenville 
treaty line, and, by an act of Congress passed in 
June of that year, the tract of land included 



"a> V 



Jii- 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



319 



between the original seven ranges and the Scioto 
River, for a space of fifty miles, was appropriated to 
satisfy certain claims of the officers and men of the 
Revolutionary army. These lands were surveyed 
into townships five miles square. When, by the 
treaty of October, 1818, the last Indian claim to 
the land north of the Greenville treaty line was 
extinguished, a line passing due east and west 
through the State, forming now the northern 
boundary of the counties of Richland, Crawford, 
and Wyandot, was established as a base line for 
the survey of the " new purchase." Beginning 
on either side of the State, the surveying parties 
worked toward the middle and met on either side 
of the "three-mile strip," or Range 21, counting 
from the eastern side of the State. This land, 
with other tracts in different parts of the State, 
was known as Congress land, because sold to pur- 
chasers by the immediate officers of the Greneral 
Government, and was regularly surveyed into 
townships of six miles square. From this it will 
be seen that Morven, as originally erected, included 
all of Cardington above the treaty line, and all of 
the land lying immediately east up to the western 
boundary of Franklin Township, making it nine 
by four and a half miles, its longest line extending 
east and west. In 1825, Gilead was erected, tak- 
ing off the territory on the east ; in 1848, that 
part of Cardington south of the treaty line, which 
borders upon Westfield, was set off from the latter 
township, and later a piece of territory about a 
mile square was added to the southeast corner from 
Lincoln. As formed at present, Cardington is 
bounded on the north by Canaan, on the east by 
Gilead and Lincoln, on the south by Lincoln and 
Westfield, and on the west by Westfield and the 
Marion County line. The origin of the early name 
is not clearly known. According to a current tra- 
dition, it was suggested by old ^Nlr. Webster of 
of Gilead for his son Marvin. It is possible that 
this name may have suggested the name of the 
town in Scotland, or some emigrant from that land 
may have sought to perpetuate some memory of 
his native country. When Gilead was set off, the 



old name was retained by the western portion of 
the old township, and, in 1850, through the efforts 
of Thomas Sharpe, who was elected County Sur- 
veyor in 1856, the name was changed to Carding- 
ton, to correspond with the name of the post office 
and village. 

The first settlers found the township a low, wet 
tract of land, covered with a heavy growth of 
timber. Owing to the level lay of the land, the 
streams in the central part are sluggish, affording 
but little drainage, and in fact it was necessary to 
convert them into ditches before they proved of 
any advantage in this direction. Toward the east- 
ern part the land undulates slightly, and the banks 
of the Whetstone sometimes reach a height of ten 
or more feet. The latter river enters the town- 
ship on the eastern side, near the track of the 
Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis 
Railway, and, following in a general way the course 
of the railroad south to the village, it takes a sud- 
den curve to the west through Slate Banks ; passing 
through the village, and turning south again about 
the middle of the township, it passes out of its 
territory. Two streams, Big Run and Shaw 
Ci'eek, rise in the northern part of the township, 
and, passing southwest, through the central part, 
in about identica,lly the same course, about a mile 
apart, join the Whetstone, the former just west of 
the village, and the latter in Westfield Township. 
During the early settlement, these watercourses 
could hardly be called streams. They simply 
marked the low, marshy ground that existed at 
that time and which, when overcharged with 
moisture, sought this channel to feed the Whet- 
stone. In the process of cultivation, theses treams 
were converted into ditches, their channels deep- 
ened and straightened for a largi.part of their 
length, and, in the drying up of the country, they 
have taken on more of the character of creeks. 
There is but little bottom land along the 
Whetstone, nor is there much variety in the soil 
of the township. It is principally a black, sticky 
clay, requiring careful draining, and, when well 
tilled, capable of producing magnificent crops. 



V 



K* 



320 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



Drainint^ is receiving a great deal of attention from 
the fivrniers, and, as a whole, the township ranks 
very high among her sister townships in the prod- 
uct of her farms. There are some lands that 
produce as high as thirty-five or forty bushels of 
wheat per acre. Stock-raising is a prominent 
feature of this township's industries, several farm- 
ers giving almost their whole attention to growing 
pedigree stock In the northwestern part of the 
township, Capt. J. (1. Blue makes a specialty of 
thoroughbred Spanish-American merino sheep, 
possessing one of the largest flocks in the State. 
He has some $10,000 invested in this flock alone, 
and does business all over the country south and 
west. In addition to this, he pays considerable 
attention to raising fine-grade cattle of the Short- 
horn Durham breed. He also pays some attention 
to horses, making a specialty in breeding roadsters 
of the Mohawk strain. He has six brood mares 
and some fourteen head of this stock on his farm 
at present. John Sellars, in the central part of 
the township, is another prominent horse breeder. 
He has some four or five stallions, one of which, 
" Mohawk Jackson," is .showing some tine points, 
and is expected to prove of considerable value as a 
trotter. The farmers are generally well-to-do, 
have farms of larger than the average size in the 
county, which are well improved with good build- 
ings. 

Two villages have been laid out within the limits 
of the township, Fricndsboruugh and Cardington. 
The latter will form a prominent feature in an- 
other chapter ; the former can scarcely be said to 
have had any history. It was laid out on the 
projxjrty now owned by Robert Mosher, in the 
eastern part of the township, by Col. Kilbourn, of 
Worthington, in 1822. The i)lat covered three 
lots of land, the project assuming a very ambitious 
character at the very start. Asa Mosher, though 
owning the larger part of the land included in the 
plat, was not sanguine of the .success of the village, 
and when John Roy sought to buy a lot on which 
to erect a store, he refused to sell it, for fear that, 
in the event of failure, it would cut up his prop. 



erty. This was certainly the proper method to 
invite failure. Disappointed here, Roy went to 
Gilead and set up an establishment which became 
the nucleus about which the town of Mount Gilead 
gathered. A little later, however, Mosher over- 
came his scruples so far as to sell a lot to John 
Shaw, on which he built a cabinet-shop. The 
building was erected on the bank of the stream, 
with the expectation of running the machinery by 
water power, but the creek proved insufiicient for 
the purpose, and the land reverted to the original 
owner. This uncertainty on the part of ^Mosher 
undoubtedly prevented the growth of a village that 
would probably have united the power and popu- 
lation of both the rival villages of Cardington and 
Mount Gilead. 

The first permanent step toward the introduc- 
tion of civilization into this township was made in 
1814, when the surveyor, John Milligan, assisted 
by eJohn and Jacob Foust. the brothers of Jonas 
Foust, who now resides in the township, surveyed 
and blazed out the Delaware and Mansfield road. 
The road passed along where Jonas Foust now 
lives, and the party, camping there one or two 
nights, left the surveyor's name and the date on a 
tree near the camp, where it remained for years 
afterward. From this point the road approached 
the village, a little etist of the site of the railroad, 
near the gravel pit; thence, passing between the 
residences of A. Mayer and W. C. Nichols, 
through where the front yard of the Union School 
now is, it ran along the south line of Nichols 
street, and thence along the gravel road and out 
by the old toll-house. On this road the mail was 
carried on horseback as early as 1815, and many 
stories are told of the dangers by highwaymen 
and wild beasts that infested the road. Four 
years later a stage was run once a week, driven 
by a man named Brockway, but after four 
months' trial, the difficulties of the way proved 
too many, and it was discontinued. The first 
actual settlement within the present limits 
was probably made by Isaac Bunker in 1822, 
Mr. Bunker was an industrious, energetic man, 



:^< 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



321 



was educated as a mechanic, and did an extensive 
'business as wagon-maker in Vermont. It is said 
that during the last season of his stay in his native 
State he built and disposed of sixty " iron-bound " 
wagons. His growing family of boys, however, 
demanded more scope for their proper develop- 
ment and prosperity, and he determined to move 
to the West. The Benedicts, to whom he was 
related, had come to Peru during the interval of 
1809-12, and he made up his mind to follow 
them. He built a large wagon after the Pennsyl- 
vania type, bought a stage team, and, hiring an 
experienced driver to manage this four-horse power, 
he embarked his family and goods and came to 
Peru. He was not quite satisfied with the pros- 
pect here, and soon began to look about for a 
place more suitable for his projects. He went to 
the present site of Caledonia, and, selecting a suit- 
able mill-site, he prepared to set up a mill. Here 
his plans were frustrated by the petty jealousy of 
those who had preceded him at this point. They 
threatened to build a dam above where he pro- 
posed to build, and annoyed him until he sold out 
his property and left the place. While undecided 
as to his further movements, his attention was 
called to the advantages offered by the Whetstone, 
as it passed through the present site of Carding- 
ton. Examining the place with Cyrus Benedict, 
Mr. Bunker decided to settle here, and purchased 
forty acres, afterward increasing his purchase to 
160 acres, extending from where the northern line 
of the corporation now runs to about Walnut 
street on the south, and from the eastern bound- 
ary of Wolf's tannery on the east to the American 
House on the west. On the 28th of March, 
1822, Mr. Bunker came to his new purchase with 
a force of eight or ten men, chopping out a road 
from the Peru settlement as he came ; and, selecting 
a site for his cabin where the Resley House now 
stands, he began to make a " clearing." With the 
force at his command, the building of a cabin was 
short work, and on April 1, 1822, he had a home 
for his family in the forests of what is now known 
as Cardinston. In the following month the 



family, consisting of a wife and eleven children, 
came from Peru to possess their new home. His 
family established in their new quarters. Bunker 
pushed his plans with characteristic vigor, and 
soon had a log blacksmith-shop on the lot adjoin- 
ing his house lot, and a log barn located a little 
east and across the frontier road which ran along 
where Main street now furnishes an avenue for 
travel. These finished, a brush dam was built 
across the Whetstone, on the sito of the present 
structure, near the iron bridge, at the western 
end of which the framework for a saw-mill was 
erected, and a little below this a grist-mill was 
put up, being supplied with water through a short 
race. The latter was iu most demand, and was 
finished first, doing its first grinding in the fall of 
1822. The saw-mill was completed immediately 
afterward, doing business in the winter, or early 
the following spring. The buhr-stones for the 
grist-mill were cut out of a large " nigger head " 
on the Peru farm, and measured some three feet 
and ten inches in diameter. These stones were 
cut by Henry James and Slocum Bunker, and 
cost weeks of hard work. In all these enterprises 
Mr. Bunker was forced to rely on his own unaided 
resources. He was not a man of large means, but, 
with a thorough and extensive mechanical educa- 
tion, he was a carpenter, blacksmith, millwright, 
and engineer at once, and, by shrewd management 
and barter, he secured the erection of his building 
without expending any cash. A little later, he 
built a cabin on the east side of Water street, the 
lot on which it was located now being owned by 
Mrs. Corwin ; Slocum Bunker, his son, built a cabin 
on the southwest corner of the old cemetery, 
which was afterward used as a schoolhouse and 
public hall. 

At the time of Mr. Bunker's coming, there 
were no white families within the present limits 
of Cardington Township, save in the eastern part, 
near the Gilead line, where two squatters, William 
Langdon and Stephen Sherman, had raised cabins 
on the land now occupied by Robert Mosher. 
But little is known of the origin of these parties. 



:v 



HISTOKY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



:l£ 



Laiiirilon's wife died here very soon (which was 
jinibably the first event of the kind in the town- 
ship), and he left this vioinity, going "West. 
Sherman, being uliHged to move by the ))urt'ha.sers 
of tlu' land. .s(juatted again on the Singer place, 
and later succeeded in securing a little farm of 
fortv acres. Bunker's operations were well known 
ill the settlement of IVru. and created (juite an ex- 
citement among those who were not satisfactorily 
situated at that place. The natural result was 
that in the fidl of 1822 there was an extensive 
migration from that point to various parts of the 
new township. Among the earliest of those that 
came iu at this time were the Foust families. 
Jacob Foust, Jr., had come early to Peru witli his 
brother John, and came througli this locality as 
early as 1814 with the surveyor that ran 
out the Delaware and Mansfield road. Later 
their father, Jacob Foust, Sr., with the rest 
of the family, came and took up their residence in 
Peru. The family was originally from Berks Coun- 
ty, Penn., and settled first in Muskingum County. 
In 1822, desiring to find more room, they came to 
Cardington, Jacob Foust, Sr., entering a farm on 
the banks of the ^^lletstone, where Jonas now 
lives. The house, situated on the high bank of 
the creek, overlooks the long stretch of bottom 
lands lying to the north, presenting a view that is 
charming in its picturesqueness. Just west of 
this farm, near the .same stream, Jacob, Jr., 
erected his cabin, just north of the treaty line, in 
the .southwest quarter of the township. Another 
famih^ w'as that of the Elys. They came origi- 
nalh^ from Pennsylvania to Suidjury Township, in 
Delaware County, where they remained until the 
summer of 1822, when Michael, with his son Peter 
and his famil}^ came to Cardington, and entered an 
eighty -acre farm on Lot 28, east of the Fousts, where 
the elder Ely lived until his death. The farm is now 
owned by Jonathan Ke.ster. Clo.sely following this 
family, came Isaac Bowyer. It is believed that this 
family came originally from ^'irginia to J*erry 
County, and from there to where his son Isaac 
now resides. He built a saw mill on Shaw Creek 



in 1830, which he operated for some ten or fifteen 
years. The stream is sluggish, with low banks, 
and the dam backed the water up for a consider- 
able distance, and caused the water to overflow a 
number of farms, rt>sulting, it is said, in considerable 
sickness, the condition of the country being pro- 
ductive of miasmatic troubles at the time. 

Among the Peru fomilies that came about this 
time was that of John Keese. He had formerly 
been an extensive dealer in lumber in Clinton, N. 
Y., owning a considerable tract of land where 
Keeseville now stands. During the war of 1812 
he was engaged in rafting lumber to Mon- 
treal, but lost a large amount, which broke 
him up and drove him West in hope of 
repairing his fortunes. He was . an intelligent 
person and possessed something of a philosophical 
mind, but his reverses had broken him down so 
much that he never retrieved himself. He came 
early to Peru, and there married his second wife, 
the first occasion of the kind iu that township. 
On coming to Cardington, he located on a farm 
owned now by Henry W. Curl, in Section 18, in 
the western middle part of the township. He 
lived here until his death, some years after which 
event his son Richard sold to Curl and returned 
to Peru, where he died about 1875. In the early 
part of the following winter — 1822-23 — Peleg 
Bunker — whose wife was a Benedict, and had been 
the means of his coming to the early settlement 
in Peru — came to Cardington, settling on the 
land now owned by Elizabeth McKeown. He was 
originally from New York, belonged to the Society 
of Friends, and at a later day became prominent 
in the early manufacturing enterprises of the vil- 
lage. He came originally from New York State. 
Another important accession at this time was that 
of Cyrus Benedict, the founder of the Alum Creek 
settlement in Peru Township in 1809. Through 
his eiforts the colony in Peru had gained a wide- 
spread reputation for industry and morality, and his 
coming augured well for the success of the new com- 
munity. He entered the farm now owned by his 
grandsons, Cyrus E. and Sylvester Benedict, lying 



:'^ 



^'. 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



323 



on Shaw Creek, in Sections 9 and 30, in the south- 
west cornel-, just above the treaty line. In the same 
year Delano Sherman came from Junius, N. Y., 
and entered the farm where his son, Judd W. 
Sherman, now resides. In the fall of this year a 
settlement was begun just northeast of the village, 
near the Gilead line. The Quaker settlement in 
the southwestern part of Gilead Township was 
established at an early date, and it was with the 
intention of joining this community that Asa 
Mosher, with his eleven children, prepared to start 
for the West. Early in the winter of 1818, he 
started on sleds from Washington County, N. Y., 
and made good progress to the western limits of 
the State, where he was obliged to lay over for sev- 
eral days, while he waited for the family of Peleg 
Rogers to complete their preparations for emigrat- 
ing to the same place. They came as far as 
Cleveland on their sleds, but they were obliged 
here to exchange them for wagons, the far 
advance of spring making them impracticable 
for the balance of the journey. From Cleve- 
land, their route took them through Wooster, 
Fredericktown, to Gilead, arriving at the latter 
place in March, 1818. Daniel Beadle, with his 
son jMarshall, and his sons-in-law Cornelius 
Mills and John Ensley, who had started about 
the same time that Marshall did and from the same 
place, had outstripped them, making the whole 
journey on sleds, and were snugly housed near the 
Cardington line, Ensley's property, perhaps, taking 
in a part of Cardington. Robert Mosher lived at 
home with his father until the winter of 1822, when 
getting married, he went on to the place of I]nsley, 
who failed to pay for the land he had entered. In 
the following year, Robert traded his place to his 
tather for the property where he now lives, and 
moved on to it. John Boyee had entered sixty- 
seven acres here, and built a cabin, but, failing to 
pay for it, Mr. Asa Mosher, who was a man of 
considerable means, bought it and traded it to his 
son. During the year following his first arrival in 
Gilead, Asa Mosher, noticing an eligible mill site 
on the land where his grandson now lives, built a 



grist-mill on the bank of the creek, the posts of 
which still remain to mark its site. 

In 1824, Thomas Sharpe, from Pennsylvania, 
came to Cardington, and entered the farm now 
owned by Ross Greenfield. He was elected Sur- 
veyor of Morrow County, in 1856, and after his 
term of service emigrated for the West. In the 
same year, Gideon Mann came to the place now 
owned by P. T. Powers. Mann was a native of 
Rhode Island, but came at an early date to Che- 
nango County, N. Y. He was soon possessed with 
the Western fever, and felt greatly inclined to emi- 
grate to Mississippi or Missouri ; but a son-in-law, 
who had emigrated to Marlborough, in Delaware 
County, sent back such glowing accounts of the 
country there that he varied his proposed route, 
and came to Delaware County. He was at this 
point when the tide set toward Cardington, and he 
was easily carried along, but not so easily satisfied. 
He had a chronic desire to move, and only his 
financial inability prevented the realization of his 
early desire to go to the Mississippi Valley. AVill- 
iam Barnes was another new-comer of this year. 
He came from Mechanicsburg, Ohio, and entered 
the farm where Craven Jenkins now lives, which 
he afterward sold to his son-in-law and went fur- 
ther west. In 1828, Reuben Oliver came here 
from Virginia, and entered the farm now owned by 
his son, S. Johnson Oliver. In 1829, David Mer- 
rick came from Harrison County, Ohio, and en- 
tered the farm owned by William Spencer, and, 
two years later, his son-in-law, Lewis Barge, came 
to Cardington from Belmont County. The latter 
moved into Bunker's old log cabin, on Water street. 
He lived here two years, and established a wagon 
shop, when he entered the farm on which he now 
lives. Robert Maxwell came to the township in 
the same year, and, after making an eifort to buy 
out the interest of some of the earlier settlers in 
vain, he entered a large tract of land, including the 
farms owned by himself, M. L. Maxwell, Henry 
Centers and some others. He was a man of marked 
energy, of considerable means, and has directed his 
attention principally to handling stock. He now 



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324 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



lives on tlie old homestead, enjoying the ripe old 
age of ninety years. 

The coninnmity that gathered thus about the 
milling point on the Whetstone was made up 
largely from the members of the settlements in 
adjacent territory. No sooner was the " new pur- 
chase " placed upon the market than those who 
had failed to secure eligible farms, or who had con- 
tracted the habit of " going to the new country," 
pressed forward to occupy the land, in some cases 
outstripping the Government surveyors. The ear- 
liest of these ])ioneers found the woods swarming 
with game of all kinds, to which were added large 
numbers of hogs that had wandered off from the 
frontier .settlements, and had set up for themselves. 
These latter animals afforded considerable sport to 
those who delighted in adventure, and some nar- 
row escapes from injury at their tusks are related. 
Wolves were numerous, and troublesome to the 
stock of the settlers, frequently destroying calves 
and young cattle. The severity of the winter of 
1824 or 182.5 destroyed the larger part of the game 
in this vicinity. Snow fell to the depth of twenty 
inches, and a heavy crust forming on this, which 
prevented the animals from reaching the ground, 
resulted in the starvation of vast numbers of tur- 
keys, deer and hogs. The latter animals were 
found in piles, dead through starvation and cold, 
while the crust giving the lighter-footed wolf a 
cruel advantage over the deer, resulted in the 
destruction in this way of vast numbers of the 
latter animals. Among the early settlers, Jonas 
Foust was considered a great hunter and a crack 
shot. He devoted a considerable portion of his 
time to this pursuit, and added not a little to the 
limited resources of the frontier by his accom- 
plishment. Hunting at that time was something 
more than a pleasure. It was a necessity, and it 
is very doubtful whether this country could have 
been brought under cultivation, without the aid of 
game to support the family until the land proved 
productive. It is related of Jonas Foust, that, 
afler hunting all day with a " crack shot " by the 
name of Blizzard, the latter proposed to shoot at 



a mark for the hides. To this Foust readily 
assented, and the contest began. A bullet was 
shot into a tree for a mark, and five bullets were 
put into the single hole made by the first ball, 
when Blizzard's weapon hung fii'e and varied his 
ball suflicient to break the circle and defeat him. 
This would be considered very good marksman- 
ship, shooting " off-hand " at a hundred yards, in 
this day. Bee-hunting made valuable returns to 
those who were proficient in this branch of hunt- 
ing lore, a single tree often yielding as much as 
ten gallons of strained honey. The woods were 
full of bee-trees, and it is said that a barrel of 
honey could be discovered in a week, though it 
was not so easily secured. The plan adopted by 
regular hunters in this line was to provide a bait 
made up of a little honey, water, anise seed, cinna- 
mon, brandy, and " life everlasting." The latter 
was an herb that grew in certain parts of the 
country and was so necessary to success, and so 
much in demand, that the frontier stores kept it as 
a regular article of sale, and hunters would send 
as far as Mansfield to procure it. About a pint of 
this mixture was prepared at a time, and the intel- 
ligent hunter, taking a little of this liquid in his 
mouth, would spirt it upon the first bee he saw on 
a flower. The bee would at once make for its 
tree, and the others, smelling the odor, would 
follow the perfumed bee to where it would return 
for more of the attractive material. Here they 
svould find the bottle of bait uncorked, and, diving 
into it, would bear back a burden of the precious 
li({uid to their hives. The most diflicult part of 
the business would then be to track the bee to its 
stores of honey. Old hunters claim that the few 
drops of brandy to a pint of the mixture had the 
effect on the bees to cause them to fly direct to 
their trees without circling into the air, as is usual 
with them before they take their flight homeward. 
To " air-line " a bee was the test of proficiency in 
this accomplishment, and it was not all who were 
successful in this essential particular. The results 
of these expeditions, as the honey found ready 
sale at a distance, provided other necessities, or the 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



325 



commoner luxuries, besides adding something of a 
variety to the homely fare of the frontier cabin. 
Trapping was another source of income that could 
be indulged in without detracting greatly from the 
necessary work of the clearing, but, as a matter of 
fact, it was found that it required the instinct of 
the true-born hunter to accomplish any respectable 
results from this sort of hunting. There were 
few animals save " coons " that were worth the 
bait, but in some seasons these animals were so 
numerous as to prove a nuisance to the growing 
crops, and a blessing to the hunter. Gener- 
ally, however, five " coons " in a single night in 
favorable weather was a good catch. Their hides 
were worth about 25 cents apiece, and in 
this way many a frontier farmer procured the 
means to pay his taxes when all other resources 
had failed. 

When the Indians sold their claim to the lands 
north of the boundary line, they were granted the 
privilege " to fish, fowl and hunt " in the territory, 
so long as it was Grovernment land. The insecurity 
of this tenure could hardly be realized by the con- 
tracting savages, and the settlers, coming upon the 
scene almost as soon as the conditions were known, 
found them located upon the banks of the Whet- 
stone, pi'epared to enjoy the privileges conceded, 
for some time to come. On the rising ground 
where Firstenbarger's residence stands, the first 
comers found a large village of the natives. It was 
composed of huts about eight feet long, built up 
on three sides with poles, and covered with bark 
tied on with poles and thongs. Two of these huts 
faced each other, the open sides fronting the huge 
fire which was built between them. The natives 
were members of the Wyandot, Seneca and Miami 
tribes, and their custom was to come down from 
their reservation early in April or May, and stay 
until time to plant corn, when they went to their 
reservation to put in their crops. After the har- 
vest they came again for the fall hunt, and many 
of them frequently stayed all winter hunting and 
trapping. They treated the whites in the friend- 
liest manner, and were never more delighted than 



when they could induce the whites to compete with 
them in feats of strength or endurance. The 
hunters among the whites were never loath to 
engage in these contests, and were quite as often 
victors as the natives. These periodical visits of 
the Indians were kept up for twelve or fifteen 
years after the coming of the whites, but the grow- 
ing scarcity of game, and the more attractive soli- 
tudes of the " Northwestern Territory" gradually 
diminished their numbers, and they finally ceased 
their visits altogether. 

The early community that settled in Carding- 
ton was largely made up of tho^e who had known 
pioneer life in the adjacent settlements, and were 
better prepared to encounter the difficulties of 
their new home. These were not so great as those 
encountered a few years earlier, but, although not 
so completely isolated as were the earlier settle- 
ments of Delaware and Knox Counties, they experi- 
enced enough of the hardships and inconveniences 
of frontier life to impress us of a later day that it 
was a very serious business to clear up a new 
country. The nearest mills were in Marlborough 
and Peru Townships, the available tannery was 
Israel Hights, at Windsor Corners, and stores were 
only found at Delaware, Fredericktown, Mansfield 
and Marion. John Roy soon established a store at 
Mount Grilead, which with the mills established by 
Bunker relieved the settlers of the long journeys 
for the commonest necessities of life, but for salt, 
glass and iron, Zanesville still continued to be the 
only source of supply. To this point such of the 
settlers as were able to undertake the expense, 
made long pilgrimages through the woods for these 
indispensable articles. Jacob Foust, Sr., used to 
make the journey with an ox team and wagon, 
consuming about eight days on the journey, 
and bringing back four or five barrels as the 
limit of a load which could safely be put in a 
wagon for one yoke of cattle to draw. The arrival 
of such a load in a neighborhood put the whole 
population in commotion, and the salt was readily 
sold out at 15 dollars per barrel, the purchase 
consideration being paid in barter or work. These 






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326 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



journeys, until the older settlements were reached, 
were made through improvised trails through the 
woods, fre(|uently without hlazed trees for guides. 
The Delaware and Manstield road was soon 
chopped out, and a connecting link between the 
old and new land thus established. The road 
from Marion to Delaware was early blazed out in 
a unique fashion. The road had been regularly 
run out as fiir as Havens Mills, in Claridon, and 
from their Jonas Foust, who had been to mill, 
turned his horse loo.se, and following him home he 
blazed the trees with his tomahawk along the path 
his horse took. A glance at the map seems to 
indicate that much of this " horse sense " has 
become crj'Stallized in the zigzag roads that serve 
the people as avenues of travel, but at that time 
the object was not so much the directness of the 
road as the certainty of the outcome. 

In 1823, the township was organized and Asa 
Mosher, Noah White and Isaac Bunker, were elect- 
ed as first Trustees of the township ; .Slocum Bunk- 
er as the first Justice of the Peace, and Delano 
Sherman as Constable. The election was held in 
Mo.sher's mill in April, 1824. At the second 
election in the same place, politics had taken root 
in the new community, and the upper and lower 
arts of the township were divided between 
Andrew Jack.son and John Quincy Adams, and 
the result was the defeat of Mosher and Bunker 
for a second term. It is said that when the result 
was known, Mosher, with a quiet facetiousness, ad- 
dressed Bunker with — " Thee and I may go to work 
for a living now." Alexander Purvis was the sec- 
ond Constable, ajid served for years in this position. 
The second Justice of the Peace was John 8hunk, 
a position to which he was twice re-elected. In 
the mean while, improvements Averc rapidly taking 
place. In the Foust neighborhood, a horse-mill 
was put up by a Grerman named "Gatchill," about 
1824. But previous to this, and, in fact, the first 
in the township, a mill was erected by Asa Mosher 
on the Whetstone as it passes through the prop- 
erty owned by his grandson, (x. Mosher. This 
was put up in 1819, before the land was surveyed. 



The buhr stones were made out of a huge " nig- 
ger-head " found near where the iron bridge now is 
at Cardington. The stones were four-and-a-half feet 
cross, the runner bsiug eighteen inches through 
at the eye. Robert Mosher and David James 
were twenty-eight days in accomplishing this 
work, but it is said turned out " buhrs " that did 
the business equal to that in use now, though they 
could hardly be called as durable. A brush dam 
was constructed, and during the season of high 
water there w;\s a constant demand for its services. 
Persons living as far away as Bucyrus brought 
grist to the mill and were often obliged to remain 
over night, the miller dispensing a free hospitality. 
While this mill absorbed the patronage from the 
north and east, the Bunker mill received that of 
Shawtown and the west. Here the hospitality of 
the miller was frequently taxed to an extent that 
absorbed the profits of the business, but it was ex- 
tended cheei'fully as a part of the business in a 
new country. In 1823, the settlement on the 
Whetstone in Morven Township having attracted 
considerable attention by its activity, Horton How- 
ard bought, as a speculation, the property which 
afterward became known as the Gregory farm. 
Howard was a Quaker and had been a merchant in 
the village of Delaware, but was then Receiver in 
the land office located at that place. Attracted by 
the stirring activity of the new settlement, he en- 
tered into partnership with Peleg Bunker, the 
latter doing the work and Howard furnishing the 
money, and a log cabin was put up on the north 
side of the Whetstone, for the purpose of accommo- 
dating a carding machine. The dam was built 
across the river at the point where Gregory street 
first strikes the river coming from the south. 
Bunker built a cabin for his residence a few yards 
south of the bend, on the west side of the street. 
In the following year Howard came on to his prop- 
erty moving into a cabin that had been previously 
erected for him a little south and west of Bunker's. 
A frame building was erected on the other side of 
the river, at the end of the dam, and machinery 
for fulling and dressintr cloth added. At the same 



fr 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



327 



time he bought out Bunker's share in the business, 
giving him eighty acres of land. Bunker moved on 
to his new property and in a few weeks died. 
Howard continued the business for a year, but the 
land office having been moved to Tiffin he was 
obliged to remove to that place and put his carding 
business in the hands of a Mr. Phillips. He con- 
ducted the business for years, until the growth of 
the country and the improvement in manufactures 
superseded the use of these mills. In 1825, Isaac 
Bunker built a shop between his two mills, in which 
he manufactured wagons on the old Eastern plan. 
He had carried on this business to some extent in a 
part of his saw-mill before this, but, anxious to in- 
crease his trade, he built better facilities for prose- 
cuting the undertaking. Two years later, he built 
a frame foundry building on the east side of the river, 
to which he constructed a race and supplied machin- 
ery to run the bellows by water-power. It was 
what was known as a pocket furnace. Iron was 
bought at the Mary Ann fiirnace, located in Lick- 
ing County, on the Rocky Fork of the Licking 
Creek. Charcoal was the fuel used, and was made 
by Bunker, on his place. The principal business 
of the foundry was the manufacture of Jethro 
Wood's patent cast-iron plow. This was the first 
one of the kind ever patented, and, at the expira- 
tion of his patent, his heirs received $50,000 
from Congress, in lieu of a renewal. These plows 
Bunker made in considerable numbers, charg- 
ing $9 for the largest size. Andirons formed a 
conspicuous part of his manufactures, to which 
might be added fanning-mill machinery and cer- 
tain parts of saw-mill machinery. But few kettles 
were made at this foundry, as these were rather 
monopolized by the foundry in Licking County. 
In LS29. Bunker went into partnership with certain 
parties intending to undertake the manufacture of 
plows on a large scale, at Grranville, but the venture 
did not turn out well, and he lost all his property. 
He afterward went to Texas, where he died. In 
1 826, a post office was established here. Heretofore 
the community had got their mail at Westfield, 
where there was a weekly mail, or at Peru, where 



the mail came once in two weeks. This was not so 
great an inconvenience as would seem on the first 
glance, as mail was a very scarce article in the new 
settlement. A mail route had been established 
between Delaware and Mansfield, passing through 
this settlement as early as 1815, and the mail car- 
rier brought the Delaware Gazette to the few who 
could afford to take it at that time. An exception 
was made in favor of Howard, a public official, 
and the carrier was allowed to bring his mail 
from Delaware. In the year named, however, 
Howard, who it is supposed would have some 
especial influence from his connection with a 
governmental position, secured the establishment 
of an office under the name of Cardington, a name 
suggested by the manufacturing interests of the 
place. Isaac Bunker was the first Postmaster, who 
was succeeded by his son Slocum ; and he, in turn, 
by Leumas Cook, who is still a resident of the 
town. The first tannery was started about this 
time by John Thompson, on the spot where the 
store of W. H. Marvin stood. He afterward 
sold out to Peter Brown, who, after associating 
Arthur Taylor with him in the business, sold out, 
some time later, to the Odd Fellows' Society, when 
the tannery was vacated. To finish the history of 
this business, it may be said that, in 18G1, Shunk 
and W^agner built the tannery now owned by H. 
C. Wolfe, and carried it on until 1865, when it 
was sold to the present owner. In 1830, Slocum 
Bunker opened the pioneer store in the frame ad- 
dition which had been built to the old Bunker 
cabin. Three years later, he sold out to Peleg 
Mosher, and went to Mechanicsburg, Ohio. In 
1885, Benjamin Camp opened up a store on the 
Nichols place, which was the only one at that time . 
Peter Doty built the house now owned by John 
Lentz for a store, and sold goods there for a time. 
Later, Doty took John Shunk in as partner, and, 
dissolving partnership soon afterward, a new firm, 
Shunk & Wolfe, built the store in the Woodruff 
House. The lot on which the dwelling-house of 
Jes.se W. Mills now stands was the site of the first 
tavern. John Smith was the author of this 



V 



328 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY'. 



enterprise, but, like the rest of this class of business 
men, he sold out, and, in 183G, Thomas McKinstry 
presided as host, and, later, was succeeded by Mar- 
tin Brockway. The latter built the large house 
on Lot No. H, which served the public imder several 
changes of administrations, for eighteen years. In 
1850, David Mosher put up a building for hotel 
purposes on the north side of West ]Main street, on 
the lot now owned by Henry Smith. A man by 
the name of Davis entertained the public here. 
Daniel Norris succeeded him, and for a few years 
continued the business here, when he built the two 
lower stories of the Nichols House, and opened it as 
a hotel in 1 854. Three years later, J. H. Benson 
added a third story, and one room on the west 
side, which is now used as a millinery store. The 
house is now owned by W. H. Marvin and I. 
H. Pennock, and is kept by C. P. Nichols. The 
American House was built by Henry Steiner & 
Brothers, west of the railroad, near the cattle 
yards, for a warehouse, but, finding it not advan- 
tageously situated, they removed it to its present 
location and sold it. It passed into the hands of 
Leumas Cook, who sold it to W. & W. A. Hance, 
who, in 186(). raised it up and refitted it for the 
purpose for which it was at first designed. It is 
now owned and conducted by A. M. Lowe. An- 
other enterprise of the early time should not be 
overlooked. In 18H0, a public library was inaug- 
urated somewhat on the plan of modern book clubs. 
Slocum Bunker, Lewis Barge, Doctor Andrews 
and William Barnes started the project, and were 
joined by others. The books in the possession of 
each were brought together under the name of the 
Cardington Library. Slocum Bunker was its li- 
brarian for a time, and kept the books in the old 
Resley house, on Main street. T^ewis Barge then 
took them in charge, and kept them in the cabin on 
Water street, which stood on the lot now owned by 
Mrs. Corwin. Here they remained until the 
proprietors had read them all, and, there being no 
fund to buy more, the effects of the library were 
divided among the several proprietors, and the li- 
brary discontinued. 



In this chapter on the beginning of things, it 
may not be inappropriate to mention some social 
reminiscences which we give as published by 
W. C. Nichols in the Cardington Itidejjendent : 
" The first white child born in this town was 
Joseph Bunker, who died in Texas in 1841. The 
first death in the village was that of David G , a 
son of Isaac Bunker, in September, 1824, who was 
the first one buried in the cemetery on the Marion 
road. The first burial in the old cemetery was 
that of a child of Amos Casteel, and the first 
burial in the new cemetery was Mrs. Estaline, wife 
of David Armstrong, and daughter of Israel Hite. 
The oldest person buried in the old cemetery was 
Mrs. Rachel Kille, aged ninety-one years ; and 
the oldest person buried in the new cemetery was 
Mrs. Sarah Gregory, aged seventy-one years. The 
first person married, who was a resident of the town, 
was Slocum Bunker, who was united with Miss 
Matilda Wood. The first couple married, who were 
both residents of the town, were John Kesler and 
Rebecca Stout. The ceremony was performed by 
John Shunk, a Justice of the Peace, in a house 
on Water street. The first lawyer was Thomas 
McCoy, who was also the tallest man that ever 
resided in town. The first physician was Andrew 
McCluer, who came in 1836. The first resident 
minister was Charles Caddy, a Protestant Meth- 
odist, who lived in the old house down by the mill- 
race." 

Bunker's failure at Granville was complete, and 
involved the loss of his whole property at Carding- 
ton, and, on the 20th of June, 1834, the mills and 
lands were sold to Arthur Mott, of Onondaga 
County, in New York. In the following January, 
Mott articled the property to Daniel Earl and 
Adam Sherman, who sold their interest in the fol- 
lowing month to Lumas Cook. Cook, who was a 
son-in-law of John Reese, came from Rutland, 
Vt., in 1828, and lived for a year or thereabouts 
with Mr. Reese. He then moved on to the 
Howard farm, staying there two or three years, 
when he purchased what is now known as the 
" gravel-pit " farm. In February, 1835, he traded 



^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



329 



this property for Earl's interest in the Bunker 
property, and took up his residence in the old 
Resley house in March. In May, Sherman sold 
his interest to John Shunk, who came to Carding- 
ton with his family, from Fredericktown, Knox 
Co., Ohio, and moved into the house standing near 
the race. He was originally from Maryland, but 
had spent a year at the former place. Cook and 
Shunk then bought the property from Mott. In 
the following year, the new proprietors laid out a 
village on their property and named it Cardington, 
from the name of the post office, which had fur- 
nished a generally accepted name to the community 
for some years. This gave a fresh impulse to the 
growing community, and the lots found a good 
sale. The town as it now exists, has by the differ- 
ent additions covered over four of the early farms. 
Immediately west of the Bunker property was the 
Howard farm ; in the southwest quarter was for- 
merly the Grandy farm, and the southeast quarter 
was the Nichols place. At Howard's death in 
1847, the farm passed into the hands of his 
daughter, a Mrs. Little, who sold it to James 
Gregory. Mr. Gregory was a native of Cumber- 
land County, Penn., and came with his family from 
that place the same year he bought the farm. 
There were 241 acres in the property, which 
sold at $12.50 per acre. Mr. Gregory lived 
on this property for thirteen years, platting 
it and selling it as the demand warranted. He 
died in August of 1860, at the advanced age 
of sixty-four. 

What is known as the Grandy farm was patented 
by one named Haymaker, of whom but little more 
is known. It appears that the propterty was sold for 
taxes to Dorastus Chandler, who sold his title in 
1844 to William Grandy. The latter came from St. 
Lawrence County, N. Y., in 1842. Some two years 
after his purchase of this tax title, and after having 
carried on some considerable improvements, an 
elderly lady called on Mr. Grandy, representing her- 
self as a daughter of Haymaker, the original owner 
of the property, and proposing to sell her interest in 
the estate. It was further represented that the heirs 



were poor, and were willing to make favorable terms 
with the possessor of the place. Mr. Grandy was 
naturally reluctant to eater into such an arrange- 
ment, and the lady departed without having ac- 
complished her purpose. Mr. Grandys people felt 
by no means secure, knowing the feeble tenure by 
which they held their farm ; but nothing was done 
toward quieting any adverse claim. Not long 
after, Michael Vincent, a lame man, who wielded 
the pedagogue's ruler, purchased the claim of the 
Haymaker heirs for a song, and putting the matter 
in the hands of a Columbus law firm, asked but a 
third of the property recovered for his share. A 
suit was at once begun, and was in the courts for 
several years ; but in 1855, a decision, adverse to 
the Grandy claim, was reached, and he was dis- 
possessed. Vincent in the meanwhile died, and 
twenty-five acres were apportioned to his heir. This 
was bought, in 1856, by 'William and Jeremiah 
Shunk at $35 per acre. The balance of the 
farm was bought, in 1864, by Gen. John Beatty, 
and sold in small parcels. That part east of the 
railroad is now owned by Jacob Kreis, First Na- 
tional Bank of Cardington, George Kreis and T. 
D. Bradley. The Nichols farm, composed of Lots 
9, 2, 7 and 17, were secured by patent about 1806, 
signed by Thomas Jefferson, President of the United 
States, to Thomas and Margaret Henderson, for 
services rendered by their father during the Revo- 
lutionary war. It remained in their hands about 
nineteen years, when it was sold for taxes, and pur- 
chased by Daniel Earl. Five years later, Earl sold 
his title to Benjamin Camp, who improved it, built 
two log cabins, in what is now W. C. Nichol's 
orchard, established an ashery and a store. During 
his possession, Thomas Henderson came on and 
claimed the property, whereupon Camp bought 
out the claimant s interest, and that of his sister, 
for $120. In 1836, Camp sold to Samuel 
Foust and Edward Cutter. Camp, like Noah of 
antediluvian fame, was a preacher of righteous- 
ness, and, like Lorenzo Dow, obtained his licen.se 
to preach "from the court of Heaven." He is 
remembered by the older citizens as an earnest, 



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330 



IIISTOUY OF MORROW COUNTY 



conscientious man, whose whole influence was for 
good. It is rehited that one Sunday afternoon, 
when the mills were running; in full blast, the 
proprietors observed Camp going over the river to 
an old house that had boon built on the corner of 
the cemetery lot, where he used to preach, with his 
Bible under his arm. With one consent, the mills, 
were shut down and the men wont over to " attend 
church." After the .services, the worthy preacher 
thanked the men for coming to hear him, and so 
interested them that they gave up the habit of 
Sunday work and l)ecame regular attendants upon 
his services. In 1837, the property having come 
into the hands of Cutter and Casteel, the west half 
was sold to Martin Brock way, who held it until 
1853, when he sold it to W. C Nichok The 
east half was sold to IMrs. Ink, and, after passing 
from her possession through several hands, it is 
now owned by a gentleman in Columbus. The 
lot on which the union schoolhouse stands was 
originally entered by Joseph Vance, who was 
afterward, in 1830, Governor of Ohio. The land 
was aflx)rward transferred to his son, Joseph, Jr.. 
and by him was sold to Martin Brockway. In 
1853, it pas.sod by sale into the hands of W. C. 
Nichols, who now resides on this property. 

The schoolhouse early found a place in the 
community that settled Cardington Township. 
Coming largely from Peru and adjoining town- 
ships — the most of the leading men belonging 
to the Quaker society — they brought with them a 
great respect for education and tlie elevating in- 
fluence of the schoolhouse, and the community 
early set about securing its privileges for their 
cbildren. The first .school building within the 
township was built in the foil of 1823, a short dis- 
tance northeast of where Robert Mosher now lives. 
It was designed for church purposes as well as for 
school, and was built with great care. The logs 
were square and laid up in mud, rendering the 
walls air tight. It was provided with glass win- 
dows, the u.sual .school furniture of the time, and 
a stone stove. The latter was an ingenious device, 
con.structed of stone and nuid. with a huge flair 



for door, and designed to take the place of the 
usual fire-place. When once well heated, it kepi 
the room warm as an oven. The chimney began 
where the stove left off and went up througli the 
roof. This served for several years, until cracked 
by heat and racked by the careless placing of fuel, 
it became unfit for service, and one summer day it 
was, by the direction of the teacher, thrown out by 
the scholars. The names of the early teachers 
have been generally forgotten, but the name of 
Doubledee is remembered as one of the earliest. 
In the settlement on the Whetstone, the first log 
schoolhouse was put up in the woods, near where 
the woolen-factory now stands, in 1824. The site 
was chosen on account of a .spring that issued out 
of the ground just west of where the railroad track 
now runs. Slocum Bunker was the first teacher 
in this schoolhouse, and Horton Howard's daugh- 
ter Sarah was the first lady teacher. Schools 
were continued here for several years, when it was 
transferred to the cabin on the old cemetery lot, 
where James Davis taught the opening school. In 
1837, Sylvia, a daughter of Isaac Bunker, taught 
school in a house owned by Anson St. John, on 
Main street. The first frame schoolhouse was 
built in 1840, on the corner of Second and Center 
streets, directly east of Henry Prophet's residence. 
It was used for schools and served as a church for 
all denominations. It was the only schoolhouse 
in the village for fourteen years, when it was sold 
and removed. It is now used by George Dick as 
a ])akcr shop. The school house on Walnut street 
was built, in 1853, by the Lee brothers, William 
Burn*, assisted by two young ladies, teaching the 
first school. It was sold in 18ti8 to Matthias Loyor, 
and converted into a dwelling house. The new 
school building, which is an ornament to the town, 
was built in the same year. It was not without 
considerable effort that the people were united on 
the project, and even then the building contem- 
plated was much less conijtlete than was afterward 
secured. The building cost in round figures, in- 
cluding the surroundings, $40,000, and is the 
handsomest school building in the county. The 



(V 



^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



331 



grounds are laid out with fine graveled walks, fine 
ornamental shrubs and flowers render the front 
attractive and give it the air of a private enter- 
prise rather than a public school. The structure 
is 85x70 feet, three stories above the basement, 
has ten school rooms and a hall that will seat five 
hundred persons. It stands on a lot of two and a 
half acres, on the south side of Nichols street, about 
equal distance between Marion and Center streets. 
Mr. Gr. 0. Brown is the present Superintendent, 
and with his assistants presides over seven depart- 
ments. The special school district which owns and 
patronizes this school, was organized in February, 
1858, under the Akron school law. The first elec- 
tion for School Board, February 25, 1858, resulted 
in the election of the following persons: F. E. 
Phelps and A. H. Grreen, for one year; Daniel 
Weider, and John Shur, for two years; William 
Shunk and C. P. Shur, for three years. D. Rees 
was employed by the Board at $500 per year, and 
Miss Elizabeth Moore as the assistant for $28.50 
per month. The present Board is made up as fol- 
lows: A. H. Grrant, President; C. F. Leutz, Treas- 
urer; Dr. J. L. Williams, Secretary, and Greorge 
Dawson, A. Mayer and Gr. W. Bell. The statis- 
tics of the special district are as follows : 

Balance on hand September!, 1878 $ 1,707.09 

Amount of State tax received 715.50 

Local tax for schools and school houses 4,842.73 

Total amount paid teachers in the past year... 2,770 50 

Number of schoolhouses 1 

Value of school property 50,000.00 

Teachers employed 7 

Average wages paid — gents, $100 and $-35 ; lady $30 
Enrollment of scholars — boys, 164; girls, 143 307 

Average daily attendance — boys 137 ; girls, 107 244 

Balance on hand September 1, 1879 $2,058.74 

The society of Friends has long been noted for its 
Antislavery principles, and the fugitive slave found 
no warmer or more self-forgetful friends than among 
the Quakers. Their presence in this township, 
therefore, was the signal for the coming of these 
fugitives, and the underground railroad was soon 
an established institution in the early commu- 
nity settled here. The first runaways came to the 
Mosher place about 1819. Some four or five ne- 
groes, who had made their escape from Kentucky, 



arrived there during the night and stayed till quite 
late the next day. They were closely pursued by 
their masters, and were found at their place of 
refuge by several heavily armed men, who claimed 
to arrest them for theft. The people were taken 
off their guard, and inexperienced as they then 
were, allowed them to be carried off. These were the 
only ones ever recaptured, though many were passed 
through this point from one station to another. 
One night after the midnight hour a neighbor 
came to Robert Mosher with the information that 
there were eighteen negroes to be cared for, and 
nine were assigned him for safety. He needed no 
second bidding, and in an hour they were on their 
way to a land where colored men were free. After 
the building of the railroad advantage was ta- 
ken of this means of transportation 'though great 
care had to be exercised in selecting a train on 
which the conductor was favorably disposed. On 
one occasion, a party had been put on board, and 
the person in charge of the company was congratu- 
lating himself that a great step had been accom- 
plished, when some fellow on the train, recognizing 
the character of the business, spoke up, " That's 
my girl." The alarm was taken at once, and, 
without considering the consequences, the whole 
party in a stampede jumped off the train, though 
it was at that time leaving the depot at considerable 
speed. It turned out to be nothing but a practical 
joke on the part of the traveler, but it seriously 
interrupted the journey of the fugitives. At 
another time, the Mosher family was thrown into 
considerable confusion by the approach of two 
Kentuckians, with cattle, desiring to find accommo- 
dations for their cattle and themselves. It happened 
that Mosher had been to the depot that day, and 
one of his friends had imprudently asked before a 
stranger, how business on the underground road 
was flourishing. In one of the drovers, Mr. Mosher 
recognized the stranger who had overheard the 
conversation, and at once formed the conclusion 
that he was there for spying purposes. He was 
happily disappointed, however, and though under 
the circumstances he felt obliued to entertain the 



>\ 



332 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



strangers suffered no inconvenience fi*om their stay^ forwarded to Port Huron or Sandusky, where 
save a lecture on tlie sacredness of the in- I a schooner took them and transferred them to 
stitution of slavery. The slaves were generally Canada. 



C H A 1' T E R Y 1 1 1 . 

CARDINGTON TOWNSHIP— THE RAILROAD— INCORPORATION OF THE VILLAGE— ADMINISTRA- 
TION— ADDITION TO PLAT— BUSINESS ENTERPRISES AND MANUFACT- 
URES—CHURCHES—BENEVOLENT SOCIE- 
TIES—CEMETERIES. 



THE traveler, crossing the State on the Cleve- 
land, Columbus, Cincinnati, & Indianapolis 
Railway, passes through but one village in Morrow 
County, and that is Cardington. This is a village 
of 1 ,362 inhabitants, by the census of the present 
year; it is situated in the southeast corner of the 
township of the same name, ninety-eight miles 
southwest of Cleveland and thirty-eight north of 
Columbus. Its latitude is 40 i° north, and about 
6° west longitude. A line drawn from Cincinnati, 
the metropolis of the State, to Cleveland, the sec- 
ond city, passes through the village; another line, 
drawn from the northwest corner of the State to 
Marietta in the southeast, the oldest city, will cross 
the first line in Cardington ; so that, like the city 
of Duluth, " it is supposed to be so exactly in the 
center of the visible universe that the sky comes 
down at the same distance all around it." But 
this is the village of to-day. Forty years ago, it 
ranked below the village of Woodbury, and was 
called a town only as a matter of courtesy. A 
straggling collection of dwellings at the east end of 
town, that in 1836 counted only six dwellings, with 
the saw and grist mills, and the carding-mill and 
two cabins at the west end, marked the site of Card- 
ington. One street wound along the river bank 
from the ford at the site of Bunker's mill to the 
carding-mill, and then on to the Delaware road. 
Where Main crosses Marion street, a "cat-tail 
swamp " barred the way, ami a single tavern and store 



represented the hospitality and commercial enter- 
prise of the place. But little remains now to point 
out the changes that have been made since that day. 
Here and there about town some old structure is 
pointed out beneath its modern disguise as one of the 
land-marks of that time. There is the old water-mill, 
built in 1840 by Shunk & Wolfe, with the same 
old building, but containing such improvements in 
machinery as would be likely to confound the early 
proprietors. The house on the race, back of E. 
AVinebar's, is another relic of the early times, and 
about which cluster the memories of the earliest 
settlers, while those owned by John Leutz, and 
Andrew Grant have witnessed the changes from a 
time scarcely less early. The stable of C. P. 
Nichols has had a varied existence. Built in 1839 
for a stable by Martin Brockway, it stood on the 
south side of Second street, opposite John Sander- 
son's livery stable. In 1852, Leumas Cook bought 
it, and, moving it to where Harvey Bunker's livery 
stable stands, converted it into a grist-mill, apply- 
ing the first steam power ever used in the town. 
After serving in this capacity for eight or ten years, 
it was sold again and resumed its character of sta- 
ble, and is now occupied for livery purposes. Of 
those who were actors upon the scene at that time, 
there are twelve persons remaining. Jjcumas Cook 
and wife, Mrs. Hannah Brockway, Mrs. Anna 
Wolfe, Julia Hartsock, Thomas C. Thouipson, 
Dubois St. John, Sarah A. Bailev, Marv Badirer, 



f 









^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



335 



Mary Long, Mrs Harriet Prophet, and Elihu Bun- 
ker. 

The Bunker property remained in the hands of 
Cook and Shunk two or three years, when in 1836 
they laid out the town. They soon after dissolved 
partnership, Cook retaining the village property 
and Shunk taking the mills and water privileges. 
In 1839, Charles H. Wolfe came here from Mary- 
land with his wife and child, and purchased an in- 
terest in the mills with Shunk, a partnership that 
terminated only with the death of Mr. Shunk in 
18G-4. Three years before the coming of Wolfe, 
Thomas C. Thompson came from the same State, 
a young unmarried man, and set up a carriage-shop. 
A year later, having established himself in his busi- 
ness, he returned to Maryland and brought back 
the sister of John Shunk as his wife. In 1837, 
Anson St. John came here, a widower with three 
children, and established a cabinet-shop on the 
bank of the river in the east part of town. Here 
he manufactured the first furniture made in the 
place, and carried a stock of goods that was the 
pride of the town. A lathe run by horse power 
was one of his conspicuous advantages over com- 
petitors in the surrounding country, giving his 
work a superior finish and his shop greater facili- 
ties that told on the customer. But, notwithstand- 
ing these additions, the town made but a very small 
show for a city. Up to the coming of the railroad, 
the place exhibited no particular vitality, and, in 
fact, was rather retrograding. Chesterville at that 
time was the metropolis of the county, with a lively 
struggle between Mount Gilead and Cardington 
for second place. The nearest point to secure sup. 
plies was at Mansfield, which was then the ter- 
minus of the old Mansfield railroad. Here, whoever 
had bu.^iness to that place, put on what goods they 
could haul and brought them back to his neighbors. 
A small tin-shop owned and run by Dubois St. John 
got all of its supplies here, going over eighteen or 
twenty miles for the little sti fi" he found sale for in 
the way of his trade. In 1848, came the formation 
of the county, and with it a "boom" for Mount Gil- 
ead, making it in a short time the most important 



village in the county. At this time the Scriptural in- 
junction, "Let him that standeth take heed lest he 
fill " would have served the county seat an excellent 
purpose if it had been heeded. The building of the 
new railroad was projected, and soon took shape, so 
that the village was asked to subscribe for the enter- 
prise. Fifty thousand dollars worth of stock was 
at once taken and the line surveyed out. At this 
juncture the managers, desiring to make sure 
against any failure on the part of the subscribers, 
came to Mount Gilead, as to other places, to get 
security for the subscriptions before the work was 
begun. The parties there, feeling sure that the 
road would go through, temporized and failed to 
give the desired guarantees, and the railroad mag- 
nates left, in no amiable mood. Coming to Car- 
dington they stopped with John Shunk, who was 
a man of shrewd intellect and kept hotel. The 
town had but little means and could not compete 
with the county seat in subscription, but Shunk 
suggested that if they would follow the line sur- 
veyed in 1830, for the Ohio Canal, which passed 
about two miles west of Mount Gilead, they would 
save nearly as much as they had subscribed. 
This suggestion fell upon willing ears, and the 
line was laid out in that way. One day, it is said, 
some Gilead parties were in Cardington, and, .notic- 
ing some men working along the proposed route 
through town, inquired what was going on. " That 
is the line of the new railroad," was the reply. 
The astonishment and chagrin of the man from 
Gilead was all that their rivals could have asked. 
Great eflPorts were made to counteract the efiects 
of their short-sighted policy, bvit it was in vain, 
and Cardington gained what was far more valuable 
to her interests than the seat of justice. During 
the year 1850, the work on the road was rapidly 
pushed and finally completed, so that the first 
train passed over the road in January, 1851. Ii"a 
and George Nichols, of this village, contracted for 
and built several sections of the road, along whore 
it passes Levering Station. There was a good 
deal of hard feeling expressed over the failure of 
Mount Gilead, and some of the farmers did all 



liL^ 



336 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



they eoukl ajraiust yit-'Wiug the right of way. 
When the Niehcils Bros, were ready to break 
ground about Levering, a farmer defied them to 
tO-ieh his fence, and threatened to shoot the first 
one who molested his property. The men were 
ordered to proceed, and several sprang to the fence, 
teimng it down in a trice. The irate farmer, find- 
ing himself in the hands of a determined and 
numerous enemy, took counsel of his discretion 
and deserted the field without a sliot. In Febru- 
ary, 1851, the trains ran regularly through the 
village, and in about a year the first railroad 
smash-up occurred within the limits of the town. 
A freight train, that had got behind time, was 
making every eftbrt to uiake up, when a young 
bull was observed on the track, apparently deter- 
mined to keep his po.sition. The conductor was 
on the engine, consulting with the engineer as to 
the best course to pursue. The engine had no 
" cow-catcher," but it was decided, under the cir- 
cumstances, to try conclusions with his bullship. 
The result was unexpected and disastrous to both 
parties. The collision was announced with a 
crash that in the still evening air was heard at 
Woodbury, a distance of nine miles. Nineteen 
freight cars were demolished, the conductor thrown 
under the machinery and both legs cut off, and 
travel stopped for a number of hours. The conductor 
afterward died from his wounds. The company 
owns twelve acres of land, and one of the finest 
ilepot grounds along their line. Two hundred and 
fifty maple-trees were set out by the citizens, that 
have gradually grown into a park that elicits the 
unbounded admiration of travelers through the 
village. Tile road has five water-tanks, with a 
capaf^ity of fifty barrels each, a steam pump, and 
good facilities for weighing stock. The valuation 
of the road for taxable purposes is, in the town- 
ship, $46,G2S. in the corporation, S25,9G8. and in 
the school district, SKJ.OOd. making a total of 
S88,5!tl. 

The advantages of the railroad were not at once 
apparent. There was a slow improvement observ- 
able, but it was not until about the opening of the 



war that any marked growth could be seen. A 
movement was made in 1854 to incorporate the 
village, but the petition received such vigorous op- 
position that it was defeated. Three years later, 
F. E. Phelps and Gen. John Beatty headed a pe 
tition signed by one hundred and eleven other 
citizens, and the incorporation of the village was 
eftected. The original plat of the village included 
the territory on both sides of Main street, from the 
alley at Shur's brick store, east to the river ; also be- 
tween Second and Walnut streets, from the alley east 
of F- li. Cunningham's dwelling, east to the river. 
In 1849, John Thompson platted twenty-nine lots ; 
six on Main street, from Marvin's to Shur's store ; 
six fronting on Marion street, extending from Sec- 
ond to Walnut street ; eleven on Second street, ex- 
tending east to Center street, and six fronting on 
Walnut street, extending east to the alley between 
Gr. R. Cunningham's house and shop. In June, 
1849, Leumas Cook added nine lots, lying on the 
north side of Main street, extending from the 
Nichols House west to the American House in- 
clusive. In the following year. Cook made a sec- 
ond addition of eleven lots, on the south side of 
Main street, between Marion and Depot streets, and 
south to Second street. In June, 1852, Cook 
made a third addition, of fifteen lots, consisting of 
the territory bounded north by Second street, east 
by Marion, south by Walnut, and west by Depot 
street. In 1851, James Gregory added to the 
town forty-eight lots, including the territory ex- 
tending west from the American House on both 
sides of Main street to Third street. In the same 
year, George Nichols added eleven lots, south of 
Walnut street, and west of Center street, the 
Methodist Episcopal Church standing on the cor- 
ner lot. 

The petition praying for the incorporation sets 
forth the following description of the proposed 
boundaries of the village : " Commencing at the 
southeast corner of the depot grounds of the C, 
C. & C. Railroad ; thence west with said grounds 
to the southwest corner of said grounds ; thence 
northerlv vvith said line to the southern line of 



;rv 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



337 



Center street, in Grregory's Addition to the village 
of Cardington ; thence westerly on the south line 
of said street to the northwest corner of Lot 191 of 
said addition ; thence northerly along the west line 
of lots numbered 154 and 145 to a point immedi- 
ately north of said lot numbered 145 to the north 
side of the street running parallel with Whetstone 
Creek ; thence easterly with said north line to a 
point immediately north of the northwest corner 
of Lot No. 99, Cook's Addition to the village of 
Cardington ; thence northerly across said creek 
along the east line of the lands of James Gregory, 

Sr., to wit : Lots No. , Section No. 22, Range 

No. 17, in Township No. 6, to the northeast corner 
of said lot to a stone in the road ; thence easterly 
with the lands of Leumas Cook, to wit : Lot No. 
— , Section No. 22, Range 17, Township No. 6, to 
a point on the east side of the railroad line ; thence 
southerly with the east line of said railroad to the 
northwest corner of Lot No. 19 ; thence east to the 
northeast corner of said lot ; thence southerly with 
the east line of said lot to the southeast corner of 
said lot ; thence easterly with the north line of Lot 
No. 20 to the northeast corner of said lot ; thence 
along the east line of Lot No. 20 in a southerly direc- 
tion to a point on the north side of the creek ; 
thence easterly on the north side of Whetstone 
Creek to the northwest corner of John Rusley's 
lot. No. 34 ; thence easterly along the north side 
of Lot No. 34 to the southeast corner of Lot No. 
33 (graveyard) ; thence northerly to the north- 
west corner of said lot ; thence easterly on the 
north line of Lot No. 33 to the northeast corner of 
said lot ; thence easterly parallel with the north 
line of Lot No. 33 till the line intersects the east 
line of Isaac Lee's lot ; thence sixty feet east ; 
thence southeasterly on a line at right angles with 
the Mansfield road to a point on the northwest line 
of said road ; thence southwesterly on the north- 
westerly line of said road to a point at the southeast 
corner of Lot No. 35 ; thence southerly across said 
road along the east line of Lot No. 37 to a stone 
in the creek, being the southeasterly corner of said 
lot ; thence southwesterly across the creek in a 



direct line to the northwest corner of the junction 
of the Chesterville road with Nichols street, in W. 
C. Nichols' Addition to the village of Cardington ; 
thence southerly along the east line of Lot No. 8, 
Range — , Township 6, to the southeast corner of 
said lot ; thence westerly along the south line of 
said lot to the northwest corner of Lot No. 9 ; 
thence directly across Marion street to the west 
side thereof; thence northerly along the west side 
of Marion street to a point immediately west of 
the northwest corner of F. E. Phelps' lot, being a 
part of said Lot No. 8 ; thence in a direct line to 
the southeast corner of the depot grounds of the 
C, C. & C. R. R., being the place of beginning." 
In the following year, W. C. Nichols made an addi- 
tion of twenty-eight lots lying on both sides of 
Nichols street, between Center and Water streets. 
Three years later, James Gregory's administrator 
made a second addition, platting twenty-two lots 
lettered from A to V, and covering the territory 
extending south from Walnut street to the boun- 
dary line, and west from Hiram Kern's to Depot 
street. In 18G4, W. C. Nichols added fourteen 
more lots lying on both sides of Center street, south 
of Nichols street. Two years later, Levi Reichel- 
derfer added to the town, on the Gregory property 
north of the river, twenty-seven lots, and the same 
year he added sixteen more lots lying west of the 
first ones platted. In the same year, Morgan Payne 
added sixteen lots between Reichelderfer's addition 
and the river. In 1867, there were three additions 
to the village : Seventeen lots lying directly west 
of the freight house of the railroad, by John 
Beatty ; eight lots east of the river east of Gilead 
street, by T. D. Bradley, and five lots on 3Iarion 
street, by S. P. Brown. In 1869, the Gregory 
heirs added seventy-three lots to the town, extend- 
ing west from Third street to the corporation line, 
and from the river on the north to the Greenville 
treaty line on the south. In 1872, the Beatty 
Bros, added sixteen lots on the south side of Ches- 
ter street. Lewis Mulford added eighteen kits 
between Center and Water streets, and between 
Walnut and Boundary streets, but the date is not 



T^ 



<a k^ 



338 



HISTOKY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



known. The same is true of five lots on Main 
street, added by Shunk, Wolfe & Godman. Tn 
August, 1871, the limits of the village were again 
extended, taking in the territory now belong- 
ing to the village. The territory thus included 
within the limits of the village forms a rect- 
angular body about a mile each way, con- 
taining about seven hundred acres of land. 
It will be observed that by various additions, the 
village has gradually extended over the Gregory, 
Grandy and Nichols farms. The two latter were 
originally in Delaware County, and were a part of 
that county until 18-48, when Morrow was formed. 
The Greenville treaty line, which marked the limit 
of Delaware on the north, passes through the 
village from the east, running south eighty de- 
grees west, passing through Boundary street, 
between the residences of Prof G. 0. Brown and 
W. H. Marion, to the west line of the corporation 
at the southwest corner of Gregory's latest addi- 
tion to the village. 

The first efl'ort at public improvement was a 
sidewalk consisting of a single plank in width, 
laid down on the south side of Main street, from 
the railroad to the old Christian Church, on the 
corner of Water street. This was the result of 
private enterprise, and accomplished at private 
expense. This was in 1852. Three years later, 
the first regular sidewalk was laid by J. H. 
Fiedler, in front of the lot now owned by Charles 
Lentz, on Main street. This walk consisted of 
sawed ties placed closely together, which formed a 
substantial, if not an economical, walk. The task 
of grading the town and making the streets pre- 
sentable, was not a light one. The surface sloped 
from the east and south, leaving what is now the 
business center of the town covered with swamp 
and water. Where the National Bank building 
stands, was in 1852 a pool of water deep enough 
for the boys in the village to swim in, and it was 
situated far enough out in the suburbs to answer 
that purpose. No general effort was made to 
establish a grade for the streets until about 1868. 
Provisions for draining the streets were made. 



however, as early as 1861. In that year it was 
required of lot owners, that a gutter or sluice 
should be made in front of each lot. Curbstones 
were to be put in, and the sluice-way, commencing 
two inches from the top of the curb, should extend 
three feet toward the center of the street, and have 
a depth of eight inches below the curb. This 
was to be paved with stone. In 1867, it was 
required by ordinance that " the several owners of 
lots and parts of lots abutting on Main street, 
commencing at the west end of the bridge on the 
north end of Water street, thence west to the 
corporation line; and the several owners of lots 
and parts of lots abutting on Marion street, com- 
mencing at the south end of the bridge, thence 
south to the old boundary line," to grade and 
pave their sidewalks with good hard-burnt brick or 
smooth-cut stone, and to macadamize the street 
with fine-pounded sandstone or limestone. This 
was readily undertaken by the property holders, 
for the village was then experiencing a great 
•' boom " of prosperity. Sandstone was hauled 
from the quarries five miles east of the village, 
and the work completed that year. Since 
then, the work has been pushed until all the 
streets of the town have been provided with 
wooden, stone or brick pavements. The only 
attempt at sewerage is on the railroad lot and on 
Marion street. The natural advantages for such 
improvement are excellent, but the village has 
never felt the necessity for sewers save in the two 
instances. The one leading out from the railroad 
grounds was constructed in 1866, is about three 
feet in diameter, and empties into the river. The one 
in Marion street extends south to the Enterprise 
Block, and is made of tile about eighteen inches 
in diameter. These are properly drains, as they 
perform no part of the duty of a sewer proper. 
In 1866, an effort was made to secure the lighting 
of the streets, but the Council did not see fit to adopt 
such an advanced position. A compromise, how- 
ever, was effected, by which those who desired the 
lamps, bought them, and the Council kept them 
lighted. In this way the village is provided with 



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^ 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



339 



twenty-nine coal-oil lamps, but few of which 
are now in use. The public buildings of 
the village consist of the engine house and 
council room combined, and the lock-up. The 
former was built in 1874. It is a small brick 
structure about twenty by twenty-five feet, and 
two stories high. The lower room is devoted 
to the engine, and the upper to the Council. A 
wooden "lean-to " on the north side shelters the 
hook and ladder truck. The " lock-up" is a wooden 
shed with grated windows and doors, the whole 
presenting the appearance of a well-regulated 
calf-pen. The history of this public edifice is 
somewhat varied. A " lock-up" was one of the 
earliest institutions, but the one best remembered 
is that building constructed of plank and driven 
full of nails, that stood on the bank of the creek 
east of town. In 1873, this was sold and the 
present calaboose erected. 

The fire department was organized in 1874. 
Fires were almost unknown during the first 
years, and, though considerable apprehension 
was felt that a time would come which would 
more than ofi"set their good fortune, nothing 
was done by the village toward protecting 
property against fire. Seven thousand dollars 
would, probably, cover the whole loss by fire 
during the first fifty years of the town s his- 
tory. In 1856, Joseph Whistler had a small 
house burned; in 1865, William Cunningham had 
a blacksmith-shop burned ; in the following year, 
Louis Mayer had a fire in his dry-goods store ; 
in 1870, S. W. Gregory and Dr. T. P. Glidden 
each lost a house ; and in 1871, a millinery store 
was burned. After this period, the fires seem to 
grow more destructive. In 1874, William Shunk's 
store, with three other storehouses, including the 
Bank Building, were destroyed, involving a loss 
of $8,000; in November, 1875, G. R. Cunning- 
ham's establishment was consumed, involving a 
loss of about $20,000, and two days later the 
barns of what is now the Nichols House were 
burned. The fires of 1874 made a valuable im- 
pression upon the council and community. Four 



of the Babcock extinguishers had been purchased, 
heretofore, and, the people knowing that every- 
thing depended upon their promptness, most of 
the fires had been put out before they got under 
headway. But the fire of 1874 showed them 
that they were completely at the mercy of the 
flames, if once they got started, and it seemed 
altogether likely that they might pay for their care- 
lessness in not providing for an engine, by the loss 
of the whole business part of the town. The re- 
sult was, that in December, 1874, a No. 3 Silsby 
Fire Engine, with two hose reels and 1,200 feet of 
rubber hose, was purchased at a cost of $6,000. 
A hook and ladder truck was bought, which, 
with its belongings, cost some $300. The Fire 
Department is composed of the engine company, 
fifteen men, two reel companies of fifteen men 
each, and the hook and ladder company of thirty 
men. The ofiicers are J. S. Peck, Chief of De- 
partment ; Addison Sharpe, Captain of Engine ; 
John Kreis, Captain of the Hook and Ladder ; 
Stephen St. John, Captain Reel No. 1 ; C. D. 
Lamprecht, Captain Reel No. 2. The engine is 
provided with conveniences for attaching horses, 
and during the season of heavy roads this attach- 
ment is put on, and arrangements made at the 
livery stable to secure a team when needed. For 
the protection of the business part of the town, 
the machine is not moved out of the building. 
Beneath the engine is a tank supplied with water 
from the race, and it is practically inexhaustible. 
The situation of the engine-house near the center 
of the business part of the town renders this plan 
feasible. It is a suggestion of the chief of the 
department, and by this plan he claims to get the 
steam up quicker, the hose is laid at the moment 
of alarm, and all delay caused by moving the 
steamer avoided. Five cisterns or wells supply 
water for the purposes of the department. These 
are bricked or planked up, and furnish a supply 
sufficient for all demands thus far. There are two 
places where water may be drawn direct from the 
river, on the iron bridge, and in the west part of 
the village, where facilities have been provided on 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



the bank of the river. The members of the 
department were at one time provided with a uni- 
form, but the frequent changes in the member- 
ship, and the wear and tear of service have long 
since spoiled its effect, and it has been abandoned. 

The early records of the Common Council 
have been partially lost, but enough remains in 
the recently published book of ordinances to satisfy 
one that their labors have not been arduous, nor 
especially memorable. There has been no occa- 
sion for great display of statesmanship or financial 
ability. No great undertaking has been engaged 
in, and, save in the matter of grading the streets 
and the purchase of the engine, no considerable 
expenditure has ever been made, or bonds nego- 
tiated. The village is now nearly out of debt, and 
that without excessive taxation. The officers first 
elected were a Mayor, Recorder, Treasurer, Mar- 
shal and five Councilmen, until 1870, when the 
number of the latter was raised to six. An engin- 
eer was appointed, in 1858 a Street Commissioner 
was added, and in 1861 the office of engineer abol- 
ished. In 1866 a Health Officer was made a reg- 
ular part of the administration, to be abolished in 
the following year. In 1878 the offices of Street 
Commissioner and City Solicitor were established, 
though the former seems to have been a regular 
member of each administration since 1858. The 
list of officers since the incorporation of the 
village is as follows : 

1857 — Mayor, John Shur; Recorder, Robert 
Johnson ; Treasurer, John Beatty ; Engineer, 
Simon Rosenthal ; Marshal, D. B. Peck. Council- 
men — G. VV. Stark, J. C. James, James Gregory, 
Jr., Jeremiah Shunk, Levi Maxwell. 

1858 — Mayor, Daniel Wieder ; Recorder, A. 
C. Shur;' Treasurer, John Beatty ; Jlngineer, 
Simon Rosenthal ; Marshal, W. T. Armstrong ; 
Street Commissioner, George Miller.^ Council- 
men— G. W. Stark, J. C Goodman, A. W. Bart- 
lett, D. L. Swingley, James Gregory, Jr. 

1859 — Mayor, Charles Maxwell ;' Recorder, 

1 Resigned, and Jeremiah Shunk appointed to fill the vacancy. 

2 Kesigned, and C. P. Shur appointed to fill the vacancy. 

3 Resigned, and T. W. McCoy appointed to fill vacancy. 



James W. Likens ; Treasurer, F. E, Phelps ;^ Engin- 
eer ( record lost) ; Street Commissioner ( record 
lost) ; Marshal (record lost). Councilmen — G. W. 
Stark, William Shunk, A. W. Bartlett, Stephen 
Brown, Samuel Cook. 

1860 — Mayor, Daniel Norris; Treasurer, 
W. F. Armstrong. The rest of the record is 
lost. 

1861 — Mayor, John Andrews; Recorder, Har- 
los Ashley f Treasurer, A. H. Shunk ; Engineers 
(dropped) ; Street Commissioner, Wm. Lam- 
precht ;■' Marshal, J. Hughes. Councilmen — A. 
H. Shunk, J. L. Dana, Wm. Lamprecht, J. W. 
Marvin, G. R. Cunningham. 

1862— Mayor, J. C. Godman ; Recorder, 0. 
W. Cadwallader ; Treasurer, David Armstrong, 
Jr. ; Street Commissioner, W. C. Nichols ; Mar- 
shal, W. A. Cunningham.* Councilmen — J. C. 
Ward, W. C. Nichols, S. Brown, David Arm- 
strong, Jr., I. N. Burt. 

1863 — Mayor, John Andrews ;•' Recorder, David 
Wagner ; Treasurer, A. C. Shur ; Street Commis- 
sioner, W. C. Nichols; Marshal, C. R. More- 
house. Councilmen — M. L. Mooney, A. H. 
Grant, A. C. Shur, A. H. Green. 

1864— Mayor, W. C. Nichols; Recorder, F. 
L. Wallace;" Treasurer, A. J. Blake;" Marshal, 
W. H. Conklin ; Street Commissioner, S. Brown ; 
Councilmen — A. J. Blake, D. Wagner, A. H. 
Green, T. H. Ensign, Arthur Taylor." 

1865— Mayor, W. C. Nichols; Recorder, H. 
H. Sterner ; Treasurer, A. J. Blake ; Street Com- 
missioner, G. W. Bell ; Marshal, W. A. Conklin. 
Councilmen— A. J. Blake, F. E. Phelps, A. K. 
Earl, D. Wagner,'' J. Richards.'' 

1866 — Mayor, W. C. Nichols; Recorder, Charles 
B. Lindsay;"* Treasurer, M. L. Mooney; Street 
Commissioner, G. W. Bell ; Marshal, F. M. Sar- 

1 Keaigned and J. remiah Shunk appointed to fill vacancy. 

2 Resigned, and 0. W. Cadwallader appointed to fill vacancy. 

:i Resigned, and G. W. Stark appointed to fill vacancy. Stark 
also resigned, and A. H. Green was appointed to fill vacancy. 

4 Resigned, and Daniel Benson appointed to fill vacancy. 

5 Resigned, and S. Brown appointed to fill vacancy. 

G Resigned, and H. H. Sterner appointed to fill vacancy. 

7 Resigned, and F. E. Phelps appointed to fill vacancy. 

8 Resigned, and J. S. Peck appointed to fill vacancy. 

'.I Resigned, and Jacob Demuth appointed to fill vacancy. 
10 Resigned, and H. S. Green appointed to fill vacancy. 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



341 



geant ;' Health Officer, Dr. A. S. Weatherby; 
Councilmen — F. E. Phelps, M. L. Mooney ; J. S. 
Peck,' T. H. Ensign, A. H. Grant.^ 

1867— Mayor, 6. P. Stiles ; Recorder, H. S. 
Green ; Treasurer, Z. L. White ; Street Commis- 
sioner, G. W. Bell ; Marshal, Samuel Shoemaker. 
Councilmen— Z. L. White, T. E. Duncan, G. R. 
Cunningham, S. W. Gregory, J. W. Marvin. 

1868— Mayor, J. B. Clark ; Recorder, R. M. 
Underwood ; Treasurer, S. W. Gregory ; Street 
Commissioner, G. W. Bell;* Marshal, J. R. 
Brown '■' Councilmen — S. W. Gregory, E. 
Weatherby, D. St. John, W. Shunk,« E. Burt. 

1869— Mayor, W. C. iNichols; Recorder, H. 
H. Pollock ; Treasurer, J. S. Peck ; Street Com- 
missioner, A. H. Green ; Marshal, W. H. Van- 
Horn. Councilmen — J. S. Peck, T. H. Ensign, C. 
W. Case, L. F. Hager, A. H. Grant. 

1870— Mayor, A. K. Karl; Recorder, G. H. 
Wright; Treasurer, D. St. John; Street Com- 
missioner, G. W. Bell ; Marshal, A, J. Shoemaker. 
Councilmen— C. W. Case, E. Bart, S. W. Greg- 
ory, John Sanderson, B. B. Crane, R. F. 
Chase. 

1871— Mayor, A. K. Earl;" Recorder, G. H. 
Wright; Treasurer, D. St. John; Street Com- 
missioner, D. C. Peck ; Marshal, John Trvin.-' 
Councilmen — D. C. Peck,'' B. B. Crane, John 
Bayer, John Sanderson, G. R. Cunningham, E. 
Winebar. 

1872 -Mayor, S. Brown ; Recorder, G. M, 
Brown ;'" Treasurer, D. St. John ; Street Com- 
missioner," D. C. Peck ; Marshal, A. Van Horn. 
Councilmen — M. Lewis, E. Bart, John Bayer, 
E. Winebar, E. S. Badger, G. R. Cunningham. 

1873 — Mayor, S. Brown;'-' Recorder, J. San- 
derson, Jr. ; Treasurer, D. St. John ; Street Com- 

1 Resigned, and W. A. Conklin appointed to fill vacancy. 

2 Resigned, and Thos. E. Duncan appointed to fill vacanc}'. 

3 Resigned, and Z. L. White appointed to fill vacancy. 

4 Resigned and Sam'l Benson appointed to fill vacancy. Benson 
resigned and Bell was appointed to fill vacancy. 

5 Resigned and George W Reed appointed to fill vacancy. 

6 Resigned and John Andrews appointed to fill vacancy. 

7 Resigned and S. Browu appointed to fill vacancy. 

8 Resigned and A. C. Galpin appointed to fill vacancy. 

9 Resigned and Morgan Lewis appointed to'fill vacancy. 

10 Resigned and W. H. Cordrey appointed to fill vacancy. 

11 Resigned and Lester Bartlett appointed to fill vacancy. 

12 Resigned and D. C. Peck appointed to fill vacancy. 



missioner, Lester Bartlett;^ Marshal, H . Van Horn. 
Councilmen — E. S. Badger, A. J. Pittenger, E. 
Winebar, C. W. Case, G. R. Cunningham,' J. H. 
Benson. 

1874— Mayor, William G. Beatty,' Recorder, W. 
H. Fiedler; Treasurer, D. St, John ; Street Com- 
missioner, H. Van Horn; Marshal, H. Van Horn. 
Councilmen— J. H. Benson, T. Duncan, Jacob 
Demuth, A. J. Pittenger, E. Winebar, G. W. 
Bell. 

1875— Mayor, J. C. Bump;^ Recorder, W. 
H. Fiedler ; Treasurer, D. St. John ; Street Com- 
missioner, H. Van Horn ; Marshal, H. Van Horn. 
Councilmen — Jacob Demuth, Asa McCrary, L. 
R. Miller, J. S. Peck, A. J. Pittenger, E. Wine- 
bar. 

1876— Mayor, Seth Cook ; Recorder, Z. B. 
Taylor; Treasurer, E. Winebar; Street Commis- 
sioner, H. Van Horn; Marshal, H. Van Horn. 
Councilmen— L. R. Miller, J. W. Ryan, Thad. 
Worthlin, John Weist, Asa McCreany, A. J. Pit- 
tenger. 

1877— Mayor, Seth Cook; Recorder, Z. B. 
Taylor ; Treasurer, E. Winebar ; Street Commis- 
sioner, H. Van Horn ; Marshal, H. Van Horn. 
Councilmen — A. J. Pittenger, J. W. Ryan, 
John Weist, J. W. Shaw, Thad. Worthlin, Asa 
McCreary. 

1878— Mayor, C. W. Case ; Recorder, Z. B. 
Taylor ; Treasurer, T. W. Long ; Street Commis- 
sioner, H. Van Horn; Marshal, H. Van Horn. 
Councilmen — John Weist, J. W. Ryan, Asa 
McCreary, J. W. Shaw, George Dawson, A. J. 
Pittenger. 

1879— Mayor, C. W. Case; Recorder, Z. B. 
Taylor ; Treasurer, T. W. Long ; City Solicitor, 
T. S. White; Street Commissioner, H. Van Horn; 
Marshal, H. Van Horn. Councilmen — A. J. Pit- 
tenger, John Weist, C. Vanbrimmer, I. H. Pen- 
nock, Henry Bailey, G. B. Gray. 

1880— Mayor, J. B. Waring; Recorder, J. P. 

1 Resigned and D. C. Peck appointed to fill vacancy. 

'2 Resigned and D. H. Hindman appointed to fill vacancy. 

3 Resigned and J. C. Btinip appointed to fill vacancy. 

4 Resigned and A. M. Earl appointed. Earl resigned and R. T. 
Mills appointed to fill vacancy. 



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342 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



Scott; Treasurer, E. Winebar; City Solicitor, T. 
S. White ; Street Commissioner, C. E. Terry ; 
Marshal, C E. Terry. Councilmen— R. F. Bart- 
Ictt, G. B. Gray, Henry Bailey, Thad. Worthlin, 
R. M. Underwood, Jam^s Cavert. 

The rise and early growth of the business of 
Cardington has been referred to elsewhere. The 
progress from Bunker's single little store, followed 
by Peter Doty, Robert Jeffries, John Shunk, 
Shunk k Wolfe, Martin Brockway, David Arm- 
strong and John Shur, covers the growth in busi- 
ness for some thirty years. The advantages offered 
by the river and railroad were largely counter- 
balanced by the strong competition offered by 
Chesterville and Mount Gilead. But time gradu- 
ally told in favor of this village, and at the begin- 
ning of the war a class of enterprising men had 
become established in business, and made Card- 
ington, during that period, one of the most active 
little towns in Central Ohio. About 1863-64, 
there were nine or ten business houses doing an 
annual business varying from $20,000 to $50,000, 
whose daily sales on special occasions reached from 
8300 to $800 per day. The result of this pros- 
perity was the erection of the fine business blocks 
that adorn the main streets of the village. In 
1867, the ''Enterprise Block" was put up. 
During the previous year, parties had given en- 
couragement to a man from Delaware, that if he 
would come to the village and make the brick they 
would use them in buildings. For some reason 
these parties failed to take the brick, and the man 
of mud found himself in a predicament which 
threatened to swamp him financially. Through 
his efforts and those of Hon. T. E. Duncan, who 
owned the land on which the building stands, 
the block was put up at a cost of about $12,- 
000. To facilitate the project, the land was 
divided to suit those desiring storerooms, and 
all put up together. The parties joining in the 
enterprise were Dubois St. John, a Mr. Crane, 
White & Chase, Duncan and Shunk & Wagner. 
This block stands on the west side of Marion 
street. The next business block was that of 



Marvin & Shaw on the opposite side of the street, 
built at a probable cost of some $7,000. In 1876 
the stone bank building and the St. John Block, 
and in the following year the Beatty & Chase 
Block were put up on Main street, the whole 
costing some $25,000. The Brooks & Parvis 
Bros. Block was erected on Main street in 1878. 
These buildings afford ample room for all the im- 
portant business houses in the village. Since the 
close of the war and the depression of business, 
the unwonted activity of 1863 has given place to 
a much more quiet life in business circles, and 
quite a number of the old wooden buildings are 
now standing empty. In the matter of manufact- 
ures, though not reaching the development in 
this branch as in the mercantile trade, the village 
has had a steadier and more permanent growth. 
The Bunker enterprise gradually died out after the 
bankruptcy of the originator of the project, and 
was succeeded some years later by a saw and grist 
mill, built on the site of the old Bunker mills. In 
1856, John Gregory and Mrs. Israel Hite built a 
steam mill on the bank of the river, just where 
the railroad now passes. This was run about a 
year when it changed owners. It did not prove 
valuable property for some reason and changed 
hands frecjuently until 1867, when John Cline 
bought it and transformed it into a woolen mill. 
It ran for several years in the business, when the 
proprietor failed, and the mill, after lying still for 
some two years. Matthias Lowyer bought it and 
continued the business. The mill now manufact- 
ures knitting yarn and some common grades of 
cloth, but there is no means of ascertaining its 
business, as no complete books are kept and the 
only interest seems to be that the establishment 
does not lose money. It is supported by a local 
trade that keeps the mill running most of the 
year. The machinery of the old carding-mill, its 
predecessor, which has been idle here for years 
has just been sold and is to be moved East. 
In 1840, the old water-mill standing on 
the bank of the river, near Marion street, was 
built by Wolfe & Shunk. In 1877, it passed into 



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HISTOEY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



343 



the hands of Mills & Dawson. Up to this time it 
has depended upon the water brought from the 
dam by the mill-race, but R. T. Mills having erect- 
ed a steam saw-mill just west of the old mill, 
arrangements were made to make the engine of 
that establishment serve the grist-mill by means 
of a wire rope. Since the new proprietors have 
come into possession of this mill, new machinery 
has been introduced until it is now in every re- 
spect prepared to do first-class work. It is the 
only mill now doing custom work and has a 
capacity of twenty barrels in a day and night. In 
1870, the Cardington Flouring Mill Company was 
formed, with a capital of $15,000. The company 
consisted of I. H. Pennock, John Beatty, W. G. 
Beatty, D. St. John, T. E. Duncan, J. H. Ben- 
son, and the Dawson Brothers. They bought the 
Andrews' warehouse and fitted up a steam mill 
that did for some years an extensive business. 
The business failed, however, in 1877, and the mill 
lay idle for two years, when it was bought by 
Dawson & Taylor. It has been furnished with 
every modern improvement, has four run of buhrs 
stones with a capacity of turning out sixty 
barrels of flour in twenty-four hours. Power is 
furnished by a sixty-horse-power engine situated 
in a brick inclosure built on the south part 
of the main building. This is situated on the 
west side of the railroad track near the depot, 
and is run exclusively on commercial work. 

Another prominent enterprise of the village is 
the furniture factory of J. S. Peck. This indus- 
try had an early origin in Cardington. In 1844, 
Anson St. John supplied the village and the sur- 
rounding country. In 1851, Edbert Payne estab- 
lished a shop for the prosecution of this business, 
but, afler continuing it for a few years, sold out 
and went West. In 1863, Mr. Peck, with his 
brother, opened a small store in a frame building, 
where his retail store now stands. Asa McCreary 
at that time had a small furniture store in a build- 
ing where the St. John Block now stands. Soon 
after his coming here, Mr. Peck bought out 
McCreary, and a little later bought his brother's 



interest. He early began manufacturing and 
building up a wholesale business, occupying a 
frame building on Second street, opposite his 
present establishment, and using horse power to run 
his lathe and other machinery. He afterward put 
in an engine, but the business expanding, and feel- 
ing the danger in case of a fire, he erected, in the 
fall of 1876, a three-story brick building, on the 
corner of Second and Depot streets, 42x75 feet, 
which is devoted entirely to certain lines of furni- 
ture. The most of the machinery is on the first 
floor, and is of the most improved patterns. Fire- 
proof doors close the entrance to the engine-room, 
and throughout the building in the upper stories, 
between the various rooms, the doors are used to 
guard against fire. The building and dryhouse are 
heated by exhaust steam, and the latter provided 
with an elevator. In manufacturing, Mr. Peck 
makes a specialty of bedsteads, employing some 
fifteen or twenty hands, and a capital of some 
030,000. Adjoining this establishment is the 
planing-mill and lumber-yard of Levi Maxwell. 
Something over thirty-five years ago, he came from 
Clarksburg, W. Va., and, engaging in the business of 
carpenter and joiner, has probably put up more 
buildings than any other mechanic in the village. 
His first dwelling was for Dr. White in 1848, now 
owned by Mrs. Mosher. In 1873, he bought the 
lumber-yard of Levi Reichelderfer. After purchas- 
ing this property, he used themachinery of Peck, but 
as business increased, he bought machinery of his 
own, and on the erection of the Peck Block, he 
rented the north end of the building for his 
machinery, renting the motor power of Mr. Peck. 
Since 1873, Mr. Maxwell has built up a business 
that reaches in extent of its sales to $25,000 
annually. 

The manufacture of wagons and carriages was 
one of the earliest industries of the place. Bunker, 
the early founder of the village, was a successful 
wagon-maker in Vermont, and notwithstanding the 
numerous projects that divided his attention, he 
found time to devote to his old business in the new 
country. Succeeding him came Thomas C. Thomp- 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



son, wlio establisht'tl a carriage-shop in 188G on 
the pntperty now owned liy J. M. Wliito. In 1S47, 
J. H. Fkiekey comnienceil tlie hlac-k.suiith busi- 
ness, doing custom work until 1873, when he 
began the manufacture of carriages, which he is 
still carrying on. Tn 1851, G. H. Cunningham 
began business, and since 1858, save two years, he 
has made a specialty of the manufiicture of 
carriages. From 18G2 to 1870, his sales amount- 
ed to some $30,000 per year, giving employment 
to from twenty to twenty-five hands. In 1875, he 
met with a loss of some S20,0(M) by fire, and the 
financial depression which followed close upon the 
heels of this misfortune, forced him into bank- 
ruptcy. He went immediately to work again, and 
is fast regaining his old trade. He now employs 
some ten hands, and is doing a business of some 
$10,000 or $15,000 per annum. In 1874, the 
Hook Brothers started a cooper-shop in the village, 
finishing their work, save hooping, at the saw-mill 
of Joseph Smith, a little northeast of the village. 
After a year or so, the whole business was moved 
to the village, where the hooping had been done 
from the first, putting up a shop just west of the 
depot. Tn November, 1877. the business was sold 
to Lee & Utter, and two weeks later S. Atwood 
was taken into the firm, the name changing to Lee, 
Utter & Co. In February, 1878, two of the 
buildings west of the depot were totally destroyed 
by fire, entailing a loss of some $700 above the 
amount received from insurance. In September 
of this year, Utter sold out to E. G. Morey, and 
the firm name was changed to Wood, Lee & Co. 
Last year, the firm lost a dryhouse by fire. Their 
establishment is now located just east of the depot 
biiilding on Depot street, and is admirably arranged 
for the convenience and safety of the business. 
The engine is inclosed in a fireproof room and is 
run with the refuse of the business. Sometimes 
as high as $50 worth of the reftise wood is 
sold for kindling in a year. Their specialty is 
butter-tubs and pails, which they sell in all 
partvS of the State. La.st year they turned 
out some 31,000 tubs and their business is still 



increasing The capital invested is about 
$4,000 which they succeed in turning two or 
three times each year. 

With such business activity, it would be natural 
to find the banking business prominently repre- 
sented. The first bank was organized as early as 
1854, by R. J. House, John Beatty and Richard 
House, under the name of the Banking Company 
of House, Beatty & Co. They occupied the room 
in the Benson House now occupied by the drug 
store. In 1856, there was a change in the stock- 
holders, R. J. House and Richard House with- 
drawing and J. S. Trimble and Jabez Wood tak- 
ing their place. The bank was then known for 
two years as Trimble, Beatty & Wood Banking 
Company. At the end of that time, the bank 
changed to Beatty Brothers' Banking Company, 
the institution being managed by John and Will- 
iam G. Beatty for five years. In 1863, the First 
National Bank was organized and the Beatty 
Bank merged into it, with I. H. Pennock, John 
Beatty, W. H. Marvin. Jacob Kreis, W. G. Beat- 
ty, J. W. Marvin, John Andrews, and D. St. 
John as stockholders ; Dr. I. H. Pennock, Presi- 
dent, and W. G. Beatty, Cashier. The bank at 
that time occupied the room now occupied by 
Drs. Green and Williams. After the fire of 
1875, which nearly destroyed this building, they 
moved into a room in the EInterprise Block until 
they completed their new building on the south 
side of Main street. This was finished in the 
spring of 1876 at a cost of about ^8,000. It is a 
one-story building with an ornamental front of 
finely cut sandstone. The interior is finished in 
the finest style, the counter figuring in the general 
cost at $1,400. The stockholders are the same, 
with the exception of John Beatty and John 
Andrews, who withdrew, A. Mayer purchasing a 
part of their stock. The present officers are, Dr. 
I. H. Pennock, President, and J. I. Lamprecht, 
Cashier. The Cardington Banking Company or- 
ganized and commenced business on September 1, 
1874, with John Beatty, Jacob Kreis, W. G. 
Beatty, R. F. Chase, W. Beatty, T. E. Duncan, 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



345 



and T. M. Rees as stockholders. The stockholders 
have remained unchanged save Dy the death of Mr. 
Rees, whose stock is now held by his heirs. They 
occupy a room in the Enterprise Block and do a 
general banking business, not being a bank of 
issue ; Jacob Kreis is President, and W. Gr. Beatty, 
Cashier. 

The latest enterprise is the organization of the 
" Mutual Endowment and Relief Association of 
Ohio," with its oflSce at Cardington. This associ- 
ation was originated largely by Mr. Hindman, an 
old insurance agent and resident of the county, 
and was incorporated February 25, 1879. The 
officers are John Beatty, President ; R. F. Chase, 
Vice President ; W. H. Marvin, Treasurer ; W. 
Gr. Beatty, Secretary ; Dr. I. H. Pennock, Medi- 
cal Director ; Hon. Thomas E. Duncan, Attorney; 
M. Hindman, Superintendent of Agencies. 

The community that settled Cardington — origi- 
nating principally in the Quaker settlement of 
Peru — naturally brought with them their old-time 
regard for that faith, and found their way fre- 
quently to the services held in that settlement. The 
inconvenience of this arrangement, and the com- 
ing of others of different faith, suggested the- hold- 
ing of services of their own. About 1822 or 
1823, the neighbors desiring to have preaching, 
Jonas Foust went to Waldo and brought Samuel 
Wyatt, a Free- Will Baptist Minister, to preach in 
his cabin. This arrangement was kept up for 
some time until something more permanent could 
be secured. A little later, the United Brethren 
were represented, and among the early preachers 
of that church and others, were Francis Clymer, 
Loraine, Cadwallader, Moore and Dewitt. The 
first building erected for church purposes in this 
section was a log cabin on the land that John- 
son Oliver now owns. This was put up by the 
United Brethren society, about the year 1828. 
In the eastern part of the township, the Quaker 
settlement of Gilead had services early ; but as 
early as 1824 the Methodists had begun their 
pioneer work. At this time, Rev. J. Grilruth 
preached in the cabins about, and in the same year 



the building, put up for the double purpose of 
schoolhouse and church building, was thrown open 
to any denomination that chose to use it. The 
Rev. Mr. Oldfield was an early preacher; but little 
more is remembered of him. Of the later organi- 
zations, it has been difficult to ascertain as complete 
a record as would be desirable, and for what follows 
on the different church organizations we are in- 
debted to the pen of Rev. A. K. Earl. The order 
in which the Methodist and Christian Churches 
were established is difficult to determine, but it is 
believed that the Methodist Episcopal Church 
was the pioneer organization with the Christian 
Church, coming close after it, and then the Method- 
ist Protestant Church in 1837-38. 

The writer's labors commenced here as an itiner- 
ant minister of the Methodist Protestant Church, 
Pittsburgh Conference, in September, 1841. At 
that time Cardington was a small village, composed 
of about twenty-five or thirty families, and a popu- 
lation of from one hundred and twenty-five to one 
hundred and fifty persons. There was no church 
edifice in the place, but a frame schoolhouse, situ- 
ated a little south of Main street, on what is now 
called Center street, served as a preaching place 
and place of meeting for all denominations. 

From the best information obtainable, the Method- 
ist Protestant Church was organized during the 
winter of 1837-38, by Rev. David Howell. In 
the organization, John Shunk and wife, Leumas 
Cook and wife, Robert Cochran and wife, Jacob 
Bovey and wife, and probably their three daughters, 
Elizabeth, Sarah and Mary ; also, J. D. Glisson 
and his mother and sister, Mrs. Hartsock, were 
included. At the close of that conference year. 
Rev. Moses Scott was appointed to the circuit. 
It was called the Mount Vernon Circuit, and in- 
cluded parts of the three counties of Knox, Lick- 
ing and Marion. Mr. Scott remained two years, 
and was succeeded by Revs. J. B. Roberts and 
Charles Caddy, who remained but one year, which 
brings the history of the church to the fall of 1841. 
The conference was held in Allegheny City. 
Mount Vernon was made a station, and Mr. Earl 



:v 



.£ 



846 



HISTORY OF MOREOW COUNTY 



was appointed to the circuit, which now contained 
eight appointments, Fredericktown and Cardington 
being the Sabbath appointments. When Mr. Earl 
took charge, the society was composed of twenty- 
six members — Mother Bovey had died, and the 
Cochran family had withdrawn. During the win- 
ter of 1842, quite a revival took place, which was 
the result of a union protracted meeting between 
the Methodist Protestant and Christian Churches. 
The minister, on the part of the Christian Church, 
was Rev. Mr. Marvin, of Knox County, and Mr. 
Earl, of the Methodist Protestant Church. It was 
a genuine old-fashioned revival. I think I am 
safe in saying over a hundred professed conversion, 
and among the number was Rev. T. C. Thomson 
and wife. The MethodLst Protestant Church ob- 
tained fifty as an addition, which, with the twenty- 
six old members, made a pretty strong church for 
that early period, and gave the church the vantage- 
ground, as they were now the leading denomination 
of the place. The Christian Church received quite 
an addition, and the Methodist Episcopal some. 
The next step was to provide a house of worship. 
A meeting was called, a Board of Trustees ap- 
pointed, a site selected, a subscription started, and 
in a short time sufficient funds obtained to justify 
the Trustees in giving Leumas Cook the contract 
for building a house 30x40 feet, at a cost of $650. 
In due time the house was finished, and set apart 
for divine worship. After a period of several years 
of varying success, the church concluded to build 
a new house, of larger dimension.^ and greater cost. 
The old house was sold to Mr. Cook, who moved 
it a few lots south and fitted it for a dwellins. 
They then proceeded to build the new house at a 
cost of some $3,000. It was dedicated at the ses- 
sion of conference in 1856, and, for two years fol- 
lowing, Rev. Lemuel Yarnell served as Pastor. The 
present Pastor is a young minister — Rev. Mr. 
Tyree. He had some prosperity in a protracted 
meeting in the early part of this winter. The church, 
however, is not strong, either in numbers or 
finances. The present number of members, as 
reported to me, is from sixty to seventy. 



Prior to 1842, there was no Sabbath school in 
Cardington. Some time during that year an agent 
of the American Sunday-School Union, by the 
name of Jones, paid us a visit, lectured on the 
subject, and organized a Sabbath school auxiliary 
to the American Sunday-School Union, and sup- 
plied it with a library of books. In the organiza- 
tion. Rev. T. C. Thomson, of the Methodist Prot- 
estant Church, was made Superintendent, and G. 
W. Purvis, Assistant Superintendent. It was to 
all intents and purposes a union school, and re- 
mained so until the other churches felt themselves 
strong enough to go alone, when they withdrew 
their stock, and organized schools of their own. 
The present Superintendent is Charles Wesley 
Hartsock. The number of scholars enrolled is sixty- 
five ; the average number in attendance, fifty ; 
the number of classes, seven ; number of teachers, 
seven ; value of library, $20 ; number of Sabbath 
schools, six ; papers taken, seventy. The general 
condition of the school is good. 

For want of proper and reliable records, it is 
difficult to get a correct starting-point in reference 
to the organization of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church in Cardington and Bethel. After consid- 
erable effort amoiig the old members of the church, 
I have come to the conclusion, that, to say, at an 
early period Cardington and Bethel were found to 
be appointments on the Mount Gilead Circuit, is 
as near as we can get at it. To undertake to say 
who were the first preachers is equally difficult. 
Rev. Zephaniah Bell, Rev. Silas Ensign and Rev. 
Samuel Shaw are all known to be among them, 
but to fix the order of time when their labor was 
performed, is the difficult task. The knowledge 
of the writer goes back to September, 1841 ; Rev. 
Samuel Allen was preacher in charge, and I think 
Rev. John Orr as.sisted, and John H. Power was 
Presiding Elder. At that date, there was a small 
organization at Cardington ; Anson St. John, 
William Hill, John Richards and James Hazelton, 
with their families, were members, and, from the 
result of a protracted meeting, they received some 
additions. They then fitted up an unfinished 



fc 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUXTY. 



347 



frame building that stood on the lot now owned by 
M. L. Mooney. About this time they had a few 
more accessions. Rev. Richard Sims and Lewis 
Mulford, with their wives, uniting with them ; 
also Andrew Grant and wife, having moved from 
Sunbury to Cardington, joined by letter. They 
did not retain possession of their church edifice 
very long, however, but sold it, when it was used 
as a storeroom. They were then without a house 
of worship, sometimes holding their meetings in 
private houses, sometimes in the schoolhouse, and 
sometimes in one of the other churches. The 
Methodist Protestant Church generously let them 
occupy their house, which they used for a long 
time. Thus matters continued for several years, 
until 1854. when Rev. Lemuel Herbert was, by 
the conference, appointed to this Circuit, which, 
at that time, contained three appointments, viz., 
Cardington, Bethel and Boundary. Mr. Herbert, 
being an energetic and perseverins man, undertook 
the task of building a church building, which, in 
addition to his ministerial and pastoral labors, he 
successfully accomplished. The house then built 
is the one now occupied by the Presbyterian 
Church, and was finished and duly dedicated to 
the service of God by Professor Merrick, of Dela- 
ware. 

About this time, or perhaps a little subsequent, 
several men of means and prominence, of the 
Methodist faith, bought property and moved to 
Cardington. Among them were John Shur, and 
George Rose and their families, with some others, 
and from this time the Methodist Episcopal Church 
became a power in the place. A protracted 
meeting followed the dedication, resulting in a 
number of conversions, and additions to the 
church. From this time, it may be said with pro- 
priety that the Methodist Episcopal Church be- 
came the leading denomination of Cardington. 
After using the church edifice some fifteen or more 
years, and the membership becoming strong in 
numbers and finances, and the church building 
beginning to need repairs, the subject of erecting 
a new hou.se of worship began to be agitated. 



Some parties outside of the church, men of means, 
were reported to have said that we needed a hand- 
some edifice, and that they would give $500 each, 
making 82,000, to the church tliat would build a 
handsome brick edifice, costing §8,000 or S10,000. 
In view of the circumstances, the Trustees of the 
parsonage called a meeting of the Trustees of both 
parsonage and church, and made a proposition to 
sell the parsonage and purchase a property on the 
corner of Marion and Walnut streets, for S4,500. 
The proposition was accepted, and the property 
purchased, thus creating a debt of $2,000 or 
more, which hung heavily on the hands of the 
society for several years, but was finally paid. In 
1872, the late lamented L. B. Gurley was appointed 
to this charge, and, being a " new church man," 
thought it would never do to lose the §2,000 sub- 
scription. He went to work in circulating a sub- 
scription, and was successful in obtaining the 
disciplinary amount, in order to let the contract. 
He remained three years, and superintended the 
building of the edifice. It is a beautiful structure, 
and said to be inferior to none in the North Ohio 
Conference. Its cost was $12,000. The parson- 
age adjoining is valued at $3,000, making the 
whole worth $15,000, and a not less important 
consideration is, that it is all paid for. The com- 
pletion of this enterprise appears to have been the 
closing up of a long and useful life, on the part of 
Mr. Gurley, who has since gone from this labor to 
his reward. At the dedication of this edifice, by 
Bishop Foster, it was named Gurley Chapel, in 
honor of the one who took such an active part in 
securing it to the society. Mr. Gurley was suc- 
ceeded by a young man. Rev. James Henry, who 
also remained three years. He was a young man 
of fine appearance, of undoubted piety, of sound 
judgment, and strong magnetic powers, and his 
three years were years of continued prosperity and 
success. Persons were converted through his 
labors, and added to the church by hundreds. 
During his administration a new brick church at 
Bethel was built. This is a fine edifice for the 
amount of money it cost. The value of church 



:^ 



iL 



348 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



property at Bethel was reported at Quarterly Con- 
ference to be $5,200, and all paid for. The value 
of the church property at both points is $20,200. 
The number of members at the two appointmehts 
is 410. This, it is said, is the largest member- 
ship, with the exception of Mansfield, of any work 
in this conference. Rev. R. McCaskey is the 
present Pastor. 

The Superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church at Cardington, J. B. Waring, reports the 
average attendance at seventy-five, the number of 
teachers at nine. The former Superintendent of 
Sabbath school at Bethel, Dr. Benson, gives the 
following statement : Present Superintendent, H. 
Cecil; number of scholars enrolled, 130; average 
attendance, 100. A goodly number of Sabbath 
school papers are taken, and the school seems decid- 
edly prosperous. 

The Christian Church was a very early organi- 
zation in Cardington ; but there is now no authen- 
tic information ks to its history. As early as 
1841, this society had an organization, and held 
regular meetings. In the winter of 1842, this so- 
ciety held a union protracted meeting with the 
Protestant Methodist Church, which resulted in 
considerable accessions to their membership. The 
church had hitherto been without a regular place 
of worship ; but, under the impulse of the revival, 
the society set about securing this desideratum. 
In the following year, aided by several of the Uni- 
versalist belief, the society erected a comfortable 
building on the corner of Main and Water streets. 
At one time, this church had quite a numerous 
membership in the county, and this village seemed 
to be the rallying-point of the denomination. At 
this time, the church seemed to be in a flourishing 
condition, promising to grow into the first import- 
ance among the churches. In addition to Benja- 
min Grandy and wife, Parley Cady and wife, Adin 
Tucker, wife and daughters, Dorasmus Chandler 
and wife, and some others, Peter Doty, Joseph 
Sellars, and other prominent citizens united with 
this church. One of their ministers, and T. L. 
Saulsbury, a prominent man among this denomi- 



nation, moved here. Since then, however, the 
change has been complete. Of the old organization, 
only Mr. Cady is left, and the old building, moved 
a short distance from its original location, is used 
as a dwelling. 

A Presbyterian Church was organized, according 
to the record in this village, July 4, 1851, under 
the name and title of the First Presbyterian Church 
of Cardington, with seven members, viz., James 
Harrison and wife, James Gregory and wife, Israel 
Hite and wife, and J. G. Arbuckle. Harrison, 
Gregory and Hite were elected Elders. The organ- 
ization was accomplished by Rev. Henry Van 
Deman, of Delaware, Ohio. By death and re- 
moval their numbers were so reduced that, in 1860, 
Mrs. Sarah Gregory only remained to represent 
the church. In September, 1860, the organiza- 
tion was " perpetuated," as the records term it, 
under the supervision of the organizer. Rev. Mr. 
Van Deman. William Paris and wife, William 
Cunningham and wife, united, making, with Mrs. 
Gregory, five members in all. William Paris was 
elected Elder. Additions have been made from 
time to time, and there are now some twenty-eight 
members. James B. Clark, George R. Cunning- 
ham, T. W. Long and John Campbell are Elders. 
Subsequently, after the Methodist Episcopal Church 
commenced worship in their new house, their old 
church building was sold to the Presbyterians, and 
by them enlarged, reconstructed and made beauti- 
ful, inside and out. A protracted meeting was held, 
and a goodly number united, so that they now num- 
ber fifty-two members. At present, they have no pas- 
tor, but are supplied by Rev. Mr. March, of Marys- 
ville. Their church property is valued at $2,000. 

The Sunday school was organized in 1874, 
after the repair of the church. The number of 
scholars enrolled is 100 ; average attendance, 75 ; 
value of library, $50; number of classes, 11; 
teachers, same number. The school is in a very 
prosperous condition. The Sabbath school of this 
church makes a little better showing than either 
of the others, although it probably is the weakest 
of the three churches. 



<<^ 's 



-7-^ 

^ ^f 



L^ 



HISTOKY or MORROW COUNTY. 



349 



In 1867, Rev. S. Altman, a minister of the 
United Brethren Church, held a protracted meet- 
ing in the Methodist Protestant Church of this 
place, and to all appearance was successful in 
getting up a genuine and sweeping revival of re- 
ligion. The meeting was of several weeks" con- 
tinuance. The best ministers of the connection 
were brought into requisition, among them Bishop 
Weaver, and the altar for many nights was crowded 
with penitents. Many professed saving faith. A 
class of persons were professedly converted that 
had never before been reached ; I mean our busi- 
ness men, and for a time it seemed that the cita- 
del of Satan must be taken. It was said a $10,000 
church must be built, and the best minister in the 
Conference must minister at the altar. The 
meeting closed ; a church of near half a hundred 
members was organized, and officers appointed, but, 
for some cause the society was not formed here. 

The German Lutheran is a small organization 
in the west end of town. It was organized in 
1868 by F. G. Edward Knauth. They have a 
neat place of worship, valued at $1,100. They 
have twenty-eight members, over whom the Rev. 
S. Hunsicher presides as Pastor. They have serv- 
ices on alternate Sundays. The statistics of the 
Sunday school are as follows : Scholars enrolled, 
20 ; average attendance, 15 ; number of classes, 5 ; 
number of teachers, 5. 

The Catholic Church formed an organization 
here about 1870. They have a small brick edifice, 
24x30 feet. They have no regular service, but 
are supplied by Father Pilgrim, of Delaware, at 
irregular periods. Their congregation and de- 
nomination is compo.sed of sixteen families, and 
numbers about eighty persons. 

The Cardington Lodge of Odd Fellows. No. 
194, was instituted March 9, 1852, by W. G. 
Williams, M. W. G. M., with John Andrews, J. 
J. Richards, J. W^. Likens, J. R. West, Adam 
Wolfe, J. W. Place, L. Carpenter, David Smith and 
George Granger as charter members. The first 
officers were George Granger, N. G. ; F. E. Phelps, 
Sec. ; Ruben Bunker, Per. Sec. ; C. T.White,Treas. 



Their first hall was in the building that stood on 
the northeast corner of Main and Marion streets. 
They occupied this hall until 1860, when the 
Starr building was moved on to the southeast cor- 
ner of these streets, on to a lot owned by the so- 
ciety, and the second story was fitted up for their 
ijeception. They moved into it at once and made 
their home here until the destructive fire of 1875. 
swept that corner, destroying the hall with all its 
contents, occasioning a loss to the order of $1,200. 
In the following year, when the Chase and Beatty 
Block was built, the society put on the third story 
at an expense of $7,000, including the furniture 
of the hall, a sum of money which they had in 
the treasury of the order save perhaps, 
$100. The lodge room is 42x72 feet, with com- 
modious committee and paraphernalia rooms on 
one side, opening out of the main hall. The whole 
is finely fitted up aod is claimed to be the finest of 
its kind in Central Ohio. This lodge has about 
122 members, has paid out $14,000 for the 
relief of the members, besides some $2,500 for 
charitable purposes, independent of the order. 
In addition to their hall, the lodge owns a lot with 
53 feet front, on the southeast corner of Main 
and Marion streets, which is valued at $5,000. 

The Whetstone Encampment, No. 95, was insti- 
tuted June 3, 1867, by William Slater, M. W. G. 
Patriarch, with John Andrews, Levi Reichelder- 
fer, A. H. Grant, A. W. Bartlett, S. Brown, J. H. 
Fiedler, David Smith, Lewis Openheimer, W. F. 
Armstrong, A. V. Conklin and D. B. Kinsell as 
charter members. It numbers about sixty-two 
members. 

Cardington Lodge, No. 384, Free and Accepted 
Masons, was organized February 5, 1867, with C. 
H. McElroy, W. S. Paul, H. S. Green, J. W. Mar- 
vin, M. L. Mooney, M. Burns, G. W. Bell, A. 
Weathersby, Andrew Caton, W. A. Hance, A. H. 
Shunk, as charter members. Their first hall was 
in the north end of the Enterprise Block, but they 
have recently moved into the Brooks & Parvis 
Brothers' Block. The first officers were : C H. 
McElroy, W. M. ; W. S. Paul, S. W. ; A. H. 






'k. 



350 



HISTORY OF MOKUOW COI'XTY. 



Shunk, Sec; G. W. Bell, Treas.; M. L. Mooney, 
S. D.; H. S. Green, J. D.; Andrew Grant, Tiler. 
The lodjie has labored under some financial diffi- 
ulties, but they have a neat and coniinodious hall, 
and some ninety members in all. The present offi; 
cers are : D. N. Wherry, W. M.; T. W. Long, 
S. W.; Jesse Kinehart, J. W.; Judd Sherman, S. 
D.; K. H. Hirth, J. P.; T. II. Ensign, Treas.; B. 
B. Crane, Sec.; S. Brown, Tiler. 

In 1835, Cook and Shunk donated to the town- 



ship one hundred rods of land, in a square piece, 
for a cemetery. This was situated just northeast 
of the bend in the river, and is now the southeast 
corner of the new cemetery. In April, 1803, 
Leumas Cook set apart fifteen and a half acres of 
land, west of the old cemetery, and adjoining; it on 
the north and west, lying along the north bank of 
the river. This was surveyed out into 108 lots, 
and forms a pleasant place for the purpose for which 
it was designed. 



CHAPTER IX. 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP— FIRST SETTLEMENT— PIONEER INDUSTRIES— VILLAGE GROWTH OF 

CHESTERVILLE-THE HUB OF A NEW COUNTY— THE 

PREACHER AND TEACHER. 



TN considering the annals of a new country, 
-*- "'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view." 

It is no uncommon occurrence to those whose 
duty and pleasure it is to gather the materials for 
the.se pages, to meet with those who, forming the 
connecting link between that day and this, have 
no appreciation for the enterprise of which this 
volume is the outgrowth. The stern experiences 
of pioneer times have come too near their lives to 
make the record of them novel or interesting. 
But the early days, .so full of toil and privation, 
have passed beyond the reach of the hopes and 
fears of those of a later generation, and, gilded by 
tradition, they reflect back to us the " mellow glow 
of a novelty that is akin to romance." But a 
higher motive for perpetuating the history of those 
who subdued the wilderness and made the desert 
places to " blossom like the rose," is that we are 
thus able, approximately, to measure the value of 
what has been wrought for succeeding generations. 
It was a noble spirit of self-sacrifice that animated 
the pioneers of this land, and '• bowed their strong 



manhood to the humble plow." Forgetful of 
their own ease at a time of life when years of toil 
could reasonably have demanded repose for their 
declining days, they braved the untried difiiculties 
of the wilderness, that their children might achieve 
that greatuess which their patriotic faith pictured 
in the future. The rapidly increasing population 
in a country devoid of manufactories left to the 
pioneer but one alternative ; ease at the expense 
of their children's future, or a wider scope of 
cheaper lands, bought with a life of toil, that 
found rest only beyond the grave. The broad 
lands waving with the green plumage of the springing 
grain, the thousand homes adorned with the com- 
forts and luxuries of an advanced civilization, the 
vast resources that command a nation's homage, 
are the grand memorials that set forth the virtue 
and wisdom of their choice. -The land which in- 
vited the immigration of the pioneers of Chester 
was all that nature in her pleasantest mood could 
offer. A dense forest of heavy timber covered 
every acre. Streams reaching out into every 



\ 




-*»^ 













1 



J. 



HISTOKY OF MOEEOW COUNTY. 



353 



quarter of the township drained the land, promis- 
ing supplies for stock, and ample power for the 
pioneer industries so necessary to a frontier com- 
munity. Such advantages were not long in at- 
tracting emigration. Surveyed by Joseph Vance 
in 1807, the first settler came close upon his track, 
erecting his cabin in 1808, swinging his ax — "sig- 
nal of a mighty change." 

This township was first organized by the Com- 
missioners of Knox County as a part of Wayne 
Township, one of the four divisions into which 
that county was formed at its organization. In 
1812, Chester, including the township of Franklin, 
was set ofi" as an independent fraction of the 
county, its name being suggested by some of the 
earliest settlers, who were natives of Chester, in 
the county of the same name in Pennsylvania. 
In 1823, Franklin was set off and Chester was left 
in its present shape, five miles square, its lines 
coinciding with Township 5, in Range 17, of the 
United States military survey. It is bounded on 
the north by Franklin, east by Knox County, 
south by South Bloomfield, and west by Harmony. 
The Middle Branch of Owl Creek, which enters the 
township at the northwest corner, and the South 
Branch of the same stream, which enters a little 
further south, join just a little southwest of the 
village of Chesterville, forming the main body of 
Owl Creek, which passes the eastern boundary of 
the township a little north of the middle line. 
Streams from either side drain the land, and fur- 
nish during the larger part of the year a plentiful 
supply of water for stock. The timber consists of 
a heavy growth of black walnut, maple, buckeye 
and cherry, with a lesser quantity of ash, elm, oak 
and beech. The soil, generally, is a rich loam, mixed 
with a limestone gravel, a combination that fur- 
nishes an almost inexhaustible resource for grain 
raising. An exception to this quality of soil is 
found in the extreme northeast and southeast cor- 
ners, and in much of the southwest quarter of the 
township. In these sections a yellow clay soil, 
prevails, which is turned to good account in rais- 
ing grass and corn. Here stock-raising is made 



the principal industry, some fine herds of pedigree 
stock being exhibited with commendable pride by 
the owners. In other parts of the township, the 
farmers devote their efforts to raising grain, large 
quantities of which are sold every year. 

The first settlement within the present limits of 
Chester was made by the original holder of a mil- 
itary land warrant, in 1808. Evan Holt, a native 
of Wales, but a long resident of Chester County, 
Penn., had served six years in the Revolutionary 
army, and receiving a warrant for his services, 
moved on to his land as soon as surveyed by the 
Grovernment. His claim was situated near the 
central part of the township, on a fine stream of 
water, and is now owned by Mr. Joseph Trow- 
bridge. Although he lived nearly two-score years 
upon this place and raised a large family, that 
settled about him, but little is remembered of him 
by those now living in the township. He was an 
earnest, conscientious man, and commanded the 
respect of his fellow-townsmen. He was in very 
straitened circumstances, however, and often 
substituted nettles for flax, making it up into very 
passable cloth. One of his children, Evan Jr., is 
said to have been a great fighter and possessed of 
muscle and pluck. Sometime about 1827, he 
made up a matched fist fight with John Magoogin, 
in Morris Township in Knox County. The origin 
of the fight was some difficulty which occurred at 
a camp-meeting, which furnished an incentive to 
the principals to make the contest all it proposed 
to be. The combat took place at the cross-roads 
by William Mitchell's, on the occasion of a gen- 
eral muster, and was witnessed by a large crowd 
of interested spectators. It is said that Holt ex- 
hibited great skill and address, but was fairly van- 
quished by his antagonist. The Holt family were 
not long the sole white residents of the township. 
A large tract of land had been purchased by 
McLaughlin, of Chillicothe, and desiring to put 
the land upon the market, he offered John Walker 
fifty acres of land at 50 cents per acre, if he 
would go on to it and clear it. This, Walker, who 
was in limited circumstances, was glad to do, and 



"7< 



354 



HISTORY OF MORROW COl^XTY. 



in March of ISOS ho moved out, with his fiimily, 
from AVivshington, Peun., to Chester, ehoosing a 
barren chiy knoll just north of the present site of 
Chestertille. A tine spring, situated on the prop- 
erty, was tlie chief consideration in making his 
choice, and the soil has since become Mr farming 
land. When he came, he found Indians encamped 
upon the site of Chesterville, who, however, offered 
no molestation. Their second child, Robert, was born 
here November 9, 1809. Here for some eighteen 
months they lived alone, the dense forest which 
stood unmarked between them and Holt preventing 
any exploration for neighbors. Mrs. Walker, in 
the mean while, for her own protection, became 
quite expert with a gun, and on one occasion killed 
a deer that was passing the cabin. In the fall of 
1810, the fomily of Jacob 8hur came to this part of 
the township, and was received by iMrs. Walker with 
the most extravagant expressions of joy, declaring 
that she had not seen a woman's face for eighteen 
months, save as she looked intj the running 
brook. Mr. Shur came fi-om the same county as 
the Walker family, bringing his ftimily and house- 
hold effects stowed away in a wagon, save his son 
John, who rode on horseback behind his uncle, 
who accompanied them to the West. Mr. Shur 
bought 125 acres of land, and put up a double log 
cabin about a quarter of a mile northwest of where 
the hotel now stands. In the spring of this year 
David Miller had come fi-om Fayette County, Penn., 
and settled a half-mile south of where the village 
stands, on the Sparta road. Here he bought of 
McLaughlin fifty acres, on which some slight im- 
provements had been made. Mr. Miller was a 
Scotchman, and had been one of the troops that 
were brought over by the British in the Revolu- 
tionary .struggle. He was with Cornwallis, at 
Yorktown, and, deciding to make this land his 
home, failed to march out with the troops when 
they started for home. He packed his family and 
a few household goods in a cart, and, yoking his 
cow with an ox, made the tedious journey through 
the wilderness. On his way to his new home he 
met with many, who, noticing the ruddy health of 



his children, advised him not to go to Ohio, as his 
children would soon lose their robust appearance 
in this miasmatic country. He was not thus easy 
to be discouraged, and made his way to his home 
in Chester. In the succeeding year, the little com- 
munity was re-enforced by the accession of the 
family of Henry Greorge, who settled near Chester 
Church, near the center of the township. Mr. 
George was one of that number of Welsh people 
who early settled in Chester County, near Phila- 
delphia. A countryman of his by the name of 
David Jones had bought the southwest section of 
the township ; and, desiring to stimulate emigi-ation 
to this part, he gave Mr. Greorge a hundred acres^ 
of land, subject to a grant of four acres off the 
southeast corner of the piece for church ymr- 
poses. At that time, Franklin and Chester were 
united with several townships in Knox County, 
under the name of Wayne, but in that part of it 
which is now known by these titles, in their com- 
bined territory, there were only seven cabins, oc- 
cupied by Samuel Shaw and David Peoples, with- 
in the present limits of Franklin ; Evan Holt, 
John Walker, Jacob Shur, David Miller, William 
Johnson, who settled on the Mount Vernon road, 
in the eastern part of the township, miles away 
from any neighbor, and Alexander Walker, with- 
in the limits of Chester. Mr. George's cabin 
made the eighth dwelling, and invitations had to 
be sent to settlers for eight miles around to secure 
enough help to put it up. This quarter of the 
township subsequently became known as the 
" Welsh section," from the fact that it was owned 
by a Welshman, and through his efforts w^ prin- 
cipally settled by that nationality. " The Fifty- 
Acre Section," was another name for the same 
locality, which gained some popularity from the 
fact that most of the settlers were in reduced 
financial circumstances, and could buy but fif>y 
acres, which in those days of cheap lands was con- 
sidered a mark of poverty. This was, however, a good- 
natured pleasantry on the part of the more fortunate 
settlers, as nothing like a spirit of caste had had 
opportunity to spring up in a community where 



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HISTORY OF MORKOW COUNTY. 



355 



•' The richest were poor and the poor lived ia ahun- 
dance." 

In April, 1812, the community in this section re- 
ceived another accession of Welsh people in the 
family of Edward Evans, who bought the tradi- 
tional plat of fifty acres of David- Jones, situated 
about two miles and a half south of the present 
site of Chesterville. Preceding him had come 
James Irwin and Peter Rust, from Pennsylvania ; 
Joi^eph Howard, from West Virginia ; Lewis 
Johnson, Rufus Dodd and John Kinney, and 
settled in this vicinity. In November of 1812, 
the family of James McCracken came from 
Fayette County, Penn., and bought one hundred and 
sixty acres about a mile and a quarter south of 
Chesterville, on the Sparta road. He was induced 
to come to Chester, through the persuasion of Mil- 
ler. A married daughter of the latter, who had 
been to Ohio on a visit to her parents, in a casual 
conversation mentioned a neighbor in Fayette 
County, who was looking for an eligible country 
to which he could move. Her father at once 
called her attention to a fine piece of property, lo- 
cated near him, and told her to intbrm Mr. 3Ic- 
Cracken of its advantages. On her return she 
performed her errand so well, that her neighbor at 
once set about his preparations for leaving for the 
Ohio lands. He was without a team, however, 
and, informing Mr. Miller that this was the only 
obstacle that prevented his coming, the latter at 
once proceeded to Pennsylvania, with his team, to 
bring him on. During his ab.sence, the diffi- 
culties that had been brewing between England 
and the States, culminated in the declaration 
of war. Miller's family, living in an isolated posi- 
tion, naturally exaggerated the danger which all 
felt to be imminent. A block-hou^e was early 
built across the road from Rush's mill, and thither, 
on the occasion of a false alarm, the larger part of 
the community repaired. There was but little con- 
cert of action, and of fearing that the confusion 
woild result in the destruction of all,- Mrs. Miller 
took her little family to Mount Vernon. They were 
here when Hull surrendered, and during the Zim- 



mer and Copus tragedy, which seemed the sure 
forerunner of their own destruction. It was in 
such perilous times that Mr. Miller, returning with 
Mr. McCracken and his goods, found his fimily at 
Mount Vernon. With the return of her natural 
protector came Mrs. Miller's courage, and she 
readily consented to return home and brave the 
dangers of the war with her husband. They 
arrived in Chester in November and never left 
their homes again for protection. Mr. McCracken 
built a cabin on his property, leaving his family at 
Miller's cabin until his own was finished, and 
afterward during the period of the war, his family 
slept there for their mutual pro'ection in case of 
actual danger. These families, thus closely associ- 
ated for their mutual protection, were destined to 
be more str )ngly united through the marriage of 
William McCracken with a daughter of Mr. Miller, 
some years later. 

The war of 1812, beyond exciting the apprehen- 
sion of the people, made but little impression upon 
this community. There were but few settlers, who 
had been there but a short time, and, busy with 
their improvements, they had not found time to 
discuss the probabilities of the war and imbibe the 
fears of older settlements. The woods were full of 
Indians, but the prompt action of the Government 
in removing theni from their camps at Greentown 
and Jerometown in Richland County put an end 
to the principal cause for alarm. The tragedy 
growing out of the removal caused, as has been 
noted, a widespread alarm, and most of this 
community went to the block-houses built across 
the road from where Rush's mill now stands or to 
one built in Wayne Township. The conduct of 
the refugees while at these places indicates that 
the movement was more a precautionary mater, 
done to pacify the timid, than as a means of de- 
fense against an active foe. Thore was nothmg 
but confusion on each occasion, and no more care 
was taken by the people to guard against a sur- 
prise than when at their cabins. The men wont 
every day to their improvements to look after their 
affairs, and women and children went out about 



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356 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



the blocV -house in search of wild fruit or corn 
without a suggestion of fear. The first occasion 
of flight to the.>e frontier forrresses was in Septem- 
l)jr, and the fields of corn heavy with " roasting 
cars " were too inviting for the boys to resist. 
The number of ears taken began to alarm the 
owner of the field, and he forbade the boys taking 
any more. A story is told of two little fellows, 
who, notwithstanding these orders, under the 
cover qf night eluded the watchful eyes of the 
owner and got one ear. After husking it, each 
grasped an end while one essayed to cut it in two. 
Just as the knife came down, one of the boys, 
anxious to get the larger part of the spoils, jerked 
the ear, causing the knife to sever the end of the 
oher's thumb at the same time that he cut the 
corn. It was simply a repetition of the fable of the 
dog that stole the meat from the butcher-shop — 
the outcry brought the owner of the corn on to the 
scene, and both lost the corn and received a re- 
buke that put an end to the foraging of roasting- 
ears. Soldiers were seldom seen here. The town- 
ship was not iu the line of march of any of the troops, 
there was only a single trail of importance, and 
the settlement was too new and sparsely settled to 
attract the recruiting officers. Shur and Walker 
were pressed into the service with their teams, but 
they were not long retained. It is said thot two sol- 
diers, relieved from duty on account of sickness, 
going home, came to the settlement, and, stopping 
here, became worse and died. They were buried 
near the block-house, and the site of their graves 
is still pointed out. So little apprehension was 
felt here tha- the tide of immigration scarcely 
showed signs of falling off. 

Among those who came during the war, and just 
after, were Joseph, William and Uriah Denman. 
This family settled near Chesterville, and were 
prominent in all enterprises affecting the interests 
of the new community. Some years later came 
John Stilley, whose family was the first to explore 
this region. His uncle was early captured by the 
Indians and taken through this section, and, at- 
tracted by the beauties of the country, came 



back, after being liberated, in 1807, and settled 
near Mount Vernon. John was then a boy of 
fifteen, and drove a team from Pittsburg to the 
latter place for his uncle. At the breaking-out of 
the war, he went to Pennsylvania and served in 
the army, serving a part of the time in guarding 
prisoners of war. It is related that one of the 
prisoners was a first-rate barber, and acted in that 
capacity for Mr. Stilley's company, becoming 
quite attached to his Yankee friends. An ex- 
change of prisoners having been talked of and 
expected, the barber expressed a desire to stay in 
the " land of the free." That night, Stilley being 
on guard, the red coat took advantage of his 
friendship, and was found missing when called for to 
be exchanged the next morning. After the war, he 
tried boating on the Mississippi, but finally found 
his way to Chester, where he settled and lived till 
he died. 

At the close of the war, the Indians, having been 
temporarily restricted, swarmed back' to their old 
haunts. The valley of the Owl Creek had been a 
favorite hunting ground with the savages from 
their earliest traditions, which they saw going 
beyond their grasp with great regret. Whatever 
may be true of the Indian race elsewhere, or at 
other times, their history in Delaware and Mor- 
row, and the adjoining counties, is all that the 
friend of the red man could ask. They saw them- 
selves dispossessed of the fairest hunting grounds 
in the State, by a force that left no hope in an ap- 
peal to the arbitrament of war, and that in obedi- 
ence to a philosophical boomerang, that served 
only to confuse and confound its own apologists. 
And this was submitted to with a docility that 
argued, on the part of the natives, a want of ap- 
preciation of the loss they sustained, or a stoical 
acceptance of a fate that years of unavailing war 
had shown to be inevitable. Guided by the civil- 
ized patriotism of a Pitt, they would have marked 
the westward course of empire with the sanguin- 
ary traces of a bloodier war than any that darken 
the pages of histoiy to-day, ending in a quicker, 
but not less certain, annihilation, than is now their 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



357 



fate. " But the anointed children of education 
have been too powerful for the tribes of the 
ignorant," and they have been vanquished by 
the subtler weapons of civilization. The trail 
that led down from the Sandusky plains to 
Mount Vernon passed about a quarter of a 
mile north of the village, and brought large num- 
bers of the savages to this settlement on their way 
to the latter point for trading purposes. In their 
migrations they traveled with a few ponies that 
carried their household belongings. Keaching a 
camping spot, the women unladed the ponies, 
turning them loose with bells attached to their 
headstalls, and, while the women prepared the fire, 
the men went among the cabins to beg or trade. 
This was a favorite place for camping, where they 
usually stayed for some days, hunting and trading 
with the settlers. They had a high appreciation 
of the whites' cooking, and were constant beggars, 
generally, however, offering something in return 
for the food they asked for. Mrs. Bartlett relates 
that two or three natives came to her father's 
cabin, and made known by signs that they wanted 
some meat. They soon learned that the settlers 
kept their smoked meat in the loft of their cabin, 
and, coming to Shur's, the spokesman of the 
party, pointing to the loft, took out his knife and 
made a flourish, by which he indicated the cutting 
of meat, but which Mrs. Shur mistook for a threat 
of violence. She was not a little alarmed, but, 
observing no demonstration that confirmed her 
fears, she parleyed with them until she caught 
their meaning and produced the desired article. 
They left instanter, but, not long after, Mrs. Shur 
observing an old brass kettle, which they had 
evidently left in payment for the meat, sent it 
back to their camp. The Indians were greatly 
taken back by the return of the consideration of 
their purchase, and lugubriously pointing down their 
throats, shook their heads to indicate " that cir 
cumstances over which they had no control" pre- 
vented their trading back, and were greatly 
relieved to learn that a forcible surrender of the 
meat was not expected. With the growth of 



Chesterville as a trading point, the number of 
Indians that made long stays here increased, and 
many became quite familiarly known. Among 
these were Sunmondwot and his squaw, Tom Logan, 
reported to be one hundred years old, Dawdy 
and Joe Williams, a half-breed, who was instru- 
mental in piloting the army through the " Black 
Swamp." These parties stayed months, camping 
in the southwest part of the township, and living 
in the most amicable relations with the settlers. 
David James, an old Welsh Baptist preacher, 
took a great interest in their spiritual welfare, and 
on Sutiday would preach to them, getting them 
so interested in a few years, that their meetings 
attracted considerable attention. David Miller 
was another settler that seemed to have a special 
affinity for the Indians, and exhibited a wonder- 
ful control over them. Previous to his coming to 
Chester, he had lived at Mount Vernon, where bis 
cabin was the favorite resort for the natives. But 
while thus having their confidence, he could not 
change their nature, as several o." his experiences 
indicate. While living at Mount Vernon, a man by 
the name of Barton made his home with Milkr. 
He had had some dealings with the Indians, and 
had in some way incurred the mortal enmity of 
one of the savages. Finding where Barton lived, 
he waylaid him, but, not being able to get near 
enough for his purpose, pursued him, brandishing 
his knife. Barton, unarmed, made for Miller's 
cabin, but could not gain on his pursuer sufficient 
distance to enable him to shut the door. He 
dashed through the cabin, the Indian in hot pur- 
suit, following close upon his heels. Neither 
gained upon the other, and finally, after making 
the circuit several times through the house, they 
came to a struggle in the middle of the cabin. In 
the fight, the Indian lost his knife, and, Mrs. 
Miller having summoned assistance, the white man 
was released. There was but little sympathy felt 
for Barton, as he had provoked the danger, and 
the Indian was allowed to depart unharmed. After 
coming to Chester, his cabin was thronged with the 
same freedom by the natives, the floor of his 



>> 



358 



HISTOKY OF MORROW COUNTY 



prill -ij)!!! ri)oiu, at night, hi-inji frequently covered 
with tho i'oriusot' sloi'piiiL: savaues. A jtart}' of In- 
diauf- caiiio ouo iii<iht and asked pi'miLssion to stay 
wiih liiin, jsayinu,' tliat " Blackbird,"' one of the 
number, had tjot drunk, and they wanted to avoid 
him, lest tlioy should all get into trouble. Permis- 
sion was granted, and, late in the night, " Black- 
bird " came and demanded entrance. Mr. Miller 
refused to let him in, and evaded his questions as 
to the whereabouts of the rest of the party. He 
became convinced, however, that the rest were in- 
side, and, without more ado, breaking in the door, 
he advanced upt)n Miller, threatening to brain him 
with his tomahawk. This was a gross violation of 
the rules of fi-ontier hospitality, and his companions, 
throwing him upon the ground, face downward, and 
tying his feet and hands together behind his back, 
left him in this uncomfortable position until morning, 
wlien, sobered up, he made all the amends in his 
power for his violent proceedings in the night. 
Notwithstanding these friendly relations, the chil- 
dren and wonien of the settlement never lost their 
instinctive fear of them, and this fact was fre(|uently 
taken advantage of by the natives as an opportu- 
nity for not altogether harmless fun. Thomas Evans 
relates an experience of this sort, which made an 
impression upon him that has lost none of its vivid- 
ness in the years that have elapsed since then. 
When a boy, he was sent on an errand by his 
mother, and, on his way, he had to pass a cherry- 
tree that was then loaded with the wild fruit. As 
he passed under it, he stopped to gather a few 
chen-ies, when, glancing up, he saw a full-grown 
Indian sitting in the branches, who at the same in- 
stant gave such a piercing yell as to almost paralyze 
him with fear. The next instant's rebound found 
him flying on his way trembling with fear, and 
nothing could persuade him to return alone, or to 
ever go by the tree after dark. Occasionally an 
Indian became insolent when drunk, and was 
treated without consideration by the whites, who 
were easily moved to extremes under such provo- 
cation. Tom Logan, while professing the friend- 
liest feelings for the whites, and fi-ccjuently taking 



the children to ride l>ehind him on his pony, 
conceived a grudge against one of the McCracken 
boys, and threatened to kill him, a threat which he 
never attempted to carry out. Another, who was 
greatly addicted to bragging of his exploits, when 
drunk, frequently displayed what he called ninety- 
nine tongues of white men. This was a source of 
considerable irritation to the younger men of the 
community, and, one day, the Indian's horse was 
found without its owner, from which it was genei'- 
ally supposed that some of the whites, in a fit o f 
anger, had waylaid and killed him. 

The game which, proved such an attraction to 
the Indians, and of so much advantage to the set- 
tlers, continued here for nearly twenty years after 
the first settlement was made. Deer, turkeys; 
wolves and bears thronged the woods, furnishing 
food, sport, and not an inconsiderable income to the 
settlers who gave their leisure hours to this pursuit. 
The first settlers found wolves here in dangerous 
numbers, and the State and county authorities 
stimulated the pioneers in their eiforts to extermi- 
nate them by offering bounties for the scalp of a 
wolf over six months old. Large numbers were 
killed, and, as they were legal tender for the pay- 
ment of taxes, they were frequently the only re- 
source the settlei's had to meet these obligations, 
McCracken was a great hunter, and paid consider- 
able attention to killing these animals. On one 
occasion, when quite young, he caught a wolf by 
the tail, in a hollow log, and, pulling it out, held it 
until his companion could kill it with a stone. At 
another time, he and John Meredith, who is still 
living, were out with a party of three or four 
others on a wolf hunt. The plan was to lay out 
in the woods and learn the whereabouts of their 
game by the direction of their howls, and, fixing 
the location, to go in the morning and catch them 
in their dens. Among the party was Daniel Kim- 
ball. They had built a large fire as a protection 
against the animals as well as the cold, and, 
while seated about, had partaken of refreshments 
consisting prouiinently of honey. Thirsty after such 
a repast, Meredith and McCracken proposed to go to 



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liL. 



HISTORY or MORROW COUNTY. 



359 



the creek for a drink, but Kimball, fearing an at- 
tack fi'om the wolves, preferred staying near the fire, 
and sent his shoe with the others in which to bring 
back some water. They brought it back filled 
with water, but found the wolves snapping their 
teeth in close proximity to the party left behind. 
They fixed the location, and, in the morning, 
^Meredith and McCrackeu, who seem to have been 
the leading spirits of the party, found four gray 
and two black wolves in a hollow log, which they 
captured without difiiculty, reaping quite a sum of 
money for those times. Bear were frequently met 
with, but they were not hunted with the same im- 
punity. A story is told of James Austin, whose 
horses straying away one day, he followed then- trail 
without thinking of his gun. He finally made 
up his mind that the horses had started for Mount 
Vernon, and decided to go there to look after them. 
It was not long before he came upon a huge she- 
bear with her cubs. He was not prepared for such a 
meeting, and would have been glad to pass along 
without molesting her. But Mrs. Bruin evidently 
took in the whole situation, and, after a moment's 
hesitation, moved rapidly toward her unarmed 
victim. Mr. A stin at once made for a buckeye 
sapling and barely had time to get well on the tree 
before the animal, reaching after him, touched his 
foot, tearing oif the heel of his boot. The bear sat 
down to contrive some way to bring him down. 
The tree was too small for her, and, after pushing one 
of her cubs up as far as it would go, she seemed to 
despair of securing her game, and retired in disgust, 
after keeping him in the tree for several hours. 
Mr. Austin came down to the ground, and lost no 
time in making his way to his destination. He re- 
lated afterward that he never made better time on 
a walk, or felt so light of foot, as the rest of his 
journey, but the re-action left him strained, and so 
upset by his fi-ight that he never regained his 
former self. Deer and turkeys were shot fi'om the 
cabins, and many a settler had the chinks in 
.some part of his house that commanded a consid- 
erable space so fixed that he could -remove them 
and shoot game that came in close proximity to his 



place. Five deer was the ordinary trophy of a 
day's hunt, and droves of fifteen or twenty animals 
were frequently seen walking slowly through the 
woods in single file. This characteristic of the deer 
is still remembered in the sajdng among the older 
people, " as slow as a deer on a walk." A story is 
related of Jacob jNIiller, that, going through the 
woods one dark night, his dog ran on to a deer, and 
catching hold of him, held fast. Miller did not 
know what it was, but, finally, catching it by the 
horns, he killed it with a blow of his fist. Small 
game abounded in the woods, and s<(uirrels were 
very troublesome in some places to the crops. 
Hunting matches were fi-equently made up, and, in 
one of these contests Daniel Lyon relates that he 
and his brother, with one gun, killed 120 of these 
animals. 

This abundance of game, while at first a great 
advantage to the settlement, soon proved not an 
inconsiderable burden, and hunting became neces- 
sary for defense against their depredations. Wolves 
were found especially troublesome, and the utmost 
care had to be taken to guard against their con- 
stant attacks. Mr. Shur was for some time un- 
able to provide a door to his cabin, and used a 
blanket as a temporary barrier. This proved in- 
sufficient to keep the wolves at bay, and he was 
obliged to build fires before his door to feel at all 
secure. Stock of all kinds was in more or less 
danger. Henry Greorge brought a few sheep into 
the settlement, and built a high pen to guard them 
at night, but his care was unavailing. Although 
they were guarded by day and folded at night, the 
wolves finally took them all. They would steal 
upon the flock iu the daytime, within fifty feet of 
the house, and make away with one of the sheep. 
Yearling cattle were frequently destroyed by fall- 
ing in with a pack of these voracious animals, and 
even gTown animals and horses were sometimes 
attacked, and more or less iojured by them. Soon 
after the coming of the Shur family, a cow was 
killed by these animals near his cabin, and was 
partly eaten when discovered. It was often very 
unsafe for persons, and the settlers were frequently 



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360 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



oblii^ed to take extra precautions to guard against 
attack. One of Mr. George's boys went after the 
horses, and the wolves came upon him so close that 
he wa.*; forced to run to the house without com- 
pleting his errand. Another boy went after the 
cows, and amused himself by imitating the howl 
of the wolf. His howls were answered, and they 
gathered so fiist about him that he was forced to re- 
tire from the compajiy he bad called up about him. 
Their howls could be heard every night, and just 
preceding a storm their noise was distressing to 
hear. The natural disposition of the settlers, stimu- 
lated by the State and county bounties, at length 
worked their extermination, but raising stock was 
far from an easy matter even then. In the natural 
condition of the country at that time the highest 
and driest land of to-day was wet, and the lower 
places were mire holes. Great care had to be taken 
to guard the cattle from these places, and the 
youngest of the family that could serve was obliged 
to act as herd-boy, and even then the community 
were frequently called upon to rescue some animal 
that had been too venturesome. Sickness was 
quite prevalent among the stock, and murrain, or 
the rank vegetation to which the stock was not 
used, took them off by scores. Even hogs, which 
generally find life in a new settlement very 
much suited to their nature, found life an up-hill 
business for some years in Chester. Bears had a 
peculiar liking for these animals, which proved a 
friendship with the advantages all on one side, and 
the existence of the larger part of the settlers' 
property in this line depended simply upon the 
superior fleetness of the hogs. The cold winters were 
another implacable . enemy that took off scores of 
these animals, and it was no unusual sight to see 
from six to a dozen hogs piled up in the woods, 
smothered and frozen to death. But notwithstand- 
ing these drawbacks they multiplied very fast, and 
proved a source of considerable revenue. John 
Talmadge bought large numbers of these animals, 
and drove them to Baltimore. The hogs were 
caught, swung up in the breeching of a harness, 
and weighed with a large pair of steelyards, a large 



hog turning the scale at three hundred pounds. 
The settlement in Chester was of rapid growth, 
and early in 1812, finding that there were enough 
voters to give them a separate organization, Mr. 
Shur headed a petition to the Conimissionei'S of 
Knox County, asking that the settlement be set 
off into a township by themselves. This was done, 
and the first election appointed to be held on the 
25th of April, at the residence of William John- 
son. The judges on this occasion were Joseph 
Denman, Henry George, Evan Holt; clerks, 
William Johnson and Samuel Johnson. William 
Johnson was elected the first Justice of the Peace, 
and Rufus Dodd the first lister of taxable prop- 
erty, the latter receiving a county order for $3 for 
this service. At the October election in the fol- 
lowing year there were fifteen voters, with the 
following ballot: For Representative, Gass, 15 ; 
Commissioner, Peter Wolf, 9; Sheriff', John Hawn, 
Jr., 13 ; William Mitchell, 2. In the April elec- 
tion of 1824 we find that there was a tie vote of 
twenty-six for John Stilley and William V. Evans, 
for Justice of the Peace, and that it was decided 
in favor of Stilley by lots cast by the judges. 
Ruftis Dodd was the second Justice, and he was 
elected in 1817. He served three years, and dur- 
ing that time he wrote but three summons, of 
which one only was ever served. This fact speaks 
more for the character of the community as law- 
abiding citizens than a volume of panegyrics could 
do, and bears out the reputation that has come 
down to the present. The larger part of the early 
settlers were from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 
and, in the matters of education and religion, they 
were as progressive as they were cordial in the 
overflowing generosity of their hospitality. No 
spirit of asceticism found place in this settlement, 
and labor found its proper respite in the boisterous 
frolic of the frontier games. Log-rollings, cabin- 
raisings and husking-bees were happy combina- 
tions of work and play, in which the whole settle- 
ment took part. While the men were engaged 
out doors the women assisted in the preparations 
for the supper in the cabin, or worked at spin- 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



361 



ning or quilting. After supper the room was 
cleared, and a series of merry romps were begun, 
in which the kisses that were forfeited seemed the 
principal attraction; or some amateur musician 
was brought to the front with his ill-kept "fiddle," 
and a dance was begun that was characterized 
more by the vigorous performances of the dancers 
than by grace or rhythm of motion. Nor was the 
lack of an instrument an insuperable obstacle in 
the early times. Mrs. William McCracken re- 
lates, that in such a case one would volunteer to 
sing, and others would join in when a lull in the 
dance gave them opportunity. At weddings, this 
form of amusement was indispensable, and it is 
related of the lady j ust mentioned that at her wed- 
ding she danced till late at night, and then, com- 
ing to her husband's home, danced the next night, 
ruining a pair of blue morocco slippers that were 
the envy of all the girls. The entertainments of 
this character were not all contrived by the young 
men. There were spinning-bees, when some 
matron, with more than she could do, would take 
her wool about the neighborhood and appoint 
some evening, when the women would bring in the 
yarn, and the men would be invited to supper, and 
spend the evening in the usual way. At musters 
and otiier holidays the men indulged in hardier 
sports; in trial feats of strength, and wrestling. 
On such occasions John Stilley was usually the 
hero, though maintaining his laurels only at the 
expense of many a severe trial. A settler by the 
name of John Fogle, who lived near Chester 
Church, a large, stout, active man, was very de- 
sirous of trying conclusions with him. At a gath- 
ering at McCracken's he entered the lists, but, 
being a man of somewhat excitable nature, Stilley 
avoided him. A little later the "boys," who de- 
sired to have the champions measure each other's 
strength, arranged to bring them together. The 
hats of all present were thrown into a pile, and 
oiie of the number blindfolded was to draw out 
two hats, the owners of which were to wrestle. It 
was not difficult to arrange it so that Fogle and 
Stilley should meet, and the struggle began. It 



resulted, it is said, in the utter defeat of Fogle, 
who took it ill-naturedly, and, as both were going- 
home on horseback, he rode up to Stilley, using 
abusive language. The latter was very prompt in 
expressing his disapproval of this course of pro- 
cedure, and, striking his antagonist with his fist, 
knocked him on the ground. Fogle accepted this 
chiistisement as settling the matter, and, giving up 
his pretensions, was known as Stilley's convert. 
Though never vanquished at such sports by a 
man, it is said that one of the girls challenged him 
to jump over a bar. He accepted, but when she 
cleared the bar, which had gradually been raised 
to the height of six feet, he acknowledged himself 
beaten. Of the gossip of the village, but little has 
come down to a later day. It is believed, how- 
ever, that Robert Miller s marriage to Sarah Jane 
Wilson was the first event of the kind iu the com- 
munity, and that Mary George, daughter of Henry 
George, Jr., was the first native accession. 

As in most frontier settlements, whisky played 
an important part in every department of life. 
Many of the settlers put one or more barrels of it 
in their cellars as cider is now " put down." Log- 
rollings and raisings could not be accomplished 
without, and harvest hands refused to work if it 
was not forthcoming in the field. John Derrill, 
Sr., who came from New Jersey in 1817, and 
settled on the place where Lanning lives, was in 
the habit of putting down three barrels of whisky 
every fall. His son, John, Jr., who lives near the 
old place, relates on one occasion, that his supply 
became exhausted right in the midst of the har- 
vest season ; and, fearing lest he should fall short 
while the hands were in the field, he put John upon 
a horse with a bag containing a two-gallon jug in 
either hand, told him to run his horse to Dal- 
rymple's hotel and back, saying, " The boys won't 
do a stroke if they find no whisky to drink." But 
with whisky work was accomplished that money 
could scarcely buy. A story is told of old Daniel 
Kimbal, that in some altercation he knocked a man 
down with the handle of a pitchfork. He was 
brought before the justice, and fined '■ to brush the 



w 

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362 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



Mount Giletid road from Chesterville to the town 
line." Sccurintr a liberal amount of whisky, he made 
a liec, and, without doing a stroke, he secured the 
payment of his fine by putting the liquor " where 
it would do the most good." But this evil was 
early checked by the earnest effort of those thought- 
ful ones who saw where it w:is leading. Byron 
Leonard, the proprietor of the nearest still, located 
in Wayne Towusliip, becoming convinced of the 
harm he was doing, gave up the business, and 
entered the field against the curse of intemperance. 
He was an educated man of great natural ability, 
and was at one time a member of the Legislature. 
Li his new departure he was. of course, opposed by 
those who had been his best patrons — two old 
topers standing near him on the occasion of his 
first lecture, and inlying Wm with questions which 
he readily answered with happy effect. A remark- 
able incident, in this connection, is told of Robert 
Hickman, who was induced, in consideration of a 
((uantity of whisky, to mimic the "mourners" at 
a protracted meeting, by " going forward " In 
carrying out his engagement, Hickman was con- 
victed and converted, and afterward became a 
minister. Fogle, who had instigated him to this 
course, to satisfy some personal pique, seeing his 
plans thus thwarted, undertook to carry them out 
for himself, and was defeated in the same way, 
becoming an earnest Methodist. 

The Chester settlement was one of the earliest 
in Knox County. The first one was made not far 
from 1 80o ; two years later. Mount Vernon was 
named, and in ISdS. Evan Holt moved on his 
claim, and John Walker on his purchase, within 
the present limits of Chester. The growth of 
Mount Vernon, situated on a fine stream, and more 
remote from the frontier, was far more vigorous in 
its earlier years than could be expected of this 
settlement, and soon furnished the principal store, 
mill and post office for the surrounding .settlements 
less advantageously placed. Both settlements, at 
first, were obliged to patronize the .same mill, situ- 
ated some twelve or fifteen miles below Mount 
Vernon with a large advantage, in point of distance, 



in favor of the latter place. Going to mill was a 
very serious business to the settlement at Chester. 
The journey was some twenty-five or thirty miles, 
and with delays incident to the crudeness of the 
machinery two or three days were lost. The meal 
was but little more than cracked corn, and served 
after sifting through a pan punched with holes, one 
part as hominy, and the other as flour for bread. 
This waste of time was saved, to some extent, by 
sending the boys to mill. As soon as they were 
able to balance a bag of corn on a horse's back 
they were made to do this duty, thus gaining their 
first introduction to the life of a pioneer. The 
popular phrase of " sending a boy to mill," expres- 
sive of the inadequacy of means to ends, probably 
originated in the incidents growing out of their 
misadventures at these times. John Meredith 
relates that at one time when coming home from 
mill, the horse on which he rode ran against a 
tree and broke a hole in the bag, causing a serious 
loss of the meal. He was equal to the occa.sion, 
however, and taking off his vest he stuffed it into 
the wound. Another boy, returning from mill in 
the same way, had the misfortune to have his load 
thrown entirely off his horse by running against a 
tree. He was too small to replace it, and, after 
chasing the hogs that abounded in the woods, 
away from the vicinity of his meal, he tied his 
horse, and running to the nearest cabin, some two 
miles away, secured assistance to replace it. If 
we may credit a story told by' Mr. Evans, the men 
were not more free from the trivial mishaps of 
these journeys. He relates that on one occasion 
his father took some corn to mill, and after being- 
gone all day came back riding on his bag of meal. 
He was a large, fleshy man, and riding on the 
freshly ground meal had caused it to sour. It was 
found very unpalatable, but the stern necessities 
of the situation forbade their Wiisting it, and it was 
eaten with what relish the .severe exercise of 
clearing could furnish. The first comers to this 
settlement were obliged to forego the conveniences 
of a store situated even at a distance of fifteen 
miles, but a year or two later Clinton sprang up 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



363 



and furnished a place where coffee could be secured 
at 5 cents per pound, tea at $2.50, and pow- 
der, lead and calico at similar prices. Salt 
was to be secured only at Zunesville, at 815 
to S18 dollars per barrel, and iron goods and 
glass at the same rate. Leather was equally neces- 
sary, and as difficult to procure, and John Mere- 
dith relates that he used to go to Mount Vernon to 
husk corn, getting a pound of leather a day for his 
labor, bringing home his week's earnings on his 
shoulder every Saturday night. James Breese, 
who came from near New London, Conn., in 1818, 
and settled two miles east of the village — used to 
haul flax to Zanesville, and poplar lumber to 
Columbus, and get a dollar a thousand for his 
lumber and trouble. Such experiences would seem 
now enough to make a man wear a long face all 
his days. But it had an opposite effect on Breese, 
and many of his jokes are handed down as speci- 
mens of fun in " ye olden time," though he is yet 
living, as ready to originate new ones as to relate 
old ones. They tell one which illustrates the life 
of some twoscore years ago. Wliile working on 
the road, an Irish peddler with the inevitable pack 
upon his back came up to the party and proposed 
that one of them should carry him over the stream 
which crossed the road near by. Breese offered 
to carry him over for the half-dollar he offered, 
and to land him safe on the other side, "or 
no pay." The bargain was struck, and, mounting 
his back, pack and all, he proceeded to ride across the 
water. The stream was not very deep, and Breese 
had reached about the deepest part with his 
passenger, when a pretended stumble threw both 
into the water. There was considerable Irish pro- 
fanity — that did not save the pack from getting 
wet — and a good deal of laughing — that did not 
help the peddler's frame of mind ; but Breese, to 
whom the joke was worth more than the money, 
stuck to the contract and received no pay. 

With markets at such a distance, there could be 
but little incentive to extend the productions be- 
yond the demands of the " home consumption," 
which was principally regulated by the amount 



each one raised upon his own improvement. Ben- 
jamin Jones and his wife did, however, carry on a 
dairy in the face of the most trying difficulties, 
selling their product at Zanesville. Mrs. Jones 
did most of this work, and was frequently lost 
while searching for her cows, and the neighbors 
had to go out, with the usual instruments of noise, 
to bring her in. This occurred so often that she 
failed to be very much alai-med when she found 
herself lost, and, though on one or two occasions 
forced to stay in the woods all night, did not abate 
her interest in cheese-making. Gretting lost was a 
frequent occurrence, especially with the women, 
who had less experience in traversing the woods, 
and they were often completely bewildered and 
lost in going from one neighbor's to another. 

The inconvenience of mills could not long be 
endured, where available streams were to be found, 
and the community of Chester, embracing so many 
men of enterprise and pluck in overcoming obsta- 
cles, soon began the consideration of putting up a 
mill for their own convenience. There was no one 
in the community who had learned the trade of 
milling ; but John Grwynn, a brother-in-law of Enos 
Miles, Sr., who was in limited circumstances, was 
induced to undertake the business. It was a mat- 
ter that interested the whole community, and every 
family contributed as they were able. A bee was 
made to build the dam and raise the building, the 
timbers of which were hewed by Samuel Hayden. 
Provisions were contributed to maintain Grwynn's 
family, who was devoting his whole time to the 
mill, and in 1819 Chester rejoiced in a mill of its 
own. It was a small one-story structure, situated 
at the end of the dam which occupied the site of 
the one there at present. It 1827, it was moved 
to its present location, and a saw mill added on the 
north side. Later the mill was enlarged, the saw- 
mill placed on the other side, and steam fixtures 
added. It is now doing duty at the same place, 
and has just gone through a thorough overhauling 
and refitting, at the hands of Mr. Cunningham, 
its present owner. In 1825, John Dewitt, Sr., 
put up a saw mill on the site of Bush's grist-mill, 



J^l 



364 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



which was burned down a few years hiter ; and in 
1888 he rebuilt the saw-mill, addinti; a grist-mill. 
The buhr stones were jiot at Bellville ; and John 
Dewitt, Jr., relates that while he was at that place 
there occurred that remarkable phenomenon of 
shooting stars that has been so widely noted by sci- 
entific men. It caused a great panic among the ter- 
rified residents of the place — one man, a noted 
infidel of the place, rushed out in all the deshabille 
of his night dress, and began to utter prayers, 
which the occasion seemed to demand. His wife, 
more alive to the proprieties of the occasion, called 
his attention to his lack of dress, when he ex- 
claimed, " Oh, wife ! there's no time for breeches 
when the world is coming to an end." The first 
tannery wa.s started south of Chesterville by David 
HoUoway, who, in the absence of oak, tried the vir- 
tue of beech bark. This experiment was a dismal 
failure, and shoes made of the leather would get 
soaked up, and when hung up to dry warped so 
out of shape that they had to be soaked again and 
dried on a la.st, to be of any service afterward. 
These industries thus supplied, sufficed the neces- 
sities of the community, until, Chesterville being 
laid out, business began to come in, and rival even 
some of the older villages in its prosperity. 

Enos Miles, Sr., a school-teacher and surveyor 
by profession — born Augu.st 8, 1786 — married 
March 22, 1810, came to Chester in the spring 
of 1815, and settled on what is known as the 
Smith farm, just south of Chester Church. Two 
years later, he came to where Chesterville now 
stands, and bought the property here of James 
Holt. A ])iece of about ten acres, in the south- 
west part of the village, had been felled and partly 
chopped over. He built his cabin a little back of 
the L formed by the wing of the hotel, carrying 
all the water he u.sed from a .spring near the William 
Denman place, till about 1888, when a well was 
dug in the center of the square, from which the 
whole village supplied their wants. The village 
was laid out in 18211, by Mr. Miles. J. C. Hick- 
man doing the surveying. It was named Ches- 
terville from the name of the township ; but the 



local name of Miles Cross Roads, which was a com- 
mon name applied to a hotel similarly situated, 
for some years threatened to supersede its prop- 
er name. The first .sale of lots occurred on 
the 11th day of the following April, the lot 
on the northeast corner of the square bring- 
ing $4!). In the fall of this year, the hotel 
was built, where Miles kept tavern until the 
spring of 1833. It was then rented to Phin- 
eas Squire, who, with several of his family, 
died with the cholera. The house was afterward 
kept by AVilliam Ash, P. B. Ayers, and Davis 
Miles. The west rooms of the hotel were used for 
a store from the very first, until in 1840, E. B. Kin- 
sell, of Mansfield, put in a stock of goods, and John 
GraflF, a brother-in-law of Abraham King, acted as 
salesman. Grraif was unmarried when he came, but 
in the following year he went to Hagerstown and 
brought home a wife. He lived in the north end 
of the second story ; and it is remembered that they 
had a rag carpet on their floor. This was a won- 
derful innovation, and many who had never known 
anything more aristocratic than a bare puncheon 
floor, thought it was calico, and considered them 
wealthy to afibrd such extravagance. In the sec- 
ond story of the store Mr. Palmer's family lived, 
and Mr. Miles and his family occupied other rooms 
in the same building. In 1838, Mr. Miles erected 
the rectangular brick west of the hotel, which 
his pedogogical instincts led him to build as an 
academy. He found himself too far in advance of 
his times, and put it to the more practical use of a 
dwelling. The presence in the community of a 
good brick and stone mason was instrumental in 
securing the erection of brick houses at an early 
day. The first one was built in 1815, by Henry 
George, for Robert Dalrymple. It was a small 
affair and, was afterward sold to Struble, and is 
now standing in the eastern part of the township, 
u.sed as a kitchen. Jacob Shurs house, built in 
1825, was the second. It was ))uilt just north 
of his old cabin, the brick's for which were 
made just east of the old cabin, a yoke of oxen 
trumping the clay to mix it. William Camp- 



,|v 



lLl 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



365 



bell, of Franklin, who was working for Mr. Shur, 
took an active part in this branch of the business. 
In connection with the building-up of the vil- 
lage, it may be said that the barn now owned by 
E. W. Miles, is one of the oldest buildings now 
standing. It was built in 1822, by the old " cut 
and dry rule," and took two days to raise. It was 
a grand occasion of the sort, and called together 
about one hundred persons, — men, women and 
children, on the first day. On the second day, one 
hundred and ten persons sat down to dinner. It 
is said that the " square system " of fi-aming was 
introduced some years later, by William Grordon. 
The second store was opened on the southwest 
corner of the main street, by William Shur, who 
had purchased a stock of commission goods from 
J. V. Johnson, of Martinsburg. While putting 
up the building for his business, he suffered a loss 
of some thirty or forty dollars, by fire, which 
nearly put a stop to the enterprise, but his father 
and friends helped him over the difficulty. In 
1840, Graff went into a building on the southeast 
corner of the square, and not long after was burned 
out. This was the most serious loss the little vil- 
lage had suffered, several buildings being destroyed 
before the flames were checked. Among the mer- 
chants that have succeeded, may be mentioned 
W. T. Bartlett, Stephen Husey, Enon Jackson, 
Sharon Burgess, Wells & Arnold, William T. 
Bartlett & Co., Mark Ketchem, Sharon Miles, and 
Page & Hance. 

In 1833, the first practicing physician. Dr. 
Richard E. Lord, came to Chesterville, and the tra- 
ditions of his labor of love and self-sacrifice are met 
on every side. It is related of him that on one 
occasion a poor famOy sent for him in case of sick- 
ness. It was during the winter ; the stream south 
of the village had overflowed, inundating the flats 
to a wide extent, while in the channel its current 
was dashing away everything beibre it. To at- 
teinpt to ford it, seemed to threaten sure death, and 
his family used every persuasion to keep him at 
home, at least till the next day. He felt, how- 
ever, that duty demanded that he should go, and. 



mounted on his horse, he forded the stream, while 
his anxious family breathlessly watched him from 
the shore. Fortunately, he escaped the dangers of 
the river, but such fidelity to his profession, and 
the duty it entailed, meets only a part of its 
recompense in the tributes of praise which are 
heard on every side, from those who knew him. 
Later in life, he retired from active practice, and 
turned his attention to the cultivation of a farm he 
had bought. In 1839, he put up a gristr-mill, four 
stories and a half high, and located in on the 
Mount Gilead Road, a little northwest of the cen- 
ter of the village, where it still serves the public. 
This was not a profitable investment, as more ex- 
pense was put upon its construction than the 
probable business would warrant. An accident, 
which nearly proved fatal, occurred to the mill- 
wright. He was standing on the top superintend- 
ing the raising of one of the massive bents that 
were peculiar to that time, and, missing his foot- 
ing, he was precipitated into the mill-race below. 
The bent was partially raised, and, with admirable 
presence of mind, realizing that if the men became 
demoralized, they would let the bent fall and crush 
some of them, he gave an order while in the very 
act of falling, and he was not missed until, straight- 
ening the bent up, they looked for further di- 
rections. He was immediately rescued, and for 
awhile his life was despaired of, but he finally re- 
covered, none the worse for his sixty-foot descent. 
In 1832, Abraham King came to Chesterville. and 
two years later bought out a tannery, situated on 
the Mount Gilead Road, which had been built a 
few years before. A little later, Mr. Ellsworth 
erected a tannery on the opposite side of the street, a 
little further west, and finally sold it to J. E. Miles. 
A story is related of one of the early tanners 
who bought a hide, and afterward, unrolling it, 
found a stone in the middle, for which he had 
paid. He laid it by and waited until some time 
afterward the man came back to buy some leather. 
The dealer cut off what was wanted, and, in the 
presence of the customer, put the stone in the roll 
of leather, and, weighing it, charged him the full 



i) y 



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366 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



price. There were no questions asked, and no 
grumbling- at the price, but tlio consumer doubt- 
less learned by that experiment that stones did not 
prove valuable material for tanning. About 1840, 
Ilance & 3IcCollougli i)ut up a woolen-mill, where 
pulling, pressing, and carding were done. The 
power was applied by means of a tread-wheel, 
which, lying in a horizontal position, somewhat in- 
clined, furnished a platform on which horses' 
treading communicated the motion to the machin- 
ery. Later, steam was employed, and a thriving 
business was dohe in the manufacture of cloth. 
Another industry which ' proTuised good results 
was an ashery, conducted by Reuben Gleason. 
He came to the village in the fall of 1830, and 
moved into a two-story frame building, east of 
town. While there was an abundance of field 
ashes that made the most valuable material for the 
manufacture of potash, he found it difficult to 
make them available, on account of the bad roads, 
which prevented his hauling them, and the busi- 
ness, languishing, died out in a few years. A 
postoffice was established here about 1837, with 
Enos Miles, Sr., as Postmaster. For some time it 
was kept in the bar-room of the hotel, but there 
was considerable objection to the place, and it was 
afterward removed to another room, and later to 
one of the .stores. The mail was carried from 
Marion to Blount Yernon, twice a week, on horse- 
back, the carrier generally stopping at Chesterville 
over night. It was carried a little by William 
Pilaris, who is still living, in Franklin Town- 
ship. About 1800, the route between Fredrick- 
town and Mount Gilead was established, and car- 
ried by Foot and Corwin, three times a week. In 
1865, it was changed to a daily route, and has 
been carried by Abram Concklin. 

The early years of the village were full of busi- 
ness promise. Among its professional men were 
Drs. R. E. Lord, F. Swingley, I. H. Pennock, S. 
M. Hewett, and 3Iessrs. IBoggs and Haus. Of the 
mechanical arts there were John Moore, Leonard 
Snow, and David Richardson, cabinet-makers ; 
George Hartshorn, Joseph Davis, and Mr. Royce, '. 



hat-makers; John Duree, Jacob Winters, and 
James Matthews, shoemakers ; G. H. Rowland, 
James French, and William Preemer, harness- 
makers and saddlers ; Mr. Pancost, E. Gol>le, 
Joseph Wagner, Sr., P. R. Crowell, and Mr. 
Daily, tailors; John Bonar, William Mitchel, 
Thomas Peterson, Bonner & Withers, and Nathan- 
iel ^Mitchel, blacksmiths ; Benjamin Jackson, Enos 
Gwynn, and Joseph French, carpenters. The 
bu.sine.ss done in the stores was very larg-e, and 
teaming became a very important adjunct of the 
industries of the place. Abram Concklin came 
here in 1837, and at once engaged in this pursuit. 
Goods were transported from the lake ports, and 
loads of grain were taken out for shipment. As 
many as twelve wagon loads of wheat were sent at 
one time, to be returned loaded with goods. Team- 
ing to all parts of this country assumed like pro- 
portions, and the points where they met took on 
the appearance of an Eastern caravansary. It took 
a sheep to supply the table each meal, and the 
tricks and pranks played upon each other are yet 
related with infinite gusto by those who partici- 
pated. An early outgrowth of this business was 
the estalilishment of a livery-stable in 1847, by 
Mr. Concklin. He started with two horses, and 
soon increased the number to eight, but with the 
change of general business this has passed away, 
and there is at present no stable of this kind in 
the place. With such advantages, the only thing 
needed to make it permanent was railroad com- 
munications, to keep pace with its rivals; but 
unfortunately it was decreed otherwise, and they 
did not come. Three surveys for a proposed road 
along the Owl Creek valley, from Lima to Zanes- 
ville, were made about 1850, but the costly bridg- 
ing at tlie latter place made the whole thing fi^ll 
through. The roads through Mansfield and Mount 
Vernon, and the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati 
& Indianapolis, placed the little town at a di.sad- 
vantage, and its business began to wane. During 
the agitation for the organization of a new country, 
Chesterville took an important part, and, through 
the justness of its cau.se, and the ability of its 






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HISTORY OF MORROAV COUNTY. 



367 



representatives, came near achieving success. With 
ordinary advantages of modern times, Chesterville 
would have been a thriving little city, and the 
capital of a county. 

The village was inaugurated in 1860. A peti- 
tion signed by fifty-one names, asking the privilege 
of incorporation to the end that the village 
might be provided suitably with sidewalks, and 
that more efficient means might be taken to secure 
property against fire, was presented to the Com- 
missioners, on August 22, 1859, which was granted 
on the following January. The first officers were : 
Davis Miles, Mayor ; J. A. Goble, Recorder ; 
Abram Concklin, Marshal ; P. R. Crowell, Treas- 
urer ; J. G. Miles, A. King, William Shur, Joseph 
Gunsaulus, D. B. Kinsell, and Gr. W. Shur, Coun- 
cilmen. A fair amount of sidewalks, of good 
quality, have been laid, but the fire protection is 
purely theoretical. A fire engine was once owned 
by the corporation, which was chiefly useful in 
affording amusement and exercise to the volunteer 
company that brought it out, on occasion, to sprinkle 
the admiring crowd that gathered about to watch 
their skill. But the company has long since dis- 
banded, and the engine is going gradually to decay 
in its natural element, at the bottom of the branch 
of Owl Creek. The present business of the place 
is represented by two well-stocked dry-goods stores, 
a drug-store, milliner-shop, grocery, meat-shop, 
tin and stove store, a good-sized hardware store, 
a tailor shop, blacksmith-shop, carriage-shop, hotel, 
four churches, the town house and schoolhouse. 
A lodge of each of the two great benevolent soci- 
eties have found a home here. 

Lodge No. 204, of Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, organized under the dispensation of the 
Grand Lodge, January 24, 1852, with L. Taylor, 
L. D. Bartlett, P. B. Ayers, Ezekiel Ketcham, G. 
V. Bartlett, P. J. Wetherby, G. W. Shur, J. H. 
Honeyman, Robert Dahymple, Joseph Morris and 
John Ink as charter members. It was instituted 
December 30, 1852, by District Deputy Grand 
Master R. C. Kirk, an ex-Lieutenant Governor of 
Ohio, the officers of the Grand Lodge signing the 



charter, William G. Wilhams, M. W. G. M., Alex E. 
Glenn, Rt. W. G. Secretary. The officers of the 
Lodge at present are W. A. Fish, N. G.; J. B. 
Wilson, V. G.; W. J. Shuble, Rec. Secretary; D. 
W. Brown, Per. Secretary ; C. W. McCracken, 
Treasurer. This lodge is in a flourishing condition, 
and owns a hall of its own, which, finely appoint- 
ed, makes a pleasant I ome for this fraternity. In 
1867, the society joined with the town and built 
the Town Hall, the upper story of which this lodge 
constructed at a cost of |1,200. There are about 
fifty active members in the society, though there 
have been iri its history as high a number as one 
hundred and fifteen members. 

Lodge No. 238, of Free and Accepted Ma- 
sons, was granted a dispensation by the Grand 
Lodge assembled at Chillicothe on March 22, 1853. 
The charter members were J. W. Stinchcomb, 
Davis Miles, C. P. Shur, J. B. Dumble, S. M. 
Hewett, D. L. Swingley, S. L. Newcomb, A. Yan- 
ausdle, J. C. Miller, Gabriel Welling, J. E. Miles 
and L. H. Rowland. The grand officers signing 
were L. Y. Bierce, M. W. G^M.; J. D. Caldwell, 
R. W. G. Secretary. The first officers were J. W. 
Stinchcomb, W. M. ; Davis Miles, S. W. ; C. P. 
Shur. J. W. The first meetings were held in the 
old hotel, but, in 1873, they bought the building 
where J. A Goble's store is situated, for $1,950, in 
the upper part of which they have their hall. The 
society has been prudent in its exjienditures, and 
has been content to use very plain appointments 
hitherto, but they are proposing, this year, to en- 
large their hall, and later to add to their furniture. 
The present officers are S Modie, W. M.; E. D. 
Smith, S. W.; J. K. Miller, J. W.; G. W. Mc- 
Cracken, Treas.; J. M. Moore, Secy.; R. P. Allani, 
S. D.; Charles McEverts, J. D.; John McCracken, 
Tiler. There are fifty-six members. 

The early settlers of Chester brought with them 
a deep reverence for the church. Many were 
members of the different denominations, and all were 
far-sighted enough to see that a community could 
reach its highest progress only when grounded in 
the principles of morality and good order inculcated 



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HISTOKY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



by the church. The first denomination repre- 
sented in the township was the Old-School 
Baptists. Henry George was a Welsh preacher, 
of that church, and was given a farm, on condi- 
tion that four acres should be given for church 
purposes. Accordingly, in 1819, a hewed-log cab- 
in was erected on this land. About three, years 
before this, however, a church of some twenty 
members had been organized by Mr. Greorge. The 
latter was a vigorous man, of strong constitution, 
and very earnest in his ministerial labors. He was 
obliged to work at his trade, as stone and brick 
mason, for the support of his family, but all his 
spare time was devoted to missionary labor among 
the whites and Indians. Among the latter his 
power was quite remarkable, and his camp-meet- 
ings among them were the talk of the country 
round. His trade made him quite as powerful 
physically, and, it is said, he was able to defend him. 
self in almost any encounter. On one occasion a 
noted bully, with a comi)auion, met Mr. George 
with his son, on horseback, quietly riding home 
from Mount Vernon. The roughs stopped the 
horsemen and demanded that they should decide 
which were the best men. After trying, in vain, 
to evade them, the Georges reluctantly dismounted 
and prepared for fight. The elder George was 
not long in demonstrating to the surj^rised bully 
that he had challenged the wrong man, and soon 
had his antagonist at his mercy. His son not suc- 
ceeding so well, he turned in and gave him a help- 
ing hand, which turned the scale against the chal- 
lengers. 

The first church edifice stood on a corner of 
George's farm, was about 20x25 feet, provided 
with greased-paper windows, and had a huge 
fire-place at one end. The entrance was in the 
side of the building. There was no pulpit, but 
McCreary made a stand which answered every pur- 
pose. In 1830, a frame building was erected a little 
northeast of the present house of worship, but was so 
shabbily constructed that the people were afraid it 
would tumble down on their heads. In 1836, or 
thereabout, there was a division in the church, the 



old-school part withdrawing and establishing a 
church in Harmony. Four years later, the present 
structure, about 3Gx40 feet, was erected at a cost of 
about $1,000. There are now about 108 members, 
with llev. Benjamin Tullos as Pastor. The 3Ietho- 
dists, who next found a home in this town.ship, found 
their way here about 1 833. Revs. Solomon Manier 
and Crawford, in 1827, preached north and east of 
Chester ; the Franklin Church found a good many 
of its members in this township as well as the 
church in Wayne Township. Among the early 
ministers connected with the circuit in this vicinity 
we find the names of Pilcher, in 1829, David 
Young, James McMahon, Leroy Swampsted, John 
H. Power, Elmore Yocumb and William Criste. 
The latter preached the first Methodist sermon ever 
delivered in the township, under the following cir- 
cumstances : On his way to the conference at 
Columbus, in 1833, he rode from Mansfield in com- 
pany with Kinsell, who had a store at Chesterville- 
He stayed in Chesterville all night, and, in the 
evening, word having been sent out to the people 
living near, he preached to those who gathered 
in the cabin to hear him. A class was formed 
soon afterward, and held their meetings in the old 
frame schoolhouse. The earliest regular preacher 
was a Rev. McDowell, followed by Pilcher and 
Gofi". The earliest records in the possession of the 
church are dated July 11,1 836. At that time, Rev. 
Daniel M. Conant was the circuit preacher, E. B 
Kinsell, John Sliur, John Frogle, John Graft\ 
John Talmadge, Abraui King, Samuel Wilson, 
John Stilley and A. C. Jackson, Trustees. In the 
following year, the church building was erected, 
which now serves as a public school building. This 
was built by John and Henry Talmadge for $1,200, 
the site being purchased for $150. On the 19tli 
of September, 1849, this building was sold to 
Mansfield French for $350, the privilege of using 
it until October, 1850, being reserved by the church 
The new brick building, 70x45 feet, was erected in 
1851^ at a cost of several thousand dollars. It was 
several years before they struggled out of debt, but 
in the end they have secured a building ample for 





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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



371 



their own purposes, and a creditable addition to the 
buildings of the village. The cemetery, which lies 
behind it, was purchased of Enos Miles by the so- 
ciety about the time of the erection of their first 
church building. In 1837, it contained some 
twelve graves, and was neither cleared nor fenced. 
With increased means, the church has rendered 
those attentions to this abode of the dead that a 
civilized taste demands, and it is one of the neatest 
cemeteries in the county. In 1875, Abram Conck- 
lin built a handsome stone vault, in the face of a 
high bank, at a cost of a thousand dollars. It is a 
very ornamental feature of the gTounds. 

In 1845, the Presbyterian Church formed a so- 
ciety in this township. Ebenezer Goble, a member 
of this denomination and an earnest Christian man, 
desired to have a society formed here, and, though 
far from wealthy, made such strenuous efforts that 
he accomplished that end in the year mentioned. 
On the first page of the sessions record is found 
the following : "At the sessions of the Presbytery 
of Richland, held in the church of Blooming 
Grrove, April 8 and 9, 1845, a request from sundry 
members of the Frederick Church, and others liv- 
ing in the vicinity of Chesterville, that a church 
might be organized in the latter place, was 
granted, and the Rev. James Scott and Ruling 
Elder Alexander Menzie, of the Church of 
Frederick, were appointed a committee to carry into 
eifect the wishes of the petitioners and the resolu- 
tion of the Presbytery." On May 15, 1845, the 
following persons presented certificates of dimission 
from the diffei'ent churches near by : From the 
Frederick Church : Ebenezer Goble, and Anna, his 
wife, Aquilla Jarvis, Rosanna Jarvis, Sr., Rosanna, 
Jr., John Jarvis, Sarah Jane McAtee, John Boggs, 
Eliza Boggs, Richard D. Struble, William Beemer 
and wife, Harriet Beemer, their daughter ; Bartlett 
Norton and wife and Ann, their daughter ; Richard 
Manier and wife, Margaret Jane and Anna May 
their daughters ; Julius W. and Sarah Ann Fox, 
Stephen Runyon, I^lizabeth Leonard, Margaret 
Willett, Susannah McCall and Mary Berry. From 
the church at Martinsburg, there were Nathan 



Peares and wife and Margaret M., their daughter; 
from the church of Amity, Benjamin Hall and 
wife; from the Congregational Church at Strongs- 
ville, William Wilkinson and wife, John Smiley 
and wife ; from Harmony Presbyterian Church, 
Lettice Green. The first Elders elected were R. D. 
Struble, John Smiley, Nathan Peares; and for 
Deacons, Ebenezer Goble, William Beemer, Julius 
Fox. The next movement after the organization of 
a society was for the erection of a church building. 
Mr. Goble, though not. possessed of great means, 
was indefatigable in his efforts, and his house be- 
came the place for holding the meetings for further- 
ing the interests of this church. On February 1, 

1845, at a meeting at his house, himself, with H. 
Struble, Israel Green, William Beemer and Julius 
W. Fox, were appointed a building committee, and 
in that year, a lot was purchased for $35, 
and a place of worship erected upon it that 
cost $319 for the woodwork, and $95 for the 
masonry for it. The Rev. John Elliott presided 
over the church as a missionary at first, but, in 

1846, the Rev. F. A. Shearer divided his time be- 
tween the Chesterville Church and the Harmony 
Church in Franklin. The present Pastor is Rev. 
T. J. McClelland, a graduate of Alleghany City 
College. The membership now reaches forty per- 
sons. The church has had an arduous struggle for 
existence from the first, but it has gradually got on 
to a securer basis and is now in a fair growing con- 
dition. 

Closely following the establishment of public wor- 
ship came its co-worker, the public schools. The 
first teacher was probably John Gwynn, who taught 
one term in the old log Chester Church. But the 
cause of education in the settlement did not reach 
a vigorous existence in the community until the 
coming of Enos Miles, in 1815. He was an edu- 
cational enthusiast — a teacher by profession — and 
the main instrument in securing the first township 
schoolhouse, selling the land on which to build it 
to the Trustees for a pint, of oats. He taught a 
school in the old Baptist Church, and later, taught 
another in a part of Shur's double cabin. A little 



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372 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



later, the first log schoolhouse wjis built on a ridge 
near the northwest corner of a farm owned by a 
Mr. Percer. It wa.s the usual schoolhouse of the 
frontier, with gi'eased- paper windows, huge fire- 
place and puncheon furniture. Here the scholars 
found their way from miles away along the blazed 
paths, and paid their tuition with " produce." 
Luther Mozier was an early teacher here, and a one- 
armed man, by the name of Packard, was another. 
A log cabin, that stood near the barn owned by 
E. W. Miles, w;xs the place of the second school, 
and a third building for this purpose stood near 
the northeast corner of land owned by A. W. 
Dalrymple. Stephen Palmer, Robert T. Hickman, 
Mrs. John Beebe and Mrs. Phoebe Talmadge were 
among the early teachers here. Following these, 
caine the first frame schoolhouse, which was built 
in 1832. This was a comfortable building, with 
glass windows, and still remains in an out-of-the- 
way place in town, " unhonored and unsung." 
Among the teachers in this school were Thomas 
Ash, Merrill, Harris, J. C. Hickman, Mr. McMillen 
and Lewis Hunt. McMillan is chiefly remem- 
bered by his peculiar method of discipline. Small 
delinquents were hung up to a peg by a rope pass- 
ing under their arms. Others were put astride of a 
three-legged stool, and made to ride it around the 
stove, the teacher helping the speed of the rider, 
by sundry smart cuts of the whip. Hunt was fond 
of whisky, and used to beat the scholars unmer- 
cifully when under the influence of it. Some of the 
boys devised a way to bring him to his senses one 
day, by blowing him up, when in a drunken sleep. 
He was thoroughly startled, and his clothing was 
badly burned ; but he said nothing, until school 
closed, when he lashed the boys into a docility 
which would not dare to rebel, even when he slept. 
There are now six districts, two of which are 
fractional. These are all provided with wooden 
buildings, fiirnished with bells, and four have im- 
proved seating. The average pay of gentlemen 
teachers is $40 per month, and of ladies, about $20. 
From the Auditor's statistics it appears, balance on 
hand, September 1, 1878, was $963.26 ; amount of 



State tax received, $273 ; local tax for school and 
schoolhouse purposes, $1,007.41 ; total amount 
paid teachers during the year, $1,000.91 ; value of 
school property, $2,500; enumeration, 157, and 
average attendance, 112 ; balance on hand, Septem- 
ber 1, 1879, $1,015.30. 

The special school district of Chesterville was 
organized in 1852. The flrst meeting held for the 
purpose of voting on the question of being set 
apart into a special district, convened on April 
!) of that year, and which was decided by a 
vote of 54 to 27. A private school, of the 
higher grade, had been kept here before this, 
and, at the time this movement began, a select school 
was in progress. In 1849, Mansfield French bought 
the old Methodist Church building, and, fitting it 
up for his purposes, had opened a female seminary, 
which he conducted for several years. He finally 
sold out to J. B. Selby, who occupied the building 
as a dwelling, and kept a "select school" in it. 
The building used by the special district stood 
upon the hill north of the town hall, where 
it is now used as a dwelling. This was 
used for a few years, but complaints were made 
that it was unhealthy for the children, and, 
giving up their fine location, the district bought 
Selby's building in 1867, paying him $500 for 
the property, and spending $2,000 more in fitting 
it up for occupation. At the same time, Selby's 
services were secured as teacher in the High School 
at $475 per school year, and D. Reese, his assist- 
ant, at $350, in the grammar school. In the sec- 
ondary grade. Miss Selby taught at $155, and in 
the primary Miss Martha Dalrymple bore sway at 
$132. Some little difficulty soon resulted in the 
resignation of the Selbys, and Reese succeeded to 
the first position. In the second year, but $400 
was assessed for school purposes, which indicates 
a very economical administration. The first Direct- 
ors elected were Dr. William Hance and William 
Shur, for one year; W. F. Bartlett and Dr. S. M. 
Hewett, for two years; P. B. Ayers and P. R. 
Crowell, for three years. The board completed its 
organization by electing Dr. William Hance, Presi- 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



373 



dent ; W. F. Bartlett, Secretary, and P. R. Crow- 
ell, Treasurer. There are now three departments, 
presided over at this writing, by William Morrow, 
Miss S. E. Goble, and Miss A. E. Leonard. The 
balance on hand in the special district funds, 
September 1, 1878, was ^420,29; the amount of 
State tax received, $260,25 ; local tax for schools 
and schoolhouse purposes, $2,178,62; total 
amount paid teachers in the year, $1,063; value 
of school property, $3,000 ; enrollment, 73, 
average attendance, 56; balance on hand, Septem- 
ber 1, 1879, $1,449.02. The present board is 
Joseph Gunsaulus, President; J. A. Goble, Clerk; 
G. W. Shur, Treasurer, and Dr. L. D. Whitford, 
Dr. B. F. Jackson, and S. Modie. An interesting 
feature of the early educational movement was a 
debating society, which was held in the different 
schoolhouses about, and occasionally in the bar- 
room of the old hotel. The disputants used to 



gather from the neighboring townships, and among 
them were Jeremiah Smith and McMillen, of Har- 
mony Township ; Enos Miles, John Holt and others. 
The place of holding electiims, at an early day, 
was at Shur s cabin, but after 1823, when Frank- 
lin was set off, the voting place was removed to 
McCracken's, south of the village, and nearer the 
middle of the Township, as then limited. After 
the village of Chesterville assumed more impor- 
tance, the voting precinct was moved there ; but 
not without exciting considerable feeling in the 
matter, and the township was divided in senti- 
ment, as it was geographically, by the creek. In 
1867, the town hall, with the aid of the Odd 
Fellows' society, was built, and during the current 
year it is proposed to use certain funds, accruing 
from railroad taxation, in favor of the Lake Erie 
Division of the Baltimore & Ohio, in fitting it 
up with a stage and scenery. 



CHAPTER X.* 

WESTFIELD TOWNSHIP— INTRODUCTORY— FIRST SETTLEMENT— DRAKE'S DEFEAT— INCIDENTS 

OF THE INDIANS— SOCIAL CUSTOMS OF THE PIONEERS— EARLY 

INDUSTRIES, SCHOOLS, ETC. 



" 'Tis gtifinge, lut tiue ; for tiuth is always stiange, 
Stranger than fiction." 

SOON after the admission of Ohio into the 
Union, a tide of immigration began to 
pour forward from the Eastern States. The causes 
that prevented this after the close of Revolution- 
ary war had been removed. The Indians, who hith- 
erto, had continued their incursions into the set- 
tlements, had, by the victory of Gen. Wayne, been 
vanquished, and the Greenville treaty had secured 
a great degree of safety to the settlers in the new 
State. The soldiers iiom the different Indian 
campaigns had taken back glowing reports of the 

* Contributed l.v L. S. Wells. 



fertility of the soil, especially along the Scioto 
and its tributaries, but not even the most im- 
aginate had any conceptiont of the future of 
this part of the State, most favored by nature 
of any in this wide domain. Soon after the 
organization of Delaware County, in 1808, the 
territory embraced in this township, together with 
what is Oxford, the north half of Troy and all of 
Marlborough, in Delaware County, and what is 
now Waldo Township, Marion County, was or- 
ganized under the name of Marlborough Town- 
ship, and so remained until 1815, when Oxford 
Towiaship was set off, including what is now 
Westfield Township, and a small strip since added 
to Cardington. 



W 



;574 



HISTORY OF MORROAV COUNTY. 



In 1S22, Wescfield was set off from Oxford as a 
separate townsliip of Delaware County, the bound- 
ary line, being one mile north of the present 
dividing line between the two townships. In 1848 
when Morrow County was organized, this township, 
went to form a part, and at the same time was 
added to it on the south a strip one mile wide and 
five miles long from Oxford Township, and a strip 
averaging a half-mile wide and one and a half 
long, embracing several hundred acres, was taken 
from its northeast corner and added to Carding- 
ton Township. It is bounded on the north by 
Marion (younty and Cardington Township ; on the 
east, by Lincoln and Peru Townships; on the 
south by Delaware County, and on the west by 
Delaware and Marion Counties, and is located in 
the southwestern part, and extends the farthest 
west of any township in this irregular county of 
Morrow. It contained in 1880, a population of 
1 ,2(14. 

The Whetstone River enters the township a 
little east of the center on the north, and, taking 
a southwest direction, divides the township into 
two nearly equal parts, leaving it at the south- 
west corner. The eye does not often meet a more 
lovely sight than this beautiful winding stream, 
with edges lined with the sycamore, walnut and 
willow, whose overhanging boughs almost lie on 
its bosom, making a view as picturesque, if not 
as romantic, as when, a century ago, the light bark 
canoe of the red man glided over its surface, or 
beside its rippling waters, 

" In the leafy sliade, 
The Indian warrior wooed his dusky maid." 

The Whetstone River (and it is to be regretted 
that any attempt was pver made to change its name 
to that hybrid one — neither Indian nor English — 
Olentangy), with its main tributary, Shaw Creek, 
which joins it a little north of the center of 
the township, together with Slate Run, Twen- 
tieth Run and several smaller but nameless 
streams, furnishes a most extraordinary system of 
drainage, and abundance of excellent stock, water, 
in connection with the numerous springs, located 



along the larger streams. Of the latter, two de- 
serve especial mention ; one an iron spring, usually 
called " red sulphur," of very strong flow, sit- 
uated nearly opposite the village of Westfield, on 
the west bank of the river, around which clusters 
many an Indian tradition, and beside which grows 
a willow tree of huge dimensions, planted since 
the advent of the white race ; the other a white 
sulphur spring, located about a half-mile south of 
the north boundary of the township, also near the 
river bank and remarkable for those medicinal prop- 
erties, for which the sulphur spring at Delaware is 
noted. The river, in addition, affords good water 
power, and, accordingly, have been found four de- 
sirable mill sites. 

The surface of this township is rolling along 
the streams, and generally level in the eastern and 
western parts, slightly inclining toward the river. 
The whole of the land was originally covered with 
a heavy growth of timber, consisting chiefly of 
white and burr oak, elm and bsech, while along 
the streams white and black walnut, maple and 
sycamore, abounded. But it is to be regretted 
that it has disappeared so rapidly that there 
is not the proper proportion of timber to the 
cultivated land, although there still remain some 
choice tracts of timber-land. The soil, which is 
unsurpassed by any township in this part of the 
State, consists of a rich black loam along the 
river and smaller streams, and a heavy black soil, 
such as is usually found on land formerly covered 
by elm swamps. The eastern part is most ex- 
cellent corn land, while in the western part there is 
an admixture of clay, and it is such as is usually 
known as '' beech land," better suited for wheat and 
grass. The productions of the township are princi- 
pally corn, wheat and grass, with a proportion of the 
minor crops. The people, owing to the numer- 
ous small farms, are about equally divided in 
raising grain for the market, and in raising stock, 
which latter only the large, farmers can carry on 
successfully. Wool-growing and cattle-raising is 
the chief occupation of the latter. 

There are many fine orchards in this section. 



^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



375 



some of the apple orchards dating back beyond 
the memory of any now living, and owing their 
existence to that remarkable individual known to 
the earliest pioneers as " Johnny Appleseed," who 
had a mania for starting orchards, and many of 
the oldest in Central Ohio were planted by him, 
one of which is located on the farm of Edwin M. 
Conklin, in this township. 

With all the natural advantages posssessed by 
this township, it is not surprising that we should 
find, as is the case, that the first settlement made 
within the boundaries of what is now Morrow 
County, was made here. John Shaw, Jr., of 
Chester Counfjr, Penn., purchased four hundred 
acres of military land, situated in the extreme 
north part of what is now Westfield Township, and 
abutting on the Greenville treaty line. With 
his wife and family, consisting of four sons and 
four daughters, he started in the spring of 1804 
to locate upon it. After a long and tedious jour- 
ney, they arrived at a settlement on the Whetstone, 
twenty miles north of Pranklinton, now a part of 
Columbus, and at this settlement, the first made in 
Delaware County, he learned that his land was 
twenty miles further north, and that this was the 
nearest settlement to it, so he very naturally 
decided to make a temporary halt, which, for some 
reason, was prolonged through a period of four 
years. Tn the spring of 1808, he proposed to his 
son Jonathan, who in the mean time had married, 
that he would give him his choice of one hundred 
of the four hundred acres, if he would at once 
settle there, to which he acceded. Accordingly, 
be, with Jonathan, two of his other sons, and son- 
in-law, went up and looked over the ground, and 
Jonathan selected the northern part of the tract, 
a beautiful situation on a small stream, since 
known as Shaw Creek. Here they cleared a small 
space and built a cabin just a little north of the 
present residence of Jonathan Shaw, Jr. This 
cabin was a rude affair, about sixteen feet square, 
with a puncheon door and a puncheon floor, which 
latter was originally laid on the ground. 

Then they repaired to their homes in Liberty 



Township, and soon after Jonathan, with his wife, 
child and worldly effects, started for their new 
home. Following the old Indian trail leading 
from Delaware to Upper Sandusky, now the Dela- 
ware and Marion Pike, to the Wyatt settlement, 
now Norton, he diverged from that at this point, 
and cut his way for eight miles through the woods, 
until he reached his cabin. Here, for nearly six 
months, in an unbroken wilderness, where the 
howl of the wolf and the scream of the panther 
were the most common sounds that greeted 
their ears at night, they lived alone, with not a soul 
within eight miles. Although the Indians who 
thronged through these parts, were generally con- 
sidered friendly, yet Mr. Shaw, as a precautionary 
measure, thought it advisable to have his gun by 
his side ; hence, whether making a clearing or tend- 
ing a crop, his faithful rifle was always within reach. 

He built the first round-log, the first hewed-log 
and the first brick house in Westfield Township, 
and bore a most conspicuous part in the after-his- 
tory of the township. To the memory of no one 
do the citizens of Westfield Township owe a 
greater tribute for daring enterprise, persevering 
industry, unflinching honor, and high moral 
worth. His fellow-citizens early showed their 
appreciation of his worth by electing him the 
first Justice of the Peace, a position he held for 
over twenty years, until he declined longer to be a 
candidate. 

His son, Jonathan, Jr., who occupies the old 
homestead, exhibits with commendable pride his 
father's neatly kept docket, in which the first suit 
I recorded was an action brought to recover a claim 
for $4,622, which was paid after the lapse of sev- 
eral months, in installments, a part of which were 
in sums of less than $1. Having lived to hear 
the shriek of the locomotive, where once he heard 
the howl of the wild beast, and to see the civilization 
which he had planted nearly half a century be- 
fore grow to its full development, he sank to rest 
November 23, 1852, in the sixty-sixth year of his 
age, and was interred in the burying-ground on 
his farm, now called the Fairview Cemetery. 



:^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COl^XTY. 



In the fall oF 1808, John Shaw, Sr., accompa- 
nied by his other sons, Joseph, Benjamin T. and 
John, Jr., his four daughters and son in-law, 
Isaac Welch, came up to occupy the balance of 
the 400 acres. They built a cabin mur where 
stands the residence of A. H. Shaw. This was 
followed in a short time by a cabin for the accom- 
nioflation of the son-in law. In a few months, an 
event of considerable importance occurred to the 
new settlement, in the marriage of Benjamin 
T. Shaw to Anna iMunroe. 

This was followed by another, equally interest- 
ing, in the birth, in the family of Jonathan and 
Ru'h Shaw, of a son, John L., the first white 
child born in what is now Morrow County, which 
iiccurred June 6, 1809. This again was followed 
by another — of weighty importance to the small 
settlement — the marriage of Susannah, daughter of 
John Shaw, to Mordecai Michner, who located 
hero. The next accession was a man named 
Powers, who came here and married Jane 
Shaw, and Benjamin Camp married Sarah, an- 
other daughter of John Shaw, and he, too, located 
here. Powers joined the army in the war of 1812, 
and on his way home was killed by an Indian 
lying in ambush. His widow subsequently mar- 
ried Isaac Stearns. By this time, it will be seen, 
that, (|uite a little nucleus was formed, and, yet, 
they considered as neighbors those at the Wyatt 
settlement, at Norton, or the Cole settlement, at 
the junction of the two branches of the Whet- 
stone, each eight miles distant. These were called 
on or visited in case of a raising, log-rolling or 
quilting; or did a settler wish to borrow an auger, 
adz, or any article, he had only to siep over 
to his near neighbor, eight miles distant, to be 
accommodated. 

Elif^ha Bishop, a native of Tennessee, came in 
1811, and located on a farm nearly a mile south 
of the present town of Westfield. The next set- 
tlement was probably made by David Cook, on a 
farm that now adjoins Westfield, and is owned by 
Dr. Luellen. Mr. Cook came from Virginia in 
1798, to Ohio, while it was yet a part of the 



Northwest Territory. He served in the war of 
1812, and located here in 181-t, and played an 
important part in (he early history of the township, 
serving it as Justice of Peace as far back as 1818, 
when it formed a part of Oxford. Two of his sons 
still survive, John, a resident of this, and Seth, a 
resident of Cardington Township. The same year 
came John Elliott, and entered the land at what is 
now known as Bartlott's Corners, two and a half 
miles north of Westfield, on the pike. He, too, 
was a Virginian, was for many years a prominent 
man in the township, and was chiefly instrumental 
in securing the first post office in the whole 
township of Oxford, and it was this ^ost office that 
gave Westfield Township its name. 

There is a well-authenticated tradition concern- 
ing the origin of the name of the post office. 
There had for some time previous been a mail 
route over the Mansfield and Delaware road, pass- 
ing by this point, but no office nearer than Dela- 
ware, fourteen miles distant, and but three be- 
tween that point and Mansfield. The petition 
asking for the office was forwarded in care of the 
member of Congress from this district. The appli- 
cation was readily granted, but in it the petition- 
ers had neglected to say what they wanted as a 
name for the office. It will be remembered, that, 
in those days, when the mails were carried by stages 
across the mountains, it took weeks to com- 
municate between Washington and the West, and, 
as the name seemed a secondary consideration, 
their member, to whom the matter was referred, 
after some hesitation, suggested, as it was so 
far "out West," the name Westfield would be an 
appropriate, and it was accordingly adopted. 
John Elliott was constituted the Postmaster, and 
his house was the point for receiving mail for 
many miles around. In 1815, Timothy Aldrich 
located on the farm adjoining P]lisha Bishop on 
the south. In 1817, John F. Place, a native of 
Providence, R. I., located on the farm adjoining 
that settled by David Cook, and for the past few 
years occupied by Capt^_Jesse Meredith, One 
of his sons, Ethan, is a resident oT this town- 



^1 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



377 



ship, and is noted for his positive character and 
remarkable memory, especially of pioneer history. 
James Trindle, of Pennsylvania, another soldier 
of 1812, and who was conspicuous for his bravery 
in Drake's defeat, came about this time, and set- 
tled one mile north of the site of the village of 
Westfield. He received the patent for his land 
from the hand of James Madison, the President, 
whose signature it bears under date of February 
15, 1811. Josiah Goodhue came next, and set- 
tled on the west bank of the, river, just opposite 
the point where Cook had located. Daniel Peak, 
another soldier of 1812, with his sons Ziba and 
Richard, came in 1819 and settled on the school 
section. Two years later, Jacob Conklin, still 
another soldier, and, as well as Peak, a native of 
Vermont, located on an adjoining track. From Lib- 
erty Township, where he had first located, he fol- 
lowed the Indiah trail to a point known as Wind- 
sor's Corners, whence he diverged, and, cutting his 
own road two miles north and fording the Whet- 
stone, he reached his land, now owned by his son Ed- 
win. The road he thus opened up is the south part 
of what is now known as the Claridon road. He 
was a resident of the township fifty-four years, and 
died at the age of eighty seven. His widow sur- 
vives him, and, although in her eighty-second year, 
her mind is clear, and she loves to recount the 
happy experiences of her pioneer life, amid toil and 
hardships, or how they used to gather in the hum- 
ble cabin of the settler to hear those men of God, 
the pioneer preachers, tell of that house " not 
made with hands." 

" In thoughts that breathe, and words that burn." 
The Fousts, John, Abraham and Samuel, all 
came into the township not far from this time, 
and all had been in the " last war" with Great 
Britain. Samuel, now the only surviving one, 
although but ten years of age, drove a team, 
and was with Gen. Harrison at Fort Seneca 
when the battle was fought at Lower Sandusky, 
and could hear the firing. Abraham served 
under Gen. Mc Arthur, and, while at Detroit, 
was taken sick, and, not relishing hospital life, con- 



trary to orders, crossed over into the city and 
boarded with a family consisting of a French 
woman and her husband, the former of whom took 
quite an interest in the young soldier and was the 
means of saving his life. For several days, the old 
lady was observed to have long conversations with 
her husband, whose sympathies were with the Brit- 
ish. The subject of these talks, which were in 
French, seemed to be young Foust. At last his 
benefactress warned him to flee at once, as a plot 
had been laid to take his scalp, and he was then 
glad to submit to the inconveniences of hospital 
life. During the war of 1812, Jonathan Shaw, 
the original pioneer, joined the army of Gen. Har- 
rison, and, during the exciting times, his family and 
those of the other settlers at Shaw Town so 
called not because of any village located there, but 
because of the numerous families of Shaws there 
located, would often take refuge in the block-house 
at Fort Morrow at the Wyatt settlement, where 
they would sometimes remain for weeks. 

On one of these occasions a company of ran- 
gers, passing through that settlement and finding 
the people gone, helped themselves to a plenti- 
ful supply of honey from the hives of John Shaw, 
Sr., and, when they had feasted, they made a tar- 
get of a tree near the house for rifle practice, and 
shot a number of bullets into it, which the boys 
on their return considered of so much value that 
they carefully cut them out. 

Drake's defeat, which caused so much alarm to 
this section of the State, occurring within the 
limits of that vast tract called Marlborough Town- 
ship, which at that time included this, and as a 
large number of the participants in that affair 
were afterward settlers here, it seems very appro- 
priate that an account of it should be given in 
this connection, especially since the one which has 
found its way into history is erroneous in several 
particulars. Since this version of the afi'air has 
been carefully gleaned from original sources, and 
has come from the lips of some who could say 
"All of which I saw and part of which I 
was," it is hoped it will accord more nearly than 



i) fy 



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378 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



any other with the facts as they actually occurred. 

The disgraceful surrender of the post at Detroit 
by Gen. Hull, left the settlements, in a measure, 
unprotected, and, of course, rumor, in the absence 
of reliable information, brought exaggerated re- 
ports of the intended descent of the British and 
Indians. In this state of affairs, it was thought 
best for the two frontier settlements in that town- 
ship, the one at Wyatt's and the other at Cole's, 
to gather their families in the block-house, either 
at Fort Morrow or Delaware, while nearly all the 
able-bodied men, amounting to about twenty or 
twenty-five, organized themselves into a company, 
under the command of Capt. William Drake 
and Lieut. John Millikan, the latter an officer 
in the regular army, then on detached duty as 
Governmental Surveyor. 

The arrangements having been hastily made, the 
company mounted, and, accompanied by a wagon to 
haul their provisions, they set out for Fort Seneca 
to join the army of Gen. Harrison, leaving a 
few men at each' settlement to gather the families 
into the block-house. Starting late in the after- 
noon, they halted for the night, after going but a 
short distance, intending to complete their prepara- 
tions and push through to their destination as fast 
as possible. 

Before disposing of themselves for the night 
the question had been asked, " What shall we do if 
attacked before morning ?" It was agreed by the 
officers and men, that, with their meager numbers 
and undisciplined state, they could make no show 
against any force they might likely meet ; hence, it 
was decided, should such an affair occur, that each 
man must seek his home, and, if possible, get his 
family within the block-house, a precaution they 
now realized was not well taken. Fatigued, they 
sank to rest around a fire, little fearing any occasion 
for alarm. At this very inopportune time, Capt. 
Drake, although a well-meaning man, but given to 
fun, conceived the plan of putting the bravery of his 
men to a test, and indiscreetly proceeded to carry 
it out. Slipping through the lines unobserved, he 
discharged a gun and rushed to the camp, calling 



out, " The Indians are coming." The sentinels, 
alarmed, took up the shout, and the utmost confu- 
sion prevailed, as might be supposed. The men, 
suddenly wakened, mistook each other for foes, a 
mistake heightened by the fact that some had tied 
their red handkerchiefs around their heads as a 
protection from the cold, which gave them an 
Indian-like appearance. A general stampede 
ensued, some not stopping to mount their horses or 
even secure their arms. James Trindle. however, 
bravely stood his ground, and, mistaking John 
Foust (with his head grotesquely wrapped) for an 
Indian, fired at him, the ball cutting the skin just 
above the ear, and carrying away a lock of hair. 
One of the men who attempted to run caught his 
foot in a grape-vine and fell, and hearing the firing 
and believing himself to be shot, breathless awaited 
the scalping knife of the gory savage, feeling the 
while, as he thought, the blood trickling down the 
inside of his buckskin breeches, but in this he 
was mistaken. An attempt on the part of Drake 
to avert the impending disaster was unavailing, 
the more loudly he called to his men that he had 
raised a false alarm the more rapidly they appeared 
to run, and, most of them, being expert woodsmen, 
took the direction of their homes to proclaim the 
surprise and massacre of the whole command. 

Nathaniel Brundage, of Norton, joined in the 
general stampede and as well as others acting un- 
der the orders given in the evening, struck out 
with the one thought in his mind, the protection 
of his family from a horrible fate ; for the experi- 
ence of those who had been so unfortunate as to fall 
into the hands of the savage Indians and almost 
equally savage British in the early part of the war 
were taught that mercy was not a quality that en- 
tered into I he nature of either. On they flew, through 
brush, over logs, through swamps and across streams, 
each independent, taking the moon only for a guide. 
Brundage, miscalculating the time of night by 
supposing he had been asleep but a few minutes, in 
following the moon, veered too far to the north, 
and, after traveling all night, arrived at daylight at 
the Welsh settlement, now Radnor Township, in 



Tv 



>> 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUXTY. 



379 



Delaware County. There, with clothes torn to 
shreds and bleeding hands and face from contact 
with the prickly-ash bushes, he told how the entire 
command save himself, had been annihilated. 
" Then there was mounting in hot haste." From 
cabin to cabin the news passed, and a genei'al flight 
began. 

Others of the company, not less frightened, car- 
ried the word to the Cole settlement at the forks 
of the Whetstone, and the women and children 
were at once started in wagons for Delaware, but, 
owing to the bad condition of the roads and the 
consternation of the women, the teamsters were 
obliged to unhitch, and, some mounted and others 
on foot, they endeavored to make a more rapid 
flight. From Radnor, they came pouring down 
into Delaware in a complete state of terror. 
Many exaggerated stories are told regarding the 
consternation of the people, some of which have 
little foundation, but there seems to be a well- 
authenticated one regarding a family named Penry, 
who fled from Radnor, leaving, by some mistake, 
their little boy, Walter, asleep in the house, and 
did not discover the fact until half way to Dela- 
ware, when they halted, and two men volunteered 
to go back and get the child, which they accom- 
plished. 

When the news reached the Wyatt settlement 
that the Indians were upon them, an old Dutch- 
man, named Hushshaw, noted for his profanity 
and professed disbelief in God, began to pray, 
breaking forth in words like these, " Mine Grot ! 
Mine Chesus ! shust save me dis dime, und I 
bromise I never more ask a favor." 

In the camp, when the matter was fully under- 
stood and quiet restored, less than half the men 
mustered for service. When Trindle understood 
how the Captain caused the alarm for a little sport, 
and when he comprehended the disastrous conse- 
quences which must follow, his anger is said to 
have been without bounds, and he told Drake 
that he must die then and there, and it was with 
difficulty that he was restrained from shooting him 
on the spot. The consequences for a time were 



attended with inconveniences the people could 
ill afford to bear, but were, perhaps, on the 
whole, salutary, as teaching the settlers to be on 
their guard against a real surprise. But instead 
of forming and marching on to the relief of San- 
dusky, as is related in the commonly accepted ac- 
count, the company, thoroughly ashamed of the 
result of the expedition, there disbanded, and this 
short campaign has passed into history as " Drake's 
Defeat." 

The Whetstone River was always a favorite re- 
sort for the Indians, and, for years after the con- 
clusion of the war of 1812, they were accustomed 
to come in the spring from the Wyandot reserva- 
tion to make sugar on the "bottoms." Their 
methods were simple. The sap was caught in 
troughs made in this fashion : Going to the elm 
swamps, a section of bark was taken from the tree, 
about eighteen inches long, which was split into 
two parts so that each piece would make a trough, 
the ends of each were then clamped together with 
sticks and fastened with bark strings and the sides 
distended by a stick placed transversely, and, 
when dry, the trough was ready for use. The sap 
was gathered by squaws, each carrying two brass 
kettles swung on a yoke fitting the neck. The 
boiling down was attended to by the braved, who 
used for clarifying, deer's blood dried in such a 
shape as to resemble a plug of very black tobacco. 
It is said that some of the very old sugar-trees, 
when cut into, still show the marks of the Indian 
tomahawk used in ''tapping." The Indians fre- 
quently came through these parts with ponies 
loaded with cranberries, gathered from the 
marshes which lay in Crawford County, on their 
way to the settlements in the eastern part of the 
State, where they could sell the berries. An 
Indian trail is remembered which crossed the 
Whetstone at the Iron Spring, already mentioned, 
on the Goodhue farm, and, keeping along the river 
up to Shaw Creek, it followed the west bank of 
that stream in the direction of Upper Sandusky. 
The Indians who made visits in these parts be- 
longed to the Pottawatamies, Mohawks, Senecas and 



^ 



•■^ 



380 



HISTOEY OF MORROW COUNTY 



especially the Wyandots, and were peaceably in- 
clined and usually honorable in their intercourse. 
John Cook relates an incident of his father buy- 
ing an Indian pony, which was soon after missing. 
Suspecting a band of Indians who had passed 
through that locality about that time, he procured 
the assistance of a neighbor, and together they 
started for the Indian country. 

On the banks of the Tymochtee, a small stream 
in what is now Wyandot County, they found the 
pony tied to a tree, but no one in sight, so making 
a bridle of bark they brought him back. One 
morning soon after this, while Mr. Cook's family 
were at breakfast, three Indians came stalking into 
the house without warning, and, pointing to Mr. 
Cook, one of them said '' You steal Indian's 
horse." Mr. Cook, at once comprehending what 
was meant, explained that he had merely taken his 
own property, but the Indian insisted that the 
pony had been stolen. After some discussions, he 
became convinced that the pony had belonged to 
the Indians but had been stolen by some renegade 
white man, and, being satisfied of the justice of 
their claim, paid them $4, and gave them 
a gallon of whisky, whereupon they left, apparently 
well satisfied. 

Johnny Sandstone, a noted chief of the Senecas, 
a very intelligent Indian who spoke English fluent- 
ly was frequently seen here. Big John and Daniel 
Damish, noted Wyandots, are also remembered. Tom 
Lyons, a renegade Indian who invariably came on 
horseback, was a great source of annoyance to the 
men and a terror to the women. He carried a 
shot pouch slung over his shoulder, from which he 
used to exhibit what he averred was the hand of a 
white child, taken, he said, in Virginia, and a string 
of meat which he declared was composed of the 
tongues of white women. He was at times <juite 
insolent, and is said to have met a tragic death at 
the hands of a white man named Russell, whose 
wife had in some way incurred his displeasure, 
whereupon he threatened to add her tongue to his 
collection. 

Russell, either fearing that he would carry out 



his threat, or wishing some pretext to put the 
scoundrel out of the way, shot him, and buried 
him in a sink hole in a swamp. Of course his 
visits were missed, but no one ever knew how 
he met his death or that he had really been 
killed, until Russell, many years after, con- 
fessed it on his deathbed. In 1844, his bones 
were found where he is said to have been buried, 
and are now in the possession of a physician in 
Stark County, Ohio. 

The log cabin is yet too familiar to require any 
description, but the inside furnishings were in 
such contrast with everything of that kind at the 
present day, that a passing notice may be given. 
The furniture, such as cupboards, bedsteads, tables 
and chairs, was made by each settler himself, out 
of the crude materials at hand, with the aid of an 
ax, auger and drawing-knife. The table furni- 
ture consisted of pewter dishes, plates and spoons, 
but chiefly wooden bowls, noggins and trenchers 
(terms of pioneer Yankees, unknown at the present 
day), and when these were scarce their place was 
frequently supplied by gourds and hard-shelled 
squashes. Stoves of course were unknown, and 
the cooking was all done at the fire-place, by the 
aid of the crane, and hooks on which were hung 
the pots and kettles. In later times, bread was 
baked in a tin reflector placed beside the fire- 
place. One article, which served for ornament as 
well as use, ought to be mentioned — the pioneer's 
rifle, with shot-pouch and powder-horn, always to 
be seen hanging on the wall, on hooks or brackets 
of deer's horns. 

Though the pioneers suflered occasionally from 
want of bread in early times, the supply of meat 
was usually abundant, consisting chiefly of venison 
and wild turkey. Deer were very numerous in 
this locality in earl}/ times, and even for many 
years, there being two or three noted " licks" in 
this vicinity, wjicre the deer would come on moon- 
light nights. One of these was near the northern 
limit of the township, on the river, and another in 
the eastern part of the farm now owned by John 
G. Kehrwecker. Wild turkeys were so common 



'V^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



381 



that it was no rare thing for the settler to shoot 
them from his cabin. Besides these, hogs, which 
at first were allowed to run at large in the woods 
and feed on the " mast," had rapidly multi- 
plied, until they were considered common property. 

One of the greatest inconveniences from which 
the settlers suffered was the want of mills, especi- 
ally for grinding corn and wheat. The first 
thought of the pioneer, after building a cabin, was 
to clear a piece of ground and put in a crop of 
corn, which, owing to its stumpy condition, must 
needs be cultivated almost entirely with a hoe. 
The first fruit of this was " roastiog-ears," and a 
little later, as the grains hardened, they were re- 
duced to meal by a grater. Next, the hominy- 
block was called into use. This consisted of 
a piece of wood, usually beech, about three feet 
long and eighteen inches in diameter, on the end 
of which was laid a bed of coals, and when this 
was charred suflBciently it was scraped, and the 
same thing was repeated until a concave excavation 
was secured. Into this the corn was poured, and, 
with a hand pestle, the work of making meal and 
hominy was accomplished. An improvement on 
this was a sweep, not unlike the well sweep even now 
sometimes seen, into one end of which an upright 
piece was mortised, and into the end of this an 
iron piece was inserted, and this contrivance was 
usually operated by two persons. From the In- 
dian meal was made " pone," which was baked in an 
iron oven on the hearth; "Johnny-cake," baked 
on a board, or " hoe-cake," in which dough was 
wrapped in leaves and baked in ashes. 

The first mill was built by Jonathan Shaw, Sr., 
on his farm on Shaw Creek, about 1814. Rude 
as it was, with " nigger-head " buhr stones and a 
sifter instead of a bolting cloth, it was a great 
convenience, as, previous to this time, they were, 
obliged to go to Franklinton, now a part of Colum- 
bus, over forty miles distant ; a trip, with the neces- 
sary delays, occupying from three to four days. 
Jonathan Shaw. Jr., relates an instance worthy a 
place in this connection : The second season after 
his father located here, the family exhausted their 



supply of breadstuff and were compelled for some 
time to subsist almost entirely on meat. Working 
late in the fall to get his wheat sowed, he then 
loaded his two horses with about four bushels of 
grain to each, strapped on pack saddles, and, walk- 
ing himself, drove them to Franklinton. Here he 
was delayed longer than usual. It turned cold in 
the mean time, and snowed and then rained, and 
again froze, which made the traveling slow and 
difficult, and the night of the fourth day found him 
on his way home, near the Wyatt settlement, with 
the river to cross, and the danger great of crossing 
under the circumstances. Cold and tired, no 
wonder that the light from a settler's cabin in the 
distance seemed to invite him thiiher. For a 
moment he hesitated, then came to his mind his 
little family eight miles distant anxiously awaiting 
his return, and without further consideration he 
pushed ahead. When, about half-way across the 
river, the horses broke through the ice, and 
each attempt to gain a footing was attended 
with difficulty. After floundering in the broken 
masses of ice for some time, they finally reached 
the shore with the meal safe, but Mr. Shaw drenched 
to the skin, and in a short time, his garments were 
frozen stiff. To add horrors to his situation, he had 
proceeded but a short distance when the wolves be- 
gan to gather around him, seemingly determined to 
attack his horses. Nearer and nearer they came, as by 
degrees bolder grown, until he could see their eyes 
glare in the darkness, and hear that horrid snap 
of their fangs. Now it seemed that his trusty 
rifle was his only hope of defense, though with 
his benumbed hands he could scarcely hold it; 
but prudence dictated that it was best not to shoot 
until the last extremity. Thus tortured, he en- 
dured their company for miles, until at last they 
left him. On his arrival home, in taking off his 
stockings he removed the skin from his feet at the 
same time. 

The first saw-mill was built by Timothy Aldrich 
in 1825, and four years later he added a corn- 
mill. This was superseded by a flouring-mill built 
in 1834 by Patee & Cone, and it by the present 






RT 



382 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



one, which was built by Mr. Wiseman, in 1856, 
and has for years been the leading mill in this part 
of the county. 

Morgan Lewis, who came here from New 
York State in 1834, put in the works, both saw 
and grist, at the Bartlett Mills, two and a half 
miles north of Westfield, and afterward built the 
mills a half-mile north of the village. About 1848, 
Jehiel Howard and Jordan Jones put in carding 
and fulling machinery at the Bartlett Mills, which, 
not proving very profitable, was abandoned about 
two years later. 

As illustrating the scarcity of lumber in an early 
day, it is related that when the father of Comfort 
and Benjamin Olds died, there was no lumber for a 
coffin nearer than Delaware. So Timothy Aldrich 
gave his wagon body for that purpose, and the 
nails of the same were carefully drawn and used to 
nail the coffin. A piece of the same wagon box is 
in the possession of his son. Smith Aldrich, and is 
used as an " ironing board." 

The farm implements consisted mainly of a bar- 
share plow with a wooden mold-board, and a V- 
shaped harrow with wooden teeth. For harvesting, 
a scythe for grass and a sickle or hand cradle for 
grain was used. A days mowing was two and a 
half acres, and a day's cradling was five acres of 
wheat or six of oats. The wages paid were from 
50 to 75 cents for the former, and from 
75 cents to $1.00 for the latter, while 
for ordinary labor the maximum was 50 cents. 
A big day'.s work was the great pride of old and 
young men. As an example of what the hardy 
pioneer could do, it is related that Eli Benedict cut 
and put up five cords of four-foot wood in one day. 

The thrashing was at first all done with a "flail," 
and later, when double log barns had been built, the 
grain was tramped out by horses. The introduc- 
tion of the thrasher, consisting merely of a cylin- 
der, was con.sidered quite an innovation, but, as the 
grain must then be separated from the chaff, fan- 
ning mills came into demand, and this township 
was noted for that industry, as spoken of else- 
where. 



The pioneers experienced great difficulty in 
keeping their sheep from the ravages of wolves, 
hence flax was a crop on which they largely relied 
for clothing. After being well rotted, broken and 
" scutched," with a wooden knife, hackled to sep- 
arate it from the " tow." with the flax for the 
warp and the tow for the filling, it was woven on 
hand looms into linen. VVhen woolen yarn was 
substituted for tow in filling, it was called " linsey- 
woolsey." These fabrics formed the chief part of 
the clothing of men and women, and from them 
were made trowsers,warmuses, shirts, etc. The hide 
of the deer often furnished, when tanned by the 
Indian process, a part of the clothing, answering 
for breeches for the men and even dresses for the 
women, good enough in dry weather, but anything 
but agreeable when wet. 

From it also were made gloves for the hands 
and moccasins for the feet. Occasionally, a nice 
doe-skin, not a kind of cassimere, but taken from 
the carcass of a young deer, was made into a vest, 
or jacket, as then called. 

In early times, every family tanned its own 
leather, as well as manufiictured its own shoes and 
other articles of clothing. The first tannery for 
public convenience was established, as near as can 
be ascertained, about 1825, by Adam Brenizer. 

Very rarely muslin or calico found its way into 
the settlement, and. as it cost about 50 cents per 
yard, it was deemed an article of luxury and even 
extravagance. 

A band of counterfeiters was supposed to have 
operated in the township at one time, and a vacant 
schoolhouse was the place where they were sus- 
pected of manufacturing the bogus coin, a 
suspicion seemingly well founded, when, on the 
removal of the building a few years later, a mold 
for making half-dollars was found. One man, 
who never labored, yet seemed always supplied 
with money, was particularly suspected. The 
counterfeit money was not put in circulation here, 
but, as he was frequently absent weeks at a time, 
it is probable at such times he exchanged the spu- 
rious for good money. He was subsequently 






HISTOEY OF MORROW COUNTY 



383 



hanged in Cincinnati, under another name, for 
murder and robbery. 

This section never suffered from any special 
epidemic, yet it is said the people always expected 
to shake with ague just after corn planting as reg- 
ularly as that season came. With the aid of de- 
coctions, however, made from dogwood and wild- 
cherry barks, white boneset, wahoo, colt's foot, 
black snake-root, and various herbs, they managed 
to ward oflE" and cure the ordinary diseases usually 
without the aid of doctors ; occasionally they had 
to send to Delaware or Berkshire for one, until 
Dr. Granger located here in 1838. He was not 
only a good physician, but was prominent in 
many business enterprises, and at the time of his 
death, which occurred in 1860, he was Treasurer 
of Morrow County. 

Previous to 1825, nearly all the roads were 
merely blazed. The State road from Delaware to 
Mansfield was surveyed in 1812, but had been 
established some time previous. This was followed 
by one in 1817, beginning at the Indian boundary 
line at what is now called Shaw Town, and ex- 
tending south so as to intersect the former at 
what is now '' Bartlett's Corners." The first bridge 
was the one across the Whetstone, near Westfield, 
built of poles, in 1835, and was followed by one 
two miles further north ; each has been super- 
seded by several in the mean time, and now there 
is a substantial covered frame structure at each of 
these points. The State road was a mail route 
from Delaware to Mansfield as far back as 1820, 
at which time there were three oflBces between 
those points, Kelley's Corners, Shauck's and Lex- 
ington. The mail was first carried by a man 
named Barnum, who attempted to run a stage in 
connection with it, but, the patronage not justify- 
ing, it was abandoned. He was followed by Daniel 
Earl, and he by Hugh Cole, each of whom car- 
ried the mail on horseback. On the building of' 
the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapo- 
lis Railroad, this route was abandoned, and the 
mail for Westfield has since been carried from 
Ashley, and has been, daily, since 1860. The 



State road was piked from the Delaware County 
line to Cardington, in 1866, but, owing to the 
scarcity of suitable gravel, it was found difficult to 
make a first-class road. The gates were taken 
down, and it became a free pike in 1878. During 
the time it was a toll road, the gate near Westfield 
was in charge of Chauncy Higley, a soldier of 
the war of 1812, and at the present time the only 
surviving one of those veterans in the township. 

The first tavern was a log one, built by Edwin 
Patee, near where now stands the Westfield school- 
house, and was a point where the stage changed 
horses in going from Mansfield to Delaware. This 
was called Patee Town, but a town was not laid 
out until 1829, which was then called Tyrone. 
The original proprietors were Henry Patee, Simeon 
Smith and Josiah Goodhue. Mrs. Betsy Barber, 
who came here in 1834, states that the place then 
contained a frame house, now a part of the Stutz 
Hotel, built by Alva Patee for a tavern, and 
probably the first frame building in the township. 
A log house, occupied by Solomon Smith, where 
now stands the residence of Wilbert Granger, and 
another, by David Smith, on the premises where 
0. E. Richardson now lives. 

] )uring this year, an important personage made 
his appearance in the township, named Adam 
Wolfe, who brought a small stock of goods, 
consisting of handkerchiefs, stockings, needles, 
thread, etc., the whole consisting of a pack, 
which he carried from house to house, and it is 
said that his advent caused so much excite- 
ment among, the female part of the community, 
that they did not await his visits, but came flock- 
ing to town to see the " new goods." His success 
was such that he returned to Washington County, 
Penn., and purchased a lot of goods, and opened a 
store in a vacant schoolhouse just north of the 
tavern before mentioned. Soon after this, the people 
of the village secured the removal of the post office 
to this place, which had some years previously been 
transferred to Windsor's Corners, in Oxford Town- 
ship. On the occasion of its removal here, there 
was quite a jollification, a four-horse team being 



(a~ 



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!k* 



384 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



used to bring up the appurtenances of an office, 
which might have been carried in a basket. 
Adam Wolfe was appointed Postmaster, and gradu- 
ally (he name of the office became the name of the 
town. For many years, however, Westfield was 
widely known by the name of '' Breadless," which 
is said to have originated early in its history in 
this way : A family traveling through, stopped to 
get some bread, and, visiting each house, was una- 
ble to find a loaf, and, as they traveled on, they 
related this, which .seemed to them a remarkable 
incident. However, in 1840, this place gave such 
an abundant evidence of the injustice of the name, 
on the occasion of a " log cabin dinner," at a mass 
meeting in Gen. Harrison's time, that the unwel- 
come name was soon dropped. 

An industry rather peculiar to this place con- 
tributed to its financial prosperity more than any 
other cause, consisting of the manufacture of fan- 
ning mills, begun in 1829 by Petty & Phillips, and 
carried on afterward by Adam Wolfe, and later by 
Wolfe & Granger. This business gave employ- 
ment to from twenty to thirty persons in the man- 
ufacture and sale of the mills. Salesmen traversed 
the whole State, and even the States farther west, 
and, as the mills were sold for money in that age 
of barter, a good deal of money was brought into 
circulation here, hence nearly all the older citizens 
date their start in life at this period. This flour- 
ished until the advent of the improved thrasher 
and separator. Still another industry contributed 
to the prosperity of this township. The dense 
forest which covered the land must be removed, 
so the trees were felled and made into log heaps 
and burned, and the ashes carefully gathered, 
and taken to the numerous asheries located in this 
vicinity and bartered. From these were made 
black salts, potash and pearl-ash, and hauled to 
Zanesville or Cincinnati, and exchanged for such 
goods as would be required in exchange for ashes. 

From 1838 to 1850, business was at high tide 
in Westfield, several stores had been located here, 
the fanning mill and asliery business flourished, 
and three distilleries were in full blast in 



the vicinity. It is, however, very questionable 
whether the distilleries really added to the 
permanent prosperity of the community, although 
they furnished a home market for grain 
which heretofore usually had to be wagoned 
to the lakes and exchanged for salt, leather 
and perhaps some money, which latter was care- 
fully hoarded up for taxes.* Samuel Foust re- 
lates that in 1836 he hauled 2,000 bushels of corn 
to Delaware, for which he received 10 cents per 
bushel, and, as showing the relative price of arti- 
cles, it is said that salt was worth 318 per bar- 
rel, while whisky could be bought for 18 cents per 
gallon. At this period of its history, intemperance 
reigned in this vicinity, and Westfield was far famed 
for its lawlessness and the rough character of some 
of the people who were accustomed to congre- 
gate there, and death even is said to have occurred 
in one or more cases as the result of these drunken 
carousals. In that chivalric age, when quarrels 
were settled with fists instead of in the modern 
way with revolvers, this place was unrivaled, and a 
fight was an almost daily occurrence. One ac- 
quainted with the people of this moral, peace, lov- 
ing village as it now is, can scarcely realize that 
such is its past history. With the temperance 
agitation and other causes, the distilleries went 
into decline and were abandoned. For reasons 
already given, the fanning-mill business languished, 
the asheries had served their purpose, and the 
building of the railroad and the location of a sta- 
tion two and a half miles distant, made Westfield 
no longer desirable as a manufacturing point, but 
still it retains its prestige as a trading-point, and 
contains one large dry-goods store, one grocery and 
restaurant, one hardware and clothing store, one 
harness, one wagon, one cooper and two blacksmith 
shops and two butter and egg packing establish- 
ments, and, according to the present census (1880), 
contains a population of 135 souls. 

The We!>tfield Lodge of Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows was instituted April 13, 1855, with 
Dr. George Granger, Dr. Ephraim Luellen, John 
R. West, Lyman Carpenter, John W. Place, 



IC 



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.L£ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



385 



David Smith, George T. Peak, John M. Neff, D. 
C. Peck, Robert McGonigle and J. L. Runnels, as 
charter members. The present oflScers are : J. T. 
West, N. G ; John Willey, V. G ; John Ruggles, 
Secretary ; C. B. Coomer, Per. Secretary ; 0. E. 
Richardson, Treasurer. The lodge owns the 
building and lot on which its hall is located, and 
has a surplus of over SI, 000 in money. There 
was at one time a prosperous Grange of the 
Patrons of Husbandry located here, but this has 
been allowed to die out. 

As already seen, Westfield Township was de- 
tached from Oxford, in 1822, but as late as 1825, 
there are said to have been less than a dozen voters. 
However, soon after this the township began to 
fill up rapidly, and the need of churches and schools 
was felt. The itinerant missionary here, as in 
other sections, visited the humble cabin of the 
settlers to leave a tract, ofi'er up a prayer with the 
family and to counsel them to " lay up for them- 
selves treasures in heaven," and left their impress 
on the minds and hearts of many now living, but 
their influence and not their names are remem- 
bered. The first church in Westfield Township 
was erected by the Baptists, and was a log 
structure, and stood about a half-mile south 
of the village. Among some of the first mem- 
bers were John F. Place and wife, Simeon 
Smith and wife, Elisha Bishop and wife, Elijah 
Smith and wife, Adin Windsor, and Mrs. 
Hannah Goodhue, about twenty-two in all. The 
first ministers were Simeon Smith and Benjamin 
Martin. In 1844, the present frame structure was 
erected on two acres of ground, a mile north of the 
village, given two years before for a cemetery. 
The present Pastor is Rev. Peter Powell, and the 
membership is nine. Over forty who once were 
members now rest beneath the trees around the 
church. 

"Each in his narrow bed forever laid, 
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep." 

The next in point of time was probably the 
United Brethren Church, and was organized at 
Shaw Town, about 1830, by George E. J)e Neal, 



of Virginia. All the original settlers here, with a 
single exception, were members of the Society of 
Friends, who early banded themselves together 
for religious worship, which was held in their 
houses, and was probably the first religious organi- 
zation. No church was ever formed, however, 
and on the organization of the United Brethren 
Church the majority of them united with it. 
Among the first members were Joseph Shaw and 
wife, Jonathan Shaw, Sr., Jonathan Shaw, Jr., 
Daniel Goetshall and wife, and Nancy Black. After 
holding services in the house of Mrs. Nancy Black 
for about four years, they built, by voluntary con- 
tributions of labor, a hewed-log church, nearly a 
mile south of the present edifice. This served 
them until 1856, when a frame building was 
erected on the site of the present church, and 
called Fairview, which has had rather a remarka- 
ble history. It was repaired in 1874, and a bell 
placed on it, at a total expense of about $800, 
when, even before it was re-dedicated, it was 
struck by lightning and the entire end demolished, 
which was repaired, and, in the following January, 
while the congregation was assembling for service, 
it caught fire and was burned to the ground. The 
same year the present handsome edifice was erected, 
at a cost of $2,000, and surmounted by a bell, at 
an additional cost of $150, and was dedicated by 
Bishop Jonathan Weaver, and now has a member- 
ship of about sixty. Connected with this is a 
flourishing Sunday school, with an attendance of 
about seventy-five, of which James L. Shaw and 
Abram Armstrout are Superintendents. Near by 
the church is the Fairview Cemetery, formerly the 
Shaw family burying-ground. In this the first 
grave was made in 1815, for Nancy Shaw, who, it 
will be remembered, was the first bride in the 
township, and the next, two years later, for her 
husband, Benjamin T. Shaw. 

A society of Methodists had been organized, 
and services held at the houses of Jacob Conklin 
and Benjamin Olds, as early as 1822, and subse- 
quently at the house of Dani^ Peak, on the school 
section. This society consisted of Jacob Conklin 



^ d 



w 



:\£ 



386 



HISTORY OF MORROAV COUNTY. 



and wife, Benjamin Olds and wife, Daniel Peak 
and wife, and others, and had preaching, on week- 
day, once a month, being on Galena Circuit, which 
then stretched from Galena to Broken Sword, in 
Crawford County. Among the first ministers 
were James Gilbruth and Russell Bigelow. The. 
society continued until about 1842, when a series 
of meetings were begun in Westfield by Thomas 
Gri.ssell, which produced a great excitement and a 
religious awakening, and were for a time held in a 
ball-room in a tavern built by Cutler & Barris. 

This society was organized under the discipline 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the former 
consolidated with it. They at once set about to 
build a church, which was consummated within 
four weeks by voluntary contributions of labor. 
This was a small frame building, and stood just 
north of the present structure. The increasing 
membership made this one too small, and, in 1856, 
it was replaced by a commodious frame edifice, at 
a cost of 82,600. The present membership is 
about eighty, with T. J. Gard as pastor. Here is 
maintained a Sunday school with an attendance 
of about one hundred, in charge of Robert Smith. 
The churchyard has been used as a cemetery 
about fifty years. 

The first school of which we can find a record 
was taught in a private house at Shaw Town, by 
Caroline Porterfield, who is remembered as the 
" woman who chewed tobacco." This was fol- 
lowed by one taught by Fields McWhorter, who, 
like many of the early Western teachers, was an 
Irishman, of whom it could well be said, 

" A man severe he was, and stern to view 

** ****** 

Well had the boding tremblers learned to trace 
The day's disasters in liis morning face." 

The first Schoolhouse was a log one, which 
has been spoken of as having been afterward 
used as a store room by Adam Wolfe, and the first 
who taught in it was Harry Patee, who taught 
about 1823. These houses were followed by one 
at Elliott's, now Bartlett's Corners, and at Shaw 
Town. How strange would one of those primi- 



tive schoolhouses seem to the pupils of to-day ! 
What a change has fifty years wrought in the 
old log Schoolhouse, whose batten door swung on 
wooden hinges, and whose seats were slabs with- 
out backs, where greased paper answered in place 
of window-glass and a long fire-place instead of a 
stove ! Here, amid these rude surroundings, the 
children of the pioneers learned to spell and read 
in Dillworth or Webster before taking up the 
Testament or English reader. Here they were 
instructed in the mysteries of figures, hoping at 
the farthest to cipher to the " double rule of 
three " in Pike or Daball. Or here with goose- 
quill pen made by the teacher, and ink made from 
maple bark and copperas, they were taught to write 
that good round hand, from which in later years 
we have degenerated. 

The pioneer schoolhouse has passed away, to 
give place to the modern one of brick or stone, 
with patent desks and all the modern improve- 
ments ; but it is questionable where we have greatly 
improved on the methods pursued or the results 
obtained. The wages paid in early times for 
teachers were about $6 per month for females 
and $13 for males, and even this amount was 
not usually all cash ; frequently a large part 
was in produce or store pay. Ethan Place, one 
of the early teachers of the township, says 
he received his pay in almost everything ex- 
cept money, including smoked meat, dried apples, 
and beans. The schools of Westfield Township 
are fully up to the average, and each district is 
supplied with a good, comfortable frame house, 
except the village of Westfield, which has a two- 
story brick house, built in 1877, in which two 
schools are maintained. 

There are few things of which Westfield Town- 
ship has as great reason to be proud as her war his- 
tory. It has already been seen that nearly all her pio- 
neers were soldiers of the war of 1812, some of 
whom brought with them their fathers, who had 
served in the Revolutionary war. When again 
the black cloud of war overspread our land, and 
the dissolution of the Union was threatened, her 



:V 




>y 



/ay'f^ia 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUJ!^TY. 



389 



sons responded nobly to the call for the defense 
of the nation. The enlistment began on Sunday, 
,the very day that Fort Sumter capitulated, 
at the close of services at the Methodist Church 
in Westfield, on which occasion eight vol- 
unteered, in anticipation of the call for troops, 
which was not made by President Lincoln 
UQtil the next day. By May 1, a company was 
formed from this and the adjoining township of 
Oxford, which was mustered into the service on 
June 15, 1861, as Company C. of the Twenty- 
Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and under 
command of Capt. Jesse Meredith, who had 
attained that rank in the Mexican war. Out 
of this company, twenty were killed in bat- 
tle and fifteen died from disease. West- 
field contributed liberally to the Thirty-First, 
Sixty-Fifth, Eighty-Eighth, Ninety-Sixth, One 
Hundred and Twenty-First and One Hundred 
and Seventy- Fourth Regiments of Volunteer In- 
fantry, and to the Third and Thirteenth Ohio 
Volunteer Cavalry, but especially, the Ninety- 
Sixth and One Hundred and Twenty-First Infan- 
try. It also furnished some men to the Third, 
Fourth, Sixty-Fourth and One Hundred and 
Eighty-Seventh Ohio Infantry and Eighteenth 
Regulars and Eighth Ohio Cavalry. This town- 
ship was always ahead of its quota, and a noted 
fact was, that it furnished men for the rank and 
file, only two ofl&cers going from here during the 
entire war. Fifteen years after the close of the 
war, on May 31, 1880, the citizens of the 
township met in Westfield, to decorate, for the 
first time, the graves of '■^ our fallen heroes,^'' on 
which occasion a vast concourse of people, headed 
by the surviving veterans, many of them maimed 
and scarred by wounds, repaired to an adjoining 
grove to listen to an appropriate address by Maj. 
William G. Beaty. Then, amid impressive ceremo- 
nies, the graves of the soldiers buried in the ceme- 
teries adjacent to the town, were decorated with 
flowers, while a temporar/ monument surmounted 
with flags, served to remind us of those who died 
on battle-field and in prison-pen, and whose remains 



rest beneath a Southern soil. At the close of the 
exercises a salute was fired by their surviving 
comrades. 

Following is a list of the soldiers whose memory 
the people of Westfield Township delight to honor : 

Revolutionary Soldiers. — Alexander Dixon, 
Sr., Reuben Martin, Jacob Foust, Wilmot Mun- 
son, Ebenezer Wood. 

Soldiers of the War of 1812. — Elisha Barry, 
Daniel Gibbs, Benjamin Olds, Jacob Conklin, 
Abraham Foust, James Trindle, David Cook, 
Jonathan Lewis, John Foust, Jonathan Shaw, Sr. 

Soldiers of the Civil War. — Third Infantry — 
John Van Brimmer,* Charles Wood,* Sid- 
ney Aldrich ;* Fourth Infantry — John Darst ;* 
Twenty-sixth Infantry — Levi Potter,"}" Daniel 
Hopkins,"}" John Goodhue,f J. H. Barber,* James 
Bartholemew,* Leander Dixon,* William West.* 
Newman Barber,* William Smith,* David Taylor,* 
Adam Moyer,* Lyman A. Cook,* William Cra- 
mer,* Captain Jesse Meredith ;* Thirty-first In- 
fantry — George Zent,* Frederick Kehrwecker,* 
David Rann,* John Palmer ;* Sixty-fourth In- 
fantry — Murray Buck,* John Bensley ; f Sixty- 
fifth Infantry — Frederick Cutter,* Ira Bar- 
ber,* Harry Wheeler,* Hiram Wheeler,* Orson 
Lewis,* Jonathan Lewis ; f Sixty-sixth In- 
fantry — Benjamin Peak, Jr. ;* Eighty-eighth 
Infantry — William Clark, Sr.,* Leroy Rogers,* 
Mordecai Meeker ;* Ninty-sixth Infantry — Cyrus 
Devore,f George Curren,"}" William Wheeler,"}" 
Alpheus Scofield,* Thomas Barber,* Josiah How- 
ard,* David Barber,* John Kehrwecker,* Jacob 
Kratt;* One-Hundred-and-Twenty-first Infantry 
— Chester Bartholemew,"}" Jarvis Aldrich,"}" Benja- 
min Denton,"}" David Piper,* Sanford Olds,* 
Almon Ruggles,* William Baxter,* Theodore 
Wood,* Henry Bishop,* Dennis Baxter,* Joshua 
Barry ; I One-Hundred-and-Sevcnty-fourth — La- 
Fayette Aldrich,* Lincoln Dixon,* Eli Curren ;* 
Eighteenth Regulars — William Clark, Jr. ;* Third 
Cavalry — Chauncy Olds ;* Eighth Cavalry — 
George Hopkins.* 

* Died of disease. + Killed in buttle, i Died of wounds. 



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390 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



CHAPTER XI. 



NORTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP— DESCRIPTION— SETTLEMENT— EARLY IMPROVEMENTS- 
CHURCHES— SCHOOLS AND VILLAGES. 



''QtTRANGER, you commenced this business 
k_y just a little too late," is a remark that is 
often made to us in our perambulations through 
the country in search of its early history. " All 
who could have told you about the early settle- 
ment here are dead and gone," say they, and we 
find it but too true. There are few neighborhoods 
in this section of the State where facts pertaining 
to original settlements can be obtained from first 
hands. Every year, the chances of preserving the 
early history of the county are becoming fewer 
and ere long will be lost forever. The devastating 
sweep of time and the progress of art are remorse- 
less and unsparing of primitive landmarks, how- 
ever dear they may have been to a former genera- 
tion, and however sacred ihe memories that cluster 
around them. The relics of the pioneer will soon 
be forgotten by the busy generations that have 
succeeded him. 

"The old log cabin, with its puncheon floor — 
The old log cabin, with its clapboard door — 
Shall we ever forget its moss-grown roof? 
The old rattling loom, with its warp and woof? 
The old stick chimney of ' cat' and clay — 
The old hearthstone where we used to pray? 
We'll not forget how we used to eat 
The sweet honey-comb and the fat deer-meat, 
We'll not forget how we used to bake 
That best of bread, the old .Johnny Cake." 

These lines, from a rural bard, contain a senti- 
ment that was familiar to the pioneer, but to the 
present generation it is as a ''sealed book," except 
so' far as it is interpreted by some " aged dame or 
tottering sire " who still survives, and can tell of 
the time when they " fought the Indians, the 
bears and the wolves," for a foothold in the Great 
West. 

North Bloomfield Township lies in the north 



tier of townships of Morrow County. It is bounded 
on the north by Richland County, on the east by 
Troy Township, on the south by Congress, on the 
west by Washington, and is designated as Town- 
ship No. 19, in Range 20, of the Congressional 
survey, and had a population of 1,194 in 1870. 
It originally extended north to the Mansfield and 
Galion road, but, upon the formation of Morrow 
County, one tier of sections was added to Sandusky 
Township in Richland County ; thus it is one tier of 
sections short of a Congressional township. The 
township is well drained by the several little 
streams that have their source within its limits, 
and their numerous tributaries. The North Fork 
of the Mohican rises in Section 23, and flows 
nearly north for six or eight miles, when it 
changes its course to the eastward, and passes out 
into Troy Township through Section 12. The 
Clear Fork of the Mohican rises also in Section 23, 
flows in a southeast direction, and passes out 
through Section 36. The Whetstone has its' 
source in Section 27, flows west for a few miles, 
and then changes southward, passing into Con- 
gress, near the little village of West Point. A 
number of other rivulets and brooks traverse the 
township, which are nameless, but which form 
a natural system of drainage. The surface of 
North Bloomfield is sufiiciently rolling as to re- 
quire but little artificial draining, but cannot be 
termed hilly or broken. It is one of the finest 
farming regions in Morrow County, and the com- 
fortable and even elegant farm-houses denote the 
prosperity of the people. Grain of all kinds is 
extensively grown, while considerable attention is 
paid to stock-raising. The township was originally 
covered with fine timber, consisting of oak, wal- 
nut, beech, hickory, elm, ash and other species 



-r— ► 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



391 



common in this section of the country. About 
two miles of railroad is within the Township limits, 
but there is no station nearer than Iberia or 
Galion, the former in Washington Town.ship, and 
the latter in Crawford County. No large cities or 
manufacturing establishments are to be found in 
the township, but it is wholly a farming and stock- 
raising region. Its schools compare favorably 
with any township in the county, and seven 
church edifices point thf>ir spires heavenward. 

The first settlement in this township was made 
in the northeastern part, near the village of Bloom- 
ing Grrove. A man named Maxwell, whose first 
name could not be ascertained, settled here about 
1820, it is supposed. He was from Pennsylvania, 
and sold out to Ebenezer Harding when he came 
in the spring of 1821 or 1822, after which he 
moved to the far West. This was doubtless the 
first actual settlement made by a white man in 
what is now known as North Bloomfield Town- 
ship, and was made nearly sixty years ago. 

Next after Maxwell came the Hardings. Amos 
Harding, the patriarch of the Harding fai^ily, 
came first, and settled in what is- still Richland 
County, about the year 1819. Ebenezer, one of 
his .sons, came next, and bought out Maxwell, as 
we have seen, in 1821-22. The next year, his two 
brothers, Geo. T. and Salmon E., came and^ settled 
near him. While the elder Harding settled north 
of the village, his sons settled south of it, in what 
is now Bloomfield Township. Salmon laid out the 
village of Blooming Grove, and afterward sold out 
and moved to Galion, where he died several years 
ago. He was brought back and buried in the vil- 
lage cemetery, near where a large j)ortion of his life 
had been spent. When he laid out the village, he 
gave a lot of ground for a graveyard, and requested 
to be buried there, a request that his friends and 
relatives fulfilled. Ebenezer did not remain long, 
but sold out and moved further West. George 
died here, but has a son still living a short distance 
from the place of his father's early settlement, and 
is the last of the third generation of the Harding 
family in this neighborhood. He lives just over 



the line in Richland County, but has always lived 
in the neighborhood. From him we learned many 
facts of interest connected with the early settle- 
ment of this section. He used to go to old Benny 
Sharrock's to mill down on th-i Whetstone, when 
he was a lad but seven years old, and was so small 
they had to tie both him and the sack of corn on 
the horse. Once he was belated, and the shades 
of evening settled d»wn before he reached home. 
His father and mother became somewhat fright- 
ened, and, unable to endure the suspense, the former 
mounted a horse and went in search of him. He 
had but a short distance to go, when the trails sepa- 
rated, and either one went to the mill. He delib- 
erated some time as to which to take, but finally 
made up his mind and hurried on. Scarcely had 
he passed out of sight, when the boy came in on 
the other trail and pursued his way on home, igno- 
rant of the fact that his father had gone the other 
trail to meet him. Upon his arrival at home, his 
mother hastily lifted him from the horse, jerked 
the bag of meal off, and mounting, immediately took 
the back track after the old gentlemen, to try, if 
possible, to prevent his going onto the mill. When 
we remember that wolves were plenty, and when 
maddened by hunger did not hesitate to attack 
grown-up people, we can realize readily the anxiety 
of the parents when their boy was detained at the 
mill until after nightfall. 

Mr. Harding remembers Galion when there were 
but two houses in it, and the place was called 
"New Moccasin," and afterward "Spongetown," and 
still later it enjoyed several other names equally as 
rude. He also remembers Mansfield when it con- 
sisted merely of an old block-house, which was, at a 
later day, improvised into a jail and court house — 
the upper story used for a court room, and the lower 
for a prison. Indians were plenty in those days, 
but none lived in the immediate vicinity, but often 
passed through from Upper Sandusky to Mount 
Vernon. Their hunting grounds embraced all thi.s 
country, and squads u.sed to come down and hunt 
for weeks. On these hunting excursions tlicy 
would trade venison to the pale-faces for tobacco 



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392 



HISTOllY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



and whisky. "Capt." Dowdy, an old chief, used 
often to come here to hunt. They were friendly 
toward the whites and did nothing out of the way, 
except to steal little things sometimes, for which 
they had a strong j>e;/t7i«»^ 

From the settlement of the liurdings up to 
1827 the following families came in and located 
farms: James Stearns, Hiram Stephens, James 

Wells, Bascom, James Kerr, Isaac Barnes, 

John Crawford, Amos Webster and perhaps others. 
Stearns, Wells and Stephens were from Pennsyl- 
vania. The fir.st named settled in 1823-24 ; the 
other two in 1825. All cleared up farms, but are 
now dead. Bascom and Kerr came about the 
same time, and were also from Pennsylvania. Kerr 
was Bascom's son-in-law, and they came to the 
country together. Bascom settled where Mrs. 
Crawford now lives. He and his wife are both 
dead and lie in the little graveyard at Ebenezer 
church. Kerr settled near Bascom and where his 
widow still lives. He died in 1867. His first 
wife died early, and his second wife was a daugh- 
ter of Isaac Barnes, also an old settler of the town- 
ship, and a native of Western Virginia. He en- 
tered the land now belonging to Mr. Rule at West 
Point. He sold out and moved to Wisconsin, and 
afterward to Minnesota, where he died. Bascom 
and Kerr came all the way from Pennsylvania in 
wagons, then the common mode of traveling, and 
they settled here in an unbroken forest. Mr. Kerr's 
widow, who is still living, is a women of intelli- 
gence, and possesses an excellent memory, and 
communicated to us many items of historical in- 
terest. Crawford, like a large majority of the set- 
tlers in this section, was from Pennsylvania. His 
wife was a sister to James Braden, and Braden's 
wife was a sisier to Crawford. They swapped 
sisters, as it were. Crawford came about 1826, 
and settled whe^re his widow still lives. He 
died about three years ago. Braden came 
also from Pennsylvania about 1835, and is 
dead, but his widow is still living. These early 
settlers, viz., Kerr, Crawford and Braden, who 
lived in this neighborhood almost in sierht of each 



other, are dead, leaving widows living upon the 
places of their early settlement. Amos Webster, 
another Pcnnsylvanian, and a brother-in-law to the 
Hardings, settled in the northeast corner of the 
township soon after them. He cleared up a farm, 
sold out and went to In liana ; afterward to Iowa, 
where he died. 

William Buckingham settled a little northeast 
of West Point in 1831. He came originally from 
Pennsylvania and settled in Knox County as early 
as 1828, from whence he came to this settlement. 
He died in 1837, but his widow lived until four 
years ago, and died at the age of eighty-four years. 

John Elder, from Pennsylvania, was the first 
settler iu the west part of the township, and 
entered the land where his son, Samuel Elder, now 
lives, when it was an untouched forest. Not a 
tree amiss, as the latter gentlemen informed us, 
except now and then, where " one had been cut 
down for honey or a coon." Mr. Elder settled 
first in Troy Township, in 1829, and, in the fall of 
1830, removed to this section, where he died in 
1837. Samuel, who lives on the old homestead, 
remembers hauling corn from the old place in 
Troy Township, the first winter they lived here. 
It was a winter of unusual severity, and, with 
oxen hitched to a large sled, they would go back 
and forth through the snow, taking two days to 
make a round trip, and carrying their provisions 
with them, as the country was not as thickly 
settled as it is now. 

Jacob Sief was the next settler after Elder, and 
came in 1829. He was originally from Baden, 
Germany, but had lived some time in Columbiana 
County, 0., before settling here. He has been 
dead forty years or more, but has three sons still 
living in the neighborhood, Jacob, Gotlieb and 
Philip. Daniel Bolgard, Philip Flook and Vin- 
cent Dye were Pennsylvanians. Bulgard, whose 
family consisted of several children, came soon 
after the Elders, and, though they were somewhat 
deficient in education and refinement, were withal 
warm-hearted people. The old gentlen)an died 
years ago, but a son, Enoch Bolgard, is still liv- 



7\<=r 



-y 



ik* 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



393 



ing. Dye came about 1832-33. His son, Vin- 
cent Dye, Jr., occupies the old homestead — his 
father is long dead. Tom, another son, went to 
California, where he remained some time, and then 
came back here imbued with all the elements of bor- 
der life. He still lives in this county. Flook settled 
about the same time as did Dye. He has been 
dead many years, and Mrs. Overley lives now upon 
the place of his original settlement. John War- 
ner came to the settlement a few years after the 
Klders. He is still living in the southern part of 
the township. Henry Snyder, from Pennsylvania, 
settled here in 1834. He moved to Indiana, 
where he afterward died. Arch McCoy and Rev. 
Mr. Hosier were early settlers ; the one was an 
early teacher and the other a preacher. McCoy 
went to Missouri, where he became a prominent 
man, was elected to the Legislature, and was also 
a delegate to the National Democratic Convention 
that nominated James Buchanan for President. 
He was killed in Missouri during the late war, but 
by whom was never known. Both parties were 
accused of the deed. He was somewhat fickle in 
party principles, and, upon removing to Mihsouri, 
changed from a Whig to a Democrat, because he 
found the latter in power, and much the stronger 
party. Mr. Hosier who was a preacher of the 
Albright denomination, removed to Illinois, where 
he died. William Kenyon, another of the early 
settlers of this township, came from the Isle of 
Man originally, about 1831-32. He and his wife 
are both dead, and sleep in the little burying- 
ground at Ebenezer Church, of which they were 
members in life. A son is still living, also a 
daughter, the wife of Mr. McFarland. William 
Harris and James Appleman were pioneers of 
this township. Harris is dead, but Appleman, 
who came from Pennsylvania, lives with his son, 
on the place of his original settlement. He says 
it has been almost sixty years since he pulled off 
his coat and commenced clearing a farm here. 

This comprises a list of the early settlers of the 
township to a period where the tide of immigra- 
tion began to flow in with such force as to render 



it impossible for the historian to keep pace with 
it. Farms were opened and cleared up in every 
neighborhood, and the pioneers' cabins dotted the 
plains and valleys, while domestic animals, such 
as hogs and cattle, filled the forests instead of 
bears and wolves. The latter lingered, however, 
and were only driven after the Indians by hard 
knocks. They resisted the encroachments of the 
invaders as stubbornly and as fiercely, in their 
way, as did the savages themselves. The grand 
transformation has been complete. Sixty years 
ago, the pioneers found an unbroken forest, marked 
only by Indian trails. To-day, the historian finds 
flourishing fiirms, beautiful homes, and churches 
and school-houses, where erst the woods stood 
dark and dismal. Truly, the wilderness has been 
metamorphosed into a veritable paradise. 

One of the great sources of worry to the pioneer 
is the obtaining of provisions and the necessaries 
of life. Meat was easily procured, for, when tired 
of bacon, it was an easy matter to kill a deer; 
often these animals were shot from the cabin door. 
But bread was not so easily attainable. To go to 
Mount Vernon and Fredericksburg to mill was 
common, and to be detained several days was 
equally common. A mill patronized considerably 
by the early settlers of this township was a little 
concern kept by "Uncle Benny" Sharrock, as 
he was called. It was little more than a corn- 
cracker, though he ground corn, wheat and buck- 
wheat, all on the same run of stones, which were 
made of concretions, or " nigger-heads," as more 
commonly called. It was said that " Uncle Benny " 
could make more flour from a bushel of buckwheat 
than any miller within fifty miles, and 33 pounds 
to the bushel was but ordinary work for him. 
The first birth, death and marriage in North 
Bloomfield are not remembered. But that births 
and marriages have occurred, the present popula- 
tion is the best of evidence; and that the "pale 
horse and his rider " have been abroad in the 
township, the number of thickly populated ceme- 
teries bear incontestible proof. 

The roads in the township are excellent, and 






;jn4 



HISTOliY or MORROW COUNTY. 



intersect every portion, generally being laid out on 
section lines, instead of anuliiig wherever it was 
(bund convenient to run them. The first road in 
North Bloomfield was that passing through the 
village of Blooming Grove, running from Gallon 
to Lexington. It is one of the roads of the town- 
ship that was laid out regardless of section lines, 
but rather to the sound of the dinner-horn. The 
story is told of the engineer who surveyed it, that, 
whenever he heard a settler's horn blow for din- 
ner, he would vary the line so as to strike his 
cabin, which is the cause of its zigzag course. 
The next road through the township was the 
Mansfield and Marion road. 

A post ofl&ce was established at the residence of 
William Wallace, who lived on the State road 
running from Delaware to Mansfield, three miles 
south of the village of Blooming Grove, at a very 
early day. Wallace was the Postmaster, and the 
name of the office tvas Barcelona. He kept it 
until it was moved to Blooming Grove, upon the 
laying of it out as a village. The names of the 
first physician and the first blacksmith in the 
township have been lost in the " obscurity of the 
past." 

Simultaneously, almost, with the howling of the 
wolfe, was heard the voice of the preacher, as one 
'' crying in the wilderness." The circuit 
rider, that pioneer minister of the Cross, was 
early in the field, and, long before there were any 
churches or schoolhouses in the township, the 
people gathered at some neighbor's cabin, or in the 
warm weather collected in some cool grove, where 

" Earth's unnimibered flowers 
All turning up their gentle e_yes to heaven ; 
The birds, with bright wings glancing in the sun, 
Filling the air with rainbow miniatures." 

seemed to join with them in praises to the Most 
High. Rev. Mr. Hosier (of the Albrights) was 
one of the early preachers of the township, and 
is the first one remembered in tlie west part of it, 
where he used to preach every two weeks at 
the house of Peter Ferestcmakor. Elder Knapp, 
Revs. Bell, Camp and DuBois were also early 



preachers. The township is well supplied with 
churches at the present day, and if the peo- 
ple are not very religious it is their own 
fault, for they certainly do not lack church facil- 
ities. Pleasant Hill Methodist Episcopal Church 
is located about three-quarters of a mile west of 
the village of West Point, just north of the line 
between this and Congress Township. Just when 
the society was organized, is not known, but at an 
early date. The house, which is a log building, 
was erected about 1846, but the society was or- 
ganized long before, and services held in people's 
houses. The house was built by the people of 
the neighborhood, Henry Sipes and his sons doing 
the largest part of it. The church and circuit were 
organized by Rev. Zephaniah Bell, from Mt. Gilead, 
and was included in the Mt. Gilead Circuit. Rev. 
Mr. DuBois was the preacher when the church 
was built. The membership is now about fifty, 
and the Pastor is the Rev. Mr. Buxton, who is 
in charge of the Darlington Circuit, of which this 
is a part. Among the early members of this 
church were Henry Sipes and wife (he was the 
first class leader), Richard liams and wife (his house 
was the preaching place), Isaac Barnes and wife, and 
others of the early settlers. A Sunday school is 
carried on during the summer season, and, at the 
present writing, has just been organized for the 
summer, with David Elder as superintendent, and 
some seventy-five attendants. 

Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal Church, lo- 
cated on Section 20, was originally organized 
at the house of James Braden about 1835 — 6. 
Some time after organization, headquarters were 
changed to the house of James Kerr. Among 
the early members' were William Kenyon and 
wife, John Crawford and wife, James Braden 
and wife and James Kerr and wife. It was or- 
ganized by Rev. Z. Bell, the founder of 
Pleasant Hill Church mentioned above. The 
Church was built in 1846, and is a frame build- 
ing. With some modernization, it is still doing 
duty as a house of worship. Rev. Mr. DuBois 
was the preacher at the time of its erection ; the 



"RT 



4 



idL 



HISTOKY OF MOKROW COUNTY. 



395 



present Pastor is Rev. Johnson. The member- 
ship has been much depleted by death and remo- 
vals, and numbers about forty. A Sunday school is 
carried on during the summer, but has not yet been 
resurrected for the season just opening. A pretty 
little cemeteuy lies adjacent to the church, where 
sleep many of the pioneer members. The first 
burial in it was a child of Kenyon's, and the next 
a child of Kerr's. 

The brick church is located near the " Half 
Acre " school house, and belongs to the denomina- 
tion known as German Reformed ; the services 
of the church are conducted in the German lan- 
guage. The church was built in 1857, and is 
an elegant brick structure. It is in a flourishing 
state, having nearly one hundred members, with a 
good Sunday school during the summer season, 
but is not yet opened. Rev. Mr. Marcus, of Crest- 
line, is the present Pastor of the Church. There 
was at one time a United Brethren Church near 
the site of this, but it has long since passed away. 

The Old School Presbyterian Church, about a 
mile south of the village of Blooming Grove, was 
built not far from 1850 — perhaps as early as 1848 — 
and is a frame building. It has generally been 
supplied from Gallon. Rev. Mr. Blaney was the 
minister when the church was built, but there is no 
regular pastor now. Rev. Mr. Thompson, of Gallon, 
used to preach for the church every two weeks. 
Before the church was built, preaching was held at 
George Marshman's, who was one of the old mem- 
bers. Mr. Ferguson was one of the pillars, and, as 
the old members died off, its strength departed, 
until, at this time, the society is almost extinct. 

Education received the earnest attention of the 
pioneers, and at an early day the log school house 
made its appearance. Even before the people were 
able to build these primitive temples of learning, 
schools were taught in deserted cabins, barns, old 
stables, or any kind of a building found vacant. 
The first school of which we have any account in 
this township was taught by Arch. McCoy, in a rude 
log cabin near Aaron Sief 's, which had been built 
for a dwelling. This small beginning in the way 



of education has developed into a system surpassed 
by no township in Morrow County. There are 
eight school districts now in the township, in each 
of which is a comfortable school house. The fol- 
lowing statistics are from the last report made to 
the County Auditor : Balance on hand September 
1, 1878— $1,661.96; State tax, $531; local tax 
for school-house purposes, $840.32 ; amount paid 
teachers within the year, $1,681.85 ; total value of 
school property, $8,500. Teachers employed, 
males 8, females 7 ; monthly wages paid, males, 
$35, females $22. Number of pupils enrolled — 
males 176, females 138 ; average daily attendance, 
males 105, females 91. Balance on hand Septem- 
ber 1, 1879, $1,176.09. 

North Bloomfield is Democratic in politics, and, 
when questions of importance are up, good ma- 
jorities are usually given. In the late war, its 
patriotism was beyond question, and the bravest 
and best of its sons offered themselves for the de- 
fense of the Union and the Constitution. The 
town house of North Bloomfield is situated two 
miles south and two miles west from Blooming 
Grove. This is where elections are held, and 
where all the township business is transacted. 

The village of Blooming Grove was laid out by 
Salmon E. Harding, upon whose land it was mostly 
located, and the plat recorded in Richland County 
March 5, 1835. A small portion of George T. 
Harding's land was embraced in the original sur- 
vey, and, since it was laid out, several additions 
have been made to it. The town is on Section 11, 
of Township 19, and Range 20 of the Congressional 
survey. The first residence was built by William 
Johnson, and the first storehouse was built by Carl 
& Dunlap, who were the first merchants. This 
storehouse stands on the northeast corner, and is 
now owned by Dr. Jones. Carl & Dunlap were 
succeeded in the mercantile business by a man 
named Whitaker, who carried on a store for some 
years. The post office was established here, or, 
rather it was removed from Wallace's to this 
place, in 1841, after it was laid out as a town, and 
the name changed from Barcelona to Corsica, 



^^\T 



-[^ 



i^ 



396 



HISTORY OF MORROAV COUNTY. 



partly bocause at that time there was but one 
other office in the United States by that name, 
and partly because of the admiration entertained 
by the citizens for the First Napoleon. As a mark 
of respect they called it after his birthplace, the 
Island of Corsica. I. G. Barker was the first 
Postmaster after it was removed to Blooming 
Grove. He was succeeded by John Clark Johns- 
ton, who held the office for twelve years. Mr. 
Johnston comes of a noble family. He is a second 
cousin to the Confederate General, Joe Johnston, 
though he says he does not like to acknowledge 
the relation.ship. We are not quite so radical as 
that in our opinions, for, although Joe Johnston 
was on the wrong side of the fence in the- "ate 
unpleasantness, yet he ranked among the greatest 
Generals of either army. He also claims to be the 
fourth generation from Oliver Cromwell. We 
should be leas proud of this than of a relationship 
to Joe Johnston. After many changes in the 
post office department of Blooming Grove, Chris 
Williams has succeeded to the office. J. C. 
Johnston was the first blacksmith of the village, 
and opened a shop in 1836. The present sum- 
mary of business is as follows : Two stores, one by 
Henry Bachman, and another by J. F. Keller ; 
one wagon shop, by Siegesmund Baker ; two 
blacksmith shops, by J. C. Johnston and Abram 
Evans; one hotel, by J. R. Dille — the first tavern 
in the place was kept by old Johnny Johns, as he 
was called ; two physicians. Dr. McFarland, Home- 
opathist, and Dr. Johns, old school ; one 
schoolhouse, Miss Appleman, teacher. A two- 
story schoolhouse will be built during the present 
(1880) summer. 

Blooming Grove is a quiet and moral little vil- 
lage, and is without saloons. They are institu- 
tions that the good people do not allow inside of 
the corporate limits of the village. A Dutch- 
man came there once for the purpose of opening a 
saloon, and had made all his arrangements for the 
business, when he was told that the people would 
not tolerate such a movement, and that he would 
be presented to the grand jury at its first term. 



" Py Gott," said he, "I no stay," and he didn't. 
An old preacher once told some of the citizens 
that they were a " peculiar people," that they would 
quarrel among themselves on politics and religion, 
and, five miles from home, they would fight for 
each other like dogs. Not only is Blooming Grove 
a moral town, but it is a very religious one. There 
are three churches inside of the corporation, and 
(Old School Presbyterian) just south of another 
the town. 

The Bloomfield Baptist Church was organized 
October 23, 1833, and was a part of the Spring- 
field church. When they became sufficiently 
strong, a society was formed by the Rev. Frederick 
Freemen. The first church was a frame building, 
and stood three-quarters of a mile north of the 
village. It was then in what is now Richland 
County. After Morrow County was laid off, it 
was moved across the line, within a few hundred 
yards of where the present church stands. There 
it remained, and was used by the society until 
1870, when the present brick edifice was erected 
at a cost of about $2,500. The church at present 
has no regular Pastor, and a membership of only 
about thirty. It has been much depleted by death 
and removals in the last few years. An excellent 
Sunday school is maintained the year round. 
There are fifty-four enrolled members, under the su- 
perintendence of Christopher Bowser. Elder Hall 
was the Pastor of this church for many years, and 
still preaches in it whenever he can do so con- 
veniently. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church of Blooming 
Grove was organized about 1835. Preaching- 
was had sometimes at the house of James 

I Harris and at other houses in the neighbor- 

1 hood. About 1840 they moved to town and 
occupied the .schoolhouse. In 1848, a frame 
church was built. This house does not seem to 

' have been built upon a rock, for when the " winds 
blew and the floods came and beat upon that house, 
it fell," or rather it was blown away in a storm, 
and dropped upon an adjoining lot. The people 

, gathered together and put it back on its original site, 



liL 



HISTORY or MORROW COUNTY 



397 



where it did duty until 1 87 1 , when the present hand- 
some brick, now occupied, was built. This edifice 
cost $3,000, and is of modern architecture. Rev. 
Mr. Johnson is Pastor, and the membership is not 
far from one hundred. A few years ago, just after 
the close of a revival, there were over two hundred 
members, but many have " fainted and fallen by 
the wayside." A Sunday school is maintained 
throughout the year, of which Dr. McFarland is 
Superintendent. He is said to take great interest 
in it, and to devote a great deal of time and labor 
to the good of the children. 

Rev. Logan Harris, now a Bishop in the M. E. 
Church, was one of the first ministers who 
preached in the village of Blooming Grove. He 
was raised in the township of Troy, near by, and 
is remembered as a rather bad boy, of whom many 
hard stories are told. Elder Knapp held the first 
revival in the town. He was a local preacher, 
and a good one. Some roughs threatened to put 
him out of the house if he came over and attempted 
to hold meeting. When told of the threats, he 
said : " Well, as I never have been put out, I will 
go and let them try it." He went, but was not 
molested. 

There is an organization of the Adventists in 
Blooming Grove, formed a year or two ago. 
They have quite a stylish edifice, built in 1879, 
and as a religious society, are creating considerable 
interest. The head of this denomination is, we 
believe, at Battle Creek, Mich. One of the 
tenets of their religion is, that one-tenth of every- 
thing a believer possesses must be "given to the 
Lord." Some irreverent fellow recently remarked 
that, "one-tenth of everything they have, must 
go to the Lord via Battle Creek." The Treasury, 
it appears, i^ there; and everything is collected at 



that point, and there devoted to religious purposes. 

In connection with the Christian Churches, it is 
not out of place to mention those benevolent organ- 
izations which, though not strictly religious, are 
highly moral in their teachings. A lodge of Odd 
Fellows was organized in the village in 1873. It 
was instituted on the 20th of August of that 
year, as Corsica Lodge, No. 556, I. O. 0. F., and 
had among its charter members Siegismund Baker, 
W. Enek, S. A. Numbers, and D. K. Mitchell, 
who were the first officers, and ranked as their 
names are given above. There are on the records 
sixteen members in good standing, and the following 
are the present officers : Enoch, F. Bachman, N. 
G. ; Nelson Chapin, V. G. ; Abram Evans, Secre- 
tary, and George B. Baggs, Treasurer. The lodge 
was instituted by John E. Bell, Grand Master, 
and W. C. Earl, Grand Secretary. 

There is a very pretty cemetery adjacent to the 
town. The land was given for a burying ground 
by Salmon Harding, and was the first public grave- 
yard in the neighborhood. Several additions have 
been made to it since by purchase. Within its 
limits sleep many of the pioneers of the country. 
It is well kept, and the number of beautiful stones 
and monuments shows the affection of the living 
for the dead. 

The village of West Point is situated on the 
line between North Bloomfield and Congress town- 
ships, and is about as nearly divided between the 
two sections as it well can be. The store and the 
post office are in North Bloomfield, while the 
church and the schoolhouse are in Congress, and 
the residences are about " 'alf and 'alf," as an 
Englishman might say. The history of West 
Point will be more particularly given in the chap- 
ter devoted to Congress Township. 




eA3-' % 



-^ e) 






398 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



CHAPTER XII.* 



■-^ 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP— DESCRIPTION, ETC.— SETTLEMENT— PIONEER INDUSTRIES— ANTI- 
SLAVERY— VILLAGES— SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES. 



" The groves \Vere God's first temples. Ere man 
learned 
To hew the shaft and lay the architrave, 
And spread the roof above them — ere he framed 
The lofty vault, to gather and roll back 
The sound of anthems." Bryant. 

A N unbroken forest, so dense the sunlight 
-^^^ could scarce penetrate to the soil beneath, 
made hideous by savage beasts, which howled back 
responsive to the dread whoop of scarce less savage 
men, is descriptive of Washington Township at 
the dawn of the present century. Beneath their 
sliades, myths and legends were generated, which, 
together with fact, have threaded the pathway of the 
years to the present time. Who first worshiped in this 
temple? Was ever Christian altar erected from 
which rose the incense of Christian worship, en- 
circling the pleadings of Christian hearts? or, 
instead, was it the uplifting of the hearts of 
the dusky savage toward the throne of the Great 
Spirit or some unknown divinity, inspiring to 
a worship who shall declare it less sincere 
or less pleasing to " Him that sitteth upon the 
throne," e'en though the manifestations differed 
slightly from the wild ululations of bacchanals? 
Such are some of the questions that come throng- 
ing to one's thought when musing upon the days 
of four-score years ago. 

So the historian, who attempts to trace the line 
of history from the pa.st to the present, must needs 
go but a short distance into that backward path ere 
hfe becomes involved in a labyrinth of mystery 
hardly less dense than those forests themselves 
The point where legendary story ends and authen- 
tic history begins, is. very like the geometer's point, 
defined in mathematics as having " position but not 
magnitude," and since magnitude is a necessary 

* Contributed by Rev. W. O. Peet. 



pre-requisite to enable him to discover the position, 
he soon loses himself in the mazy intricacies and 
labyrinthine windings of mysterious half-history, 
half-legend. 

However, no mystery presents itself when we 
consider the soil and configuration in the territory 
with which we have to do. So far as we are con. 
cerned, this has remained the same ever .since, in 
Bible phrase, " the earth stood out of the water." 
The beeehen forests may have been cleared away, 
allowing the warm sunlight to dry out the heavy> 
clayey soil; but what then? The soil has remained 
unchanged, heavy with an admixture of gravel in 
some parts, demanding hard labor on the part of 
the husbandman, but well repays thorough cultiva- 
tion. Underneath the soil, the geologic formations 
near the surfiice are sandstone, a few of the shales, 
with the faintest, if any, trace of limestone, and 
this last, not in the form of deposit, but small de- 
tached portions. The " lay of the land " demands 
at least a passing notice. To the south from Iberia, 
the land is very level, while to the north and east 
"Tt is quite the reverse. This fact is owing largely 
to the existence of the forks of the Whetstone, 
which wind in and out among the hills through 
courses, some of which have doubtless been plowed 
by their currents. The boundaries of the township 
may have changed, but it is with the territory as 
now limited that we have to do. 

Washington Township is located on what is 
known among surveyors as the " three-mile strip" 
— a territory dividing the State from north to 
south and lying between two surveys — and is just 
three miles wide by seven and a half long. It is 
bounded on the north by Crawford County, on 
the west by Marion County and Canaan Township, 
on the south by Gilead Township, and on the east 



:t^ 



'.^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



399 



by Gilead, Congress, and North Bloomfield Town- 
ships, and is known in an early survey as Town- 
ship 15, Range 21. It is traversed by two forks 
of the Whetstone River : Rocky Fork, running 
along the eastern part, from north to south, and 
Middle Fork, flowing northwesterly through the 
central portion, near the village of Iberia, crossing 
the boundary into Marion County, nearly a mile 
northwest of that village. In the main, the roads 
through the township are along section lines. 
The only exception of importance is the one 
known as the "Mansfield-Marion" road, running 
east-norlheast and west-southwest, which direc- 
tion prevents it from following section lines. 
Then, too, there are two branches of the Cleve- 
land, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Rail- 
road, one of which, the Indianapolis Division, 
merely touching the northwest corner of the 
township (the Atlantic & Great Western Rail- 
road running parallel and only twenty feet dis- 
tant), and the Cincinnati Division, which has 
and southern boundaries near the center, with 
about four miles of track cutting the eastern 
and southern boundaries, near the center, with 
a station known as Iberia Station, one and one- 
half miles distant from the village of the sam 
name. One remarkable fact, speaking strongly 
for the public spirit of the citizens, is the fine 
bridges spanning the forks of the W^hetstone. One 
of these is a very substantial wooden structure 
spanning the Rocky Fork near Armstrong's mill, 
while there are other very fine iron structures, 
much superior to those which are ordinarily found 
in the country. So much by way of description. 

But we made a mistake in saying that the soil 
had remained the same as left by the hand of the 
Creator. Before authentic history begins, we find 
evidences that it had been disturbed by — some- 
body ! Near the northern boundary of the town- 
ship stand two monuments of a mythical, tradi- 
tionary past — two relics of the Mound-Builder's 
agCT— ihe one, conical in form, perhaps twenty feet 
in height, with a base covering about half an acre ; 
the other, horseshoe shaped, at present about two 



and a half feet in height, and in extent of perhaps 
equal dimensions with the former. Tradition says 
that this latter was, in an early day, considerably 
higher than the inclosure, but time has worn it 
away to its present dimensions. That it belongs to a 
period somewhat remote, is evidenced by the fact 
that large forest trees are standing upon the sum- 
mit, and within the area embraced. Its peculiar 
shape gives indication of its purpose as a fortifica- 
tion, for defense, in some war belonging to that 
legendary past. Beyond this guess-so, even tra- 
dition is utterly silent as to the time and purpose 
of their erection. 

Again, report says that in the war of 1812, the 
trail of an army swept across the southern extrem- 
ity of the township, leaving, however, nothing by 
which to trace the line of its march. Beyond the 
fact, nothing is known as to the exact where or 
whither. 

Authentic history dates its beginning with the 
coming of Benjamin Sharrock — the first white 
settler of Washington Township, which occurred 
in the winter of 1818-19. Quite a settlement 
had already been made at Galion, Crawford County, 
and from this point he made his departure, strik- 
ing into the woods, determined to hew out for 
himself a home, and wrest from the soil a com- 
petency. The letters patent to his land were dated 
in the year 1817, but it was not till the winter above 
named that he came to occupy it. At that time, 
he brought his family — a wife and four small 
children — built for them a cabin, about one and 
one-half miles northeast of Iberia, and here began 
the rude life of the hardy pioneer. They were 
well calculated to meet the trials, privations and 
dangers incident to pioneer life, by virtue of strong 
physical constitutions and remarkable fearlessness 
of character. A story is told, which will illustrate 
these characteristics specially on the part of Mrs. 
Sharrock. When they came to their rude home 
in the wilderness, they found themselves sur- 
rounded by Indians, who were in the main peace- 
able, though by virtue of their savagery or some- 
thing else, terribly disposed to ignore all rights of 



-V 



400 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



property. Not long after their coming, Abner 
Sharrock was born, and when but a few months 
old, in a wigwam not far away, an Indian boy who 
was about the same age, died. Something of 
mother love was manifested even in the breast of that 
dusky savage, in that immediately she longed to 
replace her lost papoose, and between her wail- 
ings she came to Mr. Sharrock's cabin and asked 
for Abner. Of course, the request was denied, 
but when the mother's back was turned, the squaw 
seized the little fellow in her arms and darted out 
the door, into the woods, toward her own wigwam. 
But the mother gave chase, and, when the old 
squaw was in the act of crossing a fence, was 
caught ; a struggle ensued, but for once right and 
might were united, and the stolen child was 
rescued from the hands of his savage captor. 

Mr. Sharrock's name appears frequently through 
these records. Indeed, any history of Washington 
Township would be sadly defective did it not give 
him more than a passing notice. He was not 
only the first white settler, but was always inter- 
rested in everything to improve the condition of 
his fellow-townsmen, and further their best interest; 
moreover, he outlived all his fellow-pioneers, and 
at his death, which did not occur till 1879, he had 
become an interesting character, owing to his great 
age, almost if not quite a centenarian. Strangely 
enough the records has been lost, and his relatives 
are uncertain as to the exact number of years he 
did live. As we proceed with the history of the 
township, we shall see how he interested himself 
in the well-being of his fellow-men. 

The next settler was Everett Sharrock, who en- 
tered land immediately adjoining that owned by 
his brother. Then, without any letters patent or 
title of any sort, came one Widow Ferrel and set- 
tled on land about one mile north of Iberia. The 
fact that her land had not been " entered " in due 
form was at length discovered by one Mr. Rowe, 
who, true to his name, spoiling for a row, entered 
immediately and took possession. By arbitration 
.peculiar to the circumstances, a peaceable adjust- 
ment was secured in the following manner : The 



matter was left in the hands of three citizens of 
this and the adjoining township in Marion County, 
who decided that equity if not justice demanded 
that Mr. Rowe must pay Mrs. Ferrel for the im- 
provements she had made on the premises and also 
estimate the amount of her claim. This being 
adjusted satisfactorily, Mrs. Ferrel crossed the 
boundaries of the township and settled in Marion 
County. 

In August of 1821 came Daniel Cooper and 
settled on a farm which his father had entered 
for him, and, as he gave him the deed, he told him 
he must make a living out of it. Mr. Cooper was" 
a tanner by trade, and immediately built him a lit- 
tle booth, beneath which he could ply his trade in 
all kinds of weather, the tan-vats being uncovered. 
In later years, he was enabled to enlarge his busi- 
ness somewhat, but the tanner's trade had its 
beginning and ending with him so far as Washing- 
ton Township is concerned. Before leaving him 
and his trade, however, it must be stated that old 
settlers believing in the superiority of the good 
old days and the degeneracy of these latter times, 
declare positively that he made " better leather than 
any you'll find in these days." 

In the spring of 1823, Nehemiah Story settled 
on some land he had entered where Mr. Abner 
Sharrock now resides. He was a preacher of the 
Baptist denomination, and not unfrequently did his 
fellow -pi neers gather at his house to listen to his 
plain-spoken Gospel truth. Though no organiza- 
tion of that faith was formed, yet he was the 
means of great good to his fellows in making it 
possible for them to hear the truth even in the in- 
terim between the visits of evangelists, which in 
that early day were much like angels' " few and 
far between." Mr. Story was also a practical sur- 
veyor, and we find his name appended to the record 
of land plats in the township and the village of 
Iberia. 

Later in the same year came Benjamin Straw 
and Henry Lemmon, the latter of whom was. the 
first Justice of the Peace of the township. The 
next year, Isaac Carl and his son John Carl, and 



•yjc 



l^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



401 



also Mr. Birch, moved in. These all settled on 
land to the west and north of that first located by 
Mr. Sharrock. Mr. Birch and his wife were 
old people at their coming. The season following 
was remarkably sickly, and both died — the first 
deaths within the township — and, though they 
were buried there, yet unknown and unmarked 
is their last resting place. 

In these early years, the question of providing 
supplies presented not uofrequently a very diflB- 
cult problem. The settlers planted corn, but 
thieving squirrels "hooked" it all, leaving not a 
kernel for seed. They waged a war upon the 
little thieves, but without much success. But 
famine drove them away, for this was the year 
when squirrels emigrated, and were seen in such 
large numbers swimming the Ohio River.. The 
pioneer's rifle stood him always in good stead, and 
by its aid, together with the wild fruits he was 
able to gather, he easily supplied his family with 
the necessaries of life. Nathaniel Story, who was 
about fifteen years of age at the time of his 
father's settlement, tells how they (his father and 
himself) tracked an otter several miles to the 
East Fork of the Whetstone, near West Point, 
where they captured it. The skin brought some 
ready money, and this enabled them to keep away 
extreme suflFering; ordinary suffering and privations, 
being incident to pioneer life, are hardly ever 
mentioned by those who experienced them. 

The settlement of the township was now quite 
rapid. The following are the names of some of 
those who came before or during the year 1825 : 
Messrs. Nail, Reeves and Dutton settling in the 
north part, while Crawford, Jackson, Jeffreys, 
Bashford. Meyers and Williams settled near 
Iberia. John Jackson built the first house within 
the corporate limits of what is now the village of 
Iberia. It was of hewn logs, and shingled, and 
is still standing. Among the earliest settlers still 
living, are Robert McClaren, James Auld, A. 
Brownlee, Robert Kelly, James Noble, Robert 
McKibbin and Nathaniel Story. Most of these 
came to the township later than 1825, though, by 



virtue of their long residence, have had the op- 
portunity to exert a positive influence upon the 
community. How well they have borne the 
trust reposed in them, how faithfully they have 
discharged their duty, may appear partially iu 
these pages. The antislavery, temperance, educa- 
tional and church history are so many monuments 
of their life and character. 

Benj. Sharrock built the first grist-mill in the 
year 1823, upon Rocky Fork of the Whetstone, 
then known as Sharrock's Creek. This made it 
possible for the early settlers to supply themselves 
with corn meal, though the mill was not at first 
sufficiently perfect to turn wheat into flour. The 
mill was a great convenience to a widely separated 
community, occupying a large extent of country. 
So greatly was this privilege appreciated that the 
residents of "the plains" — a tract of prairie coun- 
try in Marion County — blazed a road through the 
timber, in as nearly a right line as the swamps would 
permit. Some years later, Mr. Sharrock added to 
this a saw-mill. One great difficulty with these 
was the fact that the power would fluctuate. The 
creek would run so low as to render it impossible 
to run either mill. This made it necessary for 
people having either sawing or grinding to be done 
in the summer season to go to Mansfield, or some 
other place equally distant. To obviate this diffi- 
culty in those early days, horse-power was employed, 
but of course this power was not sufficiently accu- 
rate for the grinding of flour. Mr. Sharrock's 
mills were so adjusted that horse-power could 
be employed when the stream failed to furnish the 
requisite power. These difficulties have] been re- 
moved since that time by the appropriation of steam 
as a motor power. Now there are two large steam 
mills : one, a saw-mill only, owned by the Nelson 
brothers, located on the county road, two miles south 
of Iberia, the other, both a saw and grist mill, lo- 
cated in the extreme southeast corner of the town- 
ship, owned and operated by J. D. Armstrong, both 
concerns in which the township may well feel a 
pride. 

In the summer of 1827, a distillery was erected 



1\ 



^k. 



402 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



by Straw & Smart, on land now owned by Peter 
McClure, in the extreme north part of the 
township. An incident which occurred during 
the year mentioned above may illustrate the 
value of articles purchasable and work per- 
formed. Nathaniel Story "slashed" five acres of 
land for James Dunlap, for which he was to re- 
ceive a watch. The work completed and paid for, 
Mr. Story traded the watch to Mr. Straw for a steer 
and several bushels of corn, to be delivered at the 
distillery. After some years, the distillery passed 
into the hands of James Nail. Another was built 
just east of Iberia, and operated by a Mr. Moore. 
In those early days, distilleries were thought to be 
a necessity in the community. A piece of land 
could not be slashed, nor a building raised, without 
the jug of whisky, and they made a prime article 
in those days, too, perfectly innocent of strychnine, 
logwood, or any other modern ingredients employed 
to increase the quantity and degrade the quality. 
But the evil suggested its remedy — the wrong found 
its antagonist even at that early day. While these 
distilleries were in full blast, doing " their level 
best," the young men bound themselves by the 
strongest kind of obligation — an unwritten pledge 
or mutual agreement — not to have anything to do 
with the debasing beverage. They saw the delete- 
rious influence it was exerting upon society even 
in that early day, and resolutely determined not to 
use it in their own social gatherings, nor counte- 
nance its use in those to which they were invited. 
This sentiment strengthened with the lapse of time, 
while the opposing sentiment weakened, till now 
not a drop is distilled, or legally sold, within the 
limits of the township. Nay, so strong is public 
sentiment, the outgrowth of that early resolution, 
that it would be a matter of personal risk of danger 
.should one attempt to open a saloon for the purpose 
of vending intoxicating liquors. The people would 
rise en masse, indignant at what they would esteem 
an insult, and bid the vender "go ! " The senti- 
ment or tone of a community is greatly influenced 
by the position taken, or sentiments held, by its 
founders. 



Then, too, the citizens of this township are 
radical in other directions as well. While, in the 
main, orderly, law-abiding citizens, yet their his- 
tory proves them, in the past, to have been consci- 
entious law-breakers. Who has not heard of 
the underground railroad — that road running 
through the dark, dark forests, dark chasms, dark 
defiles and dark nights; that road which could 
not be operated in day-light, whose operators, like 
the owl, could only see at night? It was a road 
without charter, capital, oflBcers, rolling-stock, or 
any of the other paraphernalia of a railroad. The 
Grovernment had placed its ban upon the whole 
institution, regarded its employes as outlaws, and 
hunted them as wild fowl through field and forest. 
Nevertheless, this road had an existence and re- 
markable success, so long as there were "chattels" 
to transport, even till January 1, 1863. It ran 
through, or under, Washington Township. These 
people regarded slavery as a crime, and to rescue 
one of the sons of Ham from the clutches of this 
legalized criminality was an honor, even though 
the rescuer made himself an outlaw by the deed. 
They looked upon the Fugitive Slave Law as an 
abomination so great it were an honor to break 
it — a du^y, indeed, to violate, conscience dictating 
its violation. So, when the black fugitive was flee- 
ing his taskmaster, they did not hand him over 
to the authorities to remand him to chains and 
slavery, as the law demanded, and, too, every in- 
centive was held out to them, large rewards being 
ofi'ered as an inducement to obey the law. They 
did not turn him from their door, even though by 
harboring him, they rendered themselves ob- 
noxious, and liable to punishment and imprison- 
ment. No, they took him, clothed, warmed and 
fed him as their conscience dictated. Messrs. 
Robert and James McKibbin, Allen McNeal, 
" Uncle Archy" Brownlee and others kept stations 
upon this road. Often in the dead hour of the 
night, they would be roused from their slumbers by 
a rap at the door. " Who's there?" " A friend 
in the dark." This password, strange to say, was 
never divulged to an enemy of the black man, and 



->w 



.k 



HISTORY or MORROW COUNTY. 



403 



it always proved the open sesame to the hearts 
and homes of these law-breakers (?). Then the 
good wife must arise and spread her table while the 
"station agent" was getting the train ready — his 
team and any sort q/* conveyance — and then drove 
as rapidly as possible toward Oberlin, that terminus 
of the underground railroad, that railroad center 
at which all branches converged. Or, perhaps, 
some Quaker brought them, and it was almost 
morning when they arrived; if so, they must be 
guarded during the day in dark closets and out- 
buildings. Once a squad of them was sitting 
in comparative security in McKibbin's kitchen, 
when an emissary entered the gate. " Out ot 
here, quick ! " she exclaimed, and had just time 
to close the doors upon their retreating forms, hast- 
ening to the out-buildings for protection, when 
he entered the door. "Any niggers here?" 
" Well, you tell ! I don't see any ! Do you ? " He 
was too late. They had escaped him, and during 
this brief conversation had gotten themselves se- 
curely hidden from emissary, detective, blood- 
hound or lash. 

Such experiences were of frequent occurrence. 
Many are the stories told by those who were initi- 
ated into the mysteries of this secret conclave. 
How many a time has the black man been seen 
hastening northward, with his eyes peering into 
every corner, fearful lest his enemy may be 
crouching there, with his wild eye glancing hastily 
backward, as though expecting a detective in pur- 
suit, starting into a run at every sound as though 
it were the dread baying of the bloodhound scent- 
ing his trail. 

A rap was heard at Mr. McKibbin's door one 
night. " Who's there? " " A friend in the dark ! " 
" Wait, and I'll let you in." On opening the 
door they found a strangely mated pair with their 
little family, all in rags. The man was black as 
night; while the woman, a Creole beauty, was 
fair as any daughter of Japheth. In the morn- 
ing, Mr. McKibbin came in, saying: "I have a 
chance to make ($400) four hundred dollars this 
morning ! " Poor souls. They knew that was the 



reward offered for them, living or dead, and a 
wild terror blazed in their eyes and prostrated them 
before him, pleading for life and liberty. "Don't 
be frightened! He won't hurt you!'' said Mrs. 
McKibbin. " He's only jesting! Don't mind his 
jokes!" and it was with great difficulty that they 
were reassured. 

The last company of fugitives which passed 
through the township, numbered four persons — two 
men and two women. They had crossed the Ohio 
River on the ice, and when they arrived at " McNeal 
Station," they were badly frozen. By the assistance 
of this "station agent," they were conveyed safely 
to Oberlin. One of these was protected by the 
faculty of the University, at that place, and the 
entire faculty were tried, convicted, and incarcerated 
in prison. 

Of course these friends of the slave did 
not expect to break the laws with impunity. 
They were made to suffer. One was assailed 
on his way home from church with the , con- 
tents of a hen's nest which the hen had failed 
to hatch, another had a barn burned, but then Mr. 
McKibbin was an outlaw, and the incendiary who 
threw the torch into the building was an honora- 
ble, law-abiding citizen in those times. Allen 
McNeal was taken to Cleveland charged with pro- 
tecting a fugitive. It happened, however, to be the 
only instance in which he could conscientiously 
" plead not guilty !" and hence he was cleared. 

In the early summer of 1860, some blacks were 
staying at a point about two miles south of Iberia. 
One evening, the train stopped and let some parties 
get off in that vicinity. This fact was telegraphed 
by rumor far and near. The young men saddled 
their horses and hastened to the protection of these 
fugitives. Two of them were rescued, but the 
third man was caught and remanded to slavery. 
But the boys were incensed. They caught the 
party, which proved to be the Deputy U. S. Mar- 
shal and two subordinates. Then some of the 
boys held the Deputy for another to clip the hair 
off his head, while others administered some iron- 
clad oaths to the subordinates and thrashed them 



*^ 



r 



■.a. 



404 



HISTORY OF MORROAV COUNTY. 



most unmercifully. One who stood by, not " con- 
senting to " but opposing this summary punish- 
ment, was Rev. Mr. Gordon, then President of 
Ohio Central College. He was the one, however, 
who was brought to trial and imprisoned. After re- 
maining in prison for some time, the affair was 
brought to the ears of President Lincoln, who im- 
mediately pardoned him. But the pardon did not 
exonerate him from blame, and he refused to leave 
his prison cell, preferring to languish in prison to 
going out with the imputation of criminality upon 
him. His friends, however, persuaded or com- 
pelled liim to avail himself of the pardon and 
leave his prison cell. But disease had fastened 
upon him, breathing the fetid atmosphere of his 
damp cell, and his release was only just in time to 
save his life. The respite was but brief; the re- 
lease did not bring permanent relief; a few brief 
years passed, and the disease contracted in that 
prison cell in Cleveland brought him to an untimely 
death, which occurred in 1868. 

Such is a brief history of the Antislavery feel- 
ing in Washington Township. The Abolitionists 
themselves do not justify this summary treatment 
of oflGicials in discharge of their duty. On the 
other hand, conservative men refused to obey the 
law so far as to remand the fugitive to slavery. 
Whatever may be said of the institution of slave- 
ry, this is true : The Fugitive Slave Law, looked 
back upon from the standpoint separated by a 
score of years, must be regarded as bad, at least in 
so far as it made every man on seeing a fugitive 
either a policeman or a criminal. Hence, many 
citizens of Washington Township held it to be an 
" unrighteous law, which is better broken than 
kept." 

Iberia is the only village in Washington Town- 
ship. It is centrally located, being on the Mans- 
field-Marion road, a little to the west of a north- 
and-south-line running through the center of the 
township, and nearly et^uidistant from the north- 
ern and southern boundaries. As heretofore stated, 
one John Jackson built the first house, in what 
are now the limits of the village. It was built of 



hewn logs, and shingled, and was probably the 
first house in the entire township that was roofed 
with shingles. The old building is still standing 
on the original site. The surrounding lands, about 
three acres, in the form of a triangle, though 
within the limits of the village, have never been 
platted. The date of its erection is 1827. James 
Auld, an old resident still living, who came to 
Washington Township that year, engaged, the next 
day after his arrival, in making the shingles with 
which it was covered. Other buildings were soon 
erected, until, about three years later, a store was 
demanded, and, as demand always begets a supply, 
one was erected by Allen Beverstock, of Mans- 
field. The store was kept by one John A. 
Coleridge, who was also the first Postmaster in the 
township, the post office being kept in the store, 
while a Mr. John Bloomer, now of Galion, was 
employed as clerk. The village was first platted 
by Samuel Foster and Frederick Meyers, who 
were the original proprietors of the soil. The date 
of the record is March 9, 1832 — the records 
kept still in Marion, at the County Auditor's 
office, Washington Township having been origi- 
nally part of Marion County. Samuel Holmes, 
County Surveyor for Marion County, made the 
original plat, and his name is appended to the 
record, and also to the record of the first addition, 
known as Meyer's First Addition, and which bears 
the date of April 2, 1834. When the village 
was being platted, Robert Rowland, a young man 
who had traveled extensively for those early times, 
was visiting relatives there. He inquired what 
they were going to call the new village. This was 
a subject that had not suggested itself to Messrs. 
Meyers and Jackson. He then suggested the 
name " Iberia," after a town in South America, 
the name having attracted his attention by its 
beauty. Accordingly, this name was then and 
there adopted, and by this name it has ever since 
been called. Other additions have since been 
made, the latest dating June 6th, 1851. The 
village has now two large stores, of one of which E. 
J. Crane is proprietor, who is a live business man. 



*- 





/?^tr, 




t 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



407 



genial and generous, and whose business card ad- 
vertises him as " general dealer in dry goods, gro- 
ceries, notions, &c.; also in all kinds of grain and 
country produce ;" the other is owned and man- 
aged by Smith & Irwin, both young men, ener- 
ergetic, shrewd and active, their establishment, 
though large, being always crowded with the varied 
articles which are necessary to supply the demands 
of the farming community surrounding. Iberia 
is the seat of the Ohio Central College, and is the 
religious center of the township, all the churches 
being located here. 

Iberia Station, on the line of the Cleveland, 
Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railroad, 
and one and one-half miles distant from the vil- 
lage just described, promises to be something in 
the future. It is not a village now, but may be ; 
who can tell ? Railroads compel everything to 
come to themselves. At present, the prospective 
village is the establishment of John M. Stigers, 
grocery and commission business, the post ofl&ce, 
established during the year 1880, and kept by 
Mr. Stigers, and the neatest, most artistic station 
to be found in the State of Ohio. 

And now, having spoken of what " may be," it 
may not be amiss to speak of what " might have 
been." When the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincin- 
nati & Indianapolis Railroad was being surveyed 
(the history of which will be found elsewhere), it 
was first surveyed to Mount Gilead. Then the 
line was to cross the southern boundary of the 
township, immediately south of Armstrong's mill. 
There were shrewd men in those days as well as 
in later times, and some of these seized upon this 
spot as an eligible one for the location of a village. 
A store was in contemplation, and goods were 
being purchased ; land began to rise in value, and 
a city began to loom up in the dim future. The 
line of the railroad, however, was moved two 
miles west, and the village died ere it was born. 
Truly, 

" Of all sad words of tongue or, pen, 
The saddest are these, ' It might have been.' " 

The school history next demands attention. 



In the year 1825, when Nathaniel Story was 
eighteen years of age, he began to feel if he ever 
had any opportunities for study it must be soon. 
Accordingly, he interested the citizens far and 
near in the subject and with one accord they 
determined to build a schoolhouse. The work 
was accomplished, not by architects and estimates 
and contracts, etc., as now a days, but by these 
men putting their own hands to the enterprise. 
It was a rough structure — round logs " scotched 
down on the inside," which means that the rough- 
nesses were hewn away after the logs were laid in 
place ; puncheon floor, " slab seats, and counters 
scanty ;" fireplace six feet wide at one side of the 
building, with stick chimney daubed with mud 
like the chinks between the logs. Such was the 
first schoolhouse in Washington Township. It 
was located on the road, a little more than a mile 
north of Iberia. James Dunlap, now living 
in Iowa, whose son still resides in the town- 
ship, was the first schoolmaster. The descrip- 
tion given of him is not after the model of the 
ancient pedagogue, for he gained the esteem of 
his pupils, not by the rod but by conciliatory 
measures, proving a successful, faithful and effi- 
cient instructor. " He taught a good school, as 
his former pupils affirm, who remember with grat- 
itude his eff'orts for their benefit." 

To digress a little, he was a widower when he 
came into the township, and shortly after his com- 
ing he was married to the daughter of Nehemiah 
Story — probably the first marriage solemnized in 
the township. 

The school itself was supported by a rate-bill, 
so much per capita for each of the pupils, of 
which there were about twenty-five. Since that 
day the public-school system has assumed control 
of all these interests, and now fine school buildings, 
well furnished with all the apparatus necessary to 
success, are found in all the districts. 

More than this, Washington Township has 
superior facilities for education, in consequence of 
the "Ohio Central College," which, as before 
stated, is located at Iberia. The following historical 



■^ 



^1 



^ 



408 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



sketcli is taken from the published catalogue of 
the institution, and is given in full: 

Ohio Central College has been in operation a 
little more than a quarter of a century. The en- 
tire history of the institution is marked by five 
periods. The first two antedate the commence- 
ment of the college proper. The first period 
covers the brief history of a select or high school, 
conducted successfully by the Rev. J. B. Blaney 
and Mr. Elliot, and by Josiah Alexander and his 
brother Samuel. At the commencement of the 
second period, A. D. 1849, a large two-story brick 
building was erected, through the liberality mainly 
of Mr. Hugh Elliot, and the school took the form 
of a young ladies' seminary. Miss Mary J. Haft 
acting as Principal. The Female Seminary, as it 
was called, soon became a mixed school under the 
care of the Rev. Joseph Andrews. This school 
continuing but a short time, the property was 
sold to Dr. Thomas Mills, and by him transferred 
to the Synod of the Free Presbyterian Church of 
the United States of America. This transfer 
marks the beginning of the third period. The 
Synod, in 1854, obtained from the Legislature of 
Ohio a charter with college powers, and the school 
was organized under the name of Iberia College. 
This college opened its doors to all classes, without 
distinction of sex, race or color. This regime con- 
tinued till after the war of the rebellion, when 
the Synod of the Free Presbyterian Church dis- 
solved, and the college passed under the care of 
the United Presbyterian Presb^'tery of Mansfield. 
This change marks the beginning of the fourth 
period of the institution's history. This period 
came to a close in 1875. During this time the 
name of the college was changed from Iberia to 
Ohio Central. 

Owing to financial embarrassment, the Mans- 
field Presbytery relinquished all control and all 
claims, and the college property was legally trans- 
ferred in 1875 to a joint-stock company. This 
company framed a constitution and by-laws, provid- 
ing that the college be positively Christian in its 
maniigement, but not sectarian. Nine Trustees- 



belonging to three different denominations, were 
chosen, and for the last five years the work has 
been carried on under this new management. 

Under the administration of the Free Presby- 
terians, a second building was erected, containing 
recitation rooms, rooms for the literary societies, 
and a chapel. The college, with the societies, 
possesses a library of about four hundred and thirty- 
five volumes ; also valuable maps, a mineral and 
geological cabinet, and chemical and astronomical 
apparatus. The campus contains about five acres, 
nicely situated, with gardens, shade trees, and 
grassy lawns. 

Trustees of the college during the Free Presby- 
terian administration : Rev. Samuel Hindman, 
Allen McNeal, Richard Hammond, Thomas S. 
Mills, M. D., Hon. S. P. Henry, Rev. John Ran- 
kin, Rev. Wm. Perkins, James Auld, Sr., Archi- 
bald Brownlee, James Morrow, Rev. Geo. Gordon, 
Rev. S. T. Boyd, Wm. Reed, M. D., Rev. M. T. 
Finney. 

Trustees during the administration of the Mans- 
field Presbytery: Rev. R. H. Pollock, D. D., 
William Dickson, Rev. J. Y. Ashenhurst, Archi- 
bald Brownlee, John Finney, Matthew Hindman, 
Prof Edward F. Reed, Rev. D. H. French, D. D., 
Allen McNeal, Rev. William Wishart, D. D., 
Richard Hammond, J. J. McClarren, E. Burt, 
Esq., Rev. W. A. Campbell, Rev. W. H. French, 
D. D., and several others whose names cannot be 
obtained. 

Trustees during the last administration : Rev. 
William Maclaren, D, D., Samuel Nesbit, E. Burt, 
Esq., John McNeal, Allen McNeal, Enoch Dun- 
ham, John Quay, E. J. Crane, Esq., John Frater, 
Rev. John P. Robb, John S. Hunter. 

The first and only President of the college dur- 
ing the time it was under the care of the Free 
Presbyterian Synod was the Rev. George Gordon, 
A. M., a man of sterling worth and strong convic- 
tions. He suffered imprisonment in the city of 
Cleveland for an alleged violation of the Fugitive 
Slave Law, but before his term expired he was 
released by the authority of Abraham Lincoln, 



'.I. 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



409 



President of the United States. Mr. Gordon died 
in 1868. 

The same year, perhaps, in which President 
Gordon died, the college passed under the care of 
Mansfield Presbytery, and the Rev. James Patter- 
son, D. D.. was chosen President. Dr. Patterson 
came from Wilmington, Penn., where he had been 
for a number of years President of Westminster 
College. He was President for less than a year, 
and from Iberia he removed to Iowa, and became 
Pastor of a church. 

The Rev. W. H. French was chosen President 
in 1869, and held the ofl&ce for about two years 
His successor was Prof Ed. F. Reed, A. M. He 
was President for about two years, when he 
resigned, and accepted a professorship in Mon- 
mouth College, 111. 

John A. Ramsay, A. M., a graduate of the Indi- 
ana State University, was President pro tempore 
about one year. And with him ended the United 
Presbyterian control. 

After the re-organization of the college, in 1875, 
as a non-sectarian but Christian institution, the 
Rev. William Maclaren, D. D., was elected Presi- 
dent, and held ihe position one year, and then re- 
moved to Red Wing, Minn. 

After Dr. Maclaren's resignation, the Rev. John 
P. Robb, A. M., became President, holding the 
position at the present time. 

Professors. — S. F. Boyd, M. A.; S. P. Henry, 
M. A.; N. C. Helfrich, M. A.; Ed. F. Reed, M. 
A. ; W. W. Wallace, B. S. ; John Gray, B. A. ; 
J. A. Wilson, B. S.; A. C. Crist, M. A.; M. C- 
Percival, A. B.; C. L. Conger, B. S. ; J. P. 
Robb, A. M. 

Tutors. — John Dawson, Miss Mary A. Daw- 
son, Miss Sarah Pugh, Mrs. J. A. Wilson, Miss 
Patterson, Samuel Stewart, B. A. ; John Q. Cod- 
ding, B. A. 

OflBcers of the Board. — Presidents — R. H. 
Pollock, D. D.; W. H. French, D. D. ; D. 
H. French, D. D. ; William Maclaren, D. D.; 
John P. Robb, A. M. 

Secretaries. — James Auld, Jr., J. J. Mc- 



Claren, W. W. Wallace, B. S.; E. J. Crane, John 
Frater. 

Treasurers. — Samuel Hindman, M. A.; Matthew 
Hindman, E. Burt, Esq. 

Present Instructors. — Rev. J. P. Robb, A. 
M., President Professor of Mental and Moral 
Philosophy, 

Rev. C. L. Conger, B. S., Professor of English 
Languages and Literature. 

Rev. C. A. Crist, A. M., Professor of Ancient 
Languages and Literature. 

J. A. Wilson, B. S., Professor of Mathematics 
and Natural Sciences. 

The college graduated its first class in 1857, 
since that time its Alumni and Alumnae number 
about fifty, many of whom are engaged in what 
are known as the learned professions. 

The church history of the township dates back 
almost with the beginning of authentic history. 
The religious nature of man makes its appeals to 
him, whatever may be his circumstances or sur- 
roundings. If there has ever been a church- 
going habit, if the Sabbath has ever found recog- 
nition by an individual ; then, when deprived 
of the opportunities for church-going, this relig- 
ious nature will make its appeals with the recur- 
rence of the seventh day, demanding that he 
should rest, or by some means recognize the day 
set apart by special command of very ancient 
date. This demand is early heard in pioneer life ; 
and because the opportunities for church going are 
few, they are, therefore, the more highly prized. 
Very early in the history of Washington Town- 
ship, as we have seen, it was possible to 
satisfy this demand, since one of the pioneers, 
Mr. Nehemiah Story, was himself a preacher. 
Besides, a Free- Will Baptist preacher, Rev. Mr. 
Bradford, came frequently to the early settlement, 
i preaching at the house of Squire Lemmon. He 
is said to have been a man of remarka- 
i ble ability, and somewhat of success attended 
his ministrations. But the first organization of 
any sort was that made by Rev. Mr. Bell, a 
i circuit preacher, of the Methodist denomination. 



w 



lW 



410 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



He is descri')ed as a " very warm old preach- 
er," and, possessed of good lungs, seems to have 
preached as though he intended all the old set- 
tlers in the township should hear him, though 
they were widely scattered. The organization 
was properly speaking, not of a church, but what 
is known as a " class," — several of which are 
embraced in a church. It was organized at the 
home of a Mr. Carl in the year 1825. The 
Methodist Church continued in this form, separ- 
ate " classes," with irregular preaching at the com- 
ing of the circuit preacher — till 1839, when the 
Iberia Church was organized by Rev. Peter 
Sharp, at the house of James Davis, where 
preaching continued to be held, till two years later 
when their first church edifice was erected. The 
organization was composed of Moses Arnold, 
Class Leader; William Casey, Moses Arnold, Henry 
Smith, James Bloomfield and C. P. Rigby, 
Trustees. Till 1868, the church was a part of 
what was known as Caledonia Circuit, at which 
time the Iberia Circuit was organized, by the 
association of four societies, Iberia, Boundary, 
Denmark and Whetstone. Previous to that 
date, the boundary line between North Ohio and 
Central Ohio Conferences was so changed as to 
make this organization a necessity. The official 
members of the church thus formed were E. J. 
Crane, J. S. Hunter. Hiram Bennett, Joel 
Meyers, Benjamin Crane, S. D. Cass, and James 
Davis ; three of these, Meyers, B. Crane and 
Davis have since died ; J. S. Hunter and S. D. 
Cass are still prominent officials, while E. J, 
Crane was then made Recording Steward, a posi- 
tion which he has ever since filled. 

The church edifice first erected became too small 
to accommodate the increased congregations, so that 
in 18G7 it was determined to tear down and build 
larger. Now the congregation worship in a neat 
structure, the whole church property being esti- 
mated at 82,500. Rev. C. L. Conger is the pres- 
ent Pastor ; E. J. Crane, William Nesbit, W. Braden 
and A. B. Newson are Class Leaders ; E. J. Crane, 
W. Braden, S. D. Cass, James Atkinson, J. T. 



Prater, John McCutchen and J. S. Hunter are the 
Trustees. The society at Iberia, numbers one hun- 
dred members, while it is estimated that about 
seventy-five more Methodists are located in the 
township, who hold their membership at other 
points. 

A church organization in the township was made 
March 30, 1829, under the conduct of Rev. 
Samuel Irvine, D. D,, assisted by David Marshall 
and David Donnan, who were Ruling Elders from 
the congregation of Mansfield. The organization 
was completed by the enrollment of nineteen mem- 
bers, and the election, ordination and installation of 
Thomas and Robert Jeffrey as Ruling Elders. 
Soon after this, two more, John Roff and John Reed , 
were added to the board of Elders. 

The Rev. Samuel Hindman was the first Pastor, 
three other churches in connection with this con- 
stituting his pastoral charge. At the time of or- 
ganization it was called the " Associate Congrega- 
tion of Washington." It retained this name till 
1858, when a union was effected between the As- 
sociate Synod of North America and the General 
Synod of the Associate Reformed Church. At that 
time, it received the name of the United Presby- 
terian Congregation of Iberia, by which title it has 
since been known. The constituents of the church 
as it now exists, were formerly two small " Asso- 
ciate," and one " Associate Reformed, " congrega- 
tions. The names of Pastors and their terms of 
pastorate are as follows; The Rev. Samuel Hind- 
man, from 1829 to 1848; The Rev. James P. 
Bull, from 1849 to 1855 ; The Rev. W. H. 
French, D. D., from 1857 to 1870 ; and the Rev. 
M. L. Ross, from 1872 to 1874. 

The first meeting-house was built of logs ; the 
second was a frame building ; and the present one 
is a brick edifice, 40 feet by 72 feet, which was 
erected during the summer of 1873. At the 
present time, the church numbers one hundred and 
seventy members, and is well organized with pas- 
tor, elders and deacons. Its Sabbath school has a 
full corps of officers and teachers. 

The officers of the church at present are as fol- 



K 



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HISTOKY OF MORllOW COUNTY. 



411 



lows : Pastor, the Rev. John P. Robb ; Elders, 
Allen McNeal, James Auld, William Braden and 
Robert T. McKibbin ; Deacons, William Brooks, 
Thomas Nelson, Matthew H. Henderson, James 
Auld, Jr., William Smith, Robert McClaren, Jr., 
and Prof. James A. Wilson. The economy of the 
church, commissions the board of Deacons to man- 
age the financial concerns of the church, and they 
elect annually their own officers, consisting of a 
President, Secretary and Treasurer. The Sunday 
school connected with the church has the fol- 
lowing officers : Superintendent, E. Burt ; Secre- 
tary, Thomas D. Riddle ; Treasurer, William Dick- 
son. 

One other church organization completes the 
church history of Washington Township. Though 
it appears last in these records, it is properly second, 
since its organization antedates by three years the 
proper organization of the M. E. Church. The 
Presbyterian Church of Iberia was first organized 
April 27, 1836, by Rev. H. Shedd, D. D., and Rev. 
Thomas Cratty. Both of these pioneer preachers 
of that denomination had preached at that place 
at irregular intervals, previous to that time, and to 



them is due the credit of having gathered those of 
like faith in that early day, and laying the founda- 
tion of a strong church in the future. The or- 
ganization was accomplished by the election and 
ordination of two Ruling Elders, John F. Dunlap, 
and James Scott, while the membership numbered 
sixteen. After the organization was completed, 
Rev. William Mathews and Rev. Simeon Brown 
were the first preachers, and under their labor the 
work was carried forward with a good degree of 
success. 

The church is now worshiping in the third edi- 
fice which has been occupied by them since the 
organization. It is a frame building, erected in 
1855, and is valued at $3,000. It has a beautiful 
location on one of the five hills of Iberia. Rev. A. 
C. Crist is the present Pastor and has served the 
church for the past four years. There are at 
present five RuHng Elders : Samuel Nesbitt, Sam- 
uel Colmnery, R. 0. Cooding, A. B. Tuttle, and 
John M. Canall. The membership numbers 125, 
and the church was never in a more flourishing, 
harmonious and prosperous condition than at the 
present time. 



CHAPTER XIII 



(5) L 



FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP— FIRST FAMILIES— EARLY INCIDENTS— MERCANTILE BEGINNINGS- 
SOCIAL CUSTOMS— CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS. 



IN undertaking to sketch' the history of that 
territory which is now known as Franklin 
Township, in Morrow County, the writer finds 
himself on the wrong side of the boundaries that 
hedge in its traditions. The history of the early 
settlement of a county gathers about the original 
county seat in conformity to a law of social gravi- 
tation that is as certain and powerful as the simi- 
lar law which governs matter ; and in such a place, 
where the traditions of the county center, and 
from whence the thousand influences proceed that 



contribute so largely to mold the history of the 
difi'erent divisions of the county, the historian 
finds the proper point of observation. Unfortu- 
nately for the writer, in the case of Franklin and 
its sister townships from Knox, the center of social 
and political gravitation, was changed after forty 
years had fixed their associations and endurably 
established the currents of social intercourse, and a 
new center formed. This abrupt change could affect 
the current of later history, but the traditions of 
the early days had passed beyond its influence, and 



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412 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



they are still true to the Mecca of their early hom- 
age. Until April 10, 1812, Franklin formed a 
part of Wayne Township, one of the four original 
divisions into which Knox County was first divided. 
At this time it was set off as a part of Chester, and, 
December 8, 1823, it began a separate existence, 
voicing in its name the admiration of its citizens 
for the great printer, patriot and philosopher — 
Benjamin Franklin. 

The earliest information in regard to this part 
of the country is gathered from the reminiscences 
of John Stilley, one of the earliest settlers of 
Knox County. When a mere lad, he was cap- 
tured by a band of Wyandot Indians that made 
a predatory excursion into Washington County, 
Penn., in 1770. On their return to their village, 
on the Sandusky plains, they passed through the 
western portion of what was known later as Knox 
County. Stilley describes the country as an un- 
broken wilderness of heavy timber, without the 
trace of a single white man. It was regarded by 
tlie savages as the finest portion of their hunting 
grounds, and during his five years of captivity he 
was frequently brought to this vicinity on hunting 
expeditions. It looked far more prepossessing to 
him then than it ever did afterward, and deter- 
mined him in later years, when released and seek- 
ing a place for a permanent residence, to emigrate 
to Knox County. Franklin Township is situated 
on the Greenville treaty line, and is composed in 
part of United States military lands and Congress- 
ional lands, the latter being that portion north of the 
treaty line. It was originally surveyed in 1807 — 
that portion north of the treaty line by Maxfield 
Ludlow, and that south of the line by Joseph 
Vance — and comprises parts of Township 18, in 
Range 19, and Township 17, in Range 20, of the 
Congressional lands, and Township 8, in Range 15, 
of the United States military lands. A part of the 
original field notes have been lost, and but a mea- 
ger description of this land appears in the sur- 
veyor's notes published by the Secretary of State's 
department. That portion of the township situ- 
ated below the treaty line is described by the field 



notes that are preserved, as level and of second- 
rate quality, bearing principally sugar, beech and 
ash timber. Above the treaty line, the land is 
more rolling, forming a ridge somewhat along the 
line of the road passing through Pulaskiville, 
which divides the waters of the two branches 
of Owl Creek. What is laid down in the maps as 
the Middle Branch, takes its source in Congress 
Township and flows in a southerly course through 
the western portion of Franklin. Another small 
tributary to Owl Creek takes its rise just north of 
Pulaskiville, and follows a southeasterly course, 
joining the main stream in Middlebury Township, 
in Knox County. The soil is principally clay, 
though there are bottom lands that indicate a bet- 
ter soil by the number of black-walnut trees that 
appear among its timber. Notwithstanding the 
rolling character of the land, the early maps show 
quite a number of swamps, which seem to have 
been impartially scattered all over the upper divis- 
ion of the township, a fact that has rendered tile 
draining necessary in some portions. Owing to 
the circumstances of its origin, the boundaries of 
Franklin Township are quite irregular. For 
twenty-five years, it was the extreme township, in 
the northwest corner of " Old Knox." At that 
time Harmony extended northward to the natural 
boundary of the treaty line, and prevented the 
rectangular completeness of Franklin in that quar- 
ter, and, when the township was set ofi" to form a 
part of Morrow County, a row of sections was 
taken oif the eastern end above the treaty line, 
through the influence of certain residents who 
preferred to remain in their old county. It is 
bounded on the north by Congress and Perry, on 
the east by Middlebury, in Knox County, on the 
south by Chester and Harmony, and on the west 
by Harmony and Gilead. The territory thus em- 
braced is well adapted to general farming, and, un- 
der the management which the owners have found 
to be most successful, yields returns second to 
no land in the county. Grain raising is the 
pursuit of a large part of the farmers in this 
township, though some fine stock is exhibited 



^^ 



1^ 



HISTORY or MOEROW COUNTY. 



413 



by one or two persons who make it a specialty. 

The only surviving representative of the urban 
element in Franklin Township is a small cluster of 
bouses about the crossing of the two main roads, 
near the center of the township, called Pulaski- 
ville. 

Many years ago — so many that it has almost 
been entirely forgotten — a town was projected by 
Allen Kelley. It was situated in the western end 
of the township on the land now owned by William 
Kelley. The site was one admirably calculated for 
a village, with the remote corners of four counties 
centering near it, and the founder might well enter- 
tain sanguine hopes of its ultimate success, but the 
re-organization of the counties changed the whole 
aspect, and Jamestown became a thing of the past. 
The House Brothers had a store here early, where 
they did business until Mount Gilead began to 
show elements of growth, when they removed to 
that place. This establishment attracted trade 
from all points, and it is said that a man by the 
name of Magoogin went there from Mount Gilead 
to buy a looking-glass ; this was probably for his 
wife, but while there he got several glasses for him- 
self, until he found himself rather lightheaded. In 
staggering home he smashed the glass and back 
entirely out of the frame, but it served his pur- 
pose just as well, and he was discovered looking 
through the frame, addressing himself over and 
over again in a confidental undertone, " Yes, 
Magoogin, that's you, that's you, Magoogin." 
Sometime previous to 1823 the village of Florida 
Grove was laid out on the land now owned by 
Thomas P. Morrison. The project was inaugurated 
by Rev, George Van Eman, who then owned the 
land, together with Plumb Sutleff and Samuel 
Hardenbrook. A number of lots were sold, but 
the would-be town failed to thrive, and has long 
since become apart of the farming land of the 
township. 

There were no large landholders in this township 
save James Brady of Greensburg, Westmoreland 
Co., Penn. ; and most of the settlers bought direct 
of the Government at the land office in Canton. 



The Congressional lands were a part of what was 
known as the new purchase, and were put on the 
market about 1 809, or as soon as practicable after 
the necessary survey was completed. The first 
actual settler was Samuel Shaw, who came from 
Washington County, Penn., in 1810. He was 
born in Carlisle, Penn., in 1762, and came to Pick- 
away County, Ohio, in 1809, coming to Franklin 
a year later, and settling on land where Salathiel 
Bonar now Hves. He had bought 600 acres here 
in 1808. Mr. Shaw is represented as a clever, 
quaint old gentleman, who commanded the uni- 
versal respect of his fellow-townsmen. He brought 
a large family of children, the oldest of whom, 
David, achieved considerable distinction in a local 
way. He was an early school teacher, the third 
person to be elected to the position of Justice of 
the Peace — an office he held for twenty-three 
years — a Colonel in the Peace Establishment, and 
a County Commissioner for nine years. David 
Peoples came from Jefferson County, Ohio, to 
Franklin, in 1810, shortly after Mr, Shaw. He 
was young, unmarried, and in straitened financial 
circumstances. After securing 100 acres of land, 
he had not money enough to buy an ax with, and 
worked for some time at clearing, for $4 per 
acre, to get money to help himself He got 
his first lot cleared early, and had the first rolling 
of the season, and afterward was called upon to 
" return the compliment " every day for six weeks. 
About this time his horse, his only possession, 
died, and he was forced to put in his corn without 
plowing, using his hoe for all purposes of plowing 
and planting. In the mean while, he had boarded 
at Mr. Shaw's, but, having prepared a home and 
got in his crop, he returned for his mother, with 
whom he came back to Franklin in the same year. 
In the fall of 1810, John Cook started from his 
home in Maryland in search of a better land and 
a newer community, where he might turn his lim- 
ited capital to a larger account. He was a native 
of New Jersey, but had emigrated in 1794 to 
Maryland, where he purchased land near the 
Pennsylvania line, adjoining the counties of Bed- 



"^ s r- 



:t- 



414 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



ford and Washington. The formation of Ohio as 
a Sfate had opened a vast amount of land to the 
enterprising pioneer. Maryland at that time 
furnished one of the most available markets for 
the frontier settlements in the new territory, and 
it was no uncommon occurrence to see a string of 
pack-horses, numbering from ten to thirty ani- 
mals, laden with flax, making their way to Ha- 
gerstown, to return with supplies for the Ohio 
settlements. The reports concerning the beauty 
and resources of the country, and the fertility of 
its soil, thus brought to the attention of those who 
began to feel crowded in the older communities, 
stimulated their natural curiosity, and gave rise to 
a widespread emigration movement, which was 
recognized as the " Ohio fever." The " new pur- 
chase " added a fresh impetus to this movement, 
the effects of which seem to have become univer- 
sal. The only question seemed to be, " When ? " 
Songs, descriptive of the pleasures and advantages 
to be found in Ohio, were the staple entertain- 
ment of the young ladies of the period, and one 
of the earliest recollections of W. P. Cook — now 
a man who bears his eighty years with the spright- 
liness of youth — is the chorus of one of these 
songs, which pictures the new-found El Dorado as 
follows : 

" We'll all together go 
Where plenty pleasures flow 
And settle on the banks of the pleasant Ohio." 

It was under the influence of such a state of 
aff"airs that John Cook, John Ackerman and Will- 
iam Levering mounted their horses in the fall of 
1810, and started out to investigate the charms of 
the new country. Their course was to the settle- 
ment in Wayne Township, where some fifty fami- 
lies had settled. They were here directed to lands 
which are now situated in the northeast part of 
Franklin Township, as desirable for farming pur- 
poses. Pleased with the prospect, they purchased 
lands, and, after casting lots for first choice, Acker- 
man took land within the present boundaries of 
Middlebury Township, in Knox County, Levering 
on the branch of Owl Creek, in the northeast corner 



of Franklin, and Cook just north of the property 
now owned by his son, W. P. Cook. John Cook 
bought 160 acres, including as he supposed a fine 
spring and a large maple grove. The land was 
sold in parcels of 160 acres at $2 per acre, $80 to 
be paid in cash, the balance to be paid in three 
annual payments of S80 each. A large discount 
was made for cash, a half-section being sold for 
$260, and in either case the property to be exempt 
from taxes for five years. In the following spring, 
Ackerman moved out with his family, and took pos- 
session of his new purchase, and with him came a 
son of John Cook, and a neighbor's son, William 
Blair, to see the new country and purchase on 
their own account. These young men looked over 
the land and entered farms adjoining that of the 
elder Cook. The latter had commissioned his son 
to look after the boundaries of his recent purchase, 
and see that it was located as he supposed it to be. 
This proved to be a wise precaution, as on exami- 
nation it was found that his land failed to take in 
the spring and grove which added so much value 
to his supposed purchase. This state of aff"airs 
was reported, when Mr. Cook at once sent on money 
and secured another half-section, taking in the 
desired property. On the return of the young 
men, William Blair married, and with his bride 
and father returned in the fall to build up a home 
in the wilderness. The father, Abraham Blair, 
was a native of Perth Amboy, N. J., and 
emigrated to Pennsylvania. He served in the 
Revolutionary war, and took part in the battles of 
Trenton and Monmouth. He died on his farm in 
Ohio October 2, 1846, in the ninetieth year of 
his age, respected by all. 

Mr. Cook was possessed of a fair competence, and 
it took him some time to arrange matters for a 
change of residence of such a radical nature, and it 
was not until late in the year 1812, that he was 
ready to go to his new home. He had sold every- 
thing he cared to dispose of, and had all prepara- 
tions made for his departure, when the declaration 
of war with England put a damper upon his 
enthusiastic preparations. He determined to brave 



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liL 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



415 



the consequences, however, and on the 21st of 
September, 1812, with his effects and family stowed 
in one of those Pennsylvania wagons known by 
the expressive name of land schooners, with a team 
of five horses as the motor power, he started for 
the " Far West." The route took them along the 
Hagerstown pike, which had been partially com- 
pleted, for about forty miles. From this point, 
they followed a plainly marked road, along which 
there was considerable travel. They could make 
but slow progress at best, and four weeks had 
passed before they reached their journey's end. On 
their way, they met with persons leaving their 
frontier homes, and giving the most discouraging 
reports of matters on the border. At Cambridge, 
they met one of the soldiers who had been wounded 
at the Copus affair at Mansfield, who almost dis- 
couraged Mr. Cook from proceeding farther. He 
was a "plucky" sort of a man, and was de- 
termined nothing short of actual danger should im- 
pede his progress. On reaching Mount Vernon, 
he found that his former neighbors who had 
settled near the farm to which he was 
going, had fled to Mount Vernon and Fred- 
ericktown for protection from the Indians, who, 
it was feared, were about to make a descent 
upon the unprotected settlements in that region. 
The occasion of this alarm we may give in the 
language of Norton in his history of Knox County 
as follows : " The Seymours lived on the Rocky 
Run, or Crooked Fork of Mohican, a little stream 
which headed above Mansfield. They were plain, 
simple-minded people, who had been cultivating 
a small patch of ground, and making slow but sure 
improvements on their location. Their nearest 
neighbor was a Dutchman named Martin Rufner, 
who lived in a little cabin with only a small Dutch 
boy. The Seymour family consisted of Frederick 
and his wife, and their children, Philip and Cathe- 
rine. One night, four Indians were seen about 
dark prowling around the neighborhood of Sey- 
mour's house, and Rufner went to their house and 
urged Philip to go over to Mr. Copus and get 
help from there to capture them. No sooner had 



he started than the Indians entered the front 
door. They were received in a friendly manner, 
and Catherine at once prepared supper for them, 
but the Indians, instead of eating, at once set upon 
the household, and proceeded to kill and scalp 
them. Rufner was a very strong man, aud fought 
like a tiger, but he was soon overpowered, killed 
by two balls through his body, and left scalpel in 
the yard, with several of his fingers cut off with a 
tomahawk. The father, mother and daughter 
were killed and scalped. In a few days after this 
an attack was made by a party of Indians upon 
the cabins of Mr. Copus, who lived at theBlock fort. 
Some men belonging to a scouting party were at 
the time stopping at his house, and four of them 
had gone to a spring a few rods off to wash, when 
they were fired upon by Indians, who had hidden 
from view. Three of the men were killed, and 
the fourth escaped into the house with a bullet in 
his thigh. Mr. Copus, when in the act of look- 
ing out the door to see what was the affray, was shot 
in the breast. The door was at once closed, and 
a vigorous resistance made to the attack of the sav- 
ages, who came with terrific yells and a shower of 
balls. The daughter of Mr. Copus was shot in the 
thigh, and herself and mother, for safety, stowed 
away in the cabin loft. One of the men had his 
arm broken by a ball, and the house was com- 
pletely riddled by bullets. Several of the Indians 
were killed, and although so nearly successful in 
their savage attack, after an hour's hard fight- 
ing, they withdrew from the field." Tracks of 
the savages were discovered about other cabins, 
which indicated that a general plan of murder had 
been contemplated by the Indians, News of these 
terrible occurrences was carried by Johnny Apple- 
seed, on horseback, to various settlements and to 
Frederiektown. It was but natural that this news 
should create a lively alarm among the isolated 
settlements; the towns of Mount Vernon and 
Frederiektown were thronged with families anxious 
to arrange some plan for defense. It was in this 
situation that Mr. Cook found affairs when he 
arrived at Mount Vernon. Some time had elapsed 



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416 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



since the massacre, and he was soon able to pur- 
suade them that their danger had been exagger- 
ated, and that it was best for them to return to 
their places. Cook came as far as Middlebury, 
where he took possession of an empty cabin belong- 
ing to an old surveyor by the name of Mitchell, 
which he occupied until he had got a cabin of 
his own erected. When built, his cabin was a 
structure 18x20 feet, "staked and ridered," a 
chimney constructed of " cat and clay," and con- 
tained one room and a loft. The following year 
was a busy one for this part of the township. 
The neighbors about them were Benjamin Hart, 
in the edge of Perry Township, John Ogle, Henry 
Sams and his sons, who were married, and lived 
near, Andrew and Henry Saras, Jr., and a family 
by the name of Hoofmire. But little improve- 
ment had been made upon their farms, and about 
three days in the week were spent by each family 
in assisting to build cabins for new arrivals, or 
helping to roll their neighbors' fields. The plan 
was for each one to cut the timber on three or 
four acres, and then invite all the neighbors for 
three or four miles around to roll these logs into 
piles for burning. During the work, it was ex- 
pected that the beneficiary would provide plenty of 
whisky, and a supper when the task was finished. 
The logs were cut twelve or fourteen feet long, and 
were handled with " handspikes " alone, as oxen 
were too slow motioned for the enthusiastic ardor 
of the pioneers. Mr. Campbell relates that on 
one occasion thirty men assembled to roll up a lot of 
four acres for one of Abednego Stevens' sons. 
This was completed by noon, and after dinner the 
party went to Mr. Campbell's and " rolled up " a 
two-acre field on his premises. This job was com- 
pleted some time before the hour for supper, and, 
anxious to put in a full day, they repaired without 
invitation to a field belonging to Mrs. Peoples, a 
widow, where an acre of timber had been " chopped 
over," and " logged " it, going to Campbell's to 
supper. Such were some of the experiences in 
the life of the pioneers, which called out in rude 
fashion the kindly feelings of generous and impul- 



sive people. On these occasions, whisky was 
provided and used as freely as water, and, while it 
did not seem to have so powerful an eff'ect as is 
observable in later days, many of the pioneers, on 
these occasions, to express it in the language of 
one of the company, " got real glad." 

In the spring of 1813, Mr. Cook prepared to 
realize on the anticipations of sugar-making, which 
led him to purchase the large grove of sugar-trees. 
Large iron kettles made by Dillon, at his foundry, 
on Licking Creek, were a part of the regular 
stock in trade of a frontier store. Several of these 
kettles, with a capacity of from ten to eighteen 
gallons, were procured ; rude troughs were hollowed 
out to catch the sap, and the trees scarred and 
tapped with "spiles." Thus far it needed no par- 
ticular experience to carry on the business suc- 
cessfully, but when it came to boiling the gathered 
sap -he found it tedious work. A slow fire was all 
that could be kept up and keep the liquid in the 
kettle. It seemed as though it was arranged on 
the principle of some modern self-adjusting contriv- 
ances, so that when the fire got just a little too hot 
it overflowed and put it back. Mr. Cook and his 
boys were struggling along in this way when some 
visitors to the camp let them into the secret of 
sugar-making in the use of bacon to keep the 
sirup within bounds. Meanwhile their first cabin 
had proved a rather uncomfortable home even for 
pioneers, and Mr. Cook employed some persons 
who carried on a rude carpenter business, to erect 
a two-storied, hewed-log house, 18x2G feet. This 
building was provided with a brick chimney and a 
shingled roof, and was considered as quite an aris- 
tocratic residence for that time. 

Abednego Stevens, who came with a large family 
of grown-up children from Bedford County, Penn., 
was among the first families to settle in the town- 
ship. His son William had been in the army 
under Harrison, and in coming home had been 
attracted by the country in this township, and had 
entered a considerable tract lying in the southeast 
section of the Congressional portion of the laud. 
This struck his father favorably, and, making up 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



417 



his mind to emigrate to the new State, where he 
could give each of his STiildren a farm, he bought 
the whole section, which, owing to the angle made 
by the treaty line, contained 690 acres. In 1813, 
packing their household goods in one of the huge 
wagons peculiar to the State of Pennsylvania, the 
family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Pittman, Jacob, 
Richard, and Thomas Stevens, with two girls, 
started for Ohio. Mrs. Pittman, who was a feeble 
woman, and several small children, rode in the wagon, 
while Abednego Pittman, a lad of eight years, and the 
others performed the journey on foot. Although 
the wagon was drawn by four horses, the road was 
so bad and the load so heavy that the family found 
no trouble in keeping pace with the team. On 
arriving in Middlebury Township, in Knox County, 
they stopped at Daniel Levering's, and later went 
to Benjamin Hart's in Perry, until cabins could be 
put up for the accommodation of the several fami- 
lies. John Cook, who was an intelligent and 
generally useful man, and possessed surveying in- 
struments, was employed to run out the lines, and 
cabins were erected along the road running south 
from Pulaskiville and near the crossing of the Car- 
dington road. Pittman's house was erected near 
the spot now occupied by Mr. James, a little north- 
east of the hamlet. Mr. Abednego Stevens was a 
man of considerable property, and seeing his sons 
well situated on farms of their own, being a wid- 
ower, bought a residence in Mount Vernon, where 
he resided with his unmarried daughter until she left 
to begin a home for herself, when he moved out to 
the place of one of his sons. He was about the 
only man in the township who possessed any ready 
money, and persons in the neighborhood who were 
in pressing need of a little cash, were wont to split 
rails for him, for which he paid the munificent sum of 
50 cents a day. This price, though not extrava- 
gantly high wages for that time, was a great con- 
venience to many a pioneer who otherwise must 
have gone without many of the comforts that were 
to be secured only with ready money. William 
Stevens, the original purchaser of land here, was 
killed by a falling tree which was blown over by a 



violent storm just before the start for Ohio. In 
1812, Benjamin Corwin came to Franklin, 
being a tanner by trade, and on arriving immedi- 
ately set about resuming his trade ; he sunk vats 
on the Johnston road, in the eastern part of the 
township, and set up the first and only tannery in 
this vicinity. The dearth of the raw material for 
his trade made the first efforts rather insignificant, 
but a murrain which broke out among the cattle 
soon furnished him with ample material for the 
exercise of his ability ; there was but little stock 
save what the necessities of the situation demanded. 
Cows were indispensable, and most of the pioneers 
brought one or more of these animals, but so great 
was the fatality among them that the settlers for 
miles around lost all they had. It seems that the 
cause of this fatality was something the animals 
found in the woods, and the pioneers were in the 
habit of giving them alum, soot, soap, etc. There 
was a considerable demand among the men for 
buckskin leather, which furnished substantial and 
not unattractive clothing ; the skins were treated in 
some way with the brains of cattle, or better, with 
those of the deer, and then smoked to a fine color 
that was permanent and attractive. Pants of this 
material were made tight-fitting, as they were the 
reverse of comfortable on a cold day if not 
kept in close contact with the person all the 
time. This material in many instances furnished 
the whole suit, which was capped by a hat made 
from the skin of some fur-bearing animal. A 
funny incident is related by Mr. Campbell which 
occurred at the spring election in 1823. The 
voting was done at the house of Jacob Shur, in 
Chester, and some fifteen or twenty men were 
gathered to discharge the duty of citizens. Mr. 
Campbell had but recently come into the township 
and was exceedingly curious to see an Indian. 
Among the others at the poll was Thomas Stevens, 
who wore a long tangled beard and a suit of buck- 
skin clothing, presenting to the uncultivated eyes 
of Mr. Campbell a make-up suggestive of what his 
imagination had pictured the Indians to be. He 
was about to speak to Abednego Stevens, the 



;v 



418 



HISTORY OF MORROW COl'NTY 



father of the young man, and the only one 
present whom he knew, and in(|uirc if that was a 
real lord of the forest, when another man sgoke 
his name, and dispelled his illusion. Mr. Camp- 
bell's disappointment in not seeing a real savage 
was considerably modified by the thought of his 
narrow escape from a contretemps that could not 
have failed to have been embarrassing to both 
parties. Another family was that of John Ullery, 
who came from Washington County, Penn., about 
1825, and settled where his descendants now live. 
They occupied their cabin as soon as the roof was 
on, and it was some time before doors or windows 
could be secured. The wolves were numerous and 
daring, and in the absence of her husband, Mrs. 
Ullery took her babe and a gun and laid on the joists 
of the loft in the cabin to guard against Indians and 
animals. Joseph Mann came in 1815 from Bed- 
ford County Penn.; he was eighteen days in com- 
ing and brought cattle and sheep. The latter he 
found too much trouble to protect and left them on 
the frontier. He settled near where W. P. Cook 
lives ; he was a man of good education and taught 
school one term after coming to Franklin. 

The absence of any considerable stream pre- 
vented the establishment of those industries that 
are felt to be necessities in a pioneer community. 
The first milling was done at Mount Vernon, or 
Fredericktown, and, later, a saw and grist mill was 
erected at Waterford, but none have been built 
in the township. A distillery was built on the 
creek, in the northeast part of the township, by a 
son of Daniel Levering, where, it is said, a good 
article of whisky was made. The proprietor ac- 
cumulated considerable property from the result 
of his trade, but his son discontinued it. A steam 
saw-mill was built a short distance southwest of the 
hamlet in 1843, but it passed away some years 
since, leaving a large, brick chimney, sixty-eight 
feet high, to mark the place of its location. The 
building is doing service as a barn for Milton 
Hart. In 1815, William Tjevering, one of the 
original party that came with John Cook in 1810, 
settled in this township, on the property now 



owned by Milton Levering. He had been de- 
tained in Maryland by his mother's inability to 
move ; but at her death, he started for the land of 
his choice. The community in this sectiou of the 
town were largely made up of Old School Bap- 
tists, and were remarkably staid in their habits. 
Husking bees, quiltings or parties were things 
unknown, and, Mr. Cook, now an octogenarian, 
and a constant resident of the community, has 
never been at a frolic in his life. His father was 
a minister of this sect, and had scruples against 
such frivolous entertainments, which was enough 
to keep them down. There were a few who did 
not join in these conscientious scruples, and made 
various efforts to break in upon the long-estab- 
lished precedents. A single attempt, with its 
monotonous result, was sufficient to restrain such 
movements for some time. 

The settlement in the southern part of the 
township was an early and important one. The 
nucleus of this community was at Center Corner, 
a local name for cross-roads, in that section. Here 
are found the names of Col. Strong, the first 
school teacher, a military character, and a politi- 
cian ; Joshua Bickford, the first and only hotel- 
keeper ; Bernard Fields, the Swingleys, from 
Hagerstown, Md. ; Samuel Livingston, William 
Pharis, William Gordon, Caleb Barton, Miller 
Mosher, John Parcels, Calvin Bates, from New 
York, William Linn, from Pennslyvania, and 
others. Among these names should be mentioned 
that of William T. Campbell, who still remains to 
mark the almost miraculous change which has 
come over the country, since he first became a 
citizen of Franklin. He came in 1822, from 
Northumberland County, Penn. and occupied 
a vacant cabin near Center Corners, on a corner 
of land belonging to John Parcels. He brought 
his wife and two children, with a small box 
containing their earthly possessions, in a one-horse 
wagon. Besides a spavined horse, a harness and 
an old wagon, he had 830 to begin the world 
with. He hired out to Jacob Shur at $8 
per month, until winter, when he engaged 



>> 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



419 



in teaching school, teaching in a log schoolhouse, 
a little southwest of the corners, receiving for his 
services $12.50 per month. In 18:^4, he moved 
up to the part of town where he now resides. He 
bought fifty acres of old Mr. Stevens, lying on 
the east side of the road leading to Pulaskiville, 
and put up his cabin just south of where the 
orchard now stands. Mr. Campbell paid at the 
rate of $2 an acre for his land, and gave in 
payment, his horse, harness, wagon, and $33 
in money, leaving him in debt just $17. His 
only capital with which to improve his new 
possession was his hands, and an ax, which was 
made by Young, a blacksmith in Wayne, and for 
which he had paid $3. His cabin was hastily 
put up, without chimney doors or windows. 
The openings for windows and doors were 
closed with such extemporized substitutes as 
presented themselves, the fire was built be- 
tween the log-joists on the ground, and a box 
that had first contained their clothing and few 
household goods when emigrating, served one whole 
summer as the only table. The bed was an im- 
provised structure built in the corner of the cabin, 
the side and end-logs supporting the end and side 
of the bed, and a single leg serving the same pur- 
pose at the otherwise unsupported corner. Bed- 
cords or slats were unknown, and elm bark served 
as a foundation on which the bed was made. By 
dint of hard work and unremitting industry, he 
got in one acre of corn, and harvested a fair crop. 
Plowing was out of the question among the stumps, 
and he secured the services of a yoke of oxen, with 
a harrow, and stirred up the surface a little, and 
completed the rest with the hoe. Corn and wheat 
were then carried to Fredericktown for grinding, 
and at Mount Vernon was found the only store 
or post ofiice. Mr. Campbell relates that 
on one occasion, going to the post ofl&ce, he 
found two letters for him, each with 25 cents 
postage due on it. Money was very scarce, and 
hardly anything the pioneers had to sell would 
bring it at any price. He took a quantity of ma- 
ple sugar to the village in hopes that he could sell 



enough to make up, with what he had, the re- 
quired amount. He had 37 cents, and he went 
from store to store trying to sell a shilling's worth 
of sugar for cash, but without avail. He then 
went to the different houses, explaining his situa- 
tion, and that one of the letters bore a black seal, 
but they could not or would not buy. At last, he 
went into a saddler's, who was an acquaintance, 
and stated his case, and found a purchaser in the 
two men at work for a sixpence worth of sugar 
each. James Hyler was among the early settlers 
in the central portion of the township. He came 
from New Jersey in 1818, and settled in a log 
house on the property now owned by Johnson 
Wait. Three years later, with his family, he 
moved on to the place where his widow still lives. 
It was four years before a good crop was taken off 
his place, but he lived to see his farm improve, 
through his efforts, into one of the pleasantest 
places in the township. Mr. and Mrs. Hyler lived 
to see their eleven children grow up to maturity. 
The Indians were a prominent feature of the 
new country, especially during the first years of 
the early settlement. The massacre of the Sey- 
mour family made a strong impression on the few 
pioneer families in the northeastern part of the 
township, and although they returned to their 
cabins as soon as the immediate danger passed 
they did so with many misgivings. Not long after 
their return, a trader among the Indians by the 
name of Jones, who lived at Mansfield, was way- 
laid, killed and scalped within sight of the village 
by one of the savages. It was, doubtless, done to 
revenge some real or fancied injury, received at 
his hands. This murder occasioned another stam- 
pede, the story of which illustrates frontier ex- 
periences more vividly than any amount of gen- 
eral description. The settlements were not resting 
in any great feeling of security. As they laid them- 
selves down at night, and realized what a treach- 
erous, wily foe they were braving, who could easily 
destroy them in detail, isolated as they were from 
each other, it will not seem strange to learn that 
every unusual noise at night aroused the settlers 



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420 



HISTORY OF MOUKOW COT'NTY. 



with anxious heart-beats. It was under such cir- 
cumstances that, one quiet night, Mr. Cook's fam- 
ily were startled by the repeated cry of, " Hello ! 
Hello ! " The family was not long in responding 
to this ominous cry, and learned from the messen- 
ger, who was found mounted on a horse near the 
cabin, that the Indians and British were at Mans- 
field, spreading devastation as they came, and to 
carry conviction of the truth of his message, the 
horseman announced that the news had been 
brought by Johnny Appleseed, who had brought 
the news of the Seymour massacre before. This 
decided Mr. Cook, and without further question 
hasty preparations were made for going to a place 
of safety. By daylight the preparations were 
completed, and driving the cows with them they 
started for Waterford. Here they met a number 
of families who had been brought together by the 
same report. After consultation, and an exami- 
nation of all the evidence at command, it was 
generally argued that there was imminent danger 
of an attack from the Indians, and that it was ad- 
visable to build a block-house. This was accom- 
plished very soon, and the settlers prepared for 
an attack. There were no signs of the approach 
of an enemy, however, and, forgetting their first 
alarm, the men went back and forth to their sev- 
eral improvements, attending to their various con- 
cerns, and bringing supplies to their families at 
Waterford. This manner of conducting a defense, 
Mr. Cook thought, was likely to prove a fatal in- 
discretion, if there was any truth in the reported 
nearness of the Indians ; but, as there was no de- 
velopment that confirmed the report, the settlers, 
after remaining at the block-house several days, 
repaired to their homes. These reports, and the 
various rumors that found their way to the fron- 
tier cabins from the seat of war about Sandusky, 
made the settlers suspicious and hostile to all In- 
dians, and the frequent serious collisions between 
the friendly Del a wares, located at Jerometown 
and Green town, caused the latter to be removed 
to Urbana, and from there to the West. There 
is no doubt that the Indians contributed to 



I this result, by the action of certain ones in the 
tribes that could not be restrained. They were 
frequently seen among the settlers in squads of 
two to ten persons, and, when they found the 
women unprotected, seemed to delight in fright- 
ening them, and forcing them to give up any sup- 
plies they might take a fancy to. During the 
early part of the war, the braves were especially 
insolent, and many incidents are related of their 
exacting demands. Four Indians, at one time, 
called upon Mrs. Wait and asked for her husband. 
On seeing them approach, she had closed the 
door, and thus kept them at bay. Fearful that 
they meant evil to her husband, she directed them 
in an opposite direction to where he was chopping 
a tree. They did not find Mr. Wait, but they 
went over to Cook's and forced his wife to comb 
their hair and feed them with a spoon. This 
seemed to satisfy them, and they departed without 
further molestation. Among those of the Indians 
who made themselves especially distasteful to the 
whites, both during the war and afterward, was 
Tom Lion, a chief in the Wyandot nation. On 
one occasion, he, with a party of braves, came 
prowling about the cabin of Jacob Stevens. He 
was away at Mount Vernon, and his wife, Nancy, 
was alone with an infant child. It would seem 
that the Indians had discovered this fact, and, 
failing to force the door, began to throw fire- 
brands into the house, through the window. Mrs. 
Stevens had gone up-stairs with her child, taking 
her child and the rifle with her, but the fire- 
brands put a new face upon affairs. She went 
quietly down stairs, and, calling her husband's 
name aloud, quietly crept up-stairs, and, putting on 
a heavy pair of boots, came rattling down again. 
She repeated this ruse, calling her husband's 
father, who was a stern old man, and held in 
great fear by the Indians, and the marauders, be- 
lieving the old man there, took to their heels, and 
fled. Mrs. Stevens was greatly annoyed by this 
band, headed by Lion, after the war, as well as 
during those " troublous times." She was in the 
habit of hiding her butter in the woods, whei'c it 



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fk. 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



421 



would keep cool, but she was constantly annoyed 
to find it gone. The Indians learned to look 
upon this article as a great luxury, and had 
no trouble in finding the place where it was hid. 
They came ia the night and made a thor- 
ough search, and, when successful, gave a pe- 
culiar yell that announced to the rest of the 
gang and the settlers, that they had discovered 
the object of their search. Sometimes they came 
to the cabin, and, finding Mrs. Stevens alone, 
would threaten her with their knives to make 
her tell where her butter was, but seldom with 
success. On one occasion she had gone out to 
where a rude spring house had been built, leaving 
her little one in the cabin ; on returning she found 
a large framed warrior in full dress of paint and 
feathers, but not a trace of her child. She jump- 
ed at the conclusion that the child had been stolen, 
but just then she saw his head poke out from 
under a bench, where he had gone to escape the 
Indian. These depredations and constant frights 
began to incite a feeling of revenge in the hearts of 
the whites, and there were muttered threats against 
Lion in many a mouth. The settlers began to lose 
large numbers of hogs, which were traced to this 
miscreant's hands, and some of the settlers deter- 
mined to put an end to this whole trouble. Abed- 
nego Stevens followed him for several days, and, 
though frequently catching sight of him, failed to 
get a shot. Not long afterward, one of the Har- 
denbrooks, while out hunting, got a shot at him 
and killed him. This put an end to these depre- 
dations, and Hardenbrook was considered a public 
benefactor. After the restoration of peace, the 
Indians came among the settlements in large num- 
bers in quest of game and trade. They early 
learned to love the cooking of the whites, and 
were eager to trade game, sugar and wild fruits for 
bread, smoked beef or vegetables. One party of 
Indians were attracted by some thrifty cucumbers, 
and asked permission to pick some of them, which 
was at once graated. But to the entire sur- 
prise of the whites, they noticed these children 
of nature placidly eating some of the largest and 



^U 



ripest of the fruit to be found on the vines. The 
green ones they would not touch, because they 
were not ripe. Game was early in great abun- 
dance, as were wolves and bears. The winter of 
1812-13 was severe on deer, however, contrib- 
uting largely to drive them out of the county. A 
heavy fall of snow came early in the winter, and 
successive thaws and freezings had formed a crust 
of considerable thickness. The deer found it dif- 
ficult to obtain a living, and were so poor that they 
were unfit to eat, and their skins were too poor for 
tanning. This fact did not prevent their being a 
tempting bait for the wolves, which killed hund- 
reds of them that winter. The light-footed wolf 
found the crust an excellent path, while the deer, 
in its frantic efforts to escape from the ferocious 
pack, broke through at every step, lacerating its 
legs, and finally wearied out, falling an easy prey to 
its pursuers. 

The earliest trail found here by the whites wa^ 
that followed by the Indiaos, which led from 
Mount Vernon to the Sandusky plains. Near 
this, the first settlers found a road blazed and 
chopped out so as to be accessible for wagons, 
which a pretty well authenticated tradition claims 

1 as a road chopped out by the troops of Anthony 
Wayne, in his campaign against the Indians in 
1793-94. The larger part of this road has long 
since been vacated, but a short piece of it is still 

ji-^raveled on the hack route from Pulaskiville to 
Chesterville, where the road takes a diagonal 
direction. The road from the eastern settlements 
to Fredericktown was the first laid out, and later 
was continued west to Mount Gilead. In r"^20, 
the road which branches toward the southeast, off 
toward Cardington, and known as the Carding- 
ton road, was changed from a semi-private lane 
into a regular highway. 

The first election of the township after its erec- 
tion into a separate organization was at the house 
of Thomas Axtell, on the first Monday in April of 
1823. William Van Buskirk, who was Justice of 
the Peace within the territory, and had been re- 
elected in 1821, continued his functions in the 

^f e)| 



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423 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



new town, and was re-elected again in 1824. 
Among; the subsequent incumbents of this office 
were John Truax, David Shaw, andH. W. Strong. 
Politics took an early and deep root in the new 
township under the fostering hand of Col. Strong, 
who was an ardent Democrat, with such partisan 
enthusiasm that he walked all the way to Colum- 
bus to attend the State Convention of his party, 
at that place. Joshua Bickford, who naturally 
ally fell into politics as a part of the tavern busi- 
ness, was another shining political light of the 
township. An incident is related of him when 
acting, on one occasion, as chairman of a county 
convention. A legal gentleman belonging to the 
same party introduced a part of the business of 
the convention by a motion to go into the nomi- 
nation of delegates to the Congressional Convention, 
to be held at Johnstown. In stating the question. 
Chairman Bickford said : " Gentlemen, all you 
who are in favor of the motion just made, about 
delegates to the Congregational Convention, will 
say, ' Aye.' " The author of the motion started to 
his feet with a somewhat excited exclamation, 
setting the chairman right as to the nature of the 
convention. " Exactly." blandly replied the chair- 
man ; " You've heard the motion, gentlemen. 
The Congregational Convention I said, and I say 

it again ; and I know what Mr. M said, and 

what we all want: we want Democrats to congre- 
gate at Johnstown, and it is a congregational con- 
vention." 

The only business center which has survived to 
the present is a cross-roads hamlet which has 
been overshadowed by a great name. Tt was laid 
out in 1834, by William Linn and Richard Truax, 
on land which they then owned. The original 
plat exhibits several streets that have long since 
been vacated without discommoding lot owners, or 
disappointing any probable demand for building 
sites. Its name was suggested by some of the 
citizens who had become interested in the history 
of Count Pulaski, who fell in the service of this 
country, during the Revolutionary struggle. In 
1836, a one-story store building was erected by 



William T. Campbell, but with no expectation of 
engaging in business himself No one presenting 
himself who was willing to undertake the venture, 
and the citizens being desirous that a business 
place should be established, he put in a stock of 
goods, William Linn furnishing the capital, and 
sharing in the risks of the enterprise. After con- 
tinuing the business a few years, he sold out, and 
in different hands, the business has been maintain- 
ed to the present, and, until the spring of 1880, 
in the same building. A few years ago, another 
similar building was erected on the northeast cor- 
ner, and in that the store is now situated. The 
post office was established about 1840, where a 
daily mail is dispensed. There is now in what 
might be called the confines of the hamlet, in ad- 
dition to the store and post office combined, a 
wagon-shop, a shoe-shop, the district schoolhouse 
and two meeting-houses, belonging to the Method- 
ist and Baptist Churches. 

Church influence has been felt in Franklin from 
an- early date, and with marked effect. Among 
the earliest settlers was John Cook, a preacher of 
the old-school Baptist Church; and most of his 
neighbors who settled in the northeast section of 
the township were members of the same organiza- 
tion. Mr. Cook came in 1812, and organized a 
society very soon after his coming, consisting of 
some twenty persons, among whom were Samuel 
Hoofmire, Zebulon Ashley, Benjamin Hart, John 
Ackerman, Henry Sams, Andrew Sams, Henry 
Sams, Jr., and their wives, and Elizabeth Blair. 
William Thrift, of Mount Vernon, and Henry 
George, of Chester, assisted in the organization of 
this society, which was known as the Owl Creek 
Baptist Church, North Branch, and preached occa- 
sionally at the settlement. Mr. Cook was the 
settled Pastor, who preached for several years in 
the cabins of the settlers. In 1815, a log meeting- 
house was put up on the site of the present Bap- 
tist Church, where Mr. Cook had given two acres 
for a buildintr site and cemetery. The building 
was a round-log structure, with but a single win- 
dow place ; this was never supplied with anything 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



425 



to keep out the weather, the doors were never 
made, and the crevices between the logs never 
"chinked." It was used, however, in the summer- 
time, the preacher and people accommodating 
themselves to the inconveniences of the place as 
best they could. During the winter months, the 
services were held in the log schoolhouse, which 
was near at hand, until 1833, when a frame house 
was built for church purposes. The building was 
provided with a gallery, and was built by subscrip- 
tion, costing about $1,000, John Young taking 
the contract to build the house for the subscription 
list. The church had begun to use the edifice, 
although the outside staging had been left up to 
finish something not quite completed, when it 
burned to the ground. The fire was doubtless the 
work of an incendiary, and most of the commu- 
nity's suspicions pointed to a man who had resisted 
the payment of his subscription to the contractor, 
but who was afterward forced to pay the amount. 
This was a heavy loss to the community, and to 
build another at that time was out of the question. 
Resort was had to the primitive custom, and serv- 
ices were held about the neighborhood in the 
cabins of the settlers. About 1823, Mr. Cook, 
who had been an efficient Pastor of the flock, died, 
and the choice of a successor brought on a strife 
which resulted in the disruption of the church. 
■A Rev. Mr. Daken was called by one part of the 
church, and John Parcels, a local preacher of this 
sect, was called by the other. The latter's admin- 
istration was summarily cut short by certain indis- 
cretions which removed him from his sphere of 
usefulness in this part of the country. Rev. 
Thomas Rigdon, of Mount Vernon, succeeded Mr. 
Daken, and finally adopted the tenets promulgated 
by Alexander Campbell. His followers in this de- 
parture numbered some twent3'^-five or thirty mem- 
bers, among whom were some of the oldest members 
of the Baptist Church. They built a log house in 
183-1-, and, in 187-1, built on the same site the 
present neat frame house of worship, at a cost of 
$1,800 in cash, and $700 in contributions of work 
and material. Rev. Stephen Cook is the present 



Pastor, of a church numbering about seventy per- 
sons in its membership. The Baptist division 
erected their present building, on their old site, in 
about 183-4, at a cost of considerable contribution 
of work and material, but of which there can be no 
estimate made in money. It was called the Har- 
mony Baptist Church. Elder S. B. Sherwood 
has been Pastor for the last fourteen years, but at 
present the pulpit is not regularly supplied. The 
membership numbers persons. 

At Pulaskiville a Baptist Church was formed 
about 1830, by Elders James and George, of 
Chester. They came here frequently and preached 
in the cabins of Abednego Stevens and M. T. 
Campbell. They afterward used the schoolhouse, 
and in 1840 the whole neighborhood assisted them 
in building a Trame building, which was used for 
years. In 1874, they built the present neat edi- 
fice near the hamlet, and sold the old building 
which now serves as a wagon-shop east of the cor- 
ners. The new church building was erected at a 
cost of $2,200. The church numbers some forty- 
eight members, and is served by Rev. William 
Mercer. 

The Presbyterian Church found a home in 
Franklin soon after the Baptist organization. The 
settlement, on what was known as Yankee street, 
was settled principally by Yankee Presbyterians. 
A Rev. William Matthews was early among them, 
preaching the doctrine that went by the name of 
" Blue Presbyterianism." For some years he 
preached in the cabins, and especially in that of 
Mr. Hardenbrook. In 1827, the society built a 
log church building, at what is known as Cross- 
roads. This was a strong society, and counted its 
members living far and near in the surrounding 
townships. Attendants came with ox teams and 
in rough carts, from ten miles away, and seemed 
to enjoy the stern doctrines dispensed, as a sort of 
moral tonic, which, though sometimes bitter to the 
taste, braced up the Christian character. About 
ten years later, a large, plain frame building was 
erected, and prosperity seemed to be assured. In 
1850, however, a dissension sprang up in the 



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426 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



society, which broke up the church, the two divis- 
ions leaving the old church building, one part going 
to Waterford, and the other going to Chesterville. 
The old meeting-house still stands there, deserted, 
and going rapidly to decay. A burying-ground, 
where some of Franklin's earliest dead are interred, 
is still used, and, paradoxical as it may seem, alone 
exhibits evidences of life. This cemetery was one 
of the earliest laid out in the township, and one 
of the first burials in it was that of a son of W. T. 
Campbell. A church of this denomination was 
established in the western part of the township in 
1831. The first members were Lodwic, Lewis, 
Francis and Abram Hardenbrook, Alfred Bennett, 
John Forgy, Sr., James Foot, Samuel Straw, 
Daniel Moody, John and Robert Stockdale, Thomas 
Morrison and their wives, Nancy Stockdale, and 
Elsie Cornell. William Matthews was the first 
Pastor, and stayed with them about a year. He 
was succeeded by Henry Shedd, who served the 
church until about 1837, when a schism arose in 
the church and it divided, some dozen of the new 
school going off. Rev. Mr. Smith, of Springfield, 
preached there afterward for a few months, and 
was succeeded by Rev. W. K. Brice, who remained 
until 1848. The old log church was replaced by 
a frame building in 18-14, which is now used as a 
dwelling, by Samuel Peoples. The church was 
removed to Mount Gilead. 

About 1828, and following closely after the 
Presbyterians, came the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. Zephaniah Bell was the first preacher of 
this denomination, and came first into the town- 
ship on a missionary tour. He found a number 
who professed the Methodist faith, and after hold- 
ing services at Campbell's cabin, formed a class of 
some twelve persons, among whom were Calvin 
Bates, James Swift, Harvey Eldridge and their 
wives, Benton Swift, W. T. Campbell and others. 
A hewed-log house was put up near the present 
residence of Mr. Peterson, at Pulaskiville, in 1828, 
which was used for school and church purposes. 
Here Mr. Bell preached until he gave place to his 
regular successor. In 1828, a frame house of 



worship was erected at a cost of $300 or $400, 
the people going as far as Mount Vernon for part of 
the lumber. In 1868, this building was sold for 
$100 to Mr. Higgins, and is now used by Mr. Peter- 
son as a residence. In the same year the present 
building, a neat frame structure, was erected at a 
cost of $2,883. It is furnished with blinds, a good 
bell, and is finished inside in black walnut. The 
winter of 1837-38 was remarkable with this 
church, for a powerful revival, which resulted in 
some sixty conversions, including some of the 
oldest members of the community. The meetings 
were held at first in the old building, but as they 
grew in interest, this room became insufficient for 
the accommodation of the audiences, and the place 
of holding the meetings was removed to the new 
building, which was barely inclosed. It was ex- 
tremely cold weather, and large iron kettles filled 
with coals were taken into the building to make 
the atmosphere of the place endurable, but not- 
withstanding the discomfort of the situation, the 
interest continued unabated for weeks. The pre- 
sent membership numbers some forty persons. 

Schoolhouses were among the first structures 
built by the pioneers of Franklin,and in some instan- 
ces preceded the meeting-houses. The first one was 
built about 1815, on the site of the Owl Creek 
Baptist Church (North Branch), in the northeast 
corner of the township. It was a round-log.affair, 
with a huge fire-place in one end, and greased pa- 
per windows. This was used until 1822, when it 
was burned, the fire catching from some defect in 
the rude chimney. This result was expected for 
some time, and the teacher, W. P. Cook, had the 
children remove the books from the house every 
night, for fear the books might be burned, which 
would have proved a much more serious loss than 
thatof the building. In the following year, another 
house was put up on a part of Mr. Levering's 
land. This had a brick chimney, and boards over- 
head, but without glass in the windows. This was 
a fine building, and served the public for years. 
About 1820, a log schoolhouse was erected a lit- 
tle southeast of Center Corners. Nellie Strong 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUJiTTY. 



427 



was the first teacher here, and W. T. Campbell, 
soon after. The building was made of round-logs, 
with an inclined puncheon running along the side 
of the wall, supported by pins driven into the logs, 
just above which a part of one log was cut away 
to give light. This was covered by greased paper, 
which admitted all the light needed for school pur- 
poses. Here Mr. Campbell taught the rudiments 
of reading, writing, " ciphering" and geography, 
to some thirty or forty scholars. In explanation 
of the number of scholars, it should be said, that 



terms. Mr. Campbell took in the situation at a 
glance, and, nimbly climbing to the roof, he covered 
the chimney, and smoked the boys into an uncon- 
ditional surrender. He afterward treated the 
school, but not under compulsion. The earliest 
school was taught by Lawrence Van Buskirk, and 
the second by Oliver Strong. There are at pres- 
ent eight school districts in the township, in which 
gentlemen are generally employed during the win- 
ter, and ladies during the summer, the former 
receiving an average of $40 per month, and the 



they came from three or four miles away, and, that latter an average of $30 per month. The school- 



each family sent several — those of Shur and Walk- 
er, in Chester, sending five pupils each, A little 
later, a schoolhouse wj^^s built near the cross-roads, 
which was constructed on a unique plan, borrowed 
from the pioneer structures of "York State." Tt 
was a large, square-log building, with a fire place 
in the center of the room. A large surface of 
stone was laid in the center of the room at each 
corner, of which, out of reach of the flames, was 
placed a large post, which supported the chimney 
about six feet above the fire. An incident, related 



houses are all frame buildings, but few of which 
are provided with improved school furniture. The 
last enumeration reached 223 persons of school 
age, a falling-ofi" of sixty-eight from the previous 
enumeration. The attendance reaches a daily 
average of 201. Other statistics, which we have 
been able to gather from the reports in the Audi- 
tor's office, represent that there was a balance on 
hand September 1, 1878, of $5,018.68; amount 
of State tax received, $507 ; local tax for school- 
houses, and school purposes, $1,656; total amount 



of Mr. Campbell's teaching here gives a glimpse of paid teachers last year, $1,806.75; value of school 
thecustomsof "ye olden tyme." The boys about the [ property, $8,000; teachers employed, eight gen- 
holidays thought to force their teacher to treat on tlemen and eight ladies ; balance on hand Septem- 
the occasicn, and. locked him out, to bring him to i ber 1, 1879, $728.23. 




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428 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



CHAPTER XIV.* 



PKRU TOWNSHIP— INTRODUCTORY— THE PIONEERS— DRAINAGE— TOWNS AND CHURCHES— EDU- 
CATIONAL— OTHER SETTLERS— SALT AND SULPHUR WELLS— SIAMESE 
TWINS- THE PIONEER W0:M EN— INDIAN RELICS, ETC. 

IT was as early as in 1S08 or 1809, that some 
adventurous persons, longing for a " lodge in 
some vast wilderness, some boundless contiguity of 
shade " took up their toilsome journey to the 
mournful ditty of '' Over the hills and far away." 
Most of the journey being through the wilderness, 
coming (to what is now the interior counties of 
Ohio) via Sandusky City or Zanesville. Upon 
the organization of Delaware County, in 1808 
Peru, or the territory embraced in Peru, consti- 
tuted a part of that county, and many of the 
first class of settlers of the township came from 
adjacent townships as Westfield, Berlin, etc. The 
first public intimation of the population of Peru 
Township was that made in the collections of 
Henry Howe, who said that in 1840 the township 
contained 737 inhabitants. Practically speaking, 
this was the amount accumulated from 1808 to 
18-iO, and embraced many enterprising citizens 
who will receive personal mention hereafter, in 
the appropriate place. If not so particularly in 
the capacity public men or leading citizens, it will 
be by way of reminiscences and personal adventure. 
When the county formed, townships were large, 
and Berkshire and Bennington nearly, or quite, 
included the eastern part of Delaware County; 
Bennington alone included Peru, Lincoln, Har- 
mony and what is now called Bennington Township. 
The post office was also called Bennington. But in 
1820, Peru was organized under its present limits, 
with the four sections numbered and known un- 
der the following names: No. 1, the Stanberry 
Section ; No. 2 was Congress land, and known as 
the Morehouse Settlement ; No. 3 was the Murphy 
Section ; and No. 4 popularly known as the Edgar 



* Contributed by John Waters. 



Section ; these names, of course, arising from pro- 
prietors' names, agents' names, and other causes : 
also from the first occupants, as, for instance, the 
Murphy Section, with J. Eaton as "agent, the 
Edgar Section, etc. Much credit is due to the 
abilities and energies of John Britt, a " limb of the 
law," who was very active ^in the formation of the 
township, in arranging the records and getting the 
public machinery in running order. Of course, the 
people make the township in every sense save the 
soil, and it is now befitting that a reference be 
made to those sturdy adventurers, the pioneers, first, 
and of others in the order to which they belong. 

As is usually the case, the streams exerted a 
great influence in determining the location of 
settlements ; as, for instance, the Quaker settle- 
ment on East Branch ; the Edgar settlement, on 
Indigo Run ; the Fleming settlement, farther down 
East Branch; and the Whipples, still further down, 
even below the junction of the East and West 
Branches of Alum Creek; while Basin Branch 
determined the location of the Morehouses. In 
fact, all early settlers were found, like the red 
man, in the vicinity of the streams. History, by 
date, seems to make its first epoch by the advent 
of Cyrus Benedict and one Abraham Vanduser, 
in 1809. These hardy adventurers found an un- 
broken wilderness, with all the paraphernalia of a 
new country, an unsubdued forest. In this, C3'rus 
Benedict seems a representative man, as he was 
followed at different periods by settlers bearing his 
name and of his affinity; until William Benedict, 
Reuben Benedict, Aden Benedict, Aaron Benedict. 
Daniel Benedict and Aaron L. Benedict — a min- 
ister of the Gospel — were residents of the town- 
ship. These were popularly known as " New 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



429 



Yorkers," coming mostly from Clinton County, 
N. Y. ; and in the early days the Pennsylvanians 
and New Jersey people were much given to asso- 
ciating the New Yorkers and the New England 
Y^ankees together, and were full of traditions res- 
pecting the astuteness and sharp practice of the 
Yankees; and anything a little varied from the 
usual application of the moral law, or the strict 
rules of honesty, was at once characterized as a 
" Yankee trick." But a better acquaintance with 
these pioneers in education and enterprise, has for- 
ever scattered these delusions. 

According to a paper contributed by Bartorn 
Whipple, Esq., of Peru, in 1817, contained the fol- 
lowing families, viz., Israel Dagett, Otis Dagett 
and family, Walter Dunham, Harlock Dunham 
and their families, Nathan Clarke and family, 
Solomon Smith, Jesse Champlain, Zenas Root, 
John Thatcher, Henry Fleming, William Fleming, 
and Isaac Fleming, ail of whom had families and 
were settled along Alum Creek. Still further up 
were Jacob Van Deventer, Abram Vanduser and 
their families, Nathaniel Earl, William Benedict, 
Aaron Benedict, Joseph Keene, Ezra Keene, David 
Osborn, Andrew Buck, Reuben Benedict, Daniel 
Wood, John Gardner, Jirah Smith, Peleg Bunker, 
John Dillingham, William Gidley, and some trans- 
ient Indians. The last-named fifteen families were 
known as the " Quaker Settlement," while near 
the forks of Alum Creek, an emigrant from Provi- 
dence. Rhode Island, had made the pioneer cabin 
and clearing. Of the foregoing, nearly all have 
died or removed to other localities. 

Another settlement was composed of Zenas 
Root, John Eaton, John Thatcher, Jesse Champ- 
lin, Henry Fleming, Stein Sackett, Jacob Vanue- 
venter, Nathan Clarke, and Smith (who was the 
first blacksmith in the township), Noah Agard, 
Asa Deford, Joseph Eaton and Asahel Potter. 

A beautiful feature of Christian ci^^lization is to 
see the church and schoolhouse ri;e side by side, 
or, if only the schoolhouse be erected, as in those 
days, its appropriation to Christian purposes, by 
common consent, as was the case in the Agard set- 



tlement ; although the understanding in the erec- 
tion of that primitive structure was that it should 
be used both as a church and a schoolhouse. Iden- 
tically similar to this, was the instance in the 
Quaker settlement ; there the church edifice was 
used for the double purpose of a church and a 
schoolhouse. Benjamin Earl and Daniel Wood were 
teachers, and were without superiors in round- 
hand writing and arithmetic, to the " single rule 
of three." The school primer of that period had 
this very significant couplet, " In Adam's fall, 
we sinned all;" and from which period John 
G. Saxe drew his ideas of the village pedagogue, 
when he says, 

"For as 'tis mete to soak ye feet, 
Ye ailing head to mend ; 
Ye yonker's pate to stimulate, 
He beats ye other end." 

Many who may read this, will recollect how 
allowable was the use of the birch and the ferule, 
the leather spectacles and the dunce block, in the 
schools, and many a boy was made to dance who 
did not know one tune from another, and kept step 
with the music, too. We sometimes hear persons 
sigh and wish for the good old times, but remind 
them of those customs, and they do not want 
them, especially if they have had a personal ex- 
perience of them when in vogue. But in Peru a 
great change has taken place. The primitive struct- 
ures, both public and private, have all disappeared. 
Like the wigwam, they have passed away, and, like 
the hands that reared them, must rely upon others 
to preserve their memories. Let us therefore be 
faithful in the discharge of this duty, and thereby 
make full amends for past neglect. 

We pass now to notice the modern buildings 
which have supplanted these ruder edifices. 
Reuben Benedict's brick house was the first of 
that kind in the township; the Methodist Church 
built in 1840, was the first church edifice, and 
the best in the township in its day. Although 
inferior to its successor, which will be described 
hereafter, it has many fragrant memories which 
are wafted continually from it. In it that great 






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430 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



Methodist champion of discussion, John A. Power, 
thrusted and parried with the sword of argu- 
ment, as he met at difterent times the cham- 
pion of universal salvation. In it K. B. Gardner 
and Morgan Doty tuned the voices of the youth 
of the surrounding country and the village to 
melodious sounds and accents, and earned a well- 
deserved reputation for themselves. In it a major- 
ity of the eloquent divines, whose names are men- 
tioned in connection with the history of the 
village of South Woodbury, and the church 
located at that place, were heard. 

The streams which constitute the drainage of 
Peru Township are the East aud West Branches 
of Alum Creek, and their tributaries. The East 
Branch, which enters the township in the north- 
east corner, and, trending in a southwest direc- 
tion, forms almost a complete hypothenuse with 
two sides, and joins its waters with the West 
Branch on the lands of Joseph Riley, Esq;, 
just where the bridge accident, in which E. 
Holt was the principal actor, occurred. He was 
passing over the bridge with his team and family, 
and, when at a height of about ten feet above 
the water, the bridge suddenly commenced set- 
tling down. His team were caught and fastened 
in the fallen timbers, and Mr. Holt had to stand in 
the water waist deep, during the violent storm of 
Sunday, April 4, and hold his horses' heads above 
the water to prevent their being drowned, until his 
family could summon G. W. White and Mr. 
Riley, the nearest accessible aid. The bridge 
reflects discredit on the patent under which it was 
erected, even if nothing further be said in con- 
demnation. The West Branch, whose career in the 
township is brief, unites with the East Branch, as 
indicated above. The East Branch, in its course, 
takes numerous spring affluents, the largest of 
which are Big Run and Indigo Run. Indigo Run 
has, at different periods, had three saw-mills and 
a distillery erected upon it. The north and west 
drainage from the interior and north side of the 
township is Basin Branch and Turkey Run. The 
first passes through the Morehouse settlement, and 



unites with the West Branch of Alum Creek. 
Turkey Run is an inconsiderable stream, only im- 
portant as a means of drainage. Salt Lick Run, a 
lasting stream, comes down much after the man- 
ner of the water at Lodore, and joins the East 
Branch at West Liberty. The configuration of 
the surface, especially in the north, northwest and 
central portions, being level, is one reason why 
there are no considerable streams, the almost total 
absence of springs very materially accounting 
therefor. In other sections of the township, 
especially in the northeast and east, the land is 
more broken and rolling, especially in the vicinity 
of the streams; and in the vicinity of William 
Daley, Esq.. the country partakes of the appearance 
of a miniature Switzerland, while ou the lands of 
David Hatten, Esq., are evidences of the drift 
period, immediately west of that gentleman's or- 
chard. The soil is, in general, a good agricul- 
tural soil, well adapted to grazing and pasturage, 
especially the swales which have been reclaimed. 
The timber is as varied as the soil, embracing 
nearly all the useful sorts, as oak, hickory, elm, 
ash, maple, walnut, butternut, beech, buckeye, etc. 
In the township are the villages of South Wood- 
bury and West Liberty. South Woodbury con- 
tains one church, three stores, two wagon and 
blacksmiths shops, two physicians, one school and 
a resident minister ; also an Odd Fellows' hall. 
The town was laid out in 1830, by Daniel Wood. 
The first building, a log cabin, was erected by 
Joseph Horr. The first frame building was erected 
by Andrew Schofield, as a storeroom. The first 
hotel was erected by Shadrach Hubbell and Eli 
Johnson, during the year 1832-33. The mer- 
chants have been Shadrach Hubbell, Aaron Chap- 
man, George W. Clarke, David White, Andrew 
Buck, Stephen Morehouse, Rev. William Waters, 
J. B. Benson, Levi Starr, R. Wood and D. S. 
Osborne. The first church was organized in 183G, 
by the Methodists, and in 1840 the first church 
building was erected. In 1860, a new and more 
commodious church edifice was erected at a cost of 
$4,000, having in connection with it a fine parson- 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



431 



age. In the village and vicinity there is also a colored 
church organization. The next best public build- 
ing is Odd Fellows' Hall, erected in 1871. The 
society has twenty members. Ever since the 
formation of the village, the Woods have had a 
wagon-shop in operation there. In the village the 
following persons have figured as blacksmiths, 
viz., Almerin Benson, Joseph West, D. Rigden, 
— . Gillett, Henry C. Davidson, Sidney Wallace, 
T. Gardner, Norton Chapman and Guy Gardner. 
And we note the following Doctors, to wit: Patee, 
Sapp, Breese, Pennock, Swingley, Conklin, Mills, 
Wilson, Shaw and Immo. The hotel-keepers have 
been Solomon Westbrook, William Westbrook, 
R. Benedict, and Philemon Conklin. The coopers 
were S. Doty and Rufus Pierce. The ministers 
have been Hill, Seymour, Allen, Burgess, Conant, 
Blampede, Plummer, Mitchell, Ketchum, Wheeler, 
Brandyberry, Ayers, Craven, Seymour, Waddell, 
Webster, Jones, Bell, Lawrence, Chilson, Heustes, 
Close, Baldwin, Conley and Yourtes. The sad- 
dlers have been Lyon, Patterson and Smith. The 
shoemakers, Clay, Hill, Peasley, Thomas, Rigby^ 
Carpenter and Wall. The post office called Ben- 
nington was first kept on the Eagar farm, by Alex- 
ander Eagar, who was succeeded by Jacob Vande- 
venter ; he by Nathan Randolph, who kept it for 
many years on the Randolph farm, and transferred 
it to South AVoodbury, where his successors have 
been George N. Clarke, Isaac Gooden and Richard 
Wood. The first mail carried from Delaware to 
Woodbury on contract, was by Shadrach Hubbell, 
and in this the Hon. J. Randolph Hubbell acted 
in the capacity of post-boy. The first child born 
in the village was Celestia Horr. The first person 
buried in the village cemetery was Mrs. Rachel 
Buck ; next was her daughter. In this village 
is a resident member of the Starr family, boasting 
a connection of 1,794 families, and aggregating 
G,766 persons, all the lineal descendants of Dr. 
Comfort Starr, who died at Boston, Mass., in 1659. 
The population of the village is 100 inhabitants. 
West Liberty, four miles south of South Wood- 
bury, is situated on a high elevation, commanding a 



view of the surrounding country, and was laid out 
in 1836, by John Julian. The first house was built 
and occupied by Jesse Stanton, a soldier, who had 
served through the war of 1812, and who was the 
first to establish a cooper-shop in the village. T. 
Stewart, F. Stewart and Messrs Davis & Fleming 
have also operated in this line. The merchants 
have been Peter Fox, Samuel Cleveland, John 
Davis, Aaron Heaston, Elijah Freeman, John 
Stedman, John Mahanna, Messrs, Rexroad & 
Ryder and Milton Seborn. The physicians have 
been Hull and Jenkins. The first schpolhouse 
was erected in 1839. Population of the village, 
forty inhabitants. 

The first church erected in the township was a 
log structure on the land of Reuben Benedict, and 
used for the double purpose of a church and a school- 
house. The place where it stood has been appro- 
priately marked by G. W. Doty, with a monu- 
ment of stones. The monument consists of 
bowlders piled together in the form of a cone, and 
surmounted by a stone with an appropriate inscrip- 
tion, giving dates of the time of its erection and 
its demolition. Mr. Doty, by his own individual 
efforts, thus sought to perpetuate the memory of 
this primitive evidence, that a Christian people 
had arrived to subdue the wilderness, and intro- 
duce a higher mode of life to the observation of 
the red man, and a more tangible mode of 
worshiping the Great Spirit in making even these 
early and rude preparations to worship God, true 
to the instincts of innate Christianity. This build- 
ing reared of logs, was to be a rallying-ground, 
a point at which to gather and enjoy Christian 
fellowship with each other, none daring to molest 
or make afraid. A brick structure succeeded this 
early church building, and was also used for school 
purposes by Prof J. S. Harkness. And when 
the ravages of time necessitated a new building, 
it arose and stood in robes of white, of modest 
pretensions, though comfortable appearance ; still 
a house for worship, a sanctuary for the Most High. 

The first church was erected about 1816, and it 
was not until 1834 that the next church, that of 



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432 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



the Bciptists, was erected, on the lands of Noah 
Agard, on the Worthington and New Haven road. 
It drew its audiences from the following-named 
families, viz., Zenas Root, John Eaton, John 
Thatcher, Jesse Champlin, Henry Fleming, Stein 
Sackett, Jacob Vandeventer, Nathan Clarke, 
(whose widow, since KatHan's death has twice been 
married, her last husband being John Evans), 
Smith (^the first blacksmith in the township), 
Noah Agard, Esq., Asa Defred, one of the first 
teachers, Asahel Potter and Joseph Eaton. The 
last-named gentleman traced ancestry to 1686, 
in Wales; he was a tanner by trade, and a scholar 
by his own exertions, having mastered the Greek 
and Latin languages, the sciences, surveying and 
calendar calculations without the aid of a teacher. 
His library embraced many ancient and antique 
works, procured from Europe, and every range of 
literature which it were possible to imagine or to 
procure. He made several wills or testaments, 
the last of which was contested in the courts of 
Delaware County, and was one of the most 
remarkable cases ever occurring in the courts of 
Central Ohio. The will was not sustained. The 
ministers of the above church were Elders Wig- 
ton, Drake, Kauffman, Martin, Wyatt, Eaton, etc. 
No organization now exists, and the church is in 
ruins. 

In i8.36, the Methodist Episcopal Church had 
an organization, but no church building until 
1840, when one of very moderate pretensions was 
erected in South Woodbury. Hitherto school- 
houses had been used instead of churches. But 
this was in the days of the rifle, the ax, and 
the saddle-bags, of '■ shad-bellied " coats and drab 
hats. The preachers of that era were not the 
ministers of to-day, in that they had not the edu- 
cation nor the dress, nor did they ride in carriages 
and buggies through or along wood-trails, or ford 
high waters and swim swollen streams; nor could 
the modern divine, with his black, long coat, 
and white necktie, sit down to a clapboard table, 
and say grace over a meal of pork, hominy and 
corn-dodgers, together with a tin cup of milk, 



odorous with the taste and fragrance of wild 
"leeks" or "ramps," take a dram of shilling whis- 
ky, to prevent malarial attacks, and with such a 
breath, hasten to meet the sisters in class-meeting, 
without being shocked or making a face at the 
severity of his lot. In the large log schoolhouse 
on the lands of Zenas Root, the gigantic Gilruth 
preached. Large in stature, eccentric in his oper- 
ations, and a man of some powers of mind, he 
was oftentimes wont to slyly watch the actions and 
conduct of his parishioners, and on one occasion, 
like Stephen of old, he was made the target, by 
two of the citizens, at which to cast stones ; but, 
unlike Stephen, he got angry and indignant. 

Another era in church erection arrived, and, 
true to the instincts and spirit of the age, the 
Methodist Episcopal Church in South Woodbury, 
like Solomon, set about building a temple, which, 
in glory and splendor, should outshine all which 
the fathers had builded. On beautiful, high 
grounds in the northern part of the village, adjoin- 
ing the cemetery grounds, as if by magic, rose the 
new and beautiful structure, at a cost of $4,000, 
and, with it, a parsonage, or minister's residence. 
It was very pleasant and comfortable looking ; a 
neat and commodious home for these laborers in 
the vineyard, whose names have already been 
given in another connection. Two of the pillars 
of this great Christian fabric have fallen, and 
Robert and Marcus Gardner have ceased from 
labor, to let their works follow them. Each of 
them, however, have left fervent and energetic 
representatives, and their sons are traveling on to 
" God in the way their fathers trod." 

As in all communities, various denominations 
of religious worshipers abound, and the sympathies 
manifested by many of the citizens toward the 
colored man have induced so many to locate in 
the township that they are also able to have a 
church organization. Having already adverted to 
them, we now refer to another distinguished class 
of worshipers, the disciples of Alexander Camp- 
bell, called the Christian, or New-Light Church. 
About the year 1842, a series of revival meetings. 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



433 



under the auspices of this order of the •• household 
of faith," were held on the Edgar farm, in the 
building owned and used by Edgar as a distillery. 
Elders H. Westbrook, Robert Chase and others 
proclaiming the Gospel tidings in accordance with 
their Christian faith. The organization grew 
apace, under the ministrations of Linscott and 
other Evangelists, and, in 1847, a church was 
erected in the village of West Liberty. A men- 
tion of the following divines, in connection with 
this church, will be in order, viz. : Ashley, Man- 
ville, Watson, Pugh, Webb, McGeorge, Home, 
Linscott, Vansickle, Robinson, McCombcr, Grover, 
Fuller, Deerhold, Bascom, and perhaps others. 
Cornelius Randolph (deceased), who was a mem- 
ber of this church, had four sons-in-law who were 
ministers of the Gospel, and two grand- daughters 
who married ministers, all of this faith. 

Of the schools — the first were subscription 
schools — now, besides the common schools pro- 
vided for by the laws of the State, there are two 
schools of a higher order in the township, to wit, 
Hesper Mount Seminary and Alum Creek Acade- 
my. Hesper Mount Seminary, the erection of 
which commenced in 1844, was not occupied until 
1845, at which time, under the auspices and 
supervision of Jesse S. and Cynthia Harkness, it 
was opened for the admission of students and dedi 
cated to the interests of education. The pressing 
need of such an institution, gave it a remarkable 
impetus, and for the first twenty years the long- 
est vacation was one week ; making an average of 
four terms of twelve weeks each per annum. The 
health of Mr. Harkness failing, caused the school 
to be discontinued for six years ; and, since its 
resumption, the year- has been limited to three 
terms only. For many years, there was an at- 
tendance varying from forty to seventy-five schol- 
ars, and at one time the attendance aggregated 
one hundred and nine. The regulations have al- 
ways been liberal and benevolent, especially to 
orphaned and indigent children,, many of whom 
have been admitted free to the privileges of the 
institution, to the benefits of a home, Christian 



training and education, none of whom could claim 
the ties of relationship or affinity. The building 
stands on elevated grounds just or nearly opposite 
the Friends' Church, and has been generally known 
under the appellation of the " Quaker School," in 
sections remote from the institution. 

Alum Creek Academy is situated a short dis- 
tance west (on the Ashley & Marengo road) from 
Hesper Mount. This institution was founded in 
1875 by Dr. Clayton W. Townsend, the object 
of the founder being to afford all the advantages 
of education usually attained in two years at 
colleges. After the school had been in operation 
for nearly three years, Dr. Townsend, in Septem- 
ber, 1878, left, for the purpose of completing his 
education at Haverford College, Pennsylvania, 
leaving Rachel Ella Levering, B. S., to succeed 
him as Principal. She assumed control of the in- 
stitution and has remained in this capacity ever 
since. At this academy, the course of study 
embraces the following, besides the common Eng- 
lish branches : The rudimentary principles of 
Latin; in the sciences, Philosophy, Chemistry, 
Zoology, Geology, Physiology, Physical Geog- 
raphy, Botany; and in mathematics. Algebra, 
Geometry, Trigonometry, Surveying and Astron- 
omy ; in history, the History of the United 
States, History of English Literature, History 
of Greece and Rome, Civil Government, Book- 
keeping, Political Economy, Rhetoric, Logic, Men- 
tal Philosophy, and Evidences of Christianity. 
The great need of the academy was suggested to 
Dr. Townsend during the interval which occurred 
at Hesper Mount ; and being nobly seconded by 
Samuel Levering, who furnished the building and 
the beautiful grounds upon which it stands, and to 
whose personal enterprise and magnanimity in the 
behalf of education much of the honor of its 
origin is due, the institution took tangible form 
and entered upon a career of usefulness in 1876. 
The scholastic attainments and moral and Chris- 
tian demeanor of the Principal, the pleasant loca- 
tion of the institution, its successful upward tend- 
ency, all combine to render Alum Creek Academy 



434 



HISTORY OF MORPiOW COUNTY 



luy a desirable place for the instruction of youth 
and those desiring an education. 

Hitherto, we have made no mention of the 
pioneers in the western and northwestern part 
of the township. We may mention, in this con- 
nection, John Eaton, who built the first cabin on 
the Eaton section, on the farm now owned by 
Smith Kiloy. We turn now to the .settlement of 
the west and northwest portions of the township. 
In 1830, Stephen Morehouse opened the road 
along which he moved with his family, and settled 
on Basin Branch, and hence the name, Morehouse 
settlement, by which it has always been known. 
In 1831, the Baldwins and Woods settled in the 
northwest part, and to these we may add Andrew 
J. Schofield. In the Morehouse settlement, a 
schoolhouse was erected on the lands of Daniel 
Morehouse, and the first school was taught by 
Isaac Monroe. Indians still remained and traded 
with the settlers, selling deer for twenty -five cents 
each, and sometimes obtaining other articles of 
food in exchange. At that time, Stephen More- 
house, who was a Presbyterian, attended church 
near where the village of Eden now stands, and 
their nearest post oflBce was Delaware. The en- 
terprises of this settlement have been two tan- 
neries ; the first by James and the second by 
Caleb Morehouse. James continued in the business 
until 1855; and early in the histwy of the set- 
tlement, William and Charles Morehouse erected 
asaw-mill, and later still James Morehouse erected 
and put into operation a steam saw-mill, even 
in 1830. In this neighborhood, the salt used 
by the settlers was brought from Zanesville, and, 
in 1817, salt cost at the rate of §15 per barrel 
at Frederick town, the nearest point at which to 
obtain it. In view of the scarcity of salt, and a 
knowledge of the presence of it in numerous deer 
licks in the vicinity of East Fork of Alum Creek, 
Anthony Walker, an enterprising citizen of Dela- 
ware, bored for salt, on the lands of Henry Flem- 
ing, to a depth of four hundred feet, obtained salt 
water, and established and operated a salt works 
from 1818 to 1820. Upon the whole, it was not 



a success, but history naturally attaches to this 
spot, and we may as well add, while our attention 
is directed to this locality, that, in 1866, a com2:)any 
was formed, and, near the old salt-well, an ineff"ect- 
ual effort was made to find petroleum, which was 
abandoned after having attained a depth of nearly 
600 feet. A layer of sulphur, six feet thick, was 
passed through, and gas of an inflammable nature 
constantly issued from the orifice. No better 
opportunity will be offered to mention the sulphur 
spring found on the premises of Stephen F. 
Randolph. This spring, situated on the opposite 
side of Alum Creek from where Mr. Randolph 
resides, issues from a precipitous slate-stone 
bluff, from an orifice about one inch in diame- 
ter, and the prevailing opinion is that it must 
come from the same stratum at which sulphur 
was found when boring for oil near the old salt 
well. The water is what is termed the white 
sulphur, pungent to the taste, but without 
that disagreeable odor common to the sulphur 
springs of Delaware City. This spring is already 
attracting the attention of visitors and invalids, 
and might be, with a no/ninal expense, made a 
popular and useful resort. The bold, rugged and 
romantic-looking surroundings, the village in the 
distance, the stream murmuring and winding its 
way below, honeysuckles clambering to the almost 
perpendicular banks, the white farmhouses which 
are visible in the distance, the ruins of the once 
noted flouring-mill, the saw-mill, the bridge, all 
combine in a panorama of views delightful to be- 
hold, and seldom equaled. The personal exertions 
of Stephen F. Randolph in securing a bridge across 
the East Branch at this place at once established 
a leading thoroughfare through this romantic re- 
gion. The pioneer institutions and their enter- 
prising originators, many of whom, of course, have 
passed away forever from the stage of action, leav- 
ing the historian to recall their memories from 
their dread repose, now claim attention. As we 
have already stated, the first church was erected 
by the Quakers. And they, in the order of time, 
were followed by the Baptists; next in the order 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



435 



was the Methodist Church of 1840, while seven 
years after, the Christian Church erected their 
edifice on the village green at West Liberty. The 
first hotel was erected by Shadrach Hubbell and 
Eli Johnson, in 1832 and 1833. They were suc- 
ceeded by Solomon Westbrook. He was followed 
in turn by Asahel Potter. The first physicians 
were Drs. Patee and Sapp. The first regular 
Methodist ministers, the Revs. Hill and Seymour. 
The first Quaker preacher, perhaps, was Daniel 
Wood ; of the Baptist denomination, Drake and 
Wigton; of the Christian Church, Chase and West- 
brook. First merchants in the township were the 
Edgar brothers. The first Postmaster was Alex- 
ander Edgar ; he was succeeded by Jacob Vande- 
venter. The first mills were erected by Reuben and 
William Benedict, in the Quaker settlement, while 
below the forks of Alum Creek, Reuben Whipple 
erected a saw-mill. In the Morehouse settlement, 
William and Charles Morehouse erected a saw-mill, 
while in the northeast part, the Gardners erected 
a f-aw-mill, and on Indigo, James Fleming, the 
Pearsons and Howards also had mills. On this 
stream, also, was the pioneer establishment of the 
Edgars — their distillery. 

Peru has suffered much from incendiary fires. 
Under night's sable curtain, incendiaries have been 
enabled to carry on their nefarious plans, and send 
many a building on eddying flames and fiery 
billows to the clouds. The most remarkable of 
these was the conflagration of the large flouring- 
mill of Stephen F. Randolph, on the night of 
September 17, 1874. The barns of Jonathan 
Dart and David Dennis, with their contents, were 
destroyed at another time. And, while such events 
are to be deplored, it is to be hoped that a better 
day has dawned on this stricken locality. 

Among the enterprises already enumerated may 
be mentioned the pottery works of Isaac Thurs- 
ton, erected by, and for a considerable time carried 
on under the auspices of, that enterprising gentle- 
man, near White Hall. In this connection we may 
speak of the spoke and hub factory, and the car- 
riage and wagon factory of J. S. Harkness, which 



are the most notable of the Quaker industries. 
And, while the mind of the reader is directed to 
this locality, we will allude to the egg-packing es- 
tablishment of the Tabors, which is in operation 
here. The successful management of a branch of 
the so-called " underground railroad," and the 
handling of its peculiar freight, was also one of the 
industries of this section. 

Another industry of a very marked nature is the 
bee interest of Aaron Benedict, whose knowledge 
of the nature and habits of the bee, has char- 
acterized him as one of the most noted bee men 
of the State. He handles the Italian bee largely, 
and to him belongs the honor of their introduction 
into the Sandwich Islands. The most prominent 
industry of the township, however, is sheep hus- 
bandry, which is followed with a zeal and ability 
second to no other township in the county. 

A prominent feature of the township history is 
the very extensive tribal connections under given 
names, as for instance The Benedicts, The Woods, 
The Osborns, The Randolphs, The Vansickles, 
and the Morehouses. These distinctive names 
involve a relationship with nearly all other names 
in the township. The culminating point of his- 
torical interest in Peru seems to have been at- 
tained when the advent of the so-called double 
babies was announced. This Lusus Naturse, is 
without a parallel in history. This inexplicable 
wonder, which for a time held the scepter and 
commanded public, professional and individual at- 
tention and curiosity, surrendered their encumbered 
individualities, and passed to higher joys than 
their brief sojourn here afforded them. And here 
that beautiful couplet of Cowper grandly applies : 

^ "Happy infants ! early blest, 
Rest I in peaceful slumber, rest 1"' 

For many years, under the laws for enrolling 
and drilling the militia of Ohio, Nathan Arnold's 
farm was the place where a part of the militia of 
the county (Peru, at that time, being a part of 
Delaware County,) assembled for preparation for 
the general training, which always, during the 
month of September, occurred at Sunbury or 



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436 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



Berkshire. Of course, all the boys under eighteen 
years of age were out, and all over that age, and 
under forty-five years of age, had to be out, and 
this was always one of the gala da3'S. Prominent 
among the militia officers of those days were 
Maj. Hiram F. Randolph, John Fleming and 
Col. Edgar. The first appearance of Maj. Ran- 
dolph in full uniform, according t) the regulations 
of those days, was at Sunbury, about the year 
1838. Mounted upon an elegant black charger, 
superbly caparisoned, and glittering with tinselry, 
the epauleted Major, with cocked hat and tower- 
ing plume, rode on the field. His uniform at- 
tracted general attention, and, from that day, he 
steadily rose, as a military man, in the minds of 
the people, who afterward brought him forward 
as an effective candidate for the office of General, 
in opposition to Otho H. Hinton. During the 
civil war, he was a Brigadier, and actively engaged 
in putting soldiers in the field. But, while we 
mention the military genius and ability of John 
Fleming, it but recalls what all accorded him. 
Peru Ras always had a military record of her own. 
Mention has already been made of the pioneer 
military, and we now proceed to mention G. N. 
Clarke, Adjutant of the Ninety-sixth Ohio Vol- 
unteer Infantry, Capt. Claremont C. Smith (Twen- 
tieth), who was in the battles of Donelson, Shiloh, 
Bolivar, Burnsville and Hatchie River; was at 
Fort Dallas, Oregon, in Washington Territory and 
California, as Captain of Company A, Eighth Reg- 
iment California Infantry ; while next on the roll 
of fame, stands Riley Taylor, of the Fifth United 
States Cavalry, who, under Sheridan, passed 
through the sanguinary fights of Kernstown, 
Smithfield, Winchester, Milford, Port Royal, 
Woodstock and Cedar Creek, all in the brief 
period which elapsed between August 25, 1864, 
and October 19, ensuing;. 

In 1817, Barton Whipple swelled the list of 
pioneers, while, in 1818, Cornelius Randolph still 
added thereto, followed by his father, James F. 
Randolph, in 1818. After the removal of the 
post office from Jacob Vandeventer's, it was kept 



upon the farm of James F. Randolph, and here 
too, for several years, the elections were held in 
and for Peru Township. On this farm was made 
the first effort at the improvement of the stock of 
the country, by Stephen F. Randolph, who pur- 
chased in New York City, and brought to Peru 
Township, the first blooded bull introduced into 
this country. 

It seems proper, Ijefore passing to another point 
of this history, to mention some of the pioneer 
women, who met the dangers and privations of 
backwoods life, and shared them with their adven- 
turous husbands. And first in this list is Mrs. 
Jane Thatcher, who had, at one time, been in cap- 
tivity among the Indians, and who was one of the 
earliest settlers. The wife of Jacob Vandeventer 
was a most estimable and accomplished lady, and a 
member of the Presbyterian Church. Their home 
was the resort of Christian ministers, and their 
hospitality unlimited. The wife of Abraham Van- 
duser, Julia Ann Randolph, whose father (Major 
Moses Congletoro) was a drummer-boy under 
George Washington, and Adjutant General under 
William Henry Harrison ; was his private Sec- 
tary, and was on military duty, July 4, 1800, the 
day on which Julia Ann was born. Her home 
has always been one of open hospitality and kind- 
ness ; and to her clear, distinct recollection, even 
at the advanced age of eighty years, the writer 
is indebted for many of the facts related in this 
brief sketch. Mrs. Rachel Levering, relict of 
Thomas Levering, was in Washington City when 
it was invaded by the British army, under Gen. 
Ross ; witnessed the conflagration of the President's 
house and the public buildings ; and, although now 
eighty-six years of age, relates those incidents, 
which transpired at that time, with a freshness 
and vivacity scarce to be expected from one who 
is fifty years her junior. But the story of the 
spinning-wheel and the loom, domestic manufact- 
ures and homespun fabrics, corn-bread and priva- 
tions, was at first the story and experience of all 
the early pioneers, as a consequence of the wake 
of the war which had just ended. 



'1l 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



437 



In the township, which seemed to be a favorite 
abode of the red men, many relics of the past 
races have been collected. One, found on the 
premises of Anson Wood, is particularly interest- 
ing. It is a stone pipe, representing an Indian in 
a crouched position, with marks representing tat- 
tooing upon the face, the arms clasped around 
the knees, having the bowl, or opening, upon the 
shoulders, as, also, the opening for the stem. No 
doubt it had been smoked after many a " tiger 
strife" had ended, and peace seemed sweet, even to 
a savage. The stone was of a brownish-gray color, 
and was found twenty-six years ago. Mr. W. W, 
Coomer has also curiosities of the stone period, 
such as curious darts, stone hammers, stone 
hatchets, a stone pestle and shuttles, one of 
which bears the resemblance of wood petrified, 
while in the cabinet of George S. Harrison, one 
of the most extensive private collections of the 
kind in the country, may be found almost every 
variety of relics of the age, when utensils, were 
of necessity, made of stone, many of them 
curiously wrought and for various purposes, caus- 
ing the beholder to pause and reflect from what 
manner of men these came, and how long since 
the hands that formed them had crumbled to dust, 
or (as their tradition runs) been in the "happy 
hunting grounds." 

Many of the early settlers were distinguished as 
hunters. It is claimed that Jacob Vandeventer 
killed a hundred bears, and other game in pro- 
portion. He once trapped a large stag in the salt 
lick, on the farm of Stephen F. Randolph ; the 
deer, being a powerful animal, succeeded in car- 
rying the trap up the high point, just south of 
the village of West Liberty ; but Jacob succeeded 
in capturing him. Vandeventer was among the 
first to introduce sheep in the township. On one 
occasion a thunder-shower occurred and Jacob 
had four large, fat sheep killed by lightning. He 
set about dressing them, believing, in the generos- 
ity of his heart, that mutton would be a delicacy 
for his neighbors, as well as for himself, and, as 
soon as possible, made the distribution, when, lo ! 



to the great disappointment of all, the mutton 
tasted so strongly of sulphur, it could not be eaten. 

Aaron Benedict, another noted hunter and 
trapper, still lives to recount his thousand and one 
adventures of hunting, trapping and climbing, and 
is, perhaps, the champion bee man of Central Ohio. 
Stephen F. Randolph and Barton Whipple are 
both living monuments of noted pioneer hunters, 
and claim the honor of shooting the last deer 
which was killed in Peru Township, while Stephen 
and his father, James F. Randolph, claim the 
honor of being the parties who killed " Golden," 
the largest stag ever seen in the country. He had 
been seen and sought by every hunter in vain 
when, upon the falling of a slight tracking snow, 
they conceived the project of bringing in " Old 
Golden," and dashed into the forest. About 10 
o'clock, James sighted Golden, and at the distance 
of a hundred paces, with a fiint-lock rifle, hurled 
the leaden messenger which laid the pride of the 
forest cold in the embrace of death. Alas for 
Golden ; he, like the red man, has forever passed 
away with the rest of his race, and this alone 
recalls his memory. 

One other instance of deer-hunting is given in 
the language of the hunter himself. He said he 
was " goin' a huntin', and he hanked and hanked 
along until he got most down to the Edgar place, 
and in crossin' the old road he found a whiffletree, 
and he looked over the ridge and seed her standin', 
and he hauled up and overhauled and unhitched, 
and dod, how the bar flew ; and she klinked her 
tail and run over the hill, and hoved up." This 
is somewhat the Nick Whiffles style, but is rich 
with the odors of pioneer life and a home in the 
wilderness. 

An eccentric Indian called Tom Lyon, claiming 
to have seen a " hundred summers," remained in 
the settlement and made ladles and other things, 
which he traded to the settlers for provisions and 
other articles which he needed. 

The Indians kept returning in the fall, until as 
late as the fall of 1824, and seemed reluctant to 
leave this locality, where they found so many 



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438 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



things suited to the wants of these children of 
nature. On one occasion, some Indians entered 
the cabin of Abrara Vanduser during the absence 
of the parents, and proceeded to help themselves 
to such as they wanted and found. The children, 
stricken with terror, sat squatted in one corner of 
the cabin, while the savages brandished their 
knives, made threatening gestures, and devoured 
everything they could find that was palatable ; 
unexpectedly to the children as well as the savages, 
the parents returned, and the savages beat a hasty 
retreat from the premises. 

A Choctaw Indian, by the name of Snake- 
bones, was the last to visit the settlements. He 
was presented by Thomas Levering with a new 
and beautiful rifle, with which he hunted with 
the settlers, all of whom seemed to enjoy the 
society of Snakebones, who spoke English quite 
fluently, and dressed in the garb of the white 
man. After remaining in the settlement for 
some time, he bent his steps toward the setting 
sun and the wigwams of his friends. 

There are some, of whom especial mention may be 
made, whose memories are dear to all. Among these 
is Griflith Levering, a man of upright demeanor, 
and well ordered conduct, a leading personage, not 
only in his community, but in his church and his 
outward association. But he has passed that 
bourn whence none return. Daniel Wood, the 
lifelong model of upright walk and conversation, 
is living only in memory, while Aaron L. Bene- 
dict, another minister of the same order, has had 
his epitaph written. Abram Vandusen has his 
name on the pioneer roll-call, and on his tomb- 
stone as well, while Samuel Heaverlo still re- 
mains master of dates and his mind is replete with 
the early history. Some of the leading pioneers, 
hitherto not particularly alluded to, may now be 
mentioned : James F. Randolph came to Ohio 
in 1818, and was the first settler on the Edgar sec- 
tion. He fenced 300 acres for the Edgar brothers 
prior to their settlement. They came from Mid- 
dlesex County, N. J. Randolph's ancestors 
were Quakers, and he was the fifth of a family of 



twenty-one children. In his father's family, names 
were kept up, and if one died the next one born, 
if of suitable sex, was called by the same name. 
This occurred in his father's family three times. 
The Fitz Randolph line takes hold in Nottingham- 
shire, England, as far back as 1617, in the person 
of Edward Fitz Randolph, who in 1637, mar- 
ried Elisabeth Blossom, moved to New Jersey in 
1658, and soon after died. His son Nathaniel 
was father to Edward 2d, and in the intermar- 
riages were involved some of the leading families 
of New Jersey. At James' death, which occurred 
on his farm, now owned and occupied by L. 
Westbrook; his family consisted of Cornelius F., 
Susan F., Rebecca F., Nathan F., Mahala F., 
Stephen F., James F., John F. and Hiram F., 
with one dying in infancy, of these, only Ste- 
phen and James remain in this country. His next 
neighbor. Barton Whipple, was the second set- 
tler on the Edgar section, and an important 
citizen. He was a man of skill, was a mill- 
wright and carpenter, was promoted to the oflSce 
of Commission* r — was a Justice of the Peace and 
a citizen of usefulness in a new community, 
especially, where his skill was in great demand 
and much needed. 

" The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, 
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave. 
Await alike the inevitable hour ; 

The path of glory leads but to the grave.' 

In all time, in all countries, there has, co-ex- 
teijsive with man's existence, been some mode 
of disposing of the dead. The Egyptian mum- 
my of four thousand years ago comes to us 
embalmed. The Hindoo cremates not the corpse 
alone, but, if it be the husband, then the widow 
also on his funeral pyre. Abraham said " Let us 
bury the dead out of our sight," and this mode 
is to-day the prevailing custom in civilized lands. 
And the cemeteries founded in Peru Township 
were the necessity of the locality in which they 
were located. The story of one is the story of 
all, unless you have a list of the departed in 
each. In most cases each contains the pioneers 



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ihL 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



439 



of the neighborhood, those who have died and 
followed them, and whose monuments attest the 
fact. 

The burial ground of the Friends was the first, 
the West Liberty graveyard the next in order, 
the Morehouse graveyard the third, and the village 



cemetery the fourth ; making four in the township 
at large, all of which, in the words of Grray, it may 
be said : 

" Beneath those rugged elms and yew trees shade, 
Where heaves the turf in many a moldering heap, 

Each in his narrow cell forever laid, 

The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep." 



CHAPTER XV 



CONGRESS TOWNSHIP— DESCRIPTIVE AND TOPOGRAPHICAL— THE EARLY SETTLERS— PIONEER 
IMPROVEMENTS— INCIDENTS— SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES— THE VILLAGES. 



WE were inf rmed by a leading Republican 
that Congress Township was devoid of his- 
tory, because it is and has ever been largely Demo- 
cratic in its political sentiments. As one of the least 
of the particles that go to make up the great Demo- 
cratic party, we do not indorse any such assertion. 
We know, of our own personal knowledge, that 
Democrats, as well as Republicans, sometimes have 
a good deal of very bad history, and would therefore 
suggest to those who live in glass palaces to beware 
how they throw stones. We should be charitable, and 
not condemn one another on account of our black 
sheep. As to the history of Congress, we suc- 
ceeded in finding a considerable quantity, and not 
much of it was very bad either, but, on the con- 
trary, rather good. A scope of country six miles 
square, with seven or eight churches in it, ought 
not to be very bad, and we will give it the benefit 
of any doubt that may exist, and pronounce it 
very good. 

Congress Township is more modern in its set- 
tlement by the whites than some other portions of 
Morrow County. At what precise date the first 
permanent settlement was made within its limits 
by white men cannot be determined now with posi- 
tive certainty. It is probable, however, that no 
settlements were made previous to 1820-21, while 
other parts were settled a number of years earlier. 

G-eographically, Congress Township is situated 



ill the north-central part of the county,and is bound, 
ed on the north by North Bloomfield Township, 
on the east by Perry Township, on the south by 
Franklin Township, and on the west by Gilead 
and Washington Townships. It is described as 
Township 18, Range 20, of the Congressional 
lands, and was a full township until the south- 
west corner, comprising Sections 32, 31, 30, 29, 
and one-half of 19, was attached to Gilead Town- 
ship. By the present census, it has 1,223 popu- 
lation. Congress is pretty well watered and 
drained by the Whetstone River, Owl Creek and 
their tributaries. The Whetstone, or Olentangy, 
enters the township a little east of West Point, 
flows almost south through Sections 5 and 6, 
when it changes to a west course, passing out 
through Section 7. A tributary of this stream 
rises in Section 11, runs southwest two or three 
miles, changes to a west course, passes out a little 
south of the Whetstone, and unites with the latter 
in the south part of Washington Township. Two 
or three other small tributaries have their source 
in the southwest part, and, flowing southward, 
empty into the Whetstone, near Mount Gilead. 
Owl Creek has its source in Section 13, flows 
almost south, and passes out through Section 36. 
The Middle Branch of Owl Creek rises near 
Williamsport, starts out in a west direction, and 
then, with a curve of several miles in extent, 



440 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



changes to the southward, passing from the town- 
ship tlirough Section 33. The soil in the south- 
ern portion of Congress is a yellow clay, and is 
better adapted to grazing than to agriculture. The 
surface, too, is rather broken, and in some sections 
are inclined to be hilly. In the northwest p;irt it is 
also rolling and somewhat broken. The northeast 
quarter of the township is generally level, and of 
a rich soil. It is known as Owl Creek Prairie, and 
is a fine farming region. The timbered portion of 
the township is stocked with the different species 
common in this section of the State. 

It cannot be poMtively ascertained now who 
made the first settlement in Congress Township, 
nor the precise date when it was made. William 
Ru.sh, from Washington County, Penn., settled 
herein December, 1821, and his widow, who is 
still living, states that when they came there were 
but five families living in what is now Congress 
Township, viz., John Levering, Samuel Graham, 
Jonathan Brewer, a Mr. Bailey and Timothy 
Gardner. These families, she states, united 
together and assisted them in building a cabin, 
which was of the usual pioneer pattern. Mrs. 
Rush is still living on the place of their original 
settlement, and has been a widow since December, 
1871. She occupies the fourth residence that has 
stood upon its site, the first being the pioneer 
cabin already mentioned. As soon as his circum- 
stances would justify, Mr. Bush replaced his cabin 
with a good, substantial hewed-log house. After- 
ward, a frame dwelling took its place, and some 
years before his death the present residence was 
erected. He was a soldier of the war of 1812. 
Of the families living here when Rush came, not 
much could be learned. Brewer was from some 
one of the Eastern States, and settled where Reu- 
ben Pace now lives. Here he died many years 
ago. Levering was from Pennsylvania, and lived 
to enjoy wilderness life but a few years. Gardner 
was originally from New Jersey, and settled about 
a mile from the village of Williamsport, where he 
died in 1850. The elections were held at his 
house when there were but sixteen voters in the 



township. A daughter, Mrs. Curtis, is still living 
in the village of West Point. Graham was from 
Pennsylvania, and died many years ago upon the 
place where he settled, and which is still owned 
mostly by his relatives and descendants. Of Bailey 
nothing is now remembered. When Mr. Rush 
came to the settlement, he found many Indians 
encamped in the neighborhood, engaged in hunting. 
They were quite friendly, and did not molest the 
whites in any manner, when let alone. 

Probably the next arrival, after those already 
mentioned, was John Russell. He was from New 
York, and is supposed to have settled about 1824- 
25. He entered the place where Dan Mitchell lived 
and died, and where his widow is still living. He 
sold out to Mr. Mitchell, upon his arrival in 1828, 
and bought a farm between Bellville and Lexing- 
ton. Here he remained but a few years, when he 
sold out and removed farther west, where he died 
some years afterward. Dan Mitchell, who went 
by the name of "Dan," and did not allow himself 
called Daniel, as noted above, bought out Russell. 
He wa-i from Washington County, Penn., and 
settled originally in Perry Township, in the spring 
of 1823, where he dwelt until the fall of 1828. 
He then sold out and removed to Congress Town- 
ship, and settled where his widow now lives, one 
mile east of the village of Williamsport. She is sev- 
enty-nine years old, and enjoys good health. They 
came from Pennsylvania in wagons, and were sixteen 
daysonthe road. It was at a disagreeable season of 
the year, the ground was muddy, and over much of 
the route their wagon was the first to open the 
way. Often they had to stop and cut out a road 
and build pole bridges over the streams. But 
" time, patience and perseverance" finally overcame 
all obstacles, and the journey was accomplished 
without accident. He died about a year ago, but 
has several children still living, among whom are 
Z. H. Mitchell, who owns a saw-mill east of Will- 
iamsport. Another son keeps a hotel in Williams- 
port. The elder Mitchell was a man of some 
prominence in his neighborhood, and was one of 
the early County Commissioners. 



^1 



.[£ 



HISTOEY OF MOREOW COUNTY. 



443 



In 1830, there were scattered through the 
township the following additional settlers, viz. : 
Amos Melotte, Thomas Fiddler, William Andrews, 
Joseph Vannator, Greorge and James Thompson, 
John Swallum, Enoch Hart, William Williams, 
Jerry Freeland, and perhaps a few others. Melotte 
was from Pennsylvania originally, but had been 
living for some time in the southern part of the 
State. He settled herein 1831, and is still living 
about one and a half miles south of Williamsport. 
Thomas Fiddler settled originally in this township, 
but moved over into Franklin Township. Andrews 
settled where A. B. Richardson now lives ; moved 
to Wisconsin and died there. He has a cousin, 
Burt Andrews, who is a practicing lawyer in 
Mount Gilead. Vannator came about the time 
Andrews did, and has lived in the township 
ever since. The Thompsons came in 1830, and 
were originally from Ireland. George Thompson 
was the father of James, and died in 1859. 
James, however, and three sisters are still living. 
Swallum was from Virginia, and is living on the 
place of his original settlement. His father was 
one of the Hessians captured by Washington at 
Trenton during the Revolutionary War. There 
was a family living on the adjoining " eighty" to 
that on which Swallum settled, when he came, 
but they are now all gone. Hart was from Penn- 
sylvania, and his wife was from Maryland. He, 
with his father, settled in what is now Perry 
Township, at an early day. Enoch Hart entered 
the land on which the village of Williamsport now 
stands, in 1827, and soon afterward he and his 
young wife settled on it. He erected a cabin on 
this land, and lived one year in it without a door, 
except a quilt hung before the opening. This 
afforded but a slight protection against the wolves, 
which sometimes became very fierce, and forced 
them to the necessity of guarding the opening to 
prevent the intrusion of the unwelcome animals. 
Mr. Hart sold out here to a man named Freeland, 
and moved into the northern part of. the township, 
where he died in April, 1878, and where his widow 
still lives. Williams is perhaps the oldest man in the 



township, being now over ninety years of age. He 
was born near Boone Station, Ky., when that 
State was, in truth, the "Dark and Bloody 
Ground." He was in the war of 1812, and still 
delights in "fighting his battles o'er again." He 
was one of the engineers who surveyed and laid 
out the State road from Delaware to Mansfield, 
and, during their work upon this road, he killed 
eighteen deer and three bears. Mr. Williams first 
settled in the southern part of the township, but 
now lives in the village of West Point. Jacob 
Carr, living near Williamsport, is a son-in-law of 
Mr. Williams. Freeland was from Pennsylvania, 
and bought out Enoch Hart. He finally sold out 
to a man named Dakan, and moved into Bloom- 
field Township, where he died. His wife, after 
his death, moved to Indiana. 

James Pitt came a little later than those men- 
tioned above. He is a Pennsylvanian, and settled 
here in 1831, where he is still living, and in good 
health for one of his years. Peter Lyon, living in 
same neighborhood, is also an early settler, and is 
still living on the place of his settlement. Gideon 
Chamberlain was an early settler near the southern 
line of Congress Township,where he located in 1828. 
He has a son. Squire Chamberlain, now living in 
Williamsport. Samuel McCleneham settled in 
Congress about 1831-32. He died in 1873, but 
his widow is still living. Mr. Foultz, who, settled 
in the northeast part of the township very early, 
we are told, was a soldier under Napoleon Bona- 
parte, and participated in the ill-fated expedition 
to Moscow. He is now dead. John Mofi"ett came 
from Pennsylvania, but was of Scotch descent, and 
came to this township in 1831, where he died in 1 846. 
His widow is still living and is ninety-three years 
old. She crossed the mountains with her family, 
in 1802, and settled in Southern Ohio, where she 
lived until her marriage, and removal to this town- 
ship. She has been a member of the church for 
more than sixty years. John Garverick was from 
Pennsylvania in 1833, and settled in north part of 
township, where he died in 1872. 

Congress Township was settled mostly by Penn- 



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444 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



sylvanians, who were quiet and industrious people, 
attending strictly to their own business, and leav- 
ing others to do the same. They have not ad- 
vanced as rapidly, and kept pace with this fast 
age, as they have in other portions of the country. 
In fact, we have heard it remarked that the people 
of Congress Township were a quarter of a century 
behind the time. However, this is much better 
than a mushroom growth, that will perish as rap- 
idly as it grew. 

There were plenty of Indians passing to and fro 
through the township when the whites first came, 
though they were quite friendly. They would 
encamp upon the little streams, and hunt for sev- 
eral days at a time. They were great beggars, 
and would steal little things sometimes, and so 
required constant watching while in the neighbor- 
hood. But, in a few years, they were sent to 
reservations provided for them by the government ; 
still later, to lands given them far away toward 
the setting sun, and 

" Lo! the poor Indian, whose untutored mind 
Sees God in clouds, and hears Ilim in the wind," 
is seen no more in his old haunts and hunting- 
grounda, and the crack of his rifle is no longer 
heard in the forests of Morrow County. Both 
are things of the past, so far as this section is con- 
cerned. 

When white people first began to settle in 
Congress Township, they had to go to Mount 
Vernon and Fredericksburg to mill, and the trip 
extended, sometimes, to several days. Some years 
after settlements were made, Wm. Levering built 
a horse-mill in the Township, on Section 25, which 
proved a great convenience to the people, and is, 
we believe, about the only mill the town has ever 
had, except saw-mills. The pioneer store was kept 
by Mr. House, at a very early day, perhaps as 
early as 1830. He soon moved to Mount Gilead, 
and the next mercantile effort we hear of in the 
township was by Mr. Andrews, at a much later 
date. The first blacksmith was, probably, Dan 
Mitchell. He did not follow it as a business, but 
used to work at the trade when the pressure of 



his neighbors compelled him, and he could not 
well avoid it. John Levering was also an early 
blacksmith, and kept a shop for many years in the 
township. 

The first birth, of which we have any account, 
occurring in this township, was Lavina Mitchell, 
a daughter of Martin Mitchell. She was born on 
a place adjoining Dan Mitchell's, in 1829, and was, 
doubtless, the first in the township. The first 
marriage is forgotten. One of the first deaths 
remembered was that of a man named Samuel 
Peoples, who was killed at a house-raising, in a 
very early day. A woman named Bailey was also 
an early death. Margaret Swallum died in 18.32, 
but, whether that was before those already noticed, 
we cannot say, as we could not obtain the dates of 
the others. The first roads through Congress 
were the Indian and emigrant trails. The first 
road laid out by authority was probably the Del- 
aware and Mansfield road, which passes through 
the township. Congress is now provided with 
excellent roads, which, in most cases, are laid out 
on section lines, and are kept in excellent condition. 

Close on the heels of the pioneers came the 
preachers, some of whom were pioneers themselves. 
Private houses were used, until the building of 
schoolhouses, when they became temples of wor- 
ship, as well as of learning. While these early 
religious services were not conducted with that 
clockwork precision and machine routine of our 
later and more systematically refined worship, they 
had the merit of heart and soul devotion, which 
defied the adverse criticism of the world. The 
preachers were not college graduates, nor theological 
prodigies ; but what they lacked in mental force 
they made up in physical power, and they could 
be heard a mile away, when the atmosphere was 
favorable. Thirty-minute sermons were not fashion- 
able in those days, and a preacher would often 
blaze away for three and four hours on a stretch. 
When the angel of death visited a household, some 
one of these pioneer preachers was called on to 
preach at the funeral, and he exposed himself to 
the bitterest weather, and faced storms of cold and 



^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



445 



sleet and snow, in answer to the call of distress by 
his stricken fellow-pioneers. Of these early di- 
vines, it may be truly said, " They went about doing 
good," and that, too, " without the hope of fee or 
reward." It was in the work of the Master, and 
was done " without money and without price," 
and this was reward enough. 

It is difficult to say who was the first messenger 
to proclaim " glad tidings of great joy " to the 
people of Congress Township. As is usually the 
case, there are " several first ones." Rev. Sila^ 
Ensign was one of them, and supposed to be the 
first Methodist. He used to preach at Mr. Gard- 
ner's, long before there was a church or a school- 
house in the township. Revs. David James and 
John Thomas were Welshmen, and two of the 
pioneer Baptists ; also, Kev. James Parsels, who 
was finally sent to the penitentiary, as noticed in 
another chapter of this work. Rev. Mr. Shedd 
was one of the first Presbyterian preachers. It is 
not altogether certain which church was established 
first, as several of them are very old. 

The Brin Zion Baptist Church was organized, 
it is confidently stated, more than fifty years ago, 
in a schoolhouse in the southern part of the town- 
ship, some two miles from the present church. It 
was established by that pioneer minister. Rev. 
David James, and the following are some of the 
original members: William Peterson and wife, 
Mr. James and wife, and one or two daughters, 
and Allen Kelley and wife. A church was built a 
few years after the society was formed, and was 
probably the first church edifice in the township. 
This building was used by the congregation, until 
sadly out of repair, when the present edifice was 
built, about 1857-58. Rev. William Wyant is 
the present Pastor, and the membership is not far 
from one hundred. There is a flourishing Sunday 
school, of which John Critchfield is Superintendent, 
in connection with this church. Although origi- 
nally in Congress Township, yet since the addition 
to Gilead Township of a section or two from the 
southwest corner of Congress, the church is just 
across the line in Gilead Township. 



Mt. Tabor Methodist Episcopal Church was or- 
ganized about the year 1836, in a schoolhouse 
which stood near where the present church now 
stands. Among the original members, we may 
notice Polly Swallum, Peter Lyon (who was the 
Class-leader), Rees Wheeler and wife, Ann Foster, 
Joseph Kirby and wife, and James Pitt and wife. 
The first church was built about 1840, and served 
the congregation as a place of worship, until 
literally worn out. For several years after their 
church gave out, they were homeless, except as 
they used schoolhouses. In 1873, the present 
handsome building was put up at a cost of over 
$2,000. Rev. Mr. Lynch and Rev. Benjamin 
Allen were among the early ministers of this con- 
gregation. The Rev. Mr. Buxton is the present 
Pastor of the church, which belongs to the Dar- 
lington Circuit. The membership is between forty 
and fifty. A Sunday school is carried on with Mr. 
Thummey as Superintendent. A pretty little 
cemetery is adjacent to the church, and contains 
the mortal remains of many of the early members, 
as well as many of the pioneers of the neighbor- 
hood. When Mr. Pitt came to the country, there 
was not a public burying-ground in the township, 
and, soon after entering his land, he gave one acre 
for a church and cemetery. Margaret Swallum 
was the first person buried in it, after being laid 
out. Since then, it has been pretty well popu- 
lated. 

Pleasant Grove Church (Disciples) is located 
on a corner of Mr. Swallum's land, and in the 
midst of what, we very nearly concluded, was a 
rather inhospitable neighborhood. Two individ- 
uals, to whom we had been recommended for a 
history of this ehurch, treated us coolly, to 
say the least. The society was formed about 
forty years ago, and a log building erected near 
the present church. In it they worshiped until 
the erection of the latter, which was accom- 
plished in 1858. It is a substantial frame build- 
ing, of modern architecture. The membership 
at present is about 100, though many have dropped 
off" by death and removal. The congregatiun is 



* ^W 



-.|v 



446 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



in the pastoral care of Rev. Mr. Neal. Quite a 
neat little burying-ground adjoins the church, and 
is the last resting-place of many of its old members. 
The church laid down on the map northwest of 
Mt. Tabor Methodist Church, has been moved into 
the village of West Point, and is known as the 
Boulah Church. It is again referred to in connec- 
tion with the village. 

The schoolmaster was an early addition to the 
settlement, as well as the pioneer preacher. One 
of the first schools taught in the township, was by 
Benjamin P. Truex, about 1834. It was kept in 
a small cabin, built for school purposes, not far 
from the village of Williamsport. A man named 
Hayden taught school near Dan Mitchell's, at a 
very early day, perhaps the next school after that 
taught by Truex. The house in which Truex 
taught was the first built in the township, per- 
haps, for school purposes. It was the usual log- 
cabin schoolhouses, and contrasted strongly with 
the comfortable schoolhouses of the present day, 
which, are to be found at nearly every cross-road 
in the township. The present educational per- 
fection is embodied in the last report to the 
County Auditor, as follows : 

Balance on hand September 1, 1878 |1,301 70 

State tax 706 00 

Local tax for scboolhouse purposes 2,830 02 

Amount paid teachers within the year 2,007 00 

Number of schoolhouses in township 9 

Value of same 8,000 00 

Teachers employed — male, 10 ; female, 5 ; total 15 

Paid teachers per month — male, $40 ; female, 

$20. 
Pupils enrolled— male, 222 ; female, 159 ; total 381 
Average daily attendance — males, 135 ; fe- 
males, 100; total 235 

Biilance on hand September 1, 1879 f 444 65 

The village of Williamsport was laid out, and 
the plat recorded in Richland County, October 1 1 , 
1836. Enoch Hart entered the land upon which 
it is located, and after a few years sold out to Jerry 
Freeland. He sold to William Dakan, who laid 
out the village and called it Williamsport, in honor 
of his own name. The first store was opened by 
William Andrews, as soon as the village was laid 
out ; he built a dwelling and a storehouse, Da- 
kan had a store nearly as large as Andrews'. A 



post office was established at the house of William 
Andrews, about half a mile north of town, some 
time before the town was laid out. He petitioned 
for it, and in honor of him it was called An- 
drews' Post Office, a name it still bears. He was 
the first Postmaster, and as soon as the village was 
laid out, the office was moved to it ; Mark Cook is 
the present Postmaster. Before the place was laid 
out, or a post office established, a post was planted 
in the ground, and a box nailed to the top, in 
which the mail carrier, as he passed on his route, 
dropped the weekly newspapers for the people of 
the neighborhood. The first tavern was kept by 
Reuben Luce, and was a place of great resort. 
Being on the direct road from Delaware to Mans- 
field, everybody repaired to it to have news from 
the outside world. Martin Mitchell was also an 
early tavern-keeper at Williamsport. The present 
hotel is kept by a man named Mitchell. 

The first school taught in the village was by Z. 
H. Mitchell in 1842. The year before he taught 
at Andrews', just north of the village. A good 
two-story frame schoolhouse adorns the town, 
which was built a few years ago ; Prof. M. Miller 
is the present teacher. The business of the village 
may be summed up as follows : Two stores, one 
grocery store, one hotel, three blacksmith and 
wagon shops, two shoe-shops, one physician, one 
cheese factory, very recently established by Dr. 
Thoman, and a schoolhouse and church. 

The United Brethren Church was built in 1853 ; 
the society was organized the year previous by 
Revs. Slaughter and Tabler ; the church is a neat 
and substantial frame ; the present Pastor is Rev. 
Mr. Orr. A large and flourishing Sunday school 
is carried on, of which Dr. Thoman is superin- 
tendent. 

Williamsport, notwithstanding it is an old town, 
has not attained to very large proportions, and 
doubtless never will equal Cincinnati in point of 
population. By the census just taken (1880) its 
bona-Jide population, by a careful count of noses, 
amounts to just eighty -one souls. There is plenty 
of room for growth. 






\ 



hL 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



44-; 



The village of West Point was laid out by Mat- 
thew Roben about 1848. Roben kept the first 
store in the place. The next store was opened by 
Isaac Rule, who still lives in the vicinity, where he 
owns an excellent farm. There is but one store in 
the town, kept by J. R. Gaverick & Bro. The 
former gentleman is Postmaster, and the office, 
which is known by the name of Whetstone, is 
kept in the store. The town consists of a dozen or 
more dwelling-houses, one store, one post office, 
one black-smith-shop by William Mann, one shoe- 
shop by Barnard Field. Sometimes a grocery or 
provision store has been kept on the south side of 
the road. The first tavern was kept in the place 
by George Jackson. John Williams also kept 
tavern for a time, but has retired from the busi- 
ness, and the village is at present without a 
hotel. 

West Point is situated about equally in Con- 
gress and North Bloomfield Townships. The store ^ 
and post office are in the latter, while the church 
and schoolhouse are in Congress. The dwelling 
houses are about equally divided between the two 
townships. That portion in Congress, according 
to the present census, has a population of fifty- 
three. An excellent brick schoolhouse erected in 



1878, is an ornament to the little village. G. G. 
Curtis is the present teacher, and the attendance is 
from twenty-five to thirty, but in the winter season 
it is much larjier. 

Beulah Church, on the south side of the divid- 
ing line of West Point, was founded by Rev. 
Jeremiah Martin. The first church edifice, was 
a log building, and stood about two miles south of 
the village. When it gave out and a new building 
was needed, the man upon whose land it had been 
built, had grown tired of it, and so the congrega- 
tion bought the site where it is now located. The 
present edifice was put up in 1856, and is a sub- 
stantial frame. The membership has fallen off 
very much in the last decade. Many have died, 
and others have moved away, whose places have 
not been filled. The last regular Pastor was Rev. 
Thomas Dye, who died last winter. An interest- 
ing Sunday school, of which Andrew Casto is 
Superintendent, is maintained with a good attend- 
ance. 

The little village of West Point, though small, 
is noticed in the chapters devoted to both Con- 
gress and North Bloomfield Townships. To which 
of the two townships, the larger share of it belongs, 
we are not able to say. 



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"3) "V 



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448 



HISTORY OF MORROAV COUNTY 



CHAPTER XVI. 



SOUTH 



BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP— DESCRIPTIVE— FIRST SETTLERS— IMPROVEMENTS— DISTIL- 
LERIES, MILLS, ETC.— CHURCHES— SCHOOLS— VILLAGES. 



THE surface of South Bloonifield Township is 
irregdar and undulating. Drift-hills of sand 
and gravel, covered with Waverly shales and frag- 
mentary, granite bowlders rise, in some portions, 
more than a hundred feet above the general level. 
The soil is usually composed of a mixture of allu- 
vium, sand and clay, and contains a, large percentage 
of the debris of angular lime bowlders that are 
found intermingled with the earth in all parts of 
the township. These are usually small, though 
occasionally, one weighing more than a ton is 
found. Granite bowlders, deposited during the 
glacial epoch, are found in great numbers, scores 
of them often occurring within small areas, and 
the mica in them is often beautifully colored 
with iron oxides. There are no large streams ; yet 
along the valleys of the creeks, and in the small, 
well-drained basins, is found an excellent sandy, 
alluvial soil. Occasionally, in some portions, occurs 
a yellow, tenacious clay, that bids defiance to the 
agriculturist. Rarely, argillaceous shale and sand- 
stone render cultivation troublesome or impos- 
sible. In the southeastern part, occurring in 
small, irregular bowlders, is found a dark, heavy 
stone, which, when broken, presents a sparkling, 
crystalline structure, and is found rich with one of 
the iron ores. A broad belt, passing from the 
center of the western side to the southeastern 
corner, aflPords abundant and excellent limestone. 
The hills in the vicinity of Roswell Clark's farm 
are loaded with this lime, which has been burned 
since 1819. The supply seems inexhaustible. The 
bowlders are found of all sizes, and usually contain 
impurities of clay or other earth. 

The township is bountifully supplied with nu- 
merous springs of hard, cold water, many of them 
being used as wells by the citizens. A great 



many are brackish, some quite salty, and a few 
contain iron, soda, magnesia and other minerals. 
Heavy timber at one time covered the whole sur- 
face, though the hand of the settler has leveled it 
until but about one-sixth of the land is covered 
with primitive woods. The native timber consists 
mainly of beech, ash, hard maple, black walnut, 
elm, oak and hickory. There are also found, 
though to a limited extent, soft maple, butternut, 
sycamore, whitewood, dog-wood, linden, cucumber, 
chestnut, etc. Perhaps, one third the timber in 
the township is beech, which is much used for 
rough building purposes. 

Sparta and the central part of the township 
occupy a small, irregular table-land, from which 
small streams flow in all directions. Two eleva- 
tions, one in the Bloomfield Cemetery and the 
other a half-mile southwest of Sparta, rise 575 feet 
above Lake Erie and 1,140 feet above the sea 
level. The center of the township is on the height 
of land that separates the headwaters of the 
Scioto and Muskingum Rivers. The township, as 
a whole, is well drained, and is sufficiently fertile 
" to laugh with a harvest if tickled with a hoe." 
It is bounded on the north by Chester, and 
on the west by Bennington Township; on the 
east and south by Knox County. It is composed 
of twenty-five sections, the northern five being 
fractional. Prior to 1848, the tow^nship was part 
of Knox County. In the spring of 1808, the 
county of Knox having been formed by act of the 
Legislature, the Commissioners divided it into 
four townships — Wayne, Morgan, Union and Clin- 
ton, the latter including South Bloomfield, which 
was afterward created into a separate township. 

Previous to the autumn of 1813, no settler had 
made his appearance in the township. It was one 



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HISTORY or MORROW COUNTY. 



449 



unbroken forest, fresh and beautiful from the 
fashioning hand of the Creator. Within the 
memory of the oldest settlers, the Indians had oc- 
casional, temporary camps, but there is no evidence 
of their having been any village of permanency or 
note. In the southwest, on the land owned by 
Wilbur Barr, there are meager evidences that at 
some remote period the Mound-Builders, or In- 
dians, erected rude, earth fortifications, as the 
place seems to indicate that the works were 
designed to assist in repelling invaders. But the 
original works are almost obliterated by the agri- 
culturist, who has but a shadowy respect for the 
customary honor shown these ancient inhabitants. 
This seat of war and evident disaster, if such they 
were, has been transformed into fertile fields of 
waving wheat or corn. Innumerable flint, chert 
and chalcedony arrow, dart and spear heads are 
plowed up from all quarters. In 1818, the San- 
dusky Indians had a temporary camp near where 
Thomas Orsborn lived, and the old settlers can 
recollect them as they silently trailed their way 
through the forest. The pioneers had nothing to 
apprehend from them, for 

" Gitchie Manito, the mighty, 
Warning, chiding, spake in this wise : — 
' I am weary of your quarrels, 
Weary of your prayers for vengeance ; 
Wash the war-paint from your faces. 
And as brothers, live together.' " 

No reading is more attractive than the story of 
the pioneer's life. It rests upon the mind like 
enchantment, and the sweet romance of the forest 
warms the heart with the tender ties of sympathy. 
The parent spends many a pleasant hour in dream- 
ing of the past, and tells the tale with ample em- 
bellishments to the eager child, which never tires 
of listening. All are eager to hear it, and all 
keenly enjoy it. To the old man with frosty hair, 
the story revives the record of a life that has been 
a miracle of self-sacrifice and self-denial. The sweet, 
sad poetry of the past is underscored with the em- 
phasis of toil and tribulation. 

In autumn, 1813, throe hunters, armed with 



rifles, left Mount Vernon and pushed westward 
into the wilderness. They desired to hunt outside 
the outermost log cabin ; and also, which was per- 
haps their principal object, desired to see the 
country westward, with a view of locating. These 
three men were Peter and Nicholas Kile and 
Enoch Harris, the latter being a powerfully built 
mulatto. They entered South Bloomfield Town- 
ship at the southeast corner, coming from the east, 
and, admiring the country, determined to form a 
settlement. The scene before them was pleasing 
to the eye. There was the branch of Dry Creek, 
threading its way amid green banks of grasses and 
mosses. There were the narrow valley of the creek, 
skirted with long rows of beech and walnut and 
maple, and the neighboring hills crowned with pic- 
turesque clusters of trees, the bright foliage of 
which was tinted with the rich coloring of autumn. 
From the foot of the hills there crept out small 
brooklets that stole rippling down to the creek. 
The prospect was delightful, and, with enthusiasm, 
the hunters entered into their compact. Enoch had 
been there before, and had entered the land. Of 
the three, he was the oldest and Peter the young- 
est, and, as each wanted a quarter-section, it was 
mutually agreed that they should choose in the 
order of their ages, beginning with the oldest. 
Enoch Harris selected the quarter-section adjoin- 
ing the corner one, on account of the multitude of 
excellent springs of pure water. Nicholas Kile 
chose what is now the southeastern quarter-section 
in the township, because he saw an excellent site 
for damming up the water of Dry Creek and thus 
securing power for milling purposes. Peter Kile 
chose the quarter-section west of Harris', because 
of the fine groves of walnut timber that covered 
it. Each was satisfied with his selection, and all 
three went back to Mount Vernon to complete the 
purchase of their new homes. During the follow- 
ing winter, Harris went out with his ax and cleared 
sufficient land to afford material for the erection of 
his cabin. Then, in March, 1814, with the assist- 
ance of a few men from Mount Vernon, he erected 
the first log cabin built in South Bloomfield Town- 



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450 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



ship. His family, which consisted of his wife, a 
mulatto woman, and one child, was moved out the 
same .spring. But little is known of Enoch 
Harris, and that which is told of him is mostly 
traditionary. One-half the people in the township 
never heard of his existence. He was said to be a 
jovial, good-natured fellow, built like Hercules, and 
with that enviable courage and fortitude that dis- 
tinguished the pioneer. When he left the neigh- 
borhood is not definitely known. At the expiration 
of about five years, himself and family vanished 
like the shadows of night, and never afterward 
lived in the township. 

During the fall of 1814, Peter and Nicholas 
Kile, and Timothy Smith settled in the township, 
the former two on the land they had selected, and 
the latter about a mile northwest of Sparta. A 
small clearing was known to have been made, in 
1813, on the land which was afterward occupied by 
Smith, but no cabin was built, and many distrust 
the story of the clearing. In 1815, John 
Helt, Jonathan Hess, John and Fleming Manville, 
and Thomas Orsboru, appeared and began to make 
improvements, the first four locating a mile or two 
north of Bluomfield, and the latter in the eastern 
part, on Dry Creek. In 1816, Roswell and Mar- 
shall Clark, Thomas Allington, William Ayers, 
Archilus Doty, Augustus and Giles S wetland, 
Solomon Steward and a few others came in. In 
1817, Roger Blinn, Isaac Pardy, David Ander- 
son, Isaac Mead Harris, James Duncan, Samuel 
Mead, Walker Lyon, Runey Peat, John and Jon- 
athan Harris, Matthew Marvin, Reuben Askins, 
Seth Nash and a few others arrived. Many came 
in 1818, among them being Dr. David Bliss, the 
first physician in the township, and elsewhere cred- 
ited as the first practicing physician in the county, 
Artemas Swetland, Elder William H. Ashley and 
Crandall Rosecrans, the father of the well known 
Gen. Rosecrans. In 1818, there were as many as 
twenty-five clearings in the woods. In 1817, 
there were sixteen white male inhabitants over 
twenty-one years of age ; and in 1820, sixty-nine. 
The heavy forests began to disappear, and the 



country began to change. The ring and echo of 
ax and rifle awoke the solitude of the forest. 
Deer, wild turkeys and wolves were every-day 
sights. Small herds of deer, scared by wolves, 
would come out of the woods, leap the fences and 
go scampering across the clearings. Often the 
settler, upon rising in the morning, would find a 
herd pasturing on his wheat-field, seeming to love 
the rich herbage. In herds of six or eight, they 
were often seen sporting in the woods, leaping 
back and forth over fallen trees like children on a 
play-ground. There were many brackish springs 
scattered about, which the deer frequented, and 
which were often watched by the hunter during 
the night. The juicy venison, roasted before the 
great fire-place and eaten by the family next 
morning, would attest the success of the watcher. 
Early one morning. Elder Ashley shot and wound- 
ed a large buck, which darted bleeding into the 
forest. He pursued it rapidly until noon, when, 
coming upon it suddenly, it was dispatched. Dur- 
ing the afternoon, five more deer were shot, and 
all were conveyed to his cabin on horseback. Tur- 
keys were very large and numerous, and, when 
cooked by the skilful backwoods woman, would 
charm the appetite of an epicure. Wolves were 
numerous, very troublesome and often danger- 
ous. Though shy and silent during the day, 
when the shades of night settled down, they 
became bold and would howl around the cabins 
until daybreak. Sheep were unsafe in the woods 
at any time. Cattle and horses were safe dur- 
ing the day, but if they became mired down, 
or were caught in the wind-falls at night, they 
fell victims to the rapacious wolves. David An- 
derson failed to get his cows up one night, and 
went in search of them the next morning, when 
he found them mired in a swamp, where they had 
furnished a midnight repast for the wolves. Many 
others lost stock under similar circumstances. 
Children returning late from school were chased 
by them. 

In 1817, Solomon Steward lived about a mile 
and a half northwest of Sparta. One day him- 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



451 



self and wife started to go across to Timothy 
Smith's cabin, which was about half a mile south. 
They were walking slowly along in the woods, 
when suddenly a large bear came from a thicket 
in front of them, and, placing his fore foot on a log, 
looked sideways at them. Steward quickly raised 
his rifle and fired, but only wounded the bear, the 
ball entering just below the eye, and from the 
curious position of the animal, coming out at the 
knee of the leg on the log. The bear gave a 
howl of pain, and disappeared in the woods. Stew- 
ard and his wife hurried on to Smith's, when the 
men immediately returned to finish the bear. 
They reached the thicket where it entered, and, 
while Smith remained there. Steward went around 
to scare it out. In the mean time. Smith recol- 
lected that he had not loaded his gun. He hastily 
poured the powder into the palm of his hand, but 
at this instant, the bear came thundering out of 
the thicket, with mouth open, and nose covered 
with blood. Smith dropped the powder, and, 
turning, ran a short distance like a race-horse, 
when he unfortunately caught his foot on a vine, 
and came to the ground like a thunderbolt. His 
momentum was so great, that, when he struck, he 
plunged the muzzle of his gun almost a foot in 
the soft earth. The bear went swiftly by, but, at this 
moment. Steward appeared and shot it as it was 
disappearing in the woods. Undoubtedly, Smith 
had to stand treat when the excited men reached 
his cabin. 

The appearance of the settlers as they came 
into the township was often more laughable than 
comfortable. William Ayres had a horse that had 
no body worth mentioning. It was all head, legs 
and tail. It should have been named " Rosinante," 
but, through some unpardonable oversight, was 
denominated " Sam." This was, evidently, a mis- 
nomer, and accounts for the animal's startling ap- 
pearance and prodigious growth. Upon the back 
of this eqaus cabaUus, was placed a feather bed, 
a rare object in the backwoods, and above all, sat 
Mrs. Ayres, while Mr. Ayres walked ahead with 
his rifle on his shoulder, leading the horse. The 

; - 



husband had an ax, and the wife a skillet, and, 
thus equipped, they began housekeeping in the 
woods. Walker Lyon and family came all the 
way from Connecticut, in one wagon drawn by 
two yoke of oxen with a horse, ridden by one 
of the party, on the lead. They were forty days 
on the road, and, when their destination was 
reached, freezing cold weather had set in. It was 
too cold to mix mortar, so the chinks in their 
hastily erected cabin were filled with moss gath- 
ered from far and near in the woods. One of 
the first settlers brought with him an ash board, 
which was honored with the central place in 
the only door of his cabin, and, when neighbors 
were present, this was pointed to with infinite 
pride, by the owner. Augustus and Giles Swet- 
land came two years in advance of their father and 
the balance of his family. They erected a small 
log cabin, and began to clear the land their father 
had previously purchased. They did their own 
cooking, except corn and wheat bread, which was 
prepared for them by Mrs. Allington. An abun- 
dance of turkey and venison was to be found on 
their table. Roswell and Marshall Clark endured 
the same privations and enjoyed the same repasts. 
They came a year or two before their families, to 
prepare a home, so that some of the perplexities 
of pioneer life might be avoided by the wives and 
children. 

The f-ettlers usually came in wagons, drawn 
by horses or oxen, and their log cabins were 
often erected and occupied before the land had 
been purchased. The cabin of some earlier set- 
tler, or the wagon, or a temporary tent made of 
boughs, bark or blankets, would be their shelter 
until the cabin was built. A large percentage 
of the settlers in the township came from the 
vicinity of Mount Vernon and Delaware ; but 
were, originally, from the historical colonies of 
Roger Williams or William Penn. With only 
sufficient money to enter his land, but with forti- 
tude and energy, the early settler began his 
career of hardship in the woods. The log cabins 
were neither models of elegance, beauty nor even 



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452 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



comfort. Though ordinarily built from rough 
logs and containing but one room, yet, occasion- 
ally, a double cabin was erected, having two 
rooms with one end in common which formed 
the partition. This was conceded a certain in- 
dication of wealth or celebrity in the owner. 
The cabins were often built from hewed logs, 
which improved their appearance. The settler 
would first level his timber with the ground. 
The tops and smaller logs would be heaped and 
burned, and then the neighbors would be invited 
to assist in rolling the larger logs. These " log- 
rollings " were the chief means of bringing the 
settlers together. Whisky and brandy flowed 
like water, and woe unto the luckless owner of 
the premises who failed to have the necessary 
supply on hand. Some superannuated old man, 
too old to work, would be appointed " commis- 
sary," whose duty it was to supply the thirsty 
men with liquid corn and rye. There would often 
be thirty or forty men present, and the women of the 
neighborhood would combine to do the cooking. It 
was a lively scene, then, both within and without. 
And, when at length the dinner horn sounded its 
welcome voice, the weary men assembled at the 
cabin to do justice to the venison and turkey. 
Thus the pioneers, with common interests, were 
drawn together for mutual sympathy and assist- 
ance. When a new-comer appeared, the settlers 
came promptly forward and erected his cabin, into 
which his family would often move the same day. 
There was but little money in the country, and 
ordinary dealings were necessarily carried on by 
exchanges. A pound of tea could be obtained at 
Mount Vernon by exchanging forty dozen eggs 
for it, or one yard of calico could be had for six 
pounds of butter. Necessity compelled the set- 
tlers to feed and clothe themselves, and the result 
was that no woman's education in domestic aff'airs 
was complete until she had learned to card, spin 
and weave wool and flax. The house without its 
spinning-wheel was as uncommon as one at the 
present day, is without a sewing machine. The men 
often wore buckskin breeches ; but usually their 



clothing and that of the women were made of 
"linsey-woolsey," beautifully colored with leaves 
or bark from the woods. The cooking was done 
over the great fire-place, whose capacious jaws 
could take in a log of almost any dimensions. 
There were bake-kettles or Dutch ovens, skillets 
or spiders, pots and pans of divers patterns and 
dimensions, reflectors, frying pans, etc. Excellent 
bread was often baked on a smooth board, held 
and turned before the roaring fire. As nice a 
cake as ever graced the table at a wedding feast 
was baked in the skillet, or spider. In short, 
the humble pioneer's wife, with her fire-place and 
rude cooking utensils, could place upon the table 
as sweet and palatable a dinner as any cook of 
later days, with her ranges, covered all over with 
patents, and her improved domestic machinery 
without end. 

One day in the spring of 1817, several citizens 
of the township were standing in Roswell Clark's 
door-yard, discussing the talked-of separation of 
the new township from old Clinton, when the 
question arose as to what it should be called. 
Before them lay a small field, dressed in the green 
garb of summer, while adorning its surface were 
rich clusters of wild flowers. The air was laden 
with the sweet breath of early springtime. Na 
ture had put on her beautiful robe, and was waft- 
ing the perfume of the flowers through the forest 
aisles and across the velvet fields. Roswell Clark 
insisted that the township should be called New 
Wabash, William Ayres modestly suggested 
Ayresville ; but when Roger Blinn, pointing to 
the field and to the sweet blossoms, suggested 
Bloomfield, the thought met the approval of all 
and the name was adopted. 

On the 23d of June, 1817, the citizens con- 
vened at the house of Timothy Smith, to elect the 
first township officers. There were present Roger 
Blinn, Roswell Clark, John Helt, Jonathan Hess, 
Timothy Smith, Peter and Nicholas Kile, John 
Manville, Reuben Askins, William Ayres, Joseph 
Higgins, James Carter, Preston Hubbell, Thomas 
Orsborn and Matthew Marvin, and a few others. 



^^1 



^II 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



453 



Roger Blinn was chosen Chairman, Roswell Clark 
Secretary, and then the first political wire-pulling 
and skirmishing of the township began. The day 
was warm, and, instead of entering the cabin, 
which would scarcely contain them, they sat upon 
a huge pile of beech and maple logs that were 
near the house — a fit chamber for the first politi- 
cal "log-rolling." After several preliminary 
flank movements by caucuses, during which the 
comparative merits of opposing candidates were 
loudly and ably discussed, the polls were declared 
open and the balloting began. Roswell Clark was 
elected Clerk ; Roger Blinn, Treasurer ; Joseph 
Higgins, Constable; and James Carter, Justice of 
the Peace. For several years these elections were 
held at the cabins of the settlers. In 1819, on 
the occasion of an election held at the cabin 
of Thomas Orsborn, an incident or accident oc- 
curred, which shows the treacherous nature of the 
old fire-place. A half-dozen or more of the men 
were invited to remain and take dinner with the 
family. After the cooking had progressed almost 
to completion, and the hearth was loaded with 
dishes of smoking food, placed there to be kept 
warm, a large kettle containing boiling venison, 
resting upon the logs, suddenly upset, precipitat- 
ing venison and boiling water into the ashes, 
which were dashed copiously over the dishes on 
the hearth. Orsborn leaped to his feet, and, with 

more force than elegance, exclaimed " D the 

fire, there go the victuals." This apparently re- 
lieved him, for he laughed heartily as he righted 
the demoralized pans^and kettles. 

Courts of justice were held in the township at 
an early day, and, when a case of any consequence 
was to be heard and determined, the court-room 
was always crowded with spectators, anxious to 
see and hear the fun. Cases of assault and bat- 
tery were of frequent occurrence, and, occasion- 
ally, one guilty of a graver crime was arraigned. 
The "rollings " were a fruitful source of " battery 
cases," and many a poor fellow h^s gone home in 
the same predicament as the b">y that was kicked 
in the face by a mule, " wiser, but not so hand- 



some." "Washington Hubbell was a pettifogger 
who conducted many of the early cases. At- 
torneys, such as they were, could be secured at 
Mount Vernon as early as the township was 
first settled. These trials before the Justices 
were too often mere ludicrous formalities, af- 
fording more amusement than punishment. 

Burr Harris was a great boaster and fighter, 
yet at times he met men who gave him a sound 
thrashing. When under the influence of liquor, 
he was quarrelsome, and would ride rough-shod 
over those of less strength and coursge. His 
sons, following the footsteps of their father, were 
engaged in many a hard fight. On one occasion, 
Joshua, his son, armed with his " little hatchet," 
attacked a neighbor, for some fancied wrong, and 
wounded him severely on the arm. He was 
tried for assault with intent to commit murder, 
but was only convicted of assault and battery. 

One day, Horace Churchill and Jacob Hess, 
two young men, were working with shovels in a 
charcoal pit about half a mile southwest of 
Sparta. They began playfully throwing coals at 
each other, and, as usual under such circum- 
stances, carried their fun so far that they got 
mad. Hess at last, in a paroxysm of excitement 
and anger, raised his shovel and threw it with 
all his strength at Churchill, striking him a 
terrible blow on the head, laying the skull open 
to the brain. Hess immediately put for the 
woods, and Churchill, more dead than alive, was 
taken to the nearest house. His wound was 
dressed, but in removing broken fragments of 
his skull a portion of the brain was lost. He 
got well and lived many years, but never fully 
recovered the right use of his mind. The mili- 
tiamen were called out to capture Hess, who, 
provided with food by his friends, remained 
concealed in the woods awaiting events. He 
was finally pressed so close that it became nec- 
essary for him to change his location or be 
captured. In attempting to cross a road, he 
was seen by Sheldon Clark, who, being on horse- 
back, spurred up to him and ordered him to 



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_S) 



454 



HISTORY OF >rORROW COUNTY. 



yield or be shot down. He w.is taken and bound 
over to court, but, no one appearing against him, 
was acquitted. He afterward met w^th a terrible 
death. While sitting on a rail fence, he slipped 
and fell upon a sharp hoe, which entered his 
bowels in a frightful manner. After nine days 
of intense suffering, he died in great agony. 
There were several notorious desperadoes in the 
township between 1840 and 1850. They were 
connected with a gang of counterfeiters, one of 
their rendezvouses being in the heavy woods on 
Dry Creek. Two of them were Ed. Miller 
and George Huntley, the latter being half 
Indian, and as savage and vicious as half- 
breeds usually are. They passed counterfeit 
82.50 gold pieces upon the citizens until 
they were finally detected and chased into the 
woods. The neighbors turned out to hunt them, 
down, and, having chased them as far as the Bloom- 
field Cemetery, finally lost all traces of them, 
and were compelled to relinquish the hunt. It 
was afterward learned that Huntley had escaped 
through a gap in the circle of men who sur- 
rounded them, and Miller, ascending a large tree, 
escaped by concealing himself in a favoring fork. 
In 1844, several boys, digging in the bank at 
Sanford's mill-dam, found a white man's skeleton 
imbedded in the earth. An inquest was held over 
the mysterious bones, but the verdict was: "He 
came to his death from an unknown cause." In 
1879, the workmen in Roswell Clark's old stone 
quarry found two skeletons, one of a middle-aged 
man, and the other evidently belonging to a youth 
of sixteen or seventeen. They had seemingly 
been thrust, head foremost, down a cleft in the 
rocks, and the bones were quite well preserved. 
It was suspected that they were the victims of an 
alleged tragedy which occurred in Bennington 
Township about 1832. This, however, is only 
conjecture, yet they were undoubtedly white men's 
bones. On the 4th of July, 1862, F. H. 
Westbrook met with a terrible death at Sparta. It 
was announced that a large balloon was to be sent 
up, and, understanding that Westbrook was to 



accompany it, a vast crowd assembled to witness 
the event. It was inflated with hot air, but was 
so rotten that Westbrook had given up all idea of 
going up in it, intending to substitute a stone or 
cat in his stead. He was a boastful fellow, and, 
at the last moment, just as the balloon was about 
to leap into space, several men dared him to go up. 
This was too much, and he recklessly leaped into 
the balloon and rose rapidly in the air. At the 
height of 500 feet it burst in fragments, and man 
and balloon shot downward with frightful velocity. 
He struck the ground in an upright position, 
driving his feet several inches in the hard earth, 
and fracturing half the bones in his body. He 
was taken up unconscious, and died in about four 
hours. 

Taverns were opened to the public at an early 
day. Those who expected to keep tavern would 
usually erect double log cabins a story and a half 
high. Jonathan Hess opened his doors to the 
public as early as 1816; William Ayres did the 
same shortly afterward ; a Mr. Barr hung out a 
sign near the northern boundary in 1817, and 
Seth Knowles began to entertain travelers the 
same year. The bar-rooms of these taverns were 
the favorite resorts for loafers, who would assemble 
around the blazing fire in winter, to smoke and 
drink and tell "yarns" that would test the 
credulity of the auditors. Epinetus Howes was 
an early landlord in Sparta ; Lemuel Potter kept 
tavern on Potter's hill between 1830 and 1840; 
David McGinuis kept tavern in Sparta at an 
early day ; William Hulse subsequently kept tav- 
ern there for many years. He became widely 
known. The present landlord is W. S. Vansickle. 
Thomas Orsborn erected the first saw-mill in the 
township, in about 1828. William Sanford, the 
following year, put up one in the western part. 
The Coiles built one in 1833, Burkholder in 
1835, and Sheldon Sanford shortly after. A saw- 
mill that did good work was run by Benjamin 
Chase at Sparta. The Kents have a mill in the 
southwestern part of the township at present. 
William Speck's saw-mill at Sparta, is one of the 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



455 



best in the county, and has a capacity of from 
8,000 to 10,000 feet per day. The engine is 
thirty-horse-power, and the saw is double circular. 
Mr. Speck deserves much credit for the in- 
vention of simple mechanical contrivances, 
whereby the labor of one man is saved. The 
head-sawyer, standing on a platform four feet 
square, can do his own setting, and can change 
his logs at will, by the agency of levers. Thomas 
Orsborn was the first to " crack corn " in the town- 
ship, his mill being erected in 1823. This mill 
was burned down the following year, but was re- 
built in 1828. Nicholas Kile started a small 
corn-mill in 1825 ; James Thompson and Aaron 
Jackson also owned one about the same time. It 
was a partnership mill and was located on Mr. 
Thompson's farm. Neither of these mills attained 
a greater state of perfection than to furnish a lim- 
ited quantity of coarse flour. H. N. and M. B. 
Bradley started the first grist-mill in Sparta, 
placing their machinery in the building previously 
occupied by Benjamin Chase's wool-carding and 
cloth-dressing apparatus. It was a steam-mill, 
and had two run of stone, one for wheat and one 
for corn, and was started in about 1848. In 1875, 
a company consisting of six men, at a cost of $5,- 
300, erected the present grist mill at Sparta. The 
stock was divided into 106 shares of $50 each. 
Many of the citizens invested in the stock, which, 
after many vicissitudes, is now owned by William 
and Beverly Chase and Nelson Mead. The mill 
has two run of stone, and is second to no mill 
in the State for grade of flour. The Orsborn and 
Jackson corn-mills were erected to grind grain for 
distilleries built by these men. Orsborn's first dis- 
tillery, as if the Fates decreed its destruction, was 
burned to the ground, but was rebuilt in 1828, and 
a new copper still of greater capacity added. 
"Tread -mil Is" were early institutions in the town- 
ship, and were set in motion by horses or cattle 
walking upon an inclined plane, to which was 
attached an endless belt connected by shafting 
with the stone that ground the grain. Like the 
wheel of Ixion, this inclined plane was a perpetual 



punishment to the unfortunate animals that fur- 
nished the motive power. They were finally 
changed into water-mills. These distilleries were 
built because there was a growing demand for a 
market for grain, and because the pioneer deemed 
liquor one of the necessities of life. There was 
no market for corn and rye unless the settler could 
exchange it for whisky, or unless he could have 
it made into whisky on shares. The settler 
regarded them, therefore, very highly, as furnish- 
ing whisky, and also a market for corn and rye. 
An excellent peach brandy was made at Orsborn's 
distillery. Before the mills were erected, the set- 
tlers were obliged to take their grain to Young's, 
Banning's or Douglas' mills, on Owl Creek and 
Vernon River. In times of drouth, when mills 
on the smaller streams could not run, and those on 
the larger streams, like those of the gods, had to 
grind slowly, settlers were obliged to wait a week 
for their grist. The roads were mere blazed paths 
through the forest, and at some seasons of the year 
seemed bottomless. These mill trips were a great 
hardship, and, when the first mill in the township 
was built, there was much rejoicing. Nicholas 
Kile, Thomas Orsborn, William Sanford and James 
Thompson were the only men who owned early 
grist-mills. 

Many stories are told of the evil effects of 
the distilleries alluded to and the sad end of some 
of their patrons. A man named Bottom, who 
came into the township with Orsborn, drank to 
excess. One bitterly cold day in winter, he 
started for Mount Vernon, but, failing to return 
for several days, search was made for him, when 
he was found sitting in an upright position on 
the ground frozen to death. Between his knees, 
clasped in his hands, was a bottle half full of 
whisky, to which he had evidently vainly ap- 
plied for relief in his last moments. 

In 1820, John Roof put in five vats for 
dressing skins, his tannery being the first in 
the township. He discontinued the business at 
the end of one year. In 1825, Isaac Pardy 
erected tannery buildings in the western part. 



TV 



456 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



This tun-yard was afterward owned by Miller, 
and still later by Rambo. Many of the set- 
tlers could dress skins after a fashion ; but after 
erection the tanneries were generally patronized. 
Pardy owned a dog that was so savage and 
dangerous that neighbors were afraid to approach 
the house. One day several young men were 
hunting in the woods about half a mile from 
the tan-yard, when they saw this dog leisurely 
trotting homeward from an obvious visit to some 
canine friend. The boys recognized the dog, 
and, rejoicing at the opportunity, shot and killed 
it. While commenting over its corpse, a novel 
idea darted through their minds. Why not sell 
the skin to Pardy ? It was hastily removed, and 
then the boys marched boldly into the presence 
of Pardy and oflfered it for sale. They were 
paid almost a dollar for it; but the next day 
Pardy discovered the wrong done him, and de- 
manded the money he had paid, which was 
gladly refunded by the boys, who were glad to 
escape so easily. 

The old State road, passing northeast and 
southwest through Sparta, was laid out a number 
of years before the war of 1812. Its course was 
from Mansfield, via Frederick and Sunbury, to 
Columbus. The second road was the Mount Ver- 
non and Delaware road, laid out about 1811. In 
1814, the New Haven and Johnstown road, pass- 
ing north and south through Bloomficld, was pro- 
jected. In 181 G, the Quakers in Chester Township 
cut out a road through Bloomfield to a small set- 
tlement near Mount Liberty. 

Marshall Clark was the first blacksmith in the 
township. He worked at his trade on Clark street 
about five months, making trace-chains, bridle-bits, 
etc., and shoeing horses and oxen. One day in 
the autumn of 1816, while engaged in shoeing a 
horse, he was taken suddenly and violently ill 
before the work was completed, and died the next 
day ; this was the first death in the township. 
David Anderson and Seth Xash erected blacksmith 
shops in 1817. James Thompson built a shop 
soon afterward. Thompson was a man of excellent 



mind and habits, and was one of the most prom- 
inent of the early pioneers. The present pros- 
elytes of Vulcan, in Sparta, are Frank Cotton, 
Abraham Herron and Minard and Mullenger. 
Isaac Pardy was the earliest shoemaker. Osgood 
Dustin made shoes in Sparta in 1830. Benjamin 
Tatman ran a shoe-shop in 1825. 

W. A. Inscho is the present shoemaker at 
Sparta, and is a first-class workman. Francis 
Warren kept the first butcher-shop in the south- 
ern part of the township, in 1829. Curiously 
enough, be kept no venison, selling beef and pork 
altogether, which, at that time, were a greater 
rarity than deer meat. Harvey Simon and 
Thomas Orsborn are the Sparta butchers at pres- 
ent. Preston Hubbell was the first cabinet-maker 
in the township, erecting his shop in 1819. He 
did not continue long in the business, but turned 
his attention to the more profitable occupation of 
farming. John Blinn was the first cabinet-maker 
in Sparta. He followed the business from 1845, 
for fifteen years, running three benches, and 
doing an extensive business. He also ran a 
hearse, which was the first in the township. 
James Shumate was also an early cabinet-maker. 
Stephen and Alexander Marvin made saddle- 
trees from cucumber wood, in 1820. Skinner, 
Newcomb and Macomber made wooden bowls of 
all sizes, which were useful vessels at an early 
period. John Manville, Sr., carried on a cooper- 
shop, making whisky barrels, tubs, buckets, etc. 
Peter Kile planted the first orchard in the spring 
of 1816, procuring the trees from Delaware 
County. If the trees were from Johnny Apple- 
seed's nursery, it is not known by Kile's descend- 
ants. A few of these trees are yet standing on the 
old place now owned by his grandson, Lon Ramey. 
Hugh Hartshorn, who appeared in 1822, was a 
hatter. He manufactured hats of lambs' wool 
and kept a small stock for sale. This was quite 
an enterprise in the wilderness, but Hartshorn 
found it unprofitable, and started for some greater 
jtaradise for hatters. ' Roswell Clark began burn- 
ing lime in 1819, and for many years supplied 



HISTORY OF MORROAV COUNTY. 



457 



Mount Vernon with vast quantities, which 
were usually sold for 50 cents per bushel. 
John Manville made brick as early as 1823. 
This was a very important and useful industry, as 
the early settlers with difficulty obtained material 
for building chimneys. Preston Hubbell, who died 
in 1821, was the first person buried in the Bloom- 
field Cemetery. Christina Hess, born in the spring 
of 1817, was the first child born in the township. 
Chester Rosecrans was born in the fall, being the 
first male child. Two marriages, probably the 
first, occurred in the fall of 1819, the first one 
being Eliza Whitney to George Manville ; the sec- 
ond, Melvina Hubbell to William Sanford. Ben- 
jamin Taylor was the first Assessor, and made his 
returns in June, 1818. The following was an 
early divorce a mensa et thoro : "By mutual con- 
sent, James C. and Rebecca Wilson, of Bloomfield 
Township, Knox Co., have this day agreed to dis- 
solve as being man and wife." The first brick 
house in the township was built in 1824, by 
Roswell Clark ; the house is yet standing, and is 
owned by Joseph Conway. In 1825, John Man- 
ville erected the second from brick made by 
himself; this is also standing, and is owned by 
Nathan Moore. The first frame dwelling-house 
was built in 1828 by Sheldon Clark, and is yet 
standing. The first frame building was a barn 
erected by Washington Hubbell in 1823 ; it is still 
standing on Marvin Lyon's farm. William Chase 
and Henry Weaver, Esq., are running a large tile 
factory at present, about half a mile southwest of 
Sparta. Joseph Conway is burning an excellent 
lime on Roswell Clark's old farm. 

The first religious society was established on 
Clark street in 1818, by the Methodists. The first 
families to join were those of Roswell Clark, 
Walker Lyon, Preston Hubbell, John Manville, 
John Helt, William Ayres and a few others. 
Elder Thomas conducted a wonderful revival 
in 1819; whole families were converted, and the 
meetings were thronged with those seeking salva- 
tion. Every man in the neighborhood was con- 
verted except Seth Knowles, who seems to have 



been a sort of Voltaire or Bob Ingersoll, and held 
aloof from their meetings in scornful disdain. He 
was a profane man, and took especial delight in 
annoying the worshipers on their way to meeting 
by the use of irreverent expletives. The meet- 
ings were held in the cabins of the settlers, 
or in new barns. On one occasion several 
"ungodly boys," wishing to have some fun, con- 
cealed themselves in the loft of a new barn on 
Clark street, and deliberately planned the first 
Judgment on record. The members assembled 
and everything went ofi" smoothly. The first in- 
spiring songs were sung, the first prayers deliv- 
ei'ed, and the minister, in his suit of homespun, 
arose in the pulpit and began firing the souls of 
his auditors with his rude eloquence. Soon the 
room became filled with one glad chorus of shouts 
and hallelujahs. At this instant a terrific thun- 
dering was heard above, as if the day of doom had 
dawned. For a moment, all below was as still as 
death. Some, with dumb lips, stared wildly at 
the ceiling; others, more acute, soon discovered 
the hoax. The boys had dislodged a large heap 
of rough timber which had been suspended above, 
and which, in falling on the floor of the loft, had 
caused this thundering sound. Without waiting to 
see if their efibrts to bring the world to Judgment 
would be successful, the boys jumped from the 
loft and disappeared in the woods. 

Tn 1823, a log cabin was erected near Roswell 
Clark's, built by subscription, and designed both 
for a schoolhouse and church. In 1839, the 
present Methodist Episcopal Church at Bloom- 
field, the oldest church building in the township, 
was erected. Additions have since been made to 
it. Roswell Clark was one of the most influen- 
tial members in early times, and his acts were 
carefully scanned and observed. One Sunday he 
so far forgot himself as to boil sugar water nearly 
all day. This conduct created much gossip among 
his fellow-members, who finally instituted a church 
trial, which resulted in his being convicted of hav- 
ing violated the Sabbath. After the trial, some 
sympathizing friend asked him if he was sorry. 



458 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



" Yes," said he, "I'm sorry I had no more water 
to boil." In 1822, Rev. James Smith, from 
Mount Vornon, established a New Light Church 
Society, in the vicinity of Sparta. It grew and 
prospered, and for many years was the .strongest 
society in the townsliip. Elder William H. 
Ashley figured prominently in this society for 
many years. The meetings were first held in the 
settlers' cabins, afterward in the schoolhouses, and 
finally in the Christian Church at Sparta, erected 
in 1841, at a cost of about $1,200. A Methodist 
society was organized near Sparta, about 1822. 
It was a strong one, and did much to improve the 
morals of the settlers. Their church at Sparta 
was built in 1842, costing about $1,400. Previous 
to 187G, Elder McCulloch, of Nevada, Ohio, had 
preached in the Christian Church at Sparta. Be- 
ing a man well instructed in the fundamental doc- 
trines of his church (Advent Christian), and able to 
support them by a powerful array of Scriptural 
evidence, he succeeded in changing the faith of 
some of the members, and in creating a spirited 
controversy on doctrinal points upon which the 
church had previously been harmonious, if not 
united. A few members, led by Robert Chase 
and Elder Lohr, attempted to silence the discord, 
but failing, a movement was effected, which ban- 
ished McCulloch and his followers from the 
church. This highly dissatisfied those whose 
faith had been changed. They looked upon the ac- 
tion as arbitrary, dictatorial and oppressive. They, 
therefore, though few in number, resolved to 
build themselves a church. Accordingly, at a 
meeting held at the residence of John Blinn, on 
the 20th of May, 1876, the following covenant 
was entered into: 

" 1. We whose names are subjoined do hereby 
covenant and agree by the help of the Lord, to 
work together as a church of Christ, faithfully 
maintaining its ordinances, taking the Bible as the 
only rule of faith, practice, church order and dis- 
cipline, making Christian character the only test of 
fellowship and communion. 

"2. We further agree, with Christian fidelity and 



meekness, to exercise mutual watch — care, to 
counsel, admonish or reprove as duty may re- 
(juire, and to receive the same from each other 
as becometh the household of faith." 

With these principles of faith, the little party of 
Christian workers launched out upon the troubled 
waters. Their church was immediately erected, the 
Universalists, other denominations and outsiders 
assisting them to the extent of $100 or $200. By 
the conditions of subscription, the doors of this 
church are open to any and all Christian denomi- 
nations to worship God after the dictates of their 
own conscience. John Blinn has been the lead- 
ing spirit in this church since its organization, 
having paid, in money and labor, fully one-fourth 
the cost of construction. 

In 1850, the Wesleyan Methodists erected a 
small church one and a half miles west of Sparta; 
but the building, for several years past, has been 
used for other purposes. The United Brethren 
own a small church in the southern part of the 
township, where they are wont to assemble for the 
worship of God. The Methodists in the north- 
eastern corner, have lately erected them a fine 
church, costing about $1,400. They have quite 
a flourishing congregation. The citizens of the 
township, as a whole, are zealous in promoting the 
success of their religious faith. 

The Odd Fellows' Lodge, at Sparta, was insti- 
tuted April 12, 1855, by Grand Master T. J. 
McLane. There were but six charter members : 
Nathan Harris, G. W. Smith, M. B. Allen, H. 
N. Bradley, T. S. Wilson and A. C. Gilbert. 
Nathan Harris is the only charter member now 
living in the vicinity of Sparta. Within a year 
after its organization, the lodge had forty active 
members. Their hall was built in 1867, they own- 
ing the upper story, and the township using the 
lower story for a town hall. The lodge paid about 
$1,100, and the citizens of the township about the 
same, making $2,200, total cost for the building. 
The present ofiicers are: N. B. Allen, N. G. ; N. 
Harris, A^G.; H. M. Bradley, P. S.; G. W. 
Smith, T. ; and A. C. Gilbert, R. S. The lodge 



;^ 



^ 



^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



461 



meets every Saturday evening, and is known as 
Sparta Lodge, No. 268, I. 0. O. F. 

The Masonic Lodge was organized under dis- 
pensation, and a charter obtained in October, 1868, 
when it was duly constituted. The charter mem- 
bers were C. S. Pyle, E. B. Cook, A. J. Roberts, 
Calvin Gunsaulus, Lewis Cahan, J. H. Osborn, H. 
P. Ashley, Milton Ashley, Henry Blinn, T. G. 
McFadon and Leonard Murray. S. W. Stahl 
organized the lodge under the dispensation and J. 
N. Burr constituted it under the charter. The 
present oflBcers are: Lester Gloyd, W. M, ; B. D. 
Buxton, S. W.; J. Throckmorton, J. W.; William 
Taylor, Treas. ; Henry Hulse, Sec. ; A. J. Roberts, 
S. D.; C. A. Sprague, J. D.; T. E. Orsborn, 
Tiler. Their hall was erected in 1868, at a cost 
of $1,500, the fraternity building the upper, and 
F. G. Jackson the lower, story. The lodge meets 
once a month, and is known as Bloomfield Lodge, 
No. 422, A., F. & A. M. 

The first school in the township was taught by 
Miss Melvina Hubbell, in the summer of 1819, 
about half a mile southwest of Sparta, in a log 
building intended for a dwelling. In the fall of 
1819, a log schoolhouse was built near the old 
Swetland farm, and during the succeeding winter, 
Dr. A. W. Swetland kept school there. It was 
a " subscription school " and was the first taught 
in a real schoolhouse. Each scholar paid $1.50 
for the term of three months. The teacher made 
a specialty of penmanship. Roger Blinn also taught 
a few scholars in his dwelling house the same win- 
ter. School was kept in a log schoolhouse, near 
Peter Kile's, in 1820. Just south of the cemetery, 
a schoolhouse was built in 1820, and William 
Sanford was the first teacher. This school was 
one of the best in the township up to that time. 
Children left other schools and went to Sanford. 
Dr. Bliss sent his daughter Maria to him, that 
she might study Murray's Grammar. Sanford had 
as high as thirty scholars. The early schoolhouses 
were often mere shells, destitute of al,l conveniences 
or attractions. The books were so few as to almost 
escape observation. The A^ B, C's were often 



learned from a piece of oiled paper, through which 
the letters had been pricked with a pin. The early 
schoolhouse at the cemetery took fire one windy, 
winter night, and burned to the ground, consuming 
what few books and slates the pupils owned. In 
1823, a small, hewed-log schoolhouse was built on 
Clark street, to take the place of the one destroyed 
by fire. This was found to be too small, as it was 
required to do the duty of a church as well ; so, 
about 1830, a much larger one was erected nearit. 
The Methodists held their meetings here. Em- 
met Cotton taught school the winter of 1824-25, 
in a log schoolhouse, in the southern part of the 
township. The first schoolhouse in Sparta was 
built in 1829, and was located near Mr. Speck's 
saw-mill. The second was built near the present 
Christian Church, about 1846, The present one 
was erected near the commencement of the late 
war. Schoolhouses in various parts of the town- 
ship have arisen, serving their allotted time, and, 
falling into ruin, new and improved ones taking 
their place. No school buildings of any great value 
have been erected in the township. 

One of the best schools in the township is 
taught by W. C. Barr, near Col. Brown's resi- 
dence. Mr. Barr is a fine scholar, reducing his 
teaching to a system, and the patrons are amply 
repaid by the rapid strides made by their 
children in the path of learning. He has dem- 
onstrated the advantage and necessity of edu- 
cation. The Sparta District enumerates about one 
hundred scholars, and has an average attendance 
of seventy. The school is graded, and two teachers 
are employed. Burton Ashley is the teacher in 
the higher department, and Miss Mary Chase 
teaches the lower department. Mr. Ashley has 
aroused much interest and enthusiasm in the 
school. 

In 1823, Aaron Macomber settled about half a 
mile northeast of Sparta. He made wooden 
bowls from cucumber wood, turning them out 
with machinery run by a horse. Hugh Harts- 
horn lived near him with a small storeroom of 
hats which he manufactured from wool in a small 



itiL 



462 



HISTORY OF I^IORROW COUNTY. 



log building near his house. In 1824, Macomber 
secured the services of Eastman, the Knox County 
Surveyor, and laid out a small town which, in 
honor of its founder, was named Aaronsburg. It 
does not appear that any lots were sold, and the 
town soon died. In 1827, Lemuel Potter laid out 
a town across the street from Potter's hill, the 
surveying being done by Samuel Bryant. Potter 
named the town Rome, but it did not bear any 
resemblance to ancient Rome. It passed into 
oblivion, and, like the dead, was slowly forgotten. 
The village of Bloomfield was surveyed and plat- 
ted April 18, 184-5, the surveyor being Thomas 
C. Hickman, and the projectors and proprietors 
Elizur Loveland and Alexander Marvin. The 
town was originally laid out into thirteen lots, and 
owing to the exasperating indifference of some 
of the citizens, has never been increased by addi- 
tions. The first building was erected by Floyd 
Sears, in 1846. It was located on the south- 
east corner and designed as a storeroom. Into 
this room William Kincade, of Martinsburg, 
moved S2,500 worth of goods, which Mr. Sears 
sold on commission. At the end of eighteen 
months, Mr. Sears and his brother-in-law, L. F. 
Dewitt, succeeded Kincade with a general assort- 
ment valued at $3,000. In 1854, Eli Hollister 
bought them out and moved his stock into a new 
building on the northeast corner. He was fol- 
lowed by Knode, Sheldon, Bottomfield, Chase & 
Richard, Wright & Vail, Smith, Harris and Har- 
per. During the war, an excellent business 
was done here. Marvin Lyon opened a shoe-shop 
in 1862; in 1873, he began with a general 
assortment of goods, and at present has a stock 
valued at $1,000. Robert Patton was the first 
blacksmith, working in a shop erected by Floyd 
Sears in 1847. Samuel Harvey made wagons in 
1852. John Millison did a small undertaking 
business. Charles Sprague had a tinshop in 1868. 
Lark in Hobbs made barrels, tubs, etc., in 1857. 
Mortimer French kept a saloon in a brick house 
west of Bloomfield in 1857. One dark night, a 
party of disguised men went to his saloon, broke 



open the door, and emptied the liquor into the 
street. That was the last of his saloon. William 
Scuddle erected a steam saw-mill in 1850, John 
Cavert being the sawyer. A schoolhouse was 
built in the town in 1852, and another, just north 
of the town, in 1877; Earnest Lyon is the pres- 
ent teacher. Dr. McClernand located near Bloom- 
field in 1842; he was followed by Drs. Hubbell, 
Mendenhall and Hess. The post office was 
secured at Bloomfield, in 1833, by Samuel Whit- 
ney, who became the first Postmaster; Marvin 
Lyon is the present Postmaster. The present 
population is about fifty-five. Bloomfield was 
once a promising town, but it has been badly 
blighted. 

The first building in Sparta was a double log 
cabin, built by William B. Carpenter, in 1826, 
and located where Dupee & Bowman's hardware 
store now stands. A month afterward, he erected 
a small log building across the street, just opposite 
his dwelling, to be used as a storeroom, into which 
he put $250 worth of goods, consisting largely of 
whisky. The second dwelling-house was built in 
1828, by Joseph Skinner, who was a carpenter by 
trade, and located in the western part of the town. 
The third was built by David McGinnis in 1829; 
this man kept travelers, and in one part of his 
cabin kept about $100 worth of notions. Osgood 
Dustin erected his cabin in 1830. These four 
families comprised the population in 1830, the to- 
tal being eighteen souls. Carpenter had an ash- 
ery, exchanging his goods for ashes, which were 
made into " scorched " and " white salts," and a 
small amount of "pearlash." In December, Car- 
penter sold out to Dr. A. W. Swetland, who 
placed in the storeroom, about $4,000 worth of 
goods. The Doctor's brother,Fuller, clerked for him 
during the winter of 1832-33, and in the spring 
of 1833, the Doctor and his family came on from 
Delaware County. After this, Sparta, then known 
by the general appellation of Bloomfield, became 
an extensive trading-point. The Doctor's first 
stock of goods was steadily increased, until in 1850, 
it invoiced at $12,000. The ashery was run by him 



hL 



HISTOKY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



463 



in connection with the store, goods being given in 
exchange for ashes. This ashery became one of 
the most extensive in Central Ohio, yielding as 
high as fifteen tons of excellent "pearl ash" per 
annum. The town began to improve, and the set- 
tlers poured into the surrounding woods. All got 
their goods at " the store " largely on trust. 
S wetland dealt largely in wheat, pork packing, 
flax-seed and butter, at one time buying 3,000 
pounds of the latter for 6 cents per pound and 
selling it in New York for a shilling. He usually 
lost on his pork, as the cost of transporting such 
bulky staples swallowed up the profits. Teamsters 
were employed to convey his produce to New York, 
and to bring back a load of groceries, dry goods, 
etc. He carried on a vast trade for a quarter of a 
century, but in 1854, he was compelled to close his 
store. Though eighty-three years old, he still 
lives, hearty and hale, with mind as clear as ever, 
at his old home in Sparta. He was the projector 
and proprietor of Sparta, helping survey it in 
1837, and giving it the name it now bears. He 
secured the post office in 1838, and was the first 
Postmaster. The surveyor was Johnson Stone, 
of Knox County, laying out twenty lots on each 
side of the Columbus road, making forty in all. 
Additions have since been made by Seth and 
Frank Swetland and John Blinn. In 1835, Chase 
& Bliss had a small stock of goods in Eastern 
Sparta. In 1838, Potter & Bliss had $1,800 
worth of goods on Potter's hill. This firm 
erected the building now occupied by Chipps & 
Hulse, into which they moved their goods. The 
building has since been remodeled. In 1840, the 
town had a population of about fifty. William 
Chase became Dr. Swetland's successor, buying 
him out in 1854, and entering into partnership 
with his brother John. Reuben, another brother, 
became a partner in 1862. This firm did a re- 
markable business for a country store, the sales, 
some ycais during the war, amounting to $40,- 
000, making it necessary for the firm to take 
out a wholesale license. They dealt largely 
in wool, buying, in 1863, 106,000 pounds, which 



were sold for 75 cents per pound. Sheep were bought 
and sold, and handsome profits realized. Sparta has 
always been a lively business town. Byron Swet- 
land kept a stock of goods for many years. In 
1838, Benjamin Chase established a wool-carding 
and cloth-dressing mill in Eastern Sparta ; he did 
an extensive business, carding, during the summer 
season, from sixty thousand to one hundred thous- 
?ind pounds of wool. He owned the mill for about 
ten years, when it was sold to other parties, who 
continued the business afterward. Charles Osborn 
was the last connected with it. During the war, 
Elisha Cook ran a steam saw and grist mill in the 
old factory buildings. A few lawyers have braved 
the frowns of the Spartans and located here ; P. 
C. Beard and Wesley Harris, formerly, and Henry 
Weaver at present. Dr. Swetland was the first 
physician in Sparta, though he did not prac- 
tice. Dr. Thomas Richards was the first prac- 
ticing physician in the town ; he was followed by 
C. M. Eaton, Harvey Ames, James Page, Burns, 
Wilson, Gunsaulus, Tims, Bliss and Buxton. 
Dr. Buxton has just received the nomination for 
Auditor at the Republican County Convention. 

Nancy M. Ashley was the first milliner in 
Sparta, locating there in 1836 ; she was followed by 
Mrs. Elizabeth Ashley, Mrs Inscho and others. 
The present milliners are Mrs. W. C. Harris and 
Miss Bell Bliss. Misses M. E. and Sue Fry are 
the Sparta dressmakers. Among the business 
men of the town are John Inscho, furniture deal- 
er, cabinet-maker and undertaker; Louie Gaynes, 
barber and restaurant-keeper; J. 0. Wetsel, har- 
ness-maker ; E. E. Green, druggist ; Dupee & 
Bowman, general hardware stock; J. A. Sheldon, 
general store ; J. P. Vail, a general assortment of 
goods ; Chipps & Hulse, a large general stock of 
goods. 

On the 8th of November, 1879, a daring and 
successful burglary was committed in Sparta. A 
number of men broke open J. P. Vail's store, blew 
open his safe with gunpowder and took from it 
$1,530 belonging to himself and different parties 
in and around Sparta. 



^ ( 



464 



HISTORY OF MOKKOW COUNTY. 



The citizens of Sparta are intelligent, temperate 
and moral. They have no saloon, and, should such 
II pestilence strike the town, it would be looked 
upon lis a dire calamity. For a few years prior to 
1870, the Spartans had noticed with pride the 
growing beauties of their town. Several ambitious 
men desired the incorporation of the town, but, 
unfortunately, there wore not enough favoring it 
to accomplish that result. Concluding thai there 
was '-wisdom in counsel," they deliberated in pri- 
vate, easily securing the incorporation of the town. 
Like Lord Byron, the citizens of the city awoke 
one morning to find themselfes famous. They 
immediately began to assume metropolitan airs, and 
a few have not yet recovered from the epidemic of 
aristocracy with which they were afl3icted. In a fit 
of enthusiasm, they erected street lamps, but at 
this point they ingloriously failed — became unwise, 
like the virgins of old. They ran out of oil, and 
the posts are all that now remain, a ghostly me- 
mento of former greatness. 

South Bloomfield Township is one of the finest 
in Morrow County. In 1848, an event occurred 
which was bitterly opposed by the citizens. This 
was the sepai-ation of the township from Knox 
County by the formation of Morrow County. 
When the subject was first broached, and it 
became apparent that South Bloomfield must 
form a part of the new county, petitions and 
remonstrances were employed to oppose the 
scheme, but without avail. The township was 
closer to Mount Vernon than to Mount Gilead ; 



the former city was larger and a much better 
trading-point ; many of the citizens had friends 
living at or near Mount Vernon. For these 
reasons the citizens opposed the separation, and 
have ever since regretted being made part of Morrow 
County. No one to-day would oppose a measure 
that would reunite them with Knox County. 

South Bloomfield has the finest country ceme- 
tery in the State. In 1821, John Helt and 
Matthew Marvin each gave half an acre to be 
used as a burying-ground. To this, additions have 
been made at different times, until the yard at 
present comprises sixteen acres. It is a private ceme- 
tery owned by nine men, who are trustees for life. 
They have absolute control of all portions not sold 
to lot-holders, and the lots are held in trust by 
them. These men are John Blinn, Floyd Sears, 
Warren Swetland, John Allison, John McGuire, 
Col. A. H. Brown, Jonathan Burnett, Daniel 
Chase and Rowland Rogers. There are 500 
evergreens in it, many of them being over a foot 
in diameter. These consist of Norway and Scotch 
pine, American and black spruce, balsam fir, arbor 
vita), hemlock, weeping and other willows, Irish 
junipers, lilac, horse-chestnut, hard and soft maple, 
roses, etc. The situation commands an extensive 
view of all that region of country, and the pros- 
pect from the higher points would delight the eye 
of a landscape gardener. Many costly and beauti- 
ful monuments mark the last resting-spot of the 
loved dead. The Ewart vault contains the ashes 
of four members of that family. 




HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



_-i8 ® 



465 



hL^ 



CHAPTER XVIT. 

HARMONY TOWNSHIP- FIRST SETTLEMENT— EARLY SOCIAL CUSTOMS— PIONEER CHURCHES 

AND THEIR SUCCESSORS— SCHOOLS, ETC. 

pioneers. Under the operation of such influences, 



THE history of the settlement of a new country 
is an interesting study — to note the causes 
that determine the actions of the pioneer, and mark 
the guidings of that " divinity that shapes our 
ends, rough hew them as we may ;" and, when 
the current of emigration sets in like the flowing 
of an ocean tide, the waves of population advan- 
cing and receding, gaining force with every advance, 
and each time conquering a wider area — to mark 
how the wilderness is lost in the landscape dotted 
over with fruitful farms and pleasant homes. 

The tide of emigration to which the county of 
Delaware owes its early settlement, flowed in from 
the South and Southeast, along the old Granville 
road by the Alum Creek trail, and up the Olen- 
tangy River, settling up, principally, the southern 
portion of the county. The first families that 
found a home in this territory hesitated to plunge 
into the forests remote from the older settlements, 
which were then at Worthington, Zanesville and 
Chillicothe. Later, when the county was formed, 
and a business and social center formed at the 
county seat, the tide of emigration flowed further 
north, but still measured its advance by the prox- 
imity of its settlements to the newly formed center 
of communication. This was a consideration of 
vital importance to the pioneers in those days of 
blazed roads and unbridged streams. For years 
the county seat was the vital center from which 
proceeded the social and official currents that were 
the life-blood of the communities settled about it. 
Here was frequently located the only post office, 
grist-mill and store, while the sessions of the court, 
the payment of taxes, and the no less important 
business of the Board of Commissioners, demand- 
ed the frequent presence and attention of the 



a large part of the northern and eastern part of 
the county was for years but little more than the 
common hunting-ground of Indians and adventur- 
ous whites. This large area of territory was 
formed into a small township called Sunbury, and 
from it, at various times since, smaller divisions 
have been formed, until now only the thriving 
village of that name in Berkshire, serves to per- 
petuate its name. Harmony was set off from this 
comprehensive township June 5, 1820 ; and, as 
first erected, included the northern half of Ben- 
nington, the northeast section of Peru, the eastern 
half of Lincoln, the whole of the present township 
of Harmony, and a strip of country of this width 
extending to the northern boundary of Crawford 
County. It retained this wide area of territory 
for a short time only. The erection of other 
counties curtailed its jurisdiction to the limits of 
the treaty line, and, in 1828, was restricted to its 
present limits by the erection of Lincoln Town- 
ship. As now situated, it is bounded on the 
north, following the treaty line, by Franklin and 
Gilead, on the east by Franklin and Chester, 
south by Bennington, and west by Lincoln. The 
general character of the surface of Harmony 
Township is that of low, wet ground. The north- 
ern part was surveyed, in 1803, by Jesse Spencer, 
and the southeast section by William Harris, in 
1811. The original field-notes that have been 
preserved show that the country was wet, the 
northeast quarter showing only narrow tracts of 
solid land winding among the swamps. These 
swamps the early settlers designated by names 
suggestive of their different characteristics. In 
the northern middle part of the township was an 



liL 



466 



HISTORY OF MOlillOW COUNTY 



extensive swaiup called the Long Swamp ; to the 
south and east a short distance were the Prairie 
and Feather Bed Swaiups. About the middle of 
the township was located the Wildcat Swamp, and 
a little to the east of that is what is known as the 
Rosy Swamp. This quarter of the township has 
undergone a remarkable change in the course of 
clearing. The swamps have largely dried up un- 
der the influence of the sun and drainage, and the 
site of some of them is now some of the finest 
farming land in the township. Across the corner 
of this quarter of the township flows the Middle 
Branch of Owl Creek, and flowing up from the 
south, along the eastern border of the township, 
the southern branch of the tame stream is found. 
This run, Gen. Taylor, the owner of the section, 
desired to have named after him, and it did gain 
the local name of Taylor Run, but it was soon lost 
sight of, and is now generally known as the South 
Branch of Owl Creek. Owing to the lay of the land, 
however, these streams afford but slight drainage, 
and do not form a conspicuous feature in the topog- 
raphy of the township. In the western portion 
of Harmony the Big Walnut takes its rise, for- 
merly heading in a swamp which took the name 
of Big Belly, from a local name applied to the 
river. This stream flows south along the western 
part of the township, without reaching any con- 
siderable size in this region, and with but few 
branches. To the west of this stream, the surface 
is higher, and is fine, rolling clay land. East of 
the river, the general characteristics of the town- 
ship prevail, and good drinking water is diflScult to 
find. The general business of farming occupies 
the attention of the residents, which exacts a good 
deal of labor to render profitable, on account of 
the amount of draining necessary. When once 
thoroughly drained, however, the soil in most 
places, is a rich, black muck, that yields abundant 
returns. Stock-raising is engaged in to some ex- 
tent, by the farmers, and some small fruits are 
grown for market. 

The early settlement of the township is not 
very clearly known. The Commissioner's records 



of Delaware County show that Harmony was 
erected in 1820, but with such comprehensive 
boundaries as to suggest that it was formed as a 
matter of county convenience rather than on pe- 
tition of any inhabitants that may have resided 
therein. So far as can be ascertained, no settle- 
ments were made within the present boundaries, 
until about 1826. The land was known, and would 
doubtless have been early settled if the status of 
the land had been better known. The southeast 
quarter had been bought by Gen. James Taylor, 
of Newport, Ky. The southwest quarter was 
school land, and the rest was Congress and mili- 
tary lands. Many settlers who would have settled 
on this land, were diverted to other parts, because 
they did not care to hunt up the character of the 
land when there was plenty at hand just as good, 
where no difficulty of that nature existed. To set 
the matter at rest, however, early in 182-1, Will- 
iam Davis, a resident of Knox County, wrote to 
Chillicothe for information, and in that year entered 
the first Congressional land within the present 
limits of the township. His land was located 
near the bend in the South Branch of Owl Creek, 
and is still occupied by his son. The first actual 
settler, however, was Alexander Walker, who had 
come some years before as one of the earliest set- 
tlers to the site of Chesterville. He came origi- 
nally, from Washington County Penn., and stayed 
in Chester some fifteen years. He located his land 
where Hugh Green now lives, building his cabin 
on the banks of Owl Creek, but, following the 
bent of his mind, he left the township in a few 
years in search of a newer country. If not the 
second fiimily, that of Charles McCracken was 
very closely following that of Walker. McCrack- 
en came to Chester from Lancaster County, Penn., 
but, finding the land of Harmony not so generally 
taken, entered a form of a hundred acres in the 
eastern edge of the township, near where runs the 
Cardington and Chesterville road. Coming close 
upon this family was William Kramer, from 
Franklin County, Ohio, who settled on a small 
tract just west of McCracken, on the branch of Owl 



±1 



HISTORY OF MOEROW COUNTY. 



467 



Creek. The way thus opened was soon followed 
by those who had become restless in the older set- 
tlements and desired a newer country, and, not- 
withstanding the forbidding character of the soil, 
the northeast quarter settled up quite rapidly. The 
settlejnent was thus principally made up from the 
older settlements near at hand, and to consider- 
able extent by those, who, after partially clearing 
up their farms, moved again to newer territory. 
Among those who came into this section within a 
few jears of the first settlers, was James McCrary, 
originally from Licking County. He came to Ches- 
ter, and from there moved to Harmony, settling on 
the land just north of Kramer, and on the oppo- 
site side of the stream. Zabad Pierce entered a 
farm in the same vicinity, and George Burns, who 
came' from Columbiana County, located on the 
land now owned by Jacob Fogle. 

On January 7, 1826, Samuel Hayden came into 
the township and settled on the Cardington and 
Chesterville road, just north of the stream, his 
farm lying right on the boundary line between 
Chester and Harmony Townships. He moved, with 
his parents, from Greene County, Penn., when 
about five years old, and settled in Licking Coun- 
ly, in November, 1808. The two hundred miles 
which intervened was traveled on horseback within 
the space of eight days, losing one day by a storm 
that compelled them to put up. William Hayden, 
his father, came by way of the Ohio and Mus- 
kingum Rivers, in order to bring their goods. The 
mother, with a fortitude rarely equaled, performed 
the long journey overland, riding on horseback, 
carrying her infant daughter, and leading a horse 
on which Samuel and his younger brother rode. 
The boys were hardly old enough to keep their 
position on horseback, but the mother's eye 
watched every motion with jealous care, bringing 
her little family safely through the wilderness to 
her frontier home. They moved into Newton 
Township and lived there some thirteen years. The 
father was a great hunter, and, it is said, made, 
with a companion, one of the most successful bear 
hunts known in the new country. His companion 



was not much of a shot, but owned a good dog, 
and was fond of the sport. Hayden, who was an 
expert shot, made the party complete, and usually 
showed good results for their efforts. At this time, 
the ground was covered with thick underbrush, 
and their usual plan was to separate, and, after a 
wide circuit, to meet at some point fixed upon, or 
be governed by a rifle-shot or the bark of the dog. 
On this occasion, after a short separation, Hayden 
heard the report of his companion's gun, and, has- 
tening to the spot, found his friend greatly excited 
over five bears on one tree. " What have you 
killed ? " asked Hayden. " Nothing," replied the 
other, "but look there! " On looking up, Hayden 
saw five bears on a white-oak tree, that, not enjoy- 
ing the situation, had begun to show their teeth. 
The first shot had cut off one of the toes of a cub, 
and the excited hunter was about to put another 
shot into the cub, when Hayden called his atten- 
tion to the fact that if the older ones saw a cub 
fall, they would come down and make it very lively 
for the hunters. He directed him to load, and 
shoot at the older ones, and at the same time, suit- 
ing the action to the word, brought down one of 
them with a well-aimed shot. Fearful that Hay- 
den would get all the game, his companion, in his 
haste to load, rammed the bullet down first, and 
could not extract it. The result was that Hayden, 
taking them in order, killed the five in as many 
shots, three of them weighing 300 pounds each. 
The other two were cubs, which they carried home 
on their backs. 

Samuel Hayden's cabin in Harmony was built 
on the hill, where the later residence was built. 
His wife was quite timid about the trees falling 
on the house, and was given due notice when one 
was about to fall near the cabin. Game was 
plenty, and, by removing the chinking between the 
logs, he frequently supplied his table with wild tur- 
key or venison. In the year following his settle- 
ment here, it is said that Mr. Hayden walked 
barefooted to Mount Vernon and back, a distance 
of thirty-four miles, in one day, carrying a pail of 
butter, which he exchanged, at five cents per pound. 



468 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



for powder and lead. This was the ordinary price 
for this article, and eggs sold for two cents a dozen, 
with no demand at that. 

Soon after Hayden, Jeremiah Smith moved on 
to land in the northeastern part of the township, 
which he had entered as early as 1825. Mr. Smith 
came from Luzerne County, Penn.,in 1824, and set- 
tled at Berkshire, but did not purchase any prop- 
erty until the following year, when, after looking 
the whole township over, he chose that in the 
northeast part of the township, sticking down two 
willow stakes to mark the land he had chosen. 
These were unintentionally left sticking in the 
mud, and the years have changed them into 
thrifty trees, which still stand a monument to the 
departed pioneer. The land was then pretty 
much under water, but there was quite a large 
cleared spot which bore a luxuriant growth of 
grass, and near by was an excellent spring. 
It did not take him long to discover that the 
land could be drained and made into excellent 
farming land, while the spring would prove a 
perpetual treasure. The grass-land, though too 
insecure for cattle or horses to walk on, would 
furnish an amount of feed that was a valuable con- 
sideration at that time. He at once entered 250 
acres of this land at the office in Chillicothe, his 
deed bearing date August 5, 1825, and paid 
$297.02 in cash for it. He made no improve- 
ments on this property, however, until the latter 
part of 1827, when he put up a cabin, and in 
March of the following year moved his family into 
it. The prospect here was not inviting, and would 
have discouraged any one not trained to the hard 
experiences of the pioneer. The whole country 
here was but little more than a succession of 
swamps, many of them so soft as to mire the dogs 
of the coon hunters. On ^Ir. Smith's farm was 
a large beaver dam of semicircular shape, en- 
closing about thirty acres of swamp, which was 
known as the Feather-Bed Swamp, on account of 
its softness. It seemed to have no solid bottom, 
a pole having been thrust into it to the depth of 
twenty feet without touching firm soil. Under the 



influence of clearing and draining, this has become 
firm and is now tilled regularly with the best re- 
sults. The dam, though abandoned by the beavers, 
some time before the appearance of the settlers, was 
a very extensive affair, and so broad on top as to 
afford a building site for the first frame hou,sc 
built in the township, erected in 1837 by Mr. 
Smith. In digging the foundation, trunks of trees 
of the largest growth were found buried to the 
depth of ten or fifteen feet. In 1827, a settlement 
was made in the southeast corner of the Taylor 
quarter, by Enoch George ; when a lad, he came to 
Chester with his father, an Old-School Baptist 
Welsh preacher, in 1811. He lived with his 
father until he married and set up for himself, 
when he went to Kentucky to see Gen. Taylor in 
regard to the purchasing of land in his quarter. 
The General was away from home, but soon after 
George met him in Columbus, and secured some 
100 acres in the very southeastern corner of 
the quarter. Here he built his cabin and re- 
mained until the spring of 1829, when he sold to 
E. Saulsbury. About this time, Jonathan Frost 
made a settlement on the west side of the town- 
ship, just above the east-and-west section line. 
Mr. Frost was a native of Putnam County, N. Y., 
and emigrated to Bennington in his seventeenth 
year. Here he remained six or seven 5'ears, 
marrying a daughter of Mr. Foss, who afterward 
entered land in Harmony Township. The latter 
was a native of Maine, and emigrated to Erie 
County, Penn., whence he came to Bennington 
during the winter on an ox-sled. 

The southwest quarter of the township, was part 
of the land set aside for school purposes, and did 
not come into the market until late. Before this 
time, most of the available Government lands had 
been taken up, and the price of land had risen con- 
siderably, so that when this quarter was put upon 
the market at SI. 25 per acre, it was considered 
remarkably cheap, and eagerly sought for by those 
not permanently situated. The land thus offered for 
sale was principally taken up by emigrants from 
Muskingum, Perry and Knox Counties. Previous 



-Jj 



HISTORY OF MOREOW COUNTY 



469 



to this time, however, some half a dozen families 
had " squatted " upon this section, probably with a i 
view of buying it when thrown upon the market. 
These families, who were principally from Maine, 
settled about 1819, and among them were the 
families of Timothy Foss, Symmons and Heald. 
The latter bad a large family, one of which, Moses, 
was fatally bitten by a rattlesnake, the first instance 
of the kind known in this section of the State. He 
was some two miles from his home, and running 
home for remedies he heated his blood, and gave 
the poison opportunity to be thoroughly taken up 
in the circulation of the blood, which rendered all 
remedies ineffectual. Among the earlier families 
that came to this part of the township, was that of 
John Ralston, a native of Lycoming County, Penn., 
from whence he emigrated at an early age to Mus- 
kingum County, Ohio. From there he came in 1 833, 
and entered seventy-nine acres at the office in Dela- 
ware. Among others, who came into this part of the 
township at this time, were Japheth West, from 
Clay Township, Knox County, Thomas Madden, 
Ashley Nutt, William Bennett and Christopher 
Stovenaur. In 1837, Enoch George, who had 
gone back to Chester after selling his farm in the 
southeast corner of the township, to Mr. Saulsbury, 
returned and bought eighty acres near Burns' 
Corners. Here he stayed but a short time, when 
he sold out, and, leaving his family there, he went 
to Iowa to work for a home. Familiar all his life 
with a timbered country, the rough fashion of the 
prairie winds discouraged his idea of emigration, 
and he bought 100 acres where he now lives, able at 
the age of eighty-one to build fence and do all but 
the hardest work about the farm. In the fall of 
1840, Thomas Meredith, a native of Chester Town- 
ship, came into Harmony and bought a hundred 
acres of land in the Taylor section, at $5 per acre. 
The cheapness of land all about this quarter, had 
left this part of the township for the most pfirt 
unsettled, and Mr. Meredith found it, at that com- 
paratively late date fraught with all. the obstacles 
that the earliest settlers met. The price was con- 
sidered exorbitant, and, though he owed but $80 



and had a horse and ax besides himself and wife 
to pay the balance. His friends predicted that nt 
would never accomplish it, Mr. Meredith was 
blessed with an unusual amount of trading shrewd- 
ness, and one of his first transactions was to trade 
the horse for a heavy yoke of oxen. This fur- 
nished him a valuable addition to his farming out- 
fit, but, an opportunity soon offering, he traded 
this yoke of cattle for two yokes of lighter ones. 
One of these he sold fi r a horse and $40. The 
money was sacredly set aside toward extioguish- 
ing the debt, and the team turned to double 
account in the clearing. The horse was subse- 
quently sold for $40, which furnished the bal- 
ance needed to discharge the debt. This inci- 
dent, though considered a trivial matter in this day, 
was an evidence of superior management in that 
day. Property was accumulated by hard work, and 
" wind-falls " or " God sends " were things unknown 
to the early pione-^rs. When he came into the town- 
ship, Mr. Meredith brought with him eight hogs, 
which ran wild for a year or two in the woods. These 
were secured and killed, and he flattered himself 
that they would furnish him with a nice store of 
some of the commoner comforts to be bought at 
the store in Chesterville. They dressed some seven- 
teen hundred pounds, and were sold for $1.50 
per hundred, one-half to be taken in store pay. 
But in his plans, he had counted without his host. 
He had a doctor-bill and a few small debts, and, 
after paying them, he found himself in possession 
of a single dollar. With this he started for the 
store, but on his way met a creditor whom he had 
forgotten entirely. With him he left his last 
dollar, and had to get trusted for a few necessaries 
for his family. 

The history of the early settlement of Harmony 
Township is robbed of much of that romantic in- 
terest which attaches to those years of peril, when 
the homes of the pioneers were turned into log 
fortresses, and life on the frontier was full of " mov- 
ing accidents by flood and field. " The swamps of 
Harmony had been quite an attractive spot to the 
savages in an early day. Wild fruits grew here in 



:F 



470 



HISTORY or MORROW COUNTY. 



fruitful abundance, and wild flowers, fit to grace 
the parlor of wealth, bloodied in every corner of 
the wood. A swamp which occupied a part of 
Mr. Meredith's farm, gained the name of " Rosy " 
from the profusion of flowers that brightened its 
damp recesses. This was also a favorite haunt for 
certain kinds of game that the Indians delighted 
to hunt. In the swamps near the center of the 
township, wildcats of great size were found, and, 
though but few remained for the whites to capture, 
it has gained the name of Wildcat Swamp, from 
the traditions of the Indians. The last of the sav- 
ages were seen in this township about the year 
1827. Their trails were found threading the 
woods in every direction, but the settlers soon 
monopolized whatever attraction the place had for 
the Indian, and he ceased to come to this part. 
There were a few camps on Taylor Run or the South 
Branch of Owl Creek, for a few years later, but 
the improvements of the whites began to encroach 
upon them, and they deserted the township entirely. 
Wolves ranged the woods in large numbers at an 
early date, and were the last of the wild inhabit- 
ants to leave. They frequently attacked yearling 
cattle, and occasionally made it dangerous for the 
settlers to go out at night unarmed. It is related 
of Mr. Frost and his wife, that coming from a dis- 
tant neighbor's to their home, they were overtaken 
by night, and soon began to hear the howling of 
wolves. They hurried their steps, but it was not 
long before they found a small pack of these cow- 
ardly brutes closing in around them. Mr. Frost 
had armed himself with a good-sized stick, and 
managed to keep them off" until a place of safety 
was reached. These animals were not usually so 
bold, and one was seldom .seen during the daytime. 
They were closely hunted by the pioneers, as the 
county paid from $1 to $2 apiece for their 
scalps, and they were soon exterminated or driven 
from the country. At this time, there was a post- 
oflfice, store, and mills at Chesterville, and this was 
the point of attraction to the settlement io Har- 
mony. Cardington was scarcely known, and a 
blazed road from the northeast corner of Harmony 



Township, out to the treaty line, and thence along 
that line, was the only road to the two or three 
cabins that have since grown to the thriving village 
of that name. 

The absence of any considerable streams, and 
the nearness of Chesterville, where mills, tanneries 
and store, supplied, the meager demands of the 
settlers, operated against the establishment of 
similar enterprises in this township. There were 
two saw-mills that were built rather early, one about 
1835, on the angling, about three-quarters of a 
mile north of Jeremiah Smith's farm ; and another 
by Chilcoat, on Owl Creek. These aff"orded the first 
opportunity for the improvement of their dwellings, 
which was improved by Mr. Smith, building the 
first frame house in the township. In 1846, 
William Bennett built a brick house in the south- 
eastern part of the township, and in 1850, John 
Ralston erected another, Jesse Vernon burning: the 
brick on the place. Although no distillery was 
ever established in this township, the use of 
whisky was as general in the community here as 
in most of the communities of the time. Settlers 
took their corn or rye to the still, and got from 
one to three barrels to put in their houses almost 
as regularly as farmers of to-day put down cider. 
Log-rollings, raisings and huskings were impossible 
with-out whisky. Jeremiah Smith was an early 
temperance man, and, on the occasion of his barn- 
raising, he determined to put his principles into 
practice. His neighbors were early on the ground, 
to set the work moving, but, on looking around for 
the preliminary drink, they found it absent. A 
stand was made right there and no amount of per- 
suasion or argument could do anything toward 
answering their demand. A- boy was accordingly 
sent to a neighbor's for the requisite whisky, and 
the building went up without trouble. But the 
most of those old-time drinkers have been cured ot 
the habit by the poisonous adulterations which have 
been resorted to, to swell the gains of the venders 
of this stuff". 

The stock of the new settlements consisted chief 
ly of the hogs, ox teams and cows, which each 



T^ 



l± 



HISTORY OF MOEROW COUNTY. 



471 



farmer needed as a part of his capital. The fare 
of the pioneer was meager enough in variety, and 
must have been poor indeed without milk. These 
animals were easily reared, and were usually safe 
from the attacks of such animals as inhabited the 
woods here. The greatest danger was of their mir- 
ing in the swamps, or of their wandering so far 
away as to be lost. Horses and cattle wore bells, 
and each owner soon learned to recognize the 
sound of his bells on his own stock, and even 
the tone of the one on the different animals. 
The widow of Jeremiah Smith relates that on 
one occasion she went after the cows, but, after 
going a long distance and failing to hear any 
sound of their bell, she undertook to retrace 
her steps. She 30on became confused, how- 
ever, among the numerous trails that led in all 
directions through the woods, and realized atth 
she had lost her way. She stopped and listened 
for the sound of the bell of some of the neighbor- 
hood stock, and soon recognized the bell which 
was attached to their horse. She made for the 
direction from where the sound proceeded, and 
found several horses of the neighborhood quietly 
feeding together. She at once started them up, 
and, after trotting off together a short distance, they 
separated, each one instinctively making for their 
several homes. By following at the top of her 
speed, her dumb guides brought her safely within 
sight of her home. 

The history of the early organization of the 
township is very incomplete. No hint is to be 
found in the records of the commissioners, and 
none of the residents of the township have any 
recollection of the matter. Messrs. Collins and 
Buck were prominent men in the section cov- 
ered by the new township, and probably had 
much to do in determining its limits. The west- 
ern portion, known later as Lincoln, was settled 
some years earlier than the eastern portion. In 
fact, at that time, Harmony of to-day was a wild 
swamp, inhabited only by wildcats and other ani- 
mals. The name Harmony called out some pleas- 
antries on the part of the surrounding communities, 



but there was probably nothing in the character of 
the settlement, either in the lack of that virtue or 
the presence of it, to suggest the name, but it was 
likely a thoughtless suggestion of some one, and 
adopted because others had nothing to offer. The 
first election was held at Buck's cabin, and Noah 
White and Lewis Hardenbrook were elected Jus- 
tices of' the Peace. The election in the spring of 
1827 was held at the same cabin, when James 
McLain was elected Justice of the Peace. During 
the following year Lincoln was erected principally 
out of the territory of Harmony. At the next 
election in this township, Jeremiah Smith was 
elected Justice of the Peace, and served the com- 
munity for a number of years. He lived here 
on his farm forty years, dying in the seventy- 
third year of his age. 

The missionaries of that day were early in this 
community, bringing in the influences of the church 
to help mold society into a form of greater useful- 
ness. The first denominational influence in the 
township was probably that of the Old-School 
Baptists. Their first place of worship was built 
near the middle of the township, and has been 
known as the " Wildcat Church. " This society 
was organized about 1850, and at once set about 
erecting a building. It is still standing, a plain 
building, easily mistaken for a schoolhouse, erected 
originally for some $500 or $600. One of the 
earliest Pastors was Rev. George Fuller, who 
lived two miles west of Fredericktown. He was 
poor, but a very earnest man, and for years walked 
every week to meet his people. His salary 
was $100 per year, and, unfortunately, that was 
often largely in arrears. There are at present 
about fifty members, over whom Rev. Mr. Arnold 
presides as Pastor. 

The Ebenezer Church is one of the older organ- 
izations in the township. This is located in the 
southeast part of the township, and was organized 
by Rev. Mr. Kaufman, an Old-School Baptist min- 
ister. Among the early members were Peter 
Powell, Tunis Ashbrook, Joseph Ullery, Charles 
McCracken and wife, James James and wife, and 






472 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



Benjamin McCrary and wife. The church build- 
ing was erected early, at a cost of S500 or SOOO. 
The members have either died or moved away, and 
services are only occasionally held there. Pisgah 
Church is of the New-School Baptist denomination. 
This is an old and large organization, and had its 
origin in the division of the old Che^-ter Church, 
which occurred about 1836. Their first Pastor 
was Elder Thomas, who served the church for a 
number of years. During his administration, the 
church erected a place of worship about a mile 
east of their present building, which they used 
until 1876, when the present edifice was built, at 
a cost of about $1,000. The membership num- 
bers about 125 persons; the present Pastor is 
Elder Pritchard. Harmony Chapel was built by 
the Methodist Episcopal denomination in 1850. 
In 1831, Jeremiah Smith laid out a small cem- 
etery, donating a quarter of an acre to this purpose, 
and in August of that year buried his first wife 
there. Later, he added another quarter of an acre, 
and, desirous of having a church established in 
the community, offered a building-site to any 
church that would build a place of worship on it. 
The proposition was taken into consideration by 
both the Baptists and Methodists, but the latter, 
coming first to a conclusion, were given the site, 
and Harmony Chapel was built. The first class 
was formed about two years previous, under the 
influence of such preachers as Russell Bigelow and 
Edward Smith. Among the members of this first 
class were Nicodemus Chilcoat, a Mr. Bates and 
Samuel Chipps, with their wives. E-ev. Mr. Dubois 
was the first stated preacher, who was succeeded 
according to the polity of the church. There are 
now about thirty-four members, with Rev. Allen 
Moffet as P;istor. 

The " Pleasant Hill " Church was built about 
this time, by the United Brethren denomination, but, 
not long afterward, they rather died out, and sold 
their building to the Old-School Baptists. A dis- 
sension, however, arose among the purchasers, which 
caused a split in the church, and the original 
owners sold it to private parties, and it is now 



used as a dwelling. These churches are, perhaps, 
better known by the popular names which circum- 
stances have rendered pertinent and permanent. 
It is said that an eccentric individual by the name 
of Daniel Kimball, who used to boast that he owed 
something to the Indian race for his origin, took 
great interest in church matters, and, while rather 
favoring the Old-School Baptists, never allied 
himself with any denomination. It is due to him, 
perhaps, that Harmony Chapel is known more 
widely as the " Blackbird Church," than by its 
proper title. He never seemed to have a liking 
for the Methodists, and, passing the spot where 
the building was being erected, he noticed that a 
large number of blackbirds were sitting on the 
ridge-pole of the structure. He reported at once 
that the Methodists were building a church 
for the blackbirds. In the matter of Pleasant 
Hill Church, he seems to have been interested 
in the purchase of that building, and when 
the rupture occurred, disappointed and disgust- 
ed with the whole business, he gave it the name 
of Buncombe Church so persistently that it 
became the popular name in the community. 
The early ministers preached for some time in 
the cabins of the settlers, before the community 
was strong enough to erect places of worship. 
Jeremiah Smith seems to have afforded a place for 
preachers of all denominations, though not a be- 
liever in what is accepted by the orthodox church. 
At his cabin, at different times, services were held 
by Rev. William Doland and Rev. Henry Mott, 
of the Disciple Church, Rev. William Ashley, of 
the " New Lights," and others, who came on mis- 
sionary tours. In the southwestern part of the 
town. Rev. Elijah Beard and Rev. William Lins- 
cott, of the New Light persuasion, and Rev. 
Christian Kaufman, of the Baptist denomination, 
were early preachers. Prominent among the early 
citizens of the township for many years was 
Edward Smith. He belonged to the Methodist 
Church, and had served on circuits in the 
Southern States, from where he was obliged to 
retire on account of his Antislavery sentiments. 



\ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



473 



He was a strong Abolitionist, and advocated that 
rupture in the church which occasioned the 
origin of the Wesleyan Church. He was a very 
energetic man, devoted to his duty, and a hard 
student of the Bible, reading it through, it is said, 
twelve times while on horseback. He was obliged, 
finally, to give up the ministry and turn his atten- 
tion to teaching; to support and educate his family. 
He taught a school in Mansfield, that gained a 
high reputation, and while there, in 1835, pub- 
lished his philosophical grammar, which was simply 
an embodiment of his plan of teaching this branch of 
study. In 1841, he was turned out of the Con- 
ference, ostensibly for having said publicly, that 
the church had not improved in piety since the 
time of Wesley, but really for his Antislavery 
position in the church. He continued his attacks 
upon the evil with unabated vigor, and published, 
in 1851, a small paper called The Wesleyan Ex- 
positor, which he devoted to bringing about a 
separation of the Antislavery element from the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. He maintained his 
residence in the township until he died. He fre- 
quently assisted runaway slaves that were diverted 
from their usual track by close pursuit, and had 
arrangements in his house by which he could 
evade pursuers. During the agitation in regard 
to the organization of the county, he was a leader 
of the liberty party, and was one of those that 
were prominent in the coalition of the Liberty men 
and Whigs, to defeat the Democratic party in that 
movement. 



A Sunday school was started in 1839, in a cabin 
just south of Smith's, which was maintained dur- 
ing the pleasant weather, but no permanent effort 
in this direction has been attempted until late years. 
The inauguration of week-day schools was some- 
what late ; as the community was small, and many 
were in limited financial circumstances. The first 
school, however, was held in a log cabin on Charles 
McCracken's lot, but who was the teacher, or how 
many scholars went to school, we have been un- 
able to learn. Another log schoolhouse of the 
most primitive sort was built near the Smith farm. 
The fire-place was built in the side of the building, 
and the patrons would haul logs, which the teacher 
and scholars worked up into eight-foot lengths for 
the fire-place. The following statistics, gleaned 
from the Auditor's office, give the present status 
of the schools in this township, and makes an 
exhibit that compares favorably with those of other 
townships: The balance on hand, September 1, 
1878, was $662.07 ; amount of State tax received 
is $310.50 ; local tax for schools and schoolhouse 
purposes is $1,048.06 ; total amount paid teachers 
during the year was $1,127.78 ; the number of 
schoolhouses is six ; the value of school property is 
$3,000 ; teachers employed, gentlemen, seven, and 
ladies, five, making a total of twelve ; the average 
wages paid for a month of four weeks, is to gen- 
tlemen, $40, and to ladies, $19 ; number of 
scholars enrolled are, boys, 105 ; girls, 97 ; aver- 
age daily attendance, boys, 84 ; girls, 72 ; the bal- 
ance on hand September 1, 1879, was $358.19. 




^ «) 



k. 



474 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



CHAPTER XVIII.* 
CANAAN TOWNSHIP— INTRODUCTION— SETTLEMENT— INDIAN INCIDENTS— ROADS AND OTHER 



IMPROVEMENTS— PIONEER LIFE— EDUCATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS. 



(.; 



DEAD men tell no tales " — so says the 
adage. Medical science, however, has 
disproved, this proverb in numerous instances, by 
postmortem examinations, 'compelling the cold 
remains to "tell the tale" of death. Besides, 
cemeteries give the lie to the assertion, making 
it possible to wrest from the marble slab, and 
even the unmarked resting-place, the story of 
previous existence. The spade or plowshare turn 
up a skull or leg bone, and the craniologist or 
ethnologist completes the skeleton, dresses it in 
flesh, paints the photograph and writes the 
history of the individual who has lain centuries 
among the dead. The desire to be remembered 
is one of the strongest emotions stirring within 
the human breast. Graveyards evidence this 
desire, and the mound raised above the sleeping 
dust testifies to a willingness to serve this desire 
on the part of the living. Everywhere we find 
the relics, mementoes, monuments and souvenirs 
of a dead pa,st — all contradicting the adage, wrest- 
ing from the sealed lips of that dead past its 
history. Canaan Township has its monument, 
like a finger-post, pointing backward across the 
gone-by centuries. Whatever may have been the 
motive, somebody raised a mound in the south- 
west corner of the township, which stands like a 
relic of former existence — a mound, double now 
the two parts, separated by several rods, once 
joined by an earthwork, since levt led by the 
plowshare and almost obliterated — the whole not 
far from parallel to the Middle Fork of the Whet- 
stone, which flows by at a little distance. The 
shape of the structure, and its relation to the 
river, tell us of its purpose as a fortification for 
defense airainst the encroachments of an enemy 

* Contributed by Rev. W. 0. Pett. 



from that direction. Centuries before the civil- 
ized white man ever saw the Whetstone, probably 
long before the wild war-whoop of the dusky 
savage echoed through these forests, this mound 
was built. Who built it ? The arch^ologist an- 
swers : The Mound Builders. Then, from the 
relics that have been exhumed from some of 
these structures, he tells us about a distant past, 
a strange character, a probable, if not certain 
history, following him through the States to 
Mexico, retreating, fighting, defending himself 
against an ever-victorious foe. When they came 
to this mound, whether or not a struggle ensued, 
if an easy victory was gained, or a brave defense 
made — these are subjects for the play of fancy, 
but, in reality, are shrouded in mystery. The 
fact exists — has existed through a history scarce 
less mysterious, a history of savageism, a history 
beginning no one knows when, and ending with 
the coming of the white man and civilization. 

Canaan Township originally embraced the ter- 
ritory at present forming four townships : Tully, 
Scott, and Claridon Townships, in Marion Co., 
and what is now Canaan Township, in Morrow. 
It is supposed that a Mr. Stewart (a pioneer of 
this territory, with whom we have nothing to do 
beyond this fact) gave it the name. The division 
into the present townships with their present 
boundaries occurred in 1821. Whatever may be 
said of the other townships, the territory now 
known as Canaan Township seems to have been 
fitly named. Figuratively, it is a " land flowing 
with milk and honey." If Asher should " dip his 
foot in oil " because of the territory his children 
were to occupy in the Canaan of old, surely the 
citizens of tliis modern Canaan are blessed with 
an equally rich inheritance. No more fertile soil 



RT 



^ 



\^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



475 



can be found in Morrow County, if, indeed, any 
soil be found more productive. This fact is mani- 
fest in the timber which originally covered the 
entire territory, making it a dense wilderness, 
while such varieties as hickory, oak, ash, beech, 
and maple were abundant, yet walnut was most 
common among the trees of its forests. A large 
portion, perhaps a majority, of the fences are 
made of walnut rails, while from the maple trees 
sugar was made in quantities sufficient to more 
than meet the wants of pioneer life. Besides, the 
forests abounded in game, so that the pioneer had 
at hand the necessaries for living while subduing 
the forest and preparing the way for the enjoyment 
of life's luxuries. However, this territory was de- 
veloped last of all in the county, and that, too, most 
slowly, by virtue of the fact that it was low and flat 
and swampy, thus presenting an almost insuperable 
barrier to development. It would fe'feem that Slow 
Creek, South and Middle Forks of the Whetstone, 
ought to have drained the soil, winding, as they 
do, their circuitous courses through the territory, 
but the event shows that the forests must needs 
be felled, allowing the sunlight to penetrate the 
soil, the spade and plowshare to turn it up, thus 
exposing it to the sun's rays,' and the laying of 
the under-drain before much of development could 
be had. This has been accomplished, so that 
now the farmer enjoys an abundance of fruits in 
their season. 

Canaan Township is located in the western 
part of Morrow County. It is bounded on the north 
and west by Marion County, and on the south and 
east by Gilead and Washington Townships of Mor- 
row County, and is known in an early survey as 
Township 5 Range 17. 

The history of this territory begins in the year 
1821. It was in the spring of that year that Mr. 
Jacob Rice came from Greenfield, Fairfield Co., 
Ohio, prospecting for land and a home. He found 
an unbroken forest, a swamp, the Wyandot In- 
dians, Mr. Comfort Olds, and Abraham G. An- 
drews. Mr. Andrews had entered land immedi- 
ately south of the mound above described, just one 



week before, while Mr. Olds had taken possession 
only the day before of some land he had entered 
in the near vicinity. Mr. Andrews was sick of his 
bargain, and induced Mr. Rice to buy him out. 
This first sale of property, within the township, 
occasioned, on the part of Andrews, merely a ride 
from the land office in Delaware to the land itself, 
and the expense of executing and filing the deed. 
On this land Mr. Rice has always resided, though, 
at the present time, it is owned by his son. Here 
he built his cabin, while, on the adjoining quarter- 
section, Mr. Olds was likewise busily engaged. 
They became acquainted with each other in the 
unbroken wilderness, Mr. Rice being led to where 
Mr. Olds was working, by the sound of his ax. 
They were neighbors, and must associate with each 
other, because there were no other neighbors within 
several miles. When Mr, Rice had completed his 
cabin, he I'eturned to Fairfield County for his family. 
In August of this year, he gathered together the 
articles absolutely necessary, and moved into his 
new home. At that time, his family was composed 
of a wife and three small children, and, with the 
conveniences at hand, four days were occupied with 
the journey — a journey which now would hardly 
occupy four hours. This was the best season of 
the year for his purpose, as at this time the streams 
whre so low they might be easily forded. 

An illustration answering the Scriptural ques- 
tion, "Who is my neighbor?" is given of these 
early days, and is worthy a record where it may not 
be obliterated. Mr. Olds was very poor and must 
have sufi'ered for the necessaries of life had it not 
been for his stranger neighbor. Rice, who divided 
with him the supplies he was able to obtain, 
bringing them with him from Greenfield. There 
was no thought that any return would be made for 
these things, but a time of need brought about a 
possibility of restoration when it was especially 
appreciated. Mr. Olds removed to the plains in 
Marion County and put up a horse-mill. The 
sickly year came. The squirrels stole everything. 
Corn was worth $1 per bushel, and everything else 
in proportion. Mr. Rice went to the mill at the 



t±. 



476 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUKTY 



plains, and obtained two bushels, for which Mr. 
Olds would receive no remuneration. Corn was 
too valuable to sell, but not to be given away to 
one who had proven himself a " friend in need." 

During the same year came two other families 
and built cabins for homes in this wilderness, ad- 
joining those occupied by Rice and Olds — Nathan 
Arnold and Asa Gordon. The following spring 
there were two more families — William Coonrad 
and Mr. Welsh. During the following summer 
came Matthew and Thomas Merritt, and settled 
in the central part of the town, calling the settle- 
ment " Denmark," the name by which the little 
village has since been known and called, although 
the post office which was located there, and kept 
by them, was then called, and has always been 
known, as Merritt Post Office. 

Among the early settlers are found the names 
of Jeremiah Doughty, David Christy, Daniel 
Cooley and Zenas Leonard. Some of these re- 
mained and became part of, their lives inwoven 
in, the history of the township ; while others moved 
away, and are forgotten by those who remain, in 
every respect save that they formerly lived here. 

One other character still lives here who came 
among the very first settlers, who has exerted a 
greater influence in the township than probably 
any other — around whom the whole history of the 
township may be said to have crystallized — Mr. 
John Boyles. He was born near the State line, 
between Virginia and Pennsylvania, June 13, 
1790. He was the son of Jonathan and Elizabeth 
(Hunt) Boyles, natives of the State of New 
Jersey. He first came to the State of Ohio in the 
fall of 1806, and settled in Knox County. He 
was a soldier in the war of 1812. During the 
summer of 1823, he came to Morrow (then Ma- 
rion) County, and settled on a farm in Canaan 
Township. It contained a quarter-section of land, 
located in the near vicinity of Denmark, and now 
occupied by Mr. Christian Grover. 

The following spring township election presented 
some facts worthy of chronicling in this place ; 
there were to be elected two Justices of the Peace, 



three Trustees, two Constables, one Town Clerk, 
one Treasurer, two Overseers of the Poor, and 
two Fence Viewers, and at that time there were 
but ten voters in the township. Comfort Olds, 
Matthew and Thomas Merritt acted as judges, 
while John Boyles and Jacob Rice were clerks. 
Of course, it was necessary that some of these 
should hold more than one office. At this time, 
the two clerks, John Boyles and Jacob Rice, were 
made Justices of the Peace. Mr. Boyles held 
this office eight years in succession. He was also 
made Town Clerk, and held this office for fourteen 
years, much of the time without remuneration, 
even furnishing his own stationery for the keeping 
of the records. This was the season for the Presi- 
dential campaign, always a season of excitement, 
but in this part of our great country it seems to 
have aroused but little interest. Only five votes 
were polled, Und no majority appeared in the 
returns, since Messrs. Olds and Boyles voted for 
Clay, the two Merritts for Adams, and Mr. Rice for 
Jackson. The next Presidential campaign presents 
quite a contrast, since, out of the about thirty-five 
voters, there was about twenty-five majority for 
Jackson. In this year of grace, 1880, it is esti- 
mated that the majority for Garfield will be 
proportionately large in harmony with the increase 
in the township of the number of its voters. 

We said Mr. Rice found, on his coming, the 
township inhabited with the Wyandot Indians. 
These were friendly, and not unfrequently were 
employed by the white settlers in clearing their 
land, log-rolling and the like. Mr. Rice tells of 
one Tom Lyons, "the homeliest ol J de'il you'd 
ever seen." His wife, however, was a marked con- 
trast to himself, very fine looking, with hair " long 
enough to drag on the ground ;" she was the 
envy of many a white woman, while Tom was ex- 
ceeding proud of her, and treated her with the 
courtesy and respect accorded to the wife in Christ- 
ian communities. A story is told concerning the 
birth of Matilda Merritt, now Mrs. Davis, tha first 
white child born in the township, which may illus- 
trate not only the friendliness of the Indians, but 



ik 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



479 



also the humanity in the heart of the race as a 
whole. Mrs. Merritt was alone, her hueband and 
father in-law having gone to a raising. Two old 
squaws living near, discovered her in the midst of 
travaH and pain ; they came to her relief, bring- 
ing their experience, and, with hearts full of sym- 
pathy, and kind and tender hands, performed the 
delicate service of midwives, in this her hour of 
sorrow. 

In marked contrast to this is the story told by 
Mr. Wash Harris, who now resides in Denmark, 
in the hou-e where his Grandfather Merritt used 
to live. He well remembers hearing his grand- 
mother tell how she was left alone when a squad 
of Indians came to their cabin ; they brought with 
them a number of scalps of white men, which 
they laid in a row upon the floor, and beside them 
placed the tongues of the whites, which they would 
count over in their Indian tongue, apparently gloat- 
ing over them with savage vengeance. They left 
her, however, without molestation or attemjited 
injury. 

But pioneer life has many hardships and priva- 
tions. At times, the pioneer must suff"er for the 
necessaries of life but for the common humanity 
which leads the pioneer to divide his provisions 
with his more needy neighbor. We have seen 
how Mr. Rice was helped out of a close place by 
one whom he had relieved when in need. Mr. 
Boyles tells a similar incident : He had lost a part 
of his team, thus preventing his raising a crop, and 
exposing him to want, if not starvation. He had 
a friend in Knox County, who loaded him up 
with such things as people in pioneer life most 
need — powder, shot, flour, etc. — instructing him 
to trade with his fellows for skins of animals they 
had shot. At other times, he would have suffered 
had he not been an expert hunter. Game was 
abundant, and his faithful rifle never failed him in 
his extremity. In numerous instances has he shot 
bears when in the act of stealing a "porker." 

At this time, there was but one road through 
the township, and in very truth it might be said 
to have been all over town, since the shortest way 



to Mount Gilead was the one chosen till that one 
became so badly cut up as to make it impassable, 
when it became necessary to go farther round. 
However, there was one which might, by a stretch 
of fancy, be dignified by the name of a road. It 
was part of an army trail and " blazed " from 
Chesterville to Upper Sandusky. But, of course, 
roads are a necessity, and Mr. Boyles was appointed 
by his fellows to secure the assistance of the 
County Commissioners. They entered into a con- 
tract to prepare half of the road on condition 
that he prepare the other half He went out one 
morning before breakfast and secured the promise 
of twenty-one men to do twenty-one days' work. 
In one day, these men cut the road through the 
entire township, removing all the underbrush and 
smaller trees. This is quite different from the 
road-building of to-day. The road spoken of is 
known as the State road, and was then employed 
as the mail route. There were no bridges in those 
days, and at the time of high water people must 
stay at home, waiting patiently till the waters 
subsided, or ford a muddy river almost all the 
way to their destination. Three men, John 
Boyles, Matthew Merritt and Zenas Leonard, cut 
the first road running through the township from 
Claridon, on the west, to the southeast corner. 
All these contrast painfully with the pikes that 
traverse the township now in every direction, with 
good substantial structures bridging the streams at 
every crossing ; but then a road was a road, even 
though it was but an opening through the dense 
forest. It made a hole through which the sun- 
light could penetrate, furnished a way out to, and 
communication with, the world outside, let civi- 
lization enter, and prepared the way for the pres- 
ent successes which are but a prophecy of grander 
achievements in the future. 

Among the later revivals — 1827 — we find the 
names of Thomas Patton, William Feigley and 
James McKeever. Mr. Patton was born in Ireland 
in 1787. On coming to America he entered land 
in this township, and upon his arrival at Mansfield, 
it was necessary to secure a guide to the land he 



w 



fk 



480 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



had entered — blazing their way as they went. From 
their experience, we learn the struggles, hardships 
and dangers incident to pioneer life. Mr. Patton 
was very poor, so much so he could not secure 
many of the real necessities of life. He hadn't 
even a team at the time of his coming. This made 
it necessary to pack many things upon their backs. 
He raised a pair of steers from the cows he brought 
with him — waiting till they were grown — employ- 
ing his time in clearing his land and fencing it. 
His cabin was built near a spring, and at one time 
his wife went after a pail of water, was lost in the 
woods, and, after wandering round for some time, 
was at length led home by the cries of her infant 
child. Later, Joseph Patton and his sisters were 
left by their father to finish hoeing a patch of corn. 
This kept them busily employed till after dark, 
when at length they were startled by the howling 
of wolves not far away, which was responded to by 
two other packs of those savage beasts in opposite 
directions. They heard the tramping of their feet, 
and not unfrequently saw their eyes glistening 
through the dark — their incessant bowlings making 
the woods hideous the while. Their father heard 
those frightful howls, rushed into his cabin, seized 
his gun, and hastened out to the rescue of his 
children thus exposed to danger, firing as he went. 
He was just in time. They were hardly rescued — 
had hardly reached a place of safety — ere they 
heard the wolves howling their disappointment. 

On another occasion, when Joseph Patton and his 
father were working in the woods, they saw, not 
far away, a huge drove of wild hogs approaching. 
They had only time to climb into some trees when 
the swine scented them, and rushed madly to their 
place of rffuge. They tore the bark oif these 
trees with their tushes, and tore down all the 
bushes and saplings in the near vicinity, appar- 
ently maddened with disappointment in not secur- 
ing their prey. 

Mr. McKeever, a native of Pennsylvania, of 
Irish descent, came to Canaan in 1827, on an 
exploring tour. The country pleased him so well 
that, on returning to Pennsylvania, he immediately 



sent his family out, remaining behind to earn the 
necessary funds — $60 he had borrowed for this 
purpose. He worked five months at S4.50 per 
month, and then had his leg broken by the kick 
of a horse. He now borrowed more mon^y, to 
enable him to come to his Western home, and soon 
after paid the entire debt by splitting rails at .37^ 
cents per hundred, and clearing land at §2.50 per 
acre, cutting all the trees less than eighteen inches 
in diameter, and burning the brush. William 
Feigley came soon after, walking all the way from 
Pennsylvania, and entered land adjoining that 
owned by McKeever. 

The milling privileges of the township have 
always been exceedingly limited, and at the present 
time it is diflScult to decide which was first in the 
order of building, to say nothing at all of the 
time of erection. In an early day, it was necessary 
to go to Mount Vernon to get wheat ground, as 
now it is necessary to go beyond the boundaries 
of the township for milling of any character. 
Mr. Boyles rigged up a rough structure run by 
horse power for the grinding of corn, and with it 
was able to grind twelve or fifteen bushels per day. 
But a mill of such description would not be 
employed longer than circumstances made it a 
necessity, but in that early day it was regarded as 
a great convenience. Probably the first saw-mill 
run by water power was built on the Middle Fork 
of the Whetstone, about 1825, by one William 
Shafi"er. It was run by several difi'erent parties 
but soon rxm down. Mr. Rice also built a saw- 
mill, about 1833, on the Middle Fork of the Whet- 
stone, but four years later he moved to the South 
Fork, where he ran it till 1851, and the ruins of it 
may still be found. But Canaan is essentially a 
farmins district. The soil is too rich to be encum- 
bered with mills when these are so convenient in 
the adjoining township, and farming pays too well 
for any one to engage in anything else. Of course 
these intelligent farmers know the worth of such 
advantages and are able to appreciate their value, 
but they can stand upon the boundaries of their 
extremely fertile township and see the smoke-stacks 



-£ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



481 



of saw and grist mill, so that these are suflBciently 
coDvtnient for all practical purposes. 

The first schoolhouse in the township was built 
in Denmark, near the site of the present one. But 
what a contrast ! Now, a neat, commodious struct- 
ure — an ornament to any community — with all 
the appliances necessary for successfully training 
"the young idea;" then — but how shall we de- 
scribe it? Fancy and imagination are absolutely 
necessary in order to get a fair idea of the structure. 
Let the reader imagine a log house, round logs at 
that — rudely constructed shingles or tiles for a 
roof — large stick chimney in the rear daubed with 
mud, as, indeed, are the chinks between the 
logs — an entrance, evidently sawed through the 
front, after the logs were laid in place, about six 
feet high and three feet wide, closed by a batten 
door of rough oak boards — a half-dozen square 
openings for the windows — and he will have a 
comparatively good conception of the exterior. Let 
him enter ; the rough door swings upon its creak- 
ing hinges, and, in the " dim religious light," 
admitted through those greased paper windows, he 
will discover benches made of slabs, flat only on 
one side — a shaky desk, behind which the " school- 
master " sits — the fire-place in the rear larger than 
the modern furnace, with room for " back-log and 
fore-stick," requiring the strength of several of the 
" big boys " to roll them into their place. It was 
in such a " schoolhouse " as this that Jud Dodd 
taught the first school ever " kept" in Canaan. 

" Blackboards, maps and charts in plenty, 
Now hang round the common school." 

Not SO then. Tlie appliances furnished to the 
hand of Mr. Dodd, as assistants in training the 
young idea in this backwoods school, were exceed- 
ingly meager. Indeed, they were confined to Web- 
ster's Spelling Book, the New Testament, and the 
birch sprout. With the first they were taught the 
alphabet and to spell ; with the second they were 
taught to read — grand truths of morality and 
virtue, obedience to which were enforced by thor- 
ough application of the third. Nevertheless, the 
privilege was highly prized, as we see clearly when 



we remember that pupils came all the way from 
Claridon Township, of Marion County. But 
" schoolmasters " had their favorites in those days, 
as well as in later times, and among the " big girls," 
Phcebe Leonard was the favored one to whom Mr. 
Dodd "showed partiality," and Esquire Boyles 
performed the ceremony which made them one — 
the first wedding ever solemnized in the township. 

The first religious eff'orts in Canaan were Sunday 
schools. Mr. Boyles tells how that first Sunday 
school was held in a log cabin. The elder Merritt 
was the superintendent. He had been an Elder 
in the Presbyterian Church, in Knox County, and 
now took charge of the Sunday-school work. It- 
differed materially from the Sunday schools of to- 
day. The younger scholars were taught to read, 
while the older scholars recited the verses of Scrip- 
ture they had committed ; and in this respect, Mr. 
Boyles thinks, in advance of the present system 
in the matter of getting the truth into the mind 
of the young. In this centennial of the modern 
idea of the Sunday school, it may well be ques- 
tioned if the present system is very greatly in 
advance of that employed half a century ago. 

Occasionally, preaching was had m connection 
with the Sunday schools in these early times, if 
haply an evangelist or " circuit rider" were in the 
vicinity. Rev. William Mathews was one of the 
early preachers. He formed a society, in 1825, 
at Denmark, of the Presbyterian denomination. 
The services were necessarily very irregular, owing 
to the fact that Mr. Mathews' charge was very 
widely extended, he himself residing in Knox 
County. They were usually held in the school- 
house. About four years after its organization, 
Rev. Henry Shedd, of Mount (lilead, was called 
to the charge of its interests. At this time, it 
numbered forty-eight members ; Luther Brown, 
Rufus Dodd and John Jamerson were Elders. 
Rev. Mr. Shedd preached regularly one-fourth of 
the time for two years, then one-third of the time 
for two years, after which time there was a 
vacancy in this pulpit. Previous to his pastorate, 
they had worshiped in a schoolhouse, but, under 



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482 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



his administration, a log church was erected. Among 
the preaeliers who served this church is one Rev. 
AN'illiani K. ]3ru.sh, wlio settled there — the only 
settled Pastor the church ever had — and under 
his administration the church was greatly increased 
in its membership. The log church now gave 
place to a frame structure. But after this time, 
we find short pastorates, and vacancies in the 
pulpit growing constantly longer, till at last the 
pro])erty was ordered l)y the Presbytery to be sold. 
The North Canaan Methodist Episcopal Church 
was first organized, in 1833, by the Rev. James 
Wilson. It was then merely a class of five mem- 
Ijcrs, over whom 3Ir. Jacob Greyer was aj^pointed 
Class-Leader. lu the year 1 842, a protracted meet- 
ing was held at the home of Mr. Geyer, by the 
Rev. Mr. Sharp. This meeting x'csulted in a large 
number of accessions, and a more complete organ- 
ization was made, with the following ofiicial board : 
Class-Leaders, Jacob Geyer, Jacob Harrison and 
John Campbell ; Stew^ards, Abraham Foulk, Jacob 
Geyer and Richai'd Stime ; Trustees, Abraham 
Foulk, Jacob Geyer, Jacob Harrison, S. Valentine 
and John Campbell. The first church edifice was 
of hewed logs, aud erected in 1846. Prosperity 
marked the history of the church till 1861, when 
the old log building was superseded by a beautiful 
frame structure ; when in the act of raising the 
building, a part of the frame fell, and several work- 
men were caught beneath the fiilling timbers, and, 
though several were seriously hurt, yet no one was 
fatally injured. When the raising was going for- 
ward, a neighbor drove up with a fiist-trotting horse, 
and many of the by-standers were attracted out to 
the road to see him try his speed, and by this means 
were out of danger when the building fell. The 
work progressed, however, to completion, and was 
dedicated in the fall of the same year. Its value 
at the present time is estimated at $1,500. It 
is connected with the Caledonia Church, and 
with it forms what is known as the " Caledonia 
charge." For a country church, it is regarded 
as one of the most flourishing societies in this 
region of country. A Sunday school is here kept 



up the entire year, and Mr. N. A. Campbell 
is the present Superintendent. The church has a 
membership numbering eighty-four. Rev. C. Bald- 
win is the present Pastor, and the ofiicial board is 
as follows : Class-Leaders, Harrison Kcnnimau, 
S. Strawman, J. N. Campbell, Jacob Geyer and 
A. M. Smith ; Stewards, Dr. C. Hahn, J. N. 
Campbell and Samuel Strawman ; Trustees, John 
Campbell, S. Strawman, Robinson Geyer, A. M. 
Smith, 11. Kenniman, Alfred Campbell and J. N. 
Campbell. 

The Denmark Methodist Episcopal Church was 
organized in 1849, with Rev. John Orr as Pastor, 
and Jacob Aye as Class Leader. The church edi- 
fice was erected in the following year and dedi- 
cated by the Presiding Elder, Rev. John Quigley, 
assisted by the Pastor, Rev. William Boggs. The 
value of the church property at the present time 
is estimated to be $1,000. It embraces a mem- 
bership numbering sixty -five, while the Sunday 
school is fiourishing to a remarkable degree under 
the joint management of S. B. Shaw and George 
Gruber. This church forms part of the Iberia Circuit 
and has been under the same pastoral management 
through all its history. Rev. C. L. Conger is the 
present Pastor, while the official board is as fol- 
lows : Class Leaders, William S. Aye and John 
Linder ; Stewards, George Gruber and Thomas 
Curl ; Trustees, William S. Aye, John Adams, 
Christopher Gruber, jMartin Sayers, Elijah Wagan, 
Thomas Curl aud John Linder. 

The other churches of Canaan Township, of 
which there are two, belong to the Protestant 
Methodist denomination, and, belonging to the 
same charge or circuit, are under the same pastoral 
oversight. One of these is located at Denmark, 
and evidently the society is in a flourishing con- 
dition, judging by the beautiful brick edifice 
recently erected, at a cost of more than $5,000. 
Indeed, it has been dedicated to the worship of 
God since the prejjaration of this history. The 
other church is located in what is known as the 
" Queen Settlement." The society which worships 
at this place was organized by Rev. Daniel Howell, 



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HISTOKY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



483 



about 1837, and at the same time received into 
what was known as Fi-ederiek Circuit, at that time 
known* as a "four weeks circuit," requiring four 
weeks for the Pastor to visit all the societies placed 
under his pastoral charge. Mr. James Queen was 
appointed the first Class-Leader, and the members 
composing this little society were as follows : James 
Queen and wife, James GifGn and wife and their 
two daughters, William Queen and wife and their 
two daughters, and Mrs. Dennis Lannum. 

The society at first worshiped in a log school- 
house belonging to the settlement. In marked 
contrast with the congregations of to-day is the 
appearance of that congregation assembled in that 
log schoolhouse forty years ago ; perhaps, also, 
their sincerity and devotion would mark a striking 
contrast to the hollowness and formality of to- 
day. They came to church, following a course 



blazed upon the trees ; clad in linsey-woolsey, cow- 
hide shoes, and the ladies with handkerchiefs 
over their heads, or, at best, plain sun-bonnets. 
The building in which the society at present wor- 
ships, was erected in 1866, at a cost of SI, 100. 
It is thirty by forty feet in size. The cost of the 
church and its real value are made to harmonize 
by the fact that it was built largely by the mem- 
bers themselves. Some of them were carpenters, 
who got out the timber from their own woods, had 
it sawed at the mills, and, Avith their own hands, 
put it in place. By this means the actual cost was 
lessened greatly. Under the charge of the present 
efiicient Pastor, Rev. Gaines Tyree, the church is 
in a very flourishing condition. During the past 
winter, a revival was had which resulted in some 
thirty accessions to the church, which now num- 
bers about seventy members. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

PERRY TOWNSHIP— ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY— SETTLEMENT— GROWTH AND INDUSTRIES- 
CHURCHES— SCHOOLS— ITS VILLAGES. 



IMMEDIATELY after the close of the war of 
1812, or at least as soon as the news of peace 
was confirmed through the country, the mass of 
the people of the older-settled States of the East, 
were seized with a mania for Western emigration, 
and, although the sagacious editor of the New York 
Tribune had not then promulgated his sensible 
advice to young men to go West, yet thousands of 
both the young and the old men, caught the West- 
ern fever, the result of which was a great rush of 
emigrants to the rich lands lying away toward the 
setting sun. To Central Ohio they were flocking 
by hundreds and thousands, even before our 
last war with England ; and the township treated 
in this chaptfr, contained the cabin of- more than 
one adventurous pioneer prior to that event. The 
boundless regions, unoccupied beyond the moun- 



tains, the rich valleys, the fertile plains, and, above 
all, the cheap lands, were inducements that brought 
them hither in numbers. Here land was plenty, 
and it was cheap. As we have said, a few brave 
and hardy men had ventured into this section 
before the war of 1812, but, after its close, the 
influx of immigTation was large, and the country 
here was rapidly settled. 

Perry is a fractional township, comprising but 
eighteen sections of Town 19, in Range 19, of 
the Congressional survey. At the time of its form- 
ation, it was in Richland County, and, with Perry 
Township, of that county, formed a full township. 
But at the organization of Morrow County in 1848, ^ 
the line passed through Perry from north to south, 
dividing it equally between the old and the new 
county. At present, it is bounded on the north by 



f^ 



484 



IIISTOKY OF MORROW COUNTY 



Troy Township, on the east by Richland County, 
Mil till' south by Franklin Township, and on the 
wc'!<t by Congress Township. Its po])ulation in 
1870, was 1,044, and the present census will prob- 
ably not change it very materially. 

The water-courses of Perry are small, and few 
in nuniber. Its largest, perhaps, is the North Fork 
nt Owl Crook, which has its source in Section 30, 
and flows almost in a southeast direction, passing out 
at the southeast corner of the township. There are 
one or two tributaries of Owl Creek, but they are so 
small that they are nameless on the maps. Across 
the northeast corner, flows the Clear Fork of the 
Mohican Creek, or river, as it is called. It has its 
snurco in North Bloomfield, and, like Owl Creek, 
flows nearly southeast, and passes out through the 
southeast corner of Section 4 of Perry. It fur- 
nishes the power to a large flouring-mill which 
stands on Section 5, through which it flows. Lost 
Run is a .small stream that rises in the southwest 
corner of Section 21, and, running through Section 
28, passes out near the center of the east line of 
the section. In the northeast part of Section 7, 
a small stream ri.ses, and, flowing nearly east, passes 
from the township through Section 9. It is, we 
believe, the South Fork of Mohican, though it is 
not named on the map. These, with their tribu- 
taries, comprise the natural .system of drainage, and 
at the same time aftbrd an ample supply of stock 
water. 

The- surface of Perry Township is not rough or 
broken, but sufliciontly rolling as to require little 
or no artificial draining. The soil is good, and jtro- 
duces corn, wheat and oats in abundance. Consid- 
erable attention is also paid to stock-raising. The 
township is woU timbered, and such growths as 
walnut, oak, hickory, elm, ash, sugar maple, cherry 
and beech are common, or were before so much of 
the forests were "transformed into smiling fields." 
The great demand for walnut timber is fast thinning 
out that valuable .species. The number of saw-mills 
in operation in the country are making considerable 
havoc among the other species suitable for lumber. 
No railroads cross the town.ship, but the shipping 



of its surplus products is done from Mount Gilead 
and Bellvillc. 

The first settlement of Perry Township dates back 
nearly seventy years, and was made in the southern 
part, in the ( )wl Creek Valley. John Ogle is sup- 
posed to have been the first white man to erect a cabin ' 
in the Morrow County part of Perry Township, 
and came as early as 1811. He was from Bedford 
County, Penn., and entered the land upon which he 
settled, after his arrival. He and the Blairs came 
together, and they had to cut a road from Mount 
Vernon to the place where they located. Mr, 
Ogle was a great hunter, and killed many bears and 
deer. He once killed a white bear, an animal that 
was rather scarce in this country. He died many 
years ago, and his son, John Ogle, now lives upon 
the place where he settled originally. Benjamin 
Hart settled in the township in 1812, the next 
year after Ogle. By some it is claimed that he 
came in the fall of 1811 — the fall after Ogle's 
settlement. Mr. Hart also came from Pennsyl- 
vania, as did the majority of the early settlers in 
this part of the county. He has been dead some 
twenty years. He had several sons, one of whom, 
Enoch Hart, entered the land on which the town 
of Williamsport now stands. These sons are all 
dead, or have moved away. The widow of Enoch 
Hart lives in the north part of Congress Township. 
Philip Stilts, David Carr, James Welsh, and James 
Huntsman came among the early settlers. Stilts 
was from Maryland, and came in the fall of 1816, 
the others in 1817, and also were fi'om Maryland, 
with the exception of Carr, who was from New 
Jersey. They were all men of families, are all dead, 
but some of them have representatives still living 
in this section of the county. .Lawrence Lamb 
came to the settlement in 1816. He entered his 
land in 1812, but did not occupy it until 1816. 
He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and after its 
close he moved to his new home. He came here 
from Harrison County, Ohio, but was originally 
from Pennsylvania. In moving to his new home, 
he stayed over night with the Zimmer family, and 
the next night they (the Zimmers) were murdered 



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1^ 



HISTORY or MORROW COUNTY. 



485 



by the Indians. He died many years ago. John 
Shauck, another of the early settlers, and also 
from Pennsylvania, entered his land in 1814, and 
settled on it soon afterward. He was a soldier in 
the war of 1812, and died about 1868-64. Francis 
Baughman, from Maryland, settled about the 
same time of Shauck. His youngest son, Josiah 
Baughman, now lives upon the old homestead. 
His father died about twenty years ago. 

Adam Lucas, Abraham Hetrick and John Ely 
came from Pennsylvania. The first two came 
about 1816 ; the latter a few years later, perhaps. 
Lucas settled one and a half miles southeast of the 
village of Johnsville, and is yet living, but is at 
present a resident of the village. He is nearly 
ninety years old. Hetrick settled one mile east of 
Johnsville, and is also living. Ely died some 
twenty years ago, and is elsewhere mentioned as 
one of the proprietors of Johnsville. Martin Shafer 
•was from Maryland, and settled one mile north 
of the village, where he died thirty or forty years 
ago. 

A family, to which is attached considerable 
history, is the Singrey family. Jehu Singrey 
came from Baltimore County, Md., and arrived in 
September, 1815, settling on the site of Shauck's 
Mill. He entered 160 acres of land where Dr. 
SingTey. his son, now lives. Upon this land he 
built a cabin, and moved into it in the spring of 
1816. There was, at the time of his settlement, 
an encampment of about 150 Wyandot Indians, 
near by, and who remained there for some seven 
years, but were friendly and did their white neigh- 
bors no harm. Their chief was Tom Lyon. 
While looking at this land before entering it, Mr. 
Singrey met with three Indians out hunting with 
bows and arrows ; he shot a deer, which he 
divided with them. After that they entertained 
a very high regard for him, and always called him 
the •' White Chief" — chief being among the 
most honorable titles known to the Indians. Mrs. 
Singrey used often to bake bread for them, also 
would exchange bread with them for fresh meat, 
and, during the time the Indians remained there. 



they lived on the most amicable terms. The fifth 
year after Mr. Singrey settled here, he raised more 
wheat than he needed for home consumption, and 
so took a load to Mount Vernon, where Gilman 
Bryant offered him 12j cents per bushel for it " in 
trade." But he declared he would feed it to 
the hogs before he would sell . it for that price. 
He took it on to Zanesville, where he sold it for 
15 cents a bushel, taking pay in sugar, rice, salt 
and leather, Mr. Singrey died in 1847 ; his 
wife in 1831. His father, Christian Singrey, was 
a native of Luzerne, Switzerland, and emigrated 
to the colony of Pennsylvania in 1746. In 175.3 
he took out naturalization papers, which are now 
in the possession of his grandson, Dr. Singrey, 
of this township. Although they are dim with 
age, they still show the great seal of the English 
Grovernment. He was a surgeon in the Revolu- 
tionary army, and held a commission as such under 
Gen. Washington. Dr. D. M. S. SingTey lives on 
the old homestead where his father, Jehu Singrey 
settled in 1816, and is a practicing physician. 
Upon this place, an ash tree was cut in 1866 by 
Joshua Singrey, a brother to the Doctor, which 
had been " deadened " ten years before. In split- 
ting the tree, which was a very large one, it was 
found to have been " girdled " once before, as is 
the custom in deadening trees. However, it had 
not died from the effect, but had continued to 
grow, and upon counting the " year marks " or 
rings in the grain of the wood, there were 173 
outside of the first girdle. As the tree was cut in 
1866, and deadened ten years before (1856), the 
difference between the latter date . and 1880 
(twenty-four years) added to 173, shows that the 
tree had been girdled the first time 197 years ago, 
or in 1683. The question is, who did it ? Mar- 
quette or Joliet with their little hatchet? We give 
it up. When the circumstance was discovered, 
the tree, or that part of it, was split into small 
pieces, and the marks of the ax were plainly visible 
all the way around the tree. Scores of jjeople 
visited it, and all agreed that the tree had once 
before been uirdled. 



-■ 



1^ 



^ 



486 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



Another pioneer of Perry Townshiji was Will- 
iam Loekart, a llevolutionary yoklier. He came 
from Pennsylvania in 18ii3, and died in 1846, at 
the age of 87 years. Dan Mitchell was from Wash- 
inp-ton County, Penn., and settled in the township 
in 1S2:5, where he lived until the fall of 1823, 
when he removed to Congress Township. Will- 
iam Halferty was a settler of 1822, and died 
in 1828, leaving his wife in the woods with a large 
family. She is still living. Rev. Benjamin Green 
was from Baltimore County, Md., and settled in 
Perry in the fall of 1817. He was a Baptist 
preacher, and traveled across the mountains as a 
missionary preacher. He was one of the early 
l*astors of the old Baptist Church, at Shauck's 
Mill. Adam Baker settled on the line between 
Perry and Congress Townships. He was a native 
of some one of the Franco-German provinces, and 
a soldier under the first Napoleon. He accompa- 
nied that famous General on his ill-fated expedition 
to Moscow, and was one of the few of that grand 
army of GOO, 0(10 men who survived the disastrous 
retreat from the ancient capital of the Russias. 
Although he could speak little English, yet, when- 
ever the name of Xapoleon was mentioned, his eye 
would blaze with excitement, and he would take 
off his half-military cap, which he always wore, 
and show the scars upon his head — the effects of 
wounds received while fishtin"- under " Fleur de 
lis" of France. He died a few years ago. Samuel 
Dennis came from Pennsylvania in an early day. 
He, too, is dead. He was drafted as a soldier of 
1812 in Pennsylvania, but hired a substitute. 
Henry Stephens was an old settler here. 

Among the early industries and pioneer improve- 
ments of Perry Township were mills, tanyards, 
carding machines, blacksmith-shops, etc. The first 
milling was done at Mount Vernon, and other 
places equally remote. One of the first mills in 
the township was a grist and saw mill on the Clear 
Fork of the Mohican, built by Ely & Shauck, fifty 
years or more ago. It is still in existence, though 
with numerous changes and improvements, and is 
located about a mile northeast of Johnsville. One 



of the finest mill-races in the country is at this 
mill, it being nearly a mile in length, and bringing 
the water from the creek. The mill building is an 
excellent and substantial frame ; a good saw-mill 
is in connection with it, and, combined, they are 
not surpassed by any mill property in the county. 
It is said that this mill was the very making of 
Johnsville and the surrounding countiy. Two good 
dwelling-houses have been erected near by for 
employes. These, with the mills and church, give 
the place a rather lively appearance. From the 
summit of the hill above the mill, one has as fine 
a view as the country affords, and it is somewhat 
suggestive of standing on Mount Pisgah and over- 
looking the promised land. An excellent covered 
bridge spans the creek, or river, at the mills. 

A church of the Old-School Baptists was built 
here at the mill about 1825-26, and ten years after- 
ward was burned. It was used both as a church 
and schoolhouse. A brick church was built about 
1845-46, and served the congregation until 1877, 
when the present new frame was erected. Rev. 
Benjamin Green was one of the first Pastors of 
this church, and Rev. Milton Smith the last reg- 
ular Pastor. He died recently, since which time 
the church has been without a shepherd, and now 
has only occasional preaching. One of the oldest 
graveyards in the township is adjacent to this 
church. 

The first school taught in Perry Township was 
by Lawrence Van Buskirk, in 1817, near where 
Joshua Singrey now lives. He taught in the Owl 
Creek settlement several terms in succession. The 
next schools, perhaps, were taught in the villages of 
Johnsville and. Xorth Woodbury. The schools of 
the present day are in a flourishing condition, and 
in striking contrast to those of that early day. The 
following statistical information shows the advance 
made in educational matters: Balance on hand 
September 1, 1878, $1,310.22; State tax, S321 ; 
local tax for school and schoolhouse purposes, 
$377.50 ; total amount paid teachers in year, $933 ; 
number of schoolhoiises in township, 3 ; value of 
school property, $4,000 ; teachers employed — male 



^ 



k. 



HISTOKY or MORROW COUNTY. 



487 



4, female 1 — total, 5 ; wages per month — male, $35, 
female, $15. J]nrollment — males, 83 ; females, 74 ; 
average monthly attendance — males, 49 ; females, 
46. Balance on hand September 1, 1879, $906.24. 
In proof of the interest taken in educational mat- 
ters in early times, Elizabeth Hart, it is said, walked 
four miles to school alone during one whole 
winter, and that, too, when she was but twelve or 
fourteen years old. 

Perry Township has two " first births." A 
daughter of Benjamin Hart was one of the first, and 
Phoebe Ogle the other ; both of these are claimed 
as the first. Their fathers were the first two 
settlers. Ogle coming in 1811, and Mr. Hart in 
the fall of the same year or the next spring. 
Which is entitled to the preference, we are unable 
to saj'^, and, as they are both ladies, and ladies are 
usually sensitive about their ages, we refrain from 
giving dates. Henry Sams' was the first funeral 
which occurred in the settlements. The first wed- 
ding is not remembered. 

The township of Perry was organized in the 
spring of 1817, and attained its name in the fol- 
lowing manner. Abraham Hetrick and Philip 
Stiltz, who were living here at the time of Perry's 
victory on Lake Erie, resolved to perpetuate that 
event by giving the name of Perry to the neighbor- 
hood where they dwelt. This name was confirmed, 
when, in 1817, the organization of a township took 
place. Eleven men met in the early spring of the 
year mentioned above, at the house of Philip Stiltz, 
on Section 16, and proceeded to organize the town- 
ship by electing the necessary oflScers. Jehu 
Singrey was elected Justice of the Peace and 
Treasurer ; William Van Buskirk, Constable ; John 
Stout, Abraham Hetrick and Peter Wirick, 
Trustees ; Jonathan Huntsman, Clerk. When 
Morrow County was formed, the township was 
divided through the center, and each half, both in 
Richland and Morrow Counties, retained the name 
of Perry. 

In olden times, before the era of railroads, the 
business of teaming was very extensive. Groods 
were hauled in wagons from Baltimore and Phila- 



delphia, and even from New York. David Paxton, 
of this township, was one of these old-time teamsters, 
and made many a trip to those Eastern cities with 
his large wagon drawn by six horses. Such a trip 
took up about two months by traveling " every day 
and Sunday too," and the expense of the trip was 
not far short of $100. But the introduction of 
railroads and the iron-hoi'se have displaced these 
old road wagons, and these old-time teamsters find 
themselves, like Othello, with their " occupation 
gone." 

In addition to the Old-School Baptist Church 
at Shauck's mill, of which mention has already 
been made. Perry Township has another, outside 
of the villages. The Evangelical Lutheran Church, 
situated a few hundred yards north of North Wood- 
bury, was organized more than forty years ago. As 
early as 1835-36, a few persons met out of doors 
near the site of the present church, among whom 
were George B. Hosier, Martin Bechner, Samuel 
HoiFman, Henry Sowers, Sr., Peter Baker, John 
Snyder, Henry C. Buhl, Henry Sowers, Jr. and 
others. They were members of the German Re- 
formed and the old Lutheran Churches. In 1836, 
they employed Rev. Samuel Leiter, of Mansfield , 
to preach for them. He was of the German Re- 
formed Church, and administered the sacrament to 
the members of the new congTegation. About this 
time. Peter Baker donated one acre of land, upon 
which, during the summer of 1839, they erected 
a frame building 35x40 feet. Rev. Mr. Myers 
preached the sermon at the laying of the 
corner stone. During the summer of 1840, Rev. 
Barney Hoffhiann preached to them. He was 
from Pennsylvania and was of the Evangelical 
Lutheran. In December, a protracted meeting 
was held, when the society was organized into an 
Evangelical Lutheran Church, and increased to 
over one hundred members before the close of win- 
ter. Rev. Mr. Hofi"mann remained about eighteen 
months, and was followed by Rev. George W. 
Shaffer, who remained two and one half years. 
In the mean time, they employed also Rev. Jacob 
Siddles, of south-western Ohio. The two ministers 



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488 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



held a revival in 1843, at which the membership 
was increased to one hundred and seventy-five. Rev. 
Siddles remained seven years, during which time 
the church prospered. After him came Rev. Mr. 
Tobias, who remained one year, and was succeeded 
by Rev. Mr. Peters, whose eyes failed, and he 
stayed with them but six months, when Rev. Goodlin 
was employed. He remained five years, and then 
Rev. A. Donaldson, of Oberlin, came for half a 
year. "He was followed by Rev. A. R. Brown, who 
remained for four years, and was succeeded by Rev. 
Emerson, of Kentucky, who stayed one year. In 
1860-(31, the old frame building was taken down 
and a new brick (the present church ) was erected 
on the same site. The Pastors since then have 
been as follows : Rev. D. J. Foust, six years to 
1867 ; Rev. Mr. Gilbraith, two years to 1869 ; 
Rev. E. W. Lowders, two years to 1871 ; Rev. 
Gilbraith, two years to 1873 ; Rev. Truckingmille, 
three years to 1876, and Rev. G. M. Heindel four 
years to the present time. It was formerly known 
as " Woodbury Church," but in 1873 the name 
was changed to " St. John's Church." The present 
membership is about 140, and their brick edifice 
cost between So,000 and $6,000, in 1861. An 
Evangelical Lutheran Sunday School was organized 
about twelve years ago. Previously, it was a union 
Sunday school through the summer, and in the 
winter months was discontinued. The first Superin- 
tendent was W. Eckman. The present Superintend- 
ent is William Huntsman, the average attendance 
about seventy, and the school lasts the year 
around. 

The village of Johnsville was laid out December 
17, 1834, by John Ely and William H. Shauck, 
and the plat recorded in Richland County. It was 
named for P]ly by adding the word " ville " to 
"John," his first name, thus forming the name 
'• Johnsville." Both owned a quarter-section, and 
on a part of each man's land the town was located, 
and each entertained a laudable desire to perpetu- 
ate himself, by giving his name to the town, but, 
being unable to agree as to which one should be 
thus honored, they finally cast lots, and the lot fell 



upon Ely. The first residence in this place was 
built by Francis Holmes, and is now occupied by 
Dr. Davis. The first merchants were Boyd & 
Ackley, who opened a store about the year 1837, 
and the next year were succeeded by Creigh & 
Shauck. Asa Cover opened a tavern about 1839- 
40, which was the first in the town, and was continued 
untill860. The first post office was established some- 
where near 1825, by John Shauck, at his residence. 
The office was named for him, a name it still 
bears, and he was the first Postmaster and held 
the position until the office was moved to the vil- 
lage, in 1838, when John T. Creigh became 
Postmaster. Mr. Creigh was a man of considerable 
prominence ; was one of the first County Com- 
missioners, and was elected to the State Senate in 
1854. The present Postmaster is John W. Thomas. 
The first blacksmith was William Shauck. Who 
taught the first school could not be learned. The 
town has an excellent schoolhouse, which is a 
frame building, two stories high, and was built in 
1858-59. A union school is maintained, and is 
at present in charge of Prof. David Andrews. 
Johnsville forms a special district, and the following 
statistics from the Auditor's books show the present 
flourishing state of its school : Balance on hand 
September 1, 1878, $273.42; State tax, $169.50 ; 
local tax for schoolhouse purposes, $680.40 ; 
amount paid to teachers within the year, $592 ; 
one schoolhouse, value, $1,200; teachers^ two — 
one male and one female ; amount paid teachers per 
month, male, $50, female, $30 ; enrollment, male, 
twenty-five, female, twenty-seven ; daily attendance, 
male, fifteen, female, fourteen ; balance on hand 
September 1, 1879, $468.20. 

The present business of Johnsville may be 
summed up as follows : Three general stores ; one 
drug store ; one furniture store ; one stove and tin- 
ware store ; one grocery store ; two shoe stores ; 
two taverns ; three harness and saddle shops ; 
one blacksmith-shop ; one wagon-shop ; one car- 
riage-shop ; one paint-shop ; one restaurant ; two 
phy.sicians ; two churches ; one schoolhouse, and 
one Odd Fellows' lodge. Mr. J. J. Cover, 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



489 



who located in the village in 1840, is now the 
only male citizen living who was here at that time. 
A fact worthy of note in connection with the 
town is, that every man who came to it, and stuck 
to business, got rich. Two men are remembered 
who came poor, amassed fortunes, became too large 
for the place, removed to towns where they would 
have more room, and grew poor in less time than 
it had taken them to get rich. Considerable busi- 
ness is done, though it is not the lively place it was 
twenty years ago. Mr. Cover informed us, that, 
in its palmiest days, he paid out in one year, for 
flax-seed alone, $22,000, and that his firm did a 
large business, for a small town like Johnsville, in 
pork-packing. Railroads passing some miles from 
the town have, to some extent, drawn away the 
trade to other points, and it does not present the 
bustling activity of former years. 

There are two churches in the village, United 
Brethren and Baptists. The former was built in 
1850, at a cost of $1,250. Daniel Cover, 
George Hiskey and E. Shauck were the Trustees 
when the house was built. The present Pastor is 
Rev. J. F. Smith, and his flock is about thirty-five 
in number. A Sunday school is kept up the year 
round, and the present Superintendent is, Andrew 
Tenant. 

The Baptist Church was organized about 1860 
by Rev. Mr. Moflin, and a church edifice built the 
same year. William Shauck, Jeremiah Kelley and 
Jeremiah Fringer were the first Trustees. The 
membership is about forty, and the Pastor is Rev. 
A. W. Hall. W. A. Cover is Superintendent of 
the Sunday school, which lasts all the year, and is 
in a flourishing condition. 

Johnsville Lodge, No. 469, 1. 0. 0. F., was insti- 
tuted in April, 1871, by H. Y. Beebe, G-rand 
Master, and W. C. Earl, Grand Secretary. The 
Charter members were J. W. Stefi"er, Abraham 
Miller, C. D. Dice, Jeremiah Kelley, Henry Shene- 
tield, J. B. Shefi'er, Y. E. Dye, Aaron Kelley, 
Thomas Riley and Asher Craven. The first officers 
were : Jeremiah Kelley, X. G. ; Thomas Riley, Y. 
G. ; V. E. Dye, Secretary : and Henry Shenefield, 



Treasurer. The first Trustees were Abraham 
Miller, Asher Craven and J. W. Steff"er. The 
present officers are : J. R. Algire, N. G. ; John 
Lucas, V. G. ; D. M. Hershner, Secretary ; Thomas 
Coles, Permanent Secretai-y ; and J. W. Stefi"er, 
Treasurer. Trustees, Jacob Shively, Abraham 
Miller and John B. Sheffer. There are about 
forty-six active members on the roll. 

The population of Johnsville is not far from 300, 
and buildings, stores, and in fact the very appear- 
ance of everything denotes a village whose people 
are prosperous and intelligent. 

The village of North Woodbury was surveyed 
and laid out by Elisha Cornwall, David Tuthill 
and Charles Campbell, who owned the land upon 
which it was located, and the plat was recorded 
June 21, 1830, in the Recorder's office of Richland 
County. Terry and Cornwall, hatters by trade, 
built the first i-esidence in North Woodbury. The 
first store was opened in the spring of 1835, by 
John Markey, John Ruhl and Elkanah Yan 
Buskirk ; Markey owning one-half, and the other 
two one-fourth each. This was but a branch of a 
store at Bellville, owned wholly by Markey. In 
the spring of 1836, they built a storehouse on the 
site of the present store-building. The fall previous 
(1835) Morgan Levering bought the interest 
of Markey, and in 1836 YanBuskirk withdrew 
from the firm, and Mr. Ruhl became an equal 
partner with Mr. Levering. The history of this 
firm (Levering & Ruhl) possesses almost as great 
interest as that of Dombey & Son, of one of the 
Dickens novels. Levering & Ruhl continued 
business until the fall of 1851, when a dissolution 
by mutual consent, took place. Levering remaining 
in the business until his death in 1860. After 
his death, John Ruhl bought the stock, Allen 
Levering (son of the deceased Levering), who was 
not of age, agreeing to take a half-interest upon 
attaining his majority, and thus in a short time 
the firm again became Levering & Ruhl. Lever- 
ing sold out in 1863 to Norman Merwine, who, 
with Ruhl, continued business six years, when 
Merwine sold to R. B. Levering, a younger brother 



vi: 



V 



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490 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



of Allen, and again the old sign of Levering & 
Kulil, became, like Mrs. Toodles' door-plate, a 
handy tiling to have, not in the house, but on it, for 
it had never been taken down from the beginning of 
the partnership of Levering & Ruhl, in 18H0. This 
copartnership continued six years, when Mr. 
Levering sold out to his partner, who still con- 
tinues the business, but has moved from the old 
stand across the street. 

Van Buskirk, after selling out to Levering & 
Kuhl, started a store on his own account, but did 
not continue long, when he closed out and removed 
to Missouri. The next venture was a store, opened 
by a man whose name is now forgotten, but was 
conducted by one Hull. J. Rhinehart and Henry 
Sowers also had a store, but neither it nor the one 
carried on by Hull continued in existence very 
long. There is now but the one store (Ruhl's) in 
the place. The post office was established October 
27,1848, and John Boner was the first Postmaster. 
The name of the post office was Woodview, a name 
it still bears, and Amos Ruhl is the Postmaster. 
The first tavern in North Woodbury was kept by 
Richard Sherley. A Mr. Paxton was also an 
early tavern-keeper, as well as a man named Will- 
iam Kreps, and one Acton. George Kepper was 
the first shoemaker ; Adam Bechtel was the first 
tailor ; Adam Hoffner, the first wagon-maker ; 
Peter Burkeybite was the first blacksmith. As 
stated above, Terry & Cornwall wete hatters, and 
manufactured these handy "implements" from 
wool. 

It was an extensive business in those days, 
when people made everything they wore, instead 
of buying it. Timothy Sherley was the first 
cooper. The first schoolhouse in the village was 
of logs, and was built about 1832. Among 
the first teachers, were Dr. Floyd, and a man 
named Spears. A handsome schoolhouse now 
ornaments the town. The first cemetery was laid 
out by George B. Hosier, and Elizabeth Ruhl was 
the first person buried in it. A tanyard was an 
early institution of Woodljury, and was kept by 
Peter Rauhauser. A distillery was kept by one 



Hilderbrand, but did not last long. North Wood- 
bury was once a lively town, and did a large busi- 
ness, but, like Johnsville, a lack of railroads cost it 
the most of its trade. A carriage factory here at 
one time did a thriving business. Among the 
doctors who have practiced their profession in the 
village, are Drs. Rundall, Hull, Main and Ruhl, 
the latter a practitioner at present. 

The Albrights organized a church here between 
1830 and 1835. Among its early members were 
Adam Lucas, Samuel Dennis, Michael and George 
Rhinehart, and their families. One of the early 
preachers was Rev. Mr. Baumgarten. Rev. Mr. 
Leiter also preached occasionally in the town. 
The first church edifice was built about 1838, 
and was a large frame. When it became old 
and well worn, the society bought the church 
building of the United Brethren, who had, in the 
mean time, formed a society and erected a church. 
Their society, some of the original members of 
whom were John Wibling, Adam Bechtel, George 
Nickey, Samuel Miller and Joseph Klinefelter, 
growing weak from deathand removals, they sold 
their building to the Albrights, as we have said, 
and who still occupy it, after thoroughly re- 
pairing it. The present Pastor is Rev. Mr. 
Bowen. A good Sunday school is maintained, 
of which, we believe. Dr. Davis, of Johnsville, 
is Superintendent. Mr. Dennis, one of the 
original members of this church, lived to be 
over ninety years of age, and Mr. Lucas is still 
living, though a member at present of the Luth- 
eran Church. 

North Woodbur}^ once had quite a nice little 
library, which wis established in 1841. Any one 
could become a member upon the payment of 
$2. and siunintr the constitution. The officers were 
a President, Vice President, three Managers, a 
Librarian and Treasurer. The old record books 
are before us, and the names signed to the Con- 
stitution, which is transcribed in them, recall 
many of the pioneers of the village and the town- 
ship. The library was long a source of interest to 
the town, but was finally allowed to go down. The 



V 



HISTORY or MORROW COUNTY. 



491 



books, however, are still in the town, and are 
stored away in some old garret. It is altogether 



probable that the library will be revived again at 
no distant day. 



CHAPTER XX. 

BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP— DESCRIPTIVE— LAND WARRANTS— COMING OF THE PIONEERS- 

THE BENNINGTON MYSTERY— VILLAGES— RELIGION— 

EDUCATION— EARLY TEACHERS. 



TXTHEX the war of the Revolution had severed 
' ' the colonies from Great Britain, Congress, to 
reward the soldiers of Independence for their gal- 
lant conduct on the field of battle, issued Western 
land warrants of one or more hundred acres, to those 
who had armed to fight for their country. These 
warrants aiforded vast opportunities for speculation 
to the opulent men of the East, who purchased 
them of the holders at enormous discount. Great 
inducements were held temptingly before poor men 
in the East, to secure the rapid colonization of the 
boundless forests and fertile lands of the West. 
Poor men, unable to make but a precarious living 
in settled localities, pushed westward to secure 
homes, which, with care, would place them in 
affluent circumstances in after years. The warrants 
were sold to such as contemplated a change of 
residence, and handsome fortunes realized in their 
sale by speculative men of capital. Military land 
warrants, given to Revolutionary soldiers by Con- 
gress, comprised the western half of Bennington 
township. The military lands were divided into 
sections, each embracing four thousand acres, and 
four of these constituted a township. A whole 
section was usually purchased by the speculator, 
who. held it until rapid settlement in its vicinity 
had greatly increased its value, when, after being 
surveyed into lots of divers sizes, it was thrown 
into market. Large bodies of land were thus 
held by capitalists, one man often owning thou- 
sands of acres. In about 1808, Jonathan Dayton 
purchased the land warrants of Section 3, Ben- 
nington Township, and, shortly before the war 
•of 1812,ofi"ered this section, which contained the 



usual four thousand acres, for sale. Dayton 
owned vast tracts of lands in Ohio, both before 
and after its admission as a State, one of them 
being located in Montgomery County, and a popu- 
lous and beautiful city there to-day bears his name. 
When he disposed of the last of his Bennington 
Township land warrants, the records fail to show ; 
but the greater portion of the earlier settlers in that 
section received their titles from him. About the 
time Section 3 was purchased, the father of 
Thomas Saulter secured the warrants of Section 
2 ; but, dying soon afterward, the ownership 
descended to his son, Thomas, who, immediately 
after the war of 1812, advertised the warrants for 
sale. When the war cloud of 1812 swept over 
the land, it disturbed, for a time, the rapid settle- 
ment of these sections ; but, immediately after the 
close of hostilities, surveyors were employed to 
subdivide the sections into lots or sub-sections of 
various sizes, usually of eighty-five, one hundred 
or two hundred acres. As early as 1804-6, pio- 
neers had come in what are known in the West as 
" prairie schooners," and had formed settlements 
at Sunbury, Delaware, and other portions of Dela- 
ware County. _ In a few years, these settlements 
became quite populous; and, land in their vicinity 
becoming dearer than many could aiford to pay, 
settlers began to branch out into the trackless 
forests. In 1812, when it became known that war 
between Great Britain and the United States was 
a settled and startling truth, the pioneers of Ohio, 
aware of the treacherous nature of the savages, 
and knowing that attacks from them would come 
unheralded, made rapid preparations for their 



"fV 



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492 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



safety by the erection of strong fortresses and 
stockades. These forts, capable of resisting sud- 
den onshmglits by the wily savages, were erected 
in the more popidous localities. Messengers were 
dispatched to carry warning of danger to ventur- 
ous settlers on the outskirts of the colonies. 
Families often came in confusion and excitement 
to these forts, with thrilling stories of narrow 
escape from impending conflict with Indians. 

But one settler is known to have lived in IJen- 
uington Township prior to the war of 1812. This 
man was 'John Rosecrans, a distant relative of 
Gen. Rosecrans. As the settlers slowly began 
to leave Sunbury and Delaware, and to locate north 
along the banks of Walnut Creek, John Rosecrans 
finally overstepped the present southern boundary 
of Bennington, and built a small log cabin about 
half a mile north of the present site of Pagetown. 
This cabin w;is built in 1811, and a small clearing 
made around it, barely sufiicient to insure- its safety 
in case of wind-storms. In 1812, he raised a small 
crop of corn and potatoes, which, with the addition 
of a little wheat flour obtained at Delaware, con- 
stituted his vegetable diet, while his never-failing 
rifle supplied him with any quantity of the choicest 
venison or turkey. He had a wife, but no chil- 
dren, and was a great hunter, roaming the forests 
for miles around, in search of more stirring adven- 
tures with animals of greater courage and ferocity 
than deer and wolves. One day in the winter of 
1811-12, while hunting in the woods about eight 
miles from his cabin, becoming hungry with that 
unlimited appetite known only to the hunter, he 
shot a large turkey, and, striking a fire, made hasty 
preparations to enjoy his repast. He tore ofl" the 
skin, and, cutting a generous portion of the tenderest 
flesh, held it on the point of his hunting knife be- 
fore -the blazing fire. When sufficiently browned 
to satisfy him, it was quickly devoured, and the act 
wiis repeated until the best portions of the fowl 
had disappeared. When his appetite was appeased, 
he scattered the burning brands, that the fire 
might do no damage, and again struck into the 
woods. He had gone but a short distance, when 



he heard a peculiar sound above his head, and 
glancing quickly up, saw the green, glaring eyes 
of a huge wildcat fixed upon him from a large 
limb, behind which it was endeavoring to con- 
ceal itself It was about firty feet above him, 
and, raising his rifle, he took deliberate aim at 
its head and fired. . With one convulsive spring, 
it bounded to the ground, striking within a few feet 
of where he stood, scattering and tearing up the 
leaves and snow in its dying struggles. It was one 
of the largest of its kind, and had a fine mottled 
skin, which was made into a cap, and was worn by 
Rosecrans for many years. 

The Indians did not become troublesome until 
the autumn of 1812, when they began to appear 
in war paint and feathers. Small hostile bands 
were seen roaming the forest at various points, 
and reports were circulated through the settle- 
ments to beware and to seek safety in the forts. 
Although Rosecrans was aware of the proximity 
of danger, he had delayed going into safe quar- 
ters for some time. One morning, he heard a 
turkey gobble in the woods near his cabin, and, 
from the coarseness of the tone, judged that it 
must be a large one. It continued to gobble at 
irregular intervals, until the apprehension of Rose- 
crans was aroused. Thinking that it might be 
something far more dangerous than a turkey, he 
grasped his long rifle, and, with his knife in his 
belt, stole cautiously out of the cabin, on the oppo- 
site side from the turkey, instructing his wife to 
bar the door securely after him. He took a cir- 
cuitous route, and crept forward with the utmost 
caution. In about twenty minutes the sharp report 
of his rifle was heard, and shortly afterward Rose- 
crans came swiftly into the clearing, but with no 
turkey. He hurried into the cabin and told his 
wife to make immediate preparations to start for the 
fort. They hastily packed some clothing, and, 
barring the door as best they could, started rapidly 
on foot toward the fort, the husband with his rifle 
in his hand, on the alert, leading the way. He told 
but few what he shot that morning in the woods, 
and was usually reticent when the subject was 






A< 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



493 



broached ; but the report became current, and was 
universally believed, that the soul of some redman 
started that morning for the " happy hunting 
grounds. " At the close of the war, Rosecrans did 
not return to his cabin, but settled in some other 
locality, and his clearing became overgrown with 
weeds and undergrowth. 

In 1813, two brothers named Olds, erected a 
rude cabin north of Pagetown, on the east side 
of Walnut Creek, and began to clear the land. 
They met with several Indian alai'ms, and were 
compelled to return for short periods to the fort. 
In 1814, they sold their partly earned title in the 
land to a man who became the most prominent in the 
early history of the township. This man was 
Allen Dwinnell. Possessing no small amount of 
means, he invested largely in laud, becoming one 
of the heaviest land-holders for miles around. 
He was well educated, for the backwoods, and 
was a lawyer, the first in the township. He 
was often sent for, in the neighborhood to plead 
the cause of some person wronged ; and, when he 
arose before a country " Squire," or a jury im- 
paneled from the settlers, with his advantage of 
learning, he was almost sure to win his case. 
Many of the early attorneys at Delaware found to 
their sorrow, that Allen Dwinnell's influence and 
ability were more than a match for their legal 
erudition. He dealt largely in horses, buying, 
selling and trading. In 1817, he, together with 
Samuel Page and Justin Dewey, erected near the 
present site of Pagetown, the first saw-mill in the 
township. It was run by water-power, having a 
re-action wheel. Prior to its erection, settlers in 
all that region of country, got their sawing done at 
the Quaker settlement on Alum Creek. After 
its erection, a large share of the eastern and 
southern custom of the Quaker Mill, or the 
" Benedict Mill," as it was called, was taken away. 
Settlers in South Bloomfield, Hilliar and Porter 
Townships came to this mill for boards for their 
floors, doors, tables, etc. It did an extensive 
and first-class work, and was of great value to the 
community, in that it saved many a harassing 



journey after sawed lumber. The mill was after- 
ward sold to other parties, who continued the 
business with varying success. Dwinnell was a 
native of Northern Vermont, Bennington being 
his native town. 

On the 22d of April, 1817, the Commissioners 
of Delaware County authorized the creation of a 
new township, and, on that day, the County Sur- 
veyor laid out the new township from the following 
bounds : '' Beginning at the southwest corner of 
Clinton Township, Knox County ; thence west on 
the line between Townships 5 and 6, to the 
center of the 17th Range; thence north to the 
county boundary; thence east on said line to 
the stake between 15 and 16 Ranges; thence 
south on said line to the place of beginning." 
Dwinnell assisted in the survey, and was the 
one to suggest Bennington as the name of the 
new township. Subsequent to its creation, it had 
been surveyed into lots or sub-sectiuns of irregular 
size and shape. 

This township is one of the most fertile in the 
county. Its natural drainage from geological 
slopes renders the character of the soil largely allu- 
vial and greatly productive. It is usually a rich 
sandy loam, with a large proportion of alluvium. 
Walnut Creek, or " Big Belly, ' runs south through 
the western half, and its winding branches drain 
the entire township, except the northeastern corner 
and the central portion of the western side. Since 
the forests have disappeared, the action of the sun 
is unchecked, rendering the hills, containing a fair 
percentage of clay, subject to severe baking after 
a heavy rain followed by sunshine, but fitting the 
valleys for satisfactory and unlimited production. 
These facts account for the almost invariable rule 
followed by early settlers in selecting their farms 
from the higher land. ■ Two or three quarries have 
been opened in the township, and a fair sample of 
sandstone obtained. A quarter of a mile west of 
Marengo, on an extensive prominence, is a large 
earth inclosure, made by Mound Builders, or 
Indians. The inclosure comprises about four acres, 
and the encirclino; embankment must have been 



:v 



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494 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



originally seven feet high. At present, it is a 
foot and a half above the general level, and is cov- 
ered with trees two feet in diameter. A petroleum 
excitement once spread over the township, but it 
wa.s .soon a-scertained to l)e caused by a well that 
emitted a peculiar-.smelling gas. 

In 1814, shortly after Allen Dwiniiell buught 
tlie Olds jiroperty, Thomas Ilance came into the 
township and erected his cabin about two miles 
iKirth of Pagetown. This man became well 
known, because of his having kept the first store 
in the township, and also the first carding-mill. 
The mill was built in 1824, and was a two-story, 
frame building, the machinery occupying the up- 
per .story, and the tread-wheel, which furnished the 
motive power, the lower. In 1828, a small room 
was partitioned off from the carding-room in the 
upper story, into which Mr. Ilance placed $500 
worth of goods. This was the first stock of goods 
in the township. If articles not kept at the store 
were asked for, Hance took note of the wants, and 
supplied them at his next visit to Delaware, where 
his goods were purcha.sed. In 1815, Dr. x\lfred 
Butters settled in the township, building his log 
cabin (in one corner of which was a small office) 
about a mile north of Morton's Corners. He was 
an '■apothecary" doctor. His practice became 
quite extensive, and his face was familiar for miles 
around. He usually went dressed in a complete 
suit of deer skin, and was intelligent, a good 
talker, and was in the habit of supplying the 
Elder's place when that dignitary was absent. He 
preached in his deer-skin suit at one end of the 
room, while his rifle, brought with him to church, 
remained at the other. One Sunday, in 1819, he 
started to church with his rifle on his shoulder, 
and, having proceeded about half way, saw a large 
bear in front of him traveling along at a rapid rate. 
He rai.sed his gun and fired, and the bear, with a 
howl of anguish, fell dead upon the earth. The animal 
was conveyed to his cabin, and the hunter reached 
the meeting-house in time to conduct the services. 

In 1815, Alden Sherman, the first blacksmith, 
appeared. He worked at his trade for many years. 



and his descendants are yet living in the township. 
Stephen Barnaby came in the same year, and began 
making chairs, tables, spinning-wheels, bedsteads, 
etc. In 1816, Jonas Vining, Joseph Powers, 
Samuel Page, Joseph Horr and Peleg Sherman 
appeared, and began to make homes in the forest. 
Peleg Sherman was a wagon-maker, and did not 
erect his shop until 1819. The others were farm- 
ers, and all settled near Pagetown. In 1817, David 
Wilson, Justin Dewey, Benoni Moss, Stephen 
Sprague, John Stoddard and James Westbrook 
came in. Moss and Sprague settling in the north- 
eastern corner of the township. Just across the 
line in South Bloomfield was their neighbor, John 
Manville. The settlers in the southern part got 
their grinding done, either at the Sunbury Mills, or 
at the Quaker settlement on Alum Creek. There 
were no roads — nothing but winding paths and 
trails through the woods, and often in the night- 
time troops of ravenous wolves would surround the 
belated traveler on his way home from mill, mak- 
ing him cling closer to his horse, and urge the 
weary animal into a swifter pace. The following is 
related of Jonas Vining : He had gone to the Sun- 
bury Mills, and, being obliged to wait until late at 
night for his bag of flour, resolved to start for home, 
though the night was dark and the path obscure. It 
was achilly night late in autumn, and the wind sighed 
mournfully through the brandies of the trees, and 
the sudden rustling of leaves and weird creaking of 
the trees kept the traveler on the anxious lookout for 
signs of danger. The wolves began uttering their dis- 
cordant notes, and, to add to the unpleasant situa- 
tion, heavy thunder was heard in the distance. iMr. 
Vining drew his "great-coat" closely about him, 
and urged his horse on as fast as could be safely 
done through the deep woods. Finally a startling 
wail, ending with a peculiar, heavy tone, was heard 
above the rustling leaves and sighing winds, and he 
knew that he was followed by a panther. He heard 
it bounding lightly over the leaves to " leeward," 
endeavoring to ascertain by scent the nature of the 
game it was in pursuit of. It appeared several 
times, but only for an instant, as it flitted through 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



491 



the glades of the forest. It finally veered oif into 
the wilderness, and its screams were lost in the 
sounds of the gathering storm. When his jaded 
horse carried him into the clearing at home, which 
he reached in safety, it was almost daybreak. 

In 1818, Isaac Davis, Cornelius Roleson, Elias 
Wilson and others joined the settlement at Page- 
town. The former was a cooper and began making 
barrels, kegs, tubs, churns, pails, etc. He brought 
five or six sheep with him, but had to guard them 
day and night from the wolves. These were the 
first sheep in the township, though in 1820, Jonas 
Vining and Thomas Hance brought in two small 
flocks. Semantha ( Davis ) Wells, daughter of Isaac 
Davis, is yet living at Morton's Corners. Her mind 
is as clear and bright as ever, and she loves to re- 
call, as none but old people do, the varied shade 
and sunshine of pioneer life. She can recollect the 
old log schoolhouse of 1819, with its puncheon floor 
its benches of split logs, its clapboard desks, its 
chimney built of " nigger-heads," its capacious fire- 
place, its absence of books, its presence of dirt, and 
its two windows, if such insignificant apertures 
deserve the name. She remembers making tea 
from sage and rose leaves, and coffee from browned 
wheat and rye. She also remembers the wedding 
that was celebrated five miles south of her father's 
cabin ; the baked beans served at the wedding sup- 
per ; the " goodly company " that gathered there ; 
the young pioneer who came on horseback to her 
father's cabin, and invited her to go ; how she 
donned her best gown, and 

" So light to the croup the fair lady he swung, 
So light to the saddle before her he sprung," 

and. together, with five other young couples, they 
went down from "the corners," as guests, to the 
wedding. She recalls the question that was asked 
her that night while 

" She looked down lo blush, and she looked up to sigh, 
With a smile on her lips, and a tear in her eye." 

Those old times will never be forgottea while those 
who enjoyed them are living, nor is it strange ! 
The' settlor's lives were molded to their surround- 



ings, and from the hardships of wilderness Hfe 
there sprung up pure fountains of enjoyment. 

In 1822, Robert Noe, Daniel and Lewis Hoyt, 
E, E. Morehou.se, Thomas Ayres and others .settled 
in the township, Noe and Morehouse locating near 
Marengo. The Noes have become prominent 
citizens in Northern Bennington. E. E. More- 
house built a saw-mill near his father's farm in 
1839, and, after conducting it about ten years, 
sold it to John M. Brown, who neglected the busi- 
ness, and the mill went down. In 182.3, Stephen, 
Andrew and Christopher Denman came in. The 
latter erected a combined saw and grist mill, in 
1827, on a small stream that flows into Walnut 
Creek. He did an extensive business at sawlns, 
but the grist mill, not proving profitable, was dis- 
continued at the end of about two years. It was 
run by water-power in connection with his saw- 
mill, and for the first year was quite well patronized. 

This was the first, last and only gri.st-mill ever 
in the township. It had the usual " nitj<rer-head "' 

■«■ CO 

stones, dressed to about eighteen inches face by 
one of the early blacksmiths. The machinery was 
almost entirely made of wood. Rods, bolts, cogs, 
pinions, wheels, etc., were made of the hardest wood 
found in the forest, usually of white oak, thoroughly 
seasoned and hardened by being tempered in the 
fire. The only iron was the large pin upon which 
the stones turned. A person to-day, eating bread 
made from the flour obtained at that mill, would 
say it was coarse and black. 

In the summer of 1822, a distressing circum- 
stance occurred in Bennington, which cast a shadow 
over the surrounding neighborhood. Two brothei'S, 
Daniel and Lewis Hoyt, with the assistance of one 
or two neighbors, were engaged in digging a well 
on their farm, near the central part of the town- 
ship. Having reached a depth of about twenty 
feet, they were called to dinner, and, when it was 
over, Daniel arose before the others, saying he 
would go down into the well and strike water before 
the others came out. In ten minutes, Lewis, on 
going to the well, glanced down into it, and saw 
his brother lying insensible at the bottom. He 



:i^ 



498 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



shouted to liini, but received no reply. Seizing the 
rope, lie let himself swiftly into the well ; but, strik- 
ing the fatal atmosphere, shouted to be drawn up. 
It was too late, however ; the poisonous gas had 
entered hi^* lungs, paralyzing his muscles, and he 
fell insensible on the bottom. No others dared 
venture down, and the women, half crazy, ran 
wildly about, scarcely knowing what they did. The 
men (juickly fashioned some iron hooks, and, pass- 
ing them into the well, drew the unconscious forms 
to the top. Doctors were sent for, and every pos- 
sible effort made to resuscitate the men, but with- 
out avail. They never spoke again, and were buried 
in one grave in the cemetery north of PagetoAvn. 

A large percentage of the settlers of Benning- 
ton cjxnie from Deleware County, which was settled 
largely by New Englanders and Quakers. Many 
of them were fi'om well-bi"ed families in the East, 
who came to improve their worldly prospects in 
the more promising land of the West. Several 
families, however, that settled in the township at 
an early day, were of a different type, and were 
sadly lacking in some of the moral and essential 
((ualities that go to make up good citizens. But 
these have long since left the country — for its 
good — and the population of Bennington now com- 
pares favorably with any portion of the county. 
The history of the township would scarcely be con- 
sidered complete without some allusion to what is 
known a.s the "Bennington Mystery: " 

In 188)^, a horse wa,-^ found dead in the woods 
near Vail's Cross Roads, having a bullet hole 
through its head. This aroused suspicion that foul 
play had been done some traveler, and many of the 
neighbors flocked in to view the dead animal. The 
reports vary as to the color of tho horse, some in- 
sisting that it was black, with a white star in the 
forehead, and others that it was a light sorrel. The 
neighborhood became excited, and began to spec- 
ulate as to the guilty parties. With spades and 
shovels they began turning up the earth at all 
suspicious places. A large tree had lately been 
blown down near where the horse lay dead, and, 
as the earth at its roots seemed fresh, the men be- 



gan digging there. Roswell Clark was present, 
and, being fond of a joke, cleverly pulled a small 
portion of hair from the mane of a horse standing 
near, which he mixed up with the earth, unseen 
by the men, and finally held up a double handful 
of the mixture, with the exclamation that he had 
found human hair. The men swarmed around him, 
and the utmost excitement prevailed. All were 
satisfied except Roswell Clark and a few others, 
that an awful murder had been committed. Some 
say that a few weeks after this event, while sev- 
eral men were hunting in the woods near where 
the dead horse had been found, they came upon a 
silk handkerchief, a silk hat and a buffsilo robe, 
used as a saddle blanket, upon which was a bloody 
hand mark. These were shown to the excited 
neighbors, and a system of espionage was adopted 
to ascertain, if possible, the guilty parties. Two 
of the men suspected were said to have been seen 
dragging the bottom of a small swamp near the 
Cross Roads, as if trying to bring up something 
from the murky waters. The mystery will 
never be fully cleared up, perhaps, to the .satisfac- 
tion of all. Roswell Clark and Andrew French, 
two old and respected citizens at Bloomfield, say. 
that, a few days before the horse was found, a man 
named Marr, riding a sorrel animal, came by, trav- 
eling westward, stopping at the cabins and endeav- 
oring to sell or trade his horse. The animal was 
noticeably afflicted with glanders. He failed to 
dispose of the horse, and, reaching a small glade 
in the woods, turned it out, as it could barely stag- 
ger along. He journeyed on westward, and two 
days afterward returned, and finding the horse in 
a sad plight, out of pity shot it. This man was 
not murdered, but returned to Mount A'ernon, 
where he afterward lived. This is the story told bv 
the two men mentioned above, and is doubtless true. 
There was another report, however, that a few days 
before the horse was found, a good-looking, well- 
dressed man, riding a fine black horse, which had 
a white star in its forehead, and upon which was a 
buffalo robe used as a saddle blanket, asked for ac- 
commodations for the ni{>;ht at Potter's tavern. 



"^p 



-« S>\s?> 



HISTOKY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



499 



Potter, having no empty room, told him to ride 
forward, that he could secure lodgings at Vail's 
Cross Roads. The man rode away, and was never 
afterward heard from. This report insisted that 
the horse found dead was a blact one with a white 
star in its forehead ; that the robe, silk hat, and 
handkerchief found were the identical ones seen 
with the stranger who was denied lodgings at Pot- 
ter's tavern. It was also related, that, about two 
months after these events, a young man came from 
the Kast, inquiring for his father, who answered 
the description of the stranger on the black horse. 
His father had come West with considerable 
money, to buy land, and, no tidings reaching home 
of his safety, or his whereabouts, his son had fol- 
lowed him to ascertain his fate. After leaving 
Potter's tavern, all traces of him were lost. Eos- 
well Clark and Andrew French are the only ones 
now living who saw the horse after it was dead, 
and while it was living. They say, emphatically, 
that the horse was sorrel, that no hat was found, 
that the handkerchief and saddle blanket were not 
found until the next spring, and that they were 
bright and fresh, as if just from the store. Many 
stories are told in regard to the matter, some of 
which are too absurd for this enlightened age, and 
we will drop the subject, which we deem really more 
of a neighborhood tradition than anything else, leav- 
ing it still to remain as the "Bennington mystery.'.' 
Christopher Wilson and Henry Cronk owned 
saw-mills in the eastern part of the township in 
about 1833. Since then, numerous mills have 
been started, sufficient to supply the citizens with 
all classes of rough building material. The mills, 
with the exception of a few in later times, have 
been run by water-power. The streams have 
considerable slope, making it easy to secure an 
excellent water-power by means of strong dams. 
The earliest wheels were re-action, and the mills 
were called " up-and-down'' mills ; but the overshot 
wheel soon supplanted the fornier kind, and 
"muley" and '-circular" mills took the place of 
the less convenient up-and-down ones. Vast 
heaps of logs were collected during the winter 



months, as the snows rendered their transportation 
much easier at that season ; then, in the spring and 
fall, when the equinoctial rains came on, and large 
quantities of water were dammed up, the saw was 
run night and day until the logs were converted 
into suitable building timber. The settlers hauled 
their logs on sle^s to the mills, where they would 
remain until the sawyer could work them up. No 
distilleries have ever been erected in Bennington. 
The early settlers, however, believed firmly in the 
beneficial use of liquor, not only as a cure for 
disease, but as a preventive of the same. The fol- 
lowing is told in illustration of their temperance 
ideas: In 1828, Christopher Denman, discovering 
that " wine is a mocker, and strong drink is rag- 
ing," resolved at one of his rollings to furnish no 
liquor. His logs were cut, and everything got 
in readiness, and then the neighbors were invited 
to assist, having been informed that no li(juor of 
any kind was to be allowed on the premises. The 
result was that not a man came to help him, and 
his logs lay rotting there for many years. William 
Hance tried the same experiment a few years later, 
and invited about twenty men to assist, all of whom 
were church mwnbers except three. The curious 
result was that not a church member appeared, 
with shame be it said, while the three " unbeliev- 
ers " were present, ready for work. 

One dark night in autumn, not far from 1840, 
Sheldon Sanford, a resident of South Bloomfield 
Township, brought two half-starved, half-dothed 
negro men to the cabin of Hance, and stopped 
" twenty minutes for refreshments." It was the 
custom on the underground railroad to change 
engines at every station ; so Sanford returned to 
his cabin, and Hance conveyed the weary runaways 
to the Quaker "station" on Alum Creek. Mica- 
jah Dillingham was a well-known and successful 
engineer on this road, which did all its business 
under cover of the night. Many jtoor slaves, 
aiming for the North Star, will remember the kind 
treatment received at several stations in Benning- 
ton, and at the much larger Quaker station on 
Alum Creek. 



W 



\H 



k 



•■^ 



r»(in 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



The first building erected in what is now Marengo 
was a I()gc-al)in, built in 1S43, by Isaac 1*. Freeman. 
Two yt'ars later, he built a two-story, frame build- 
ing, designed for a storeroom, into which he placed 
a general assortment of goods, valued at Sl,4(((). 
This became the central point around which north- 
ern Bennington revolved. The post oflSce was 
secured in 1847. by Thomas L. Freeman, son of 
Isaac P. ; and thereby hangs a tale : Numerous 
petitions liad been raised for the location of an 
office atFri'eman's Corners, and had been forwarded 
to headquarters only to be returned and the peti- 
tion denied. John K. Miller was Democratic 
Congressman at that time, from the eighth district, 
and Amza Morehouse, living near the Corners, was 
Chairman of the Democratic Central Committee. 
Thomas L. Freeman, being something of a politi- 
cian, devised the following scheme to secure the 
office. He wrote a letter to Miller, to which he 
secured the signature of Morehouse, purporting to 
come from the latter as Chairman of the Committee, 
insisting that the feeling around the Corners was so 
intense that, unless the office was granted, he would 
lose a large Democratic support. The device worked 
like a charm, and tlie post office was immediately 
established, through the influence of the duped 
Miller. Mrs. Freeman, wife of Isaac P., was a 
great admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte. She had 
been reading how. on the 14th of June, 1800, 
Napoleon had defeated the Austrians, at the battle 
of Marengo. She suggested this name for the new 
post office, which was adopted by Isaac P. Freeman 
and William Davis, who gave the office the name 
it now bears. In 1858, Greorge McMaster kept 
§4,000 worth of goods in Marengo. He has since 
been followed by Standish, Green, Ingraham, Pow- 
ers. Livingston, Evans, Hance, and lastly, by 
Robert L. Noe, who, in 187 1 , owned a stock valued 
at S6,000. In February. 1871, Noe's store burned 
to the ground, consuming all his goods and much 
other valuable matter. It was, undoubtedly, the 
work of incendiaries. He placed another stock, 
almo.st as large as the first, in an adjoining build- 
ing, and this, in June, 1H74, was also burned. In 



April, 1873, Marengo was surveyed into thirty 
lots, by John T. Buck, County Surveyor. Robert 
L. Noe was the projector and proprietor. Additions 
have since been made by Noe and T. D. Hance, 
until the lots novP number one hundred and five. 
A new impetus was given to the town when the 
Ohio Central Railroad was surveyed through the 
township, and the news spread abroad that a station 
was to be located at Marengo. Buildings began 
to go up like Aladdin's palace. Suddenly, the news 
came like a knell, that the railroad project was a 
failure ! Business fell prostrate, and men wan- 
dered about with woe-begone faces. In 1878, the 
road became a certainty, and enterprises, fearing 
another stroke, are slowly recovering their former 
activity. The town has a population of about 
sixty. 

The village of Morton's Comers, formerly known 
as Nimmons' Corners, and still later Jis Macon, was 
surveyed and platted by James Eaton on the 14th 
of April, 1838. Francis C. Olmstead, then own- 
ing quite a tract of land at that point, was the pro- 
jector and proprietor, his land having been pur- 
chased of John C. Nimmons. The village was 
first called Olmsteadville, after its projector. Many 
years before the town was laid out, Jonas Vining, 
one of the earliest settlers, had entered the land 
after purchasing the land warrants of Jonathan 
J)ayton, and had owned it until eight or ten years 
before the village was platted. 

In 1828, Vining sold the land to Nimmons' 
who, eight years afterward, transferred it to Olm- 
stead. This man bought the land with the thought 
of making it profitable to himself, designing to 
found a town which he ardently hoped would 
soon be peopled with hundreds. But he found a 
deadly rival in Pagetown, which had been laid out 
the year before, and which, under the generalship 
of the Pages, threatened to climb to loftier heights 
than its neighbor. Pagetown had its foundries 
and mills which the le.ss-fortunate citizens at Mor- 
ton's Corners failed to secure. Levi Morton suc- 
ceeded in getting a post office located at the Corners 
in 1840; but Pagetown, its rival, with a greater 



-? — ► 



K^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



501 



population and more influence, by a system of 
strategy, accomplished the task of having the office 
changed. Marcus and Dr. Samuel Page were the 
leaders in this flank movement, and the latter was 
rewarded for his generalship in receiving the 
appointment as first Postmaster. Prior to the 
platting of the town, Isaac Page owned the land 
upon which the village now stands. In 1837, he 
sold seven acres to Marcus Page, who immediately 
employed James Eaton to lay out a town, which, 
in honor of its founder, was called Pagetown. 

The Mortons had already opened their store at 
the Corners, and were making preparations to lay 
out a town. Marcus attempted to start a small 
store at Pagetown, to rival the one at the Corners, 
but the effort proved abortive, the beginning 
being the end. A good business was being done 
at the Corners with a stock valued at $1,600, and 
the Mortons, seeing the efforts made by Page to 
supplant them, began offering extra inducements 
to men of capital and tradesmen, to invest their 
means and work their trades at the Corners. They 
erected an ashery, and made black and white salts, 
and a small quantity of pearl-ash, giving orders on 
their store or money in exchange for ashes. In 
the mean time, great efforts were making at Page- 
town to surpass the energy and enterprise of its 
neighbor. Extra inducements were offered men 
at Delaware and other points, to invest at Pagetown. 
Samuel Johnson ventured to establish a store there 
in 1842, but he was soon compelled to close his 
store, transferring his goods to Delaware. The 
Corners could boast of a tavern, kept by Cadwell 
Olmstead; and Pagetown, to rival this, was over- 
joyed when Ball Fisk began entertaining the 
public there. The two towns have ever been 
practically one. 

From the earliest times, the citizens of each 
town have exhausted all the cunning known to 
their wiliest tacticians, to build up and populate 
their own town at the expense of the other. The 
post office has been oddly changed from Morton's 
Corners to Pagetown, and vice versa, many times, 
until the citizens declare themselves lost, unless 



some movement is on foot to again change its loca- 
tion. The office, at present, is located at Page- 
town with a branch office at the Corners, supported 
by the citizens of that village. How long the 
ominous quiet will prevail is as uncertain as the 
wind. In 1847, a Mr. Turney was induced, by 
offers and promises, to establish a carding-mill at 
Pagetown. It ran briskly for about two years, 
doing good work. But the wool-growing interests 
of Pagetown and its proselytes were alone insuffi- 
cient to supply the patronage necessary for the run- 
ning of the mill. While it was new, and while 
the blood of Pagetown was up, extra endeavors 
were made to supply it with a paying business. 
But when the people cooled down in a measure, 
and the enthusiasm and novelty had worn off, wool 
was gradually taken to other mills doing better 
work. Perhaps the animosity at the Corners, and 
the cautions efforts made there, had something to 
do with the death of the mill. At the end of 
about three years it closed its doors, which were 
not again opened for business. Henry Rawson. 
with greater enterprise than sagacity, erected a 
foundry building there about the same time. This 
was an important industry, and, for a time, revived 
the drooping spirits at Pagetown. He did a gen- 
eral casting business for about three years, making 
plow-points, and and-irons, etc., from pig and scrap 
iron. He, likewise, soon discovered the fatahty 
attached to such enterprises at that point, and, load- 
ing his machinery on wagons, shook the dust of 
the place from his feet. Hamilton Johnson dressed 
skins there a few years, about the same time. Sev- 
eral years ago, the original forty-eight lots at the 
Corners, to which no additions were ever made, 
were thrown out into the adjacent farms, and but 
few of them are now occupied by lot-holders. 
Though pugnacious and bitter in the extreme to- 
ward each other, the rival towns have joined hands 
in many undertakings, and the citizens in their 
personal dealings are neighborly and friendly. 

In the spring of 1819, a log schoolhouse was 
built about half a mile north of Pagetown. This 
was the first and has already been described. Sally 



!k^ 



.-)(I2 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



Ihviuut'll was tlie first touelior. She diod the fol- 
lowing year, her death bein,<;' the seeoiid in the 
township, Mts. J^awrence's being the first. Solo- 
mon Westbrook tiuight diuing the winter of 
1811I-20, which was very long and cold. The 
settlers snffered in their cal»ins, many of them 
having no flonr or meal for several months. Wild 
animals came close to the cabins, distressed with 
hunger. Tliough poorly clad, the children went 
to school. The sons of Joseph Horr, having no 
shoes, were compelled to go barefoot or stay at 
home. Each boy heated a shingle scorching hot, 
and. after thoroughly warming his feet, started at 
the top of his speed for the schoolhouse with the 
shingle in his hand. When he could stand the 
cold no longer, he placed his feet upon the shingle 
until they were relieved, when grasping his " stove," 
he again started on the double-quick for school. 
Our youth of the present day would think this a 
hard way to get an education. Frederick Davis 
taught in the same schoolhouse the next winter. 
In 1828, a log school building was erected near 
Isaac Davis' cabin, but who the early teachers were 
is forgotten. Samuel Lott was the first teacher in 
the ea.stern part. He was an eccentric, old bachelor, 
and had a white spot on the side of his head about 
as large as a silver dollar. This spot aiForded much 
speculation for the pupils, who were unable to 
account for the capillary freak. He had the social 
habit of snowballing with his scholars, and of join- 
ing their other games of ball or racing. Upon 
entering the schoolroom he, however, resumed his 
dignity, and kindly but firmly rebuked any at- 
tempted fiimiliarity permitted on the play-ground. 
William Bailey taught soon after him, and was the 
first in the township to enijdoy, as an aid. the now 
well-known method of object-teaching. A frame 
schoolhouse was built at Morton's Corners in 18155. 
The year before, the first one in the northern part 
was built half a mile north of Marengo, and Retella 
Madden was, likely, the first teacher. This lady is 
said to have originated the modern cu.stom of giving 
pupils •curtain lectures," keeping them for 
that purpose after the usual hour for closing the 



school. Her tongue was very effective in supply- 
ing the place of the rod. The poet evidently had 
her in his '-minds eye" when he wrote 
" Nature, impartial in her ends, 
In making man the strongest; 
Injustice, then, to make amends 
Made woman's tongue the longest.' 

George Mead taught school in the northeastern 
part in the winter of 18o7-H8. He was ignorant 
and churlish and was dislrked by his scholars. 
The directors promised the scholars, that, if they 
were studious until Christmas, they should have a 
treat of sweet cider. The day came around, and 
with it came the directors with a large keg of 
cider. The pupils drank deeply and often of the 
innocent beverage, but alas ! alas ! the directors 
had deceitfully mixed the cider with a large 
percentage of whisky. The scene became ludi- 
crous in the extreme, and the cruel directors, and 
teacher who was in the plot, sat holding their 
sides with laughter. The hilarity became conta- 
gious, and all the different phases of drunkenness 
w^ere exhibited. One bright boy, now an eminent 
divine, was so intoxicated that he had to be carried 
home by his half-tipsy sisters. The directors and 
teacher, as they so richly deserved, were severely 
criticised for this shameful act. 

The school cabins were at first built in the most 
primitive fashion ; but, as time advanced, they 
became more commodious and comfortable, and in 
later years are as convenient as those in other 
townships. There are no costly school buildings, 
and the wages are low. A new schoolhouse is 
being built, a half-mile north of Marengo, to take 
the place of the old one that has seen such long 
and useful service. 

A church society was established in Southern 
Bennington in 1818. The members began meet- 
ing in the settlers' houses ; afterward in school- 
houses, and finally in churches. Elders Tivis and 
Swarmstead, from Delaware County, visited them 
about every two weeks. Dr. Butters was one of 
the earliest members, and was himself a sort of 
local preacher, taking the Elders' place when they 



J>^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



503 



were absent. He was a popular citizen, and a good 
physician, and did more than any other man in 
early times to further the cause of religion in the 
township. Through his exertions, a small log " 
church was built near his cabin, north of Morton's 
Corners, in 1828. At the time of its erection, 
there was quite a large band of Christian workers ; 
they resolved to hold a camp-meeting in the woods 
near the church, looking for assistance from the 
Quakers on Alum Creek, and, at its close, to 
dedicate their church. Elders Walters, Ashley 
and Marvin were the ministers in charge of the 
meetings ; they had large audiences from all the 
.surrounding country. Elder Ashley was a man of 
great personal magnetism ; and, it is said, had the 
power of miraculous healing. On one occasion he 
was called to the bedside of a dying woman, and, 
kneeling there, prayed with great power that she 
might be saved fi-om death ; she immediately 
arose from her couch, and the next day was as 
well as ever. The camp-meeting greatly strength- 
ened the society, which soon began to make an 
improvement in Bennington morals. 

In 1838, the old Methodist Episcopal Church 
building, now standing silent and deserted, at 
Pagetown. was built at Morton's Corners ; this 
took the place of the hewed-Iog building near Dr. 
Butters'. In 1848, a rupture occurred in this 
church, dividing the congregation, and forming a 
new one known as Wesleyan Methodists. In 
1850, seven members met at the house of Marcus 
Phillips, in Peru Township, and organized the 
Wesleyan society. These seven were Marcus 
Phillips, Henry Bell, Mary Ann Whipple, Martha 
Crist. Henry Crist and his wife Amanda, Caroline 
Ames, and another, whose name is forgotten. In 
1854, they were permitted to meet to worship in 
the Methodist Episcopal Church at the Corners. 
In 1859, much bitterness sprang up between the 
two societies, and the Wesleyans were denied 
the use of the church, which, in the follow- 
ing year, was moved down to Pagetown. The 
Wesleyans, not in the least disheartened, im- 
mediately erected their ])resent fine church build- 



ing at the Corners, at a cost of $1,800. The 
other and older church society died slowly out 
until meetings were discontinued, and the church 
left to the owls and bats. The new society 
sprang into fresh life from the ashes of the old, 
and is now one of the strongest country churches in 
the county, having a membership of two hundred. 

A church society was organized in the south- 
eastern part, in 1830. It grew slowly until 1850, 
when the members built a small church at Vail's 
Cross Roads. Elders David Lyon and Robert 
Chase were among the earliest Pastors ; through 
their influence the society was continued many 
years ; but, when they were called to other fields 
of labor, it flickered for a time and then died out. 
The building still stands tenantless and deserted at 
the Cross Roads. 

The Episcopal Methodists organized a society at 
an early day near Marengo. The membership was 
small, but the laborers were in earnest, and the so- 
ciety still lives. About twenty years ago, a com- 
modious church was built at Marengo, and now the 
society is strong and gaining strength. Benning- 
ton had a hard name in early times, but the pres- 
ent is atoning for the past. 

In 1848, much excitement was created in the 
East on account of wonderful exhibitions of power 
given by various parties of Spiritualists. The news 
spread like a prairie-fire, and, in all portions of the 
country, "circles " were formed to secure manifesta- 
tions from the spiritual world. Bennington Town- 
ship did not escape the epidemic. Mary Ann 
Hance became a powerful medium, possessing the 
power of miraculous healing. She began with se- 
ances at her house, and the spirits of any of the 
countless dead could be conversed with. She con- 
verted many to the faith, and they began to hold 
regular circles at the cabins of the mediums. The 
custom was for them to sit quietly in a circle and 
■wait for the spirit to move them. The spirit of 
some departed man or woman would finally enter 
the body of one of the mediums, compelling him or 
her to lecture, write, or perform an act of healing. 
So much interest was manifested, and so many were 



TV 



L^ 



504 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 



converted to the faith, tliat the society resolved to 
buikl a chureh. which was done at a cost of about 
$500. The conditions of menibersliip were : " A 
belief in spirits which connuunicated with the 
world.' The society became quite strong, begin- 
ning with the following membership : Adam Hance, 
William Hance, Wright Weaver, Selah Vansickle, 



E. E. Morehouse, Jacob Mellinger and their wives ; 
also, Harriett Witham, James Chase and others. 
They claimed to be able to find the key to the 
'Bennington mystery, but, for some unexplained 
rea.son, did not succeed. The members finally dis- 
banded, and sold their church to the township, 
which uses it for a town hall. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



TROY TOWNSHIP— INTRODUCTORY— TOPOGRAPH Y— OCCUPATION OF THE AVHITES— EARLY PRI- 
VATIONS—RELIGION AND EDUCATION— STEAM CORNERS. 



HE who attempts to present with accuracy the 
annals of a county, or even of a district no 
larger than a township, the history of which 
reaches back through a period of nearly three- 
quarters of a century, imposes upon himself a task 
not easily accomplished. The difficulties to be 
met with in performing such a task are often 
augmented by statements widely at variance, 
furnished by early settlers and their descendants, 
as data from which to compile a true and faithful 
record of past events. To claim for a work of 
this character perfect freedom from all inaccuracies, 
would be to arrogate to one's self a degree of 
wisdom and infallibility possessed by no mortal 
man. To give facts, and facts only, should be 
the highest aim of every writer who professes to 
deal with incidents of the past. This shall be our 
aim in the pages following, and, when statements 
disagree with the opinions of the reader, he will 
bear in mind, that we have chronicled the events 
which seemed to us supported by the greater 
weight of testimony. 

Originally, and as far back sxs we know, this 
country belonged to the Indian, and before him, 
perhaps, to the Mound Builder ; who they got it 
firom, we may never know. Undisturbed in those 
primeval days by the pale-faced race, beneath the 
shadows of the rude wigwam, 

" The Indian wooed bis dusky maid." 

The relics left by the red man and his antecedents 
are the only historic chapters handed down to us to 



tell of the people whose feet once pressed the 
earth about our own pleasant homes. With those 
people there were no learned men to record the 
history they were making, though among them, 
unlettered sages and warriors there may have been. 
With us, how diiferent. We know the uses of 
letters, printing presses, books and telegraphs, and 
there is no reason why we should die and leave no 
sign. The history we are making can be handed 
down to posterity, in the ages that are to come, 
for thousands of years, when other and higher 
races of men shall have taken our place. 

This division of Morrow County, though small 
in area, is rich in historical facts — far richer than 
some of tlie larger townships, which possess little 
history beyond the mere fact of settlement. Troy lies 
in the extreme northeast corner of the county, and 
contains but thirteen sections, in Township 20, 
Range 19, of Congressional lands. It, with Troy 
Township, in Richland County, formed a divi- 
sion of that county, until the organization of 
Morrow County, which divided the township 
between the two, thus leaving both fi-actional. It 
will be noticed by reference to the niap that 
there is a jog in the east line of the township. 
This was occasioned by a few individuals living 
in that section, who were dissatisfied with the 
formation of the new county, and, like the fabled 
sow, wished to " return to the wallow." In the 
winter of 1848—49, Jacob King, Michael Winters 
and one Eichart, went to Columbus, and, with 



J^ 



i>^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



505 



a little adroit wireworking, succeeded in having 
the Legislature restore them to their old county 
(Richlandj. Hence the jog in the line referred to 
above. Troy Township is at present bounded on 
the north and east by Richland County, on the 
south by Perry Township, on the west by North 
Bloomfield Township, and, in 1870, had a popu- 
lation of 696, by the United States Census. 

The Township of Troy is but little cut up by 
water-courses. The North Fork of the Mohican 
passes through the north tier of sections, affording 
an abundance of stock water and excellent drainage 
for the beautiful valley which borders it. The Clear 
Fork of the Mohican passes through the southwest 
corner. These, with a few small and insignificant 
branches, form the water privileges of the town- 
ship. Originally, fine forests covered this entire 
section, and many bodies of excellent timber are 
still to be found, although the number of saw-mills 
are making such havoc with it as will soon require 
artificial means to replenish it. The walnut is al- 
ready becoming scarce ; and other valuable species, 
such as ash and cherry, are receiving the due atten- 
tion of the lumbermen. The lands of Troy are 
rich and productive. The valley of the Mohican, in 
the north part of the township, is unsurpassed as 
an agricultural region. While the uplands are not 
quite so rich as this valley, yet they produce all the 
crops common to this part of the country, in 
abundance. The surface is somewhat rolling in 
the north, and, from the Mohican rises into hills, 
then stretches away to the south in a kind of 
table-land. 

The first settlement in Troy Township by white 
people dates back sixty-five years or more. Aaron 
Young, it is believed, was the first white man to 
pitch his tent and build a cabin. This cabin he 
erected on the banks of the North Fork of the 
Mohican, in the north part of the township. He 
was originally from New Jersey, and, from the best 
information now attainable, was here as early as 
1814-15, just about the close of the last war with 
Great Britain. He has been dead for many years, 
and Mr. Adams now lives upon the place where 



he settled. Isaac Miller was from Washington 
County, Penn., and came soon after Young. He 
was at Crawford's defeat, and was one of those 
who escaped. He died about ten years ago, and 
Abraham Barrett lives where he originally settled. 
William Nelson was from Penn.sylvania, and came 
at an early day. He moved away some forty years 
or more ago, and his place is now owned by Squire 
Mitchell, Mrs. Carpenter and Alonzo Carpenter. 
Daniel Dye was also from Pennsylvania and 
was one of the earliest settlers in this section. He 
was a man somewhat peculiar and eccentric, and 
had a clause engrafted in his will that his execu- 
tors should allow no other stones placed at his 
grave than granite bowlders. His son, who was 
one of his executors, carried out his wishes to the 
letter. Mr. Dye died about 1845, and was buried 
at the old " Troy " Church. James Harris came 
from New York, and was related to the Youngs. 
He was an early settler, and the father of Rev. W. 
L. Harris, now a bishop in the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, who, in his boyhood, was said to have 
been one of the worst boys in the community. Mr. 
Harris had two sons, the Bishop, who, as a boy, 
was known as " Logue " Harris and Biram, an 
older brother. It is the verdict of all who knew 
them that they were, to put it in the mildest form, 
" very bad boys. " In their youthful days, it 
was fashionable to use the birch at school more 
abundantly than in this enlightened age, and it is 
traditional that few days passed without the Harris 
boys having to take off their coats to receive a 
well-laid-on application of it. A lady who is 
related to the family, tells the following anecdote : 
She was at Mr. Harris' one day in the early sum- 
mer, when beans were first making an appearance. 
There was company to dinner, and Logan, who 
was quite a large boy, had to wait until the second 
table for his dinner. He was rather fond of beaiis 
himself, and appeared much exercised lest they 
would all be eaten before his time came. His first 
words after getting to the table Avere : " Mam, 
have they eat all the beans?' The boys grew to 
manhood, and, as young men, were changed but 



y, 



i "V 



■^ 



506 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



little for the better. They made it ii ))r!ictice to 
•■•() to clinrcli for the purpose of raising; a disturb- 
ance. 8i) notorious did they become that any little 
trouble at church was laid to their charge, whether 
they were uuilty or not. Indeed, so many hard 
stories are told of them as to be ahnost convincing 
proof that a "prophet is without honor in his own 
country." It is not improbable that Eggleston 
t'ouiul in them some of the characters represented 
in his backwoods novel entitled "The Circuit 
Kider. "' It was at a camp-meeting, to which 
Logan had gone, it is said, with the declared inten- 
tion of breaking it up, that he was converted. 
From that time he was a changed man, and to-day 
he is one of the "big guns" of the Methodist 
Church, and one of its ablest bishops. 

Gen. Enos and William Blair were early set- 
tlers in the valley of the Mohican, in this town- 
ship, and were both from ]*^nnsylvania. Blair 
was a soldier of 1812, and was with Commodore 
Perry in his famous victory on Lake Erie. He 
named a son for Perry, and the Commodore pre- 
sented him with a handsome silver medal contain- 
ing $?> worth of silver, and on which his image 
was engraved. Mr. Blair had a letter from the 
Governor, thanking him personally for his bravery 
in defense of his country. This he had framed 
and hung in his parlor. At a soldiers' re-union 
held on "Perry's old battle-gTound," though borne 
down with age, he attended, and made a speech 
that was highly applauded. When he died, he re- 
quested to be buried with the honors of war, and, 
in accordance with that request, a number of sol- 
diers of the late war attended his funeral, and 
fired a martial salute over the old soldier's grave, 
I with the muttered prayer : 
j " Soldier, rest I tliy warfai^e is o'er, 

Sleep the sleep that knoirs no breaking ; 
I Uream of battle-fields no more, 

I Days of danger, nights of waking." 

They left him to that sleep that shall remain un- 
J broken until the great reveille sounds on the res- 
urrection morn. Gen. Enos settled on the place 
now owned by " Tale '' Goldsmith, and has been 



dead many years. lie is said to have also been 
in the war of 1812, but whether he attained his 
title of General in that war, or in the "Peace Es- 
tablishment," is not known. He is remembered 
as a resolute and stirring old fellow, who generally 
meant what he .said, and possessed the " grit" to 
enforce his wishes. 

George Mitchell entered a quarter-section of 
land in 1815, now owned mostly by Squire Mitch- 
ell, a nephew. He built the first saw and grist 
mill, and the only water-power mill ever in the 
township. His cabin was of the most primitive 
pattern, and is thus described by Squire Mitchell : 
It was built of logs, without floor or chimney, a 
large stump stood in the center of the cabin floor 
(or ground), which was trimmed to a point small 
enough to fit a two-inch augur hole. A heavy 
oak slab, with a hole bored in one end, was fitted 
on the stump, and used as a seat. It would re- 
volve round the stump, as the fire became too hot, 
or not hot enough for the occupant of this revolv- 
ing chair. As there was no chimney, the fire was 
built in one corner of the cabin upon the ground. 
Mr. Mitchell was a bachelor, which will account 
for his primitive cabin and its limited ftirnishings. 
He died at Wooster, at the age of twenty-eight 
years. 

Another pioneer in this end of the township, 
was William Lyon. He settled half a mile east 
of where Squire Mitchell now lives, and was a 
shoemaker by trade. Squire Mitchell remembers 
how, when he was a little fellow, he used to run 
ofi" every chance he got, and go to " Auntie Ly- 
on's." She had no children of her own, and of 
course made all the more of him. Upon one of 
these periodical flights of his, in crossing a swamp 
lying between his lather's and Jjyon's, he got ofi" 
the regular trail, and stuck fast in the mud. When 
found, he was in the mud to his waist, and calling 
lustily for " Auntie Lyon." Mr. Lyon remained 
but a few years, and then moved away. Ichabod 
Clark was a pioneer of this section, hut died many 
years ago. His son " Zeke " became quite a noted 
character, and at one time owned the Iowa City 



\ 



•^ K 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUXTY. 



507 



Mills. When he bought these mills, he paid for 
them in Wooster, at that day termed wildcat 
money, and, in twenty-four hours after he had 
paid over the money, it was not worth one cent on 
the dollar. Whether he knew the collapse (of 
the money, or bank) was coming, was never 
known ; but many believed that he did, and, as a 
consequence, the mills took fire one night and 
burned to the gi'ouud. Soon after these events oc- 
curred, the man from whom he bought the mills 
died, and about the same time Zeke's wife died. 
In due time, he married the widow of the former 
owner of the mill. She afterward turned Mormon, 
and they separated, dividing the property to the 
utmost farthing. John Clark, a brother of Zeke, 
was for years in the land office in Iowa. These 
settlers mentioned above, all located in the north 
part of the township, in the valley of the Mohican. 
Beyond the range of hills to the south, no set- 
tlements were made for a number of years after 
this little valley was settled. 

Among the early settlers in the southern part 
of the township were John Edwasds, Robert 
Hilton, William Moore, Jacob Haldeman, Thomas 
Singrey, Semple Ross and John Montgomery. 
So far as known, they all came from Pennsylvania, 
though some of them were not natives of that 
State. Edwards settled in the extreme southern 
part of the town, where he died about 1855-56, 
but his widow is still living upon the old home- 
stead. Hilton, though coming from Pennsylvania, 
was an Englishman by birth. He settled near 
Steam Corners, where he died about six years ago. 
He settled down in the midst of a dense forest 
in 1828, and cut away the trees for a space in 
which to set his cabin. A daughter, the wife of 
Mr. Rowalt, at Steam Corners, is still living ; to 
her and her husband we are indebted for much 
valuable information regarding this section. Will- 
iam Moore was a native of the " auld sod," but 
had been living for some time previous to his 
settlement here, in Pennsylvania. He came to 
Troy one year before Hilton, and died in 1879 ; 
his widow is still livino-. Haldeman settled in this 



neighborhood about 1826-27. He died many 
years ago, and lies buried in the little cemetery at 
Emanuel Church. His son, Henry, lives on the 
old homestead. Singrey was a kind of self-made 
doctor, and settled here with the earliest pioneers ; 
he still has descendants in the community. Ross 
and Montgomery were settlers in this immediate 
neighborhood ; Montgomery, though from Penn- 
sylvania here, was of Irish extraction. Both 
he and Ross are long since gathered to their 
fathers. 

The Pjlders, vflno are more particularly noticed 
in the history of North Bloomfield, settled first in 
this township, where they dwelt for several years. 
They then sold out and moved into North Bloom- 
field, where Samuel Elder now lives. There were 
probably others, who rank as early settlers, but are 
forgotten. Many who came early and remained 
but a few years, and then died or moved away, 
may be forgotten, and after this long lapse of time 
it is not strange if they are. We are not long; 
remembered after the sod is placed over us. 

" If you or I to-day should die, 

The birds would sing as sweet to-morrow ; 

The vernal spring her flowers would bring, 
And few would think of us with sorrow. 

" ' Yes he is dead,' would then be said ; 

The corn would floss, the grass yield hay, 
The cattle low, and summer go, 

And few would heed us passed away." 

As we have already stated, Greorge Mitchell built 
the first mill in Troy, and the only water-mill ever 
in the township. It was both saw and grist mill, 
and for many years was a source of great conven- 
ience to the citizens. The township has never been 
specially noted for mills, owing to the fact, per- 
haps, that its water-courses are few in number and 
importance. The first laid out road, except emi- 
grant trails, was the road from Galion to Lexington, 
passing through the north part of the township, 
and, as mentioned in another chapter, was laid out 
to the sound of the dinner horn, to which fact is 
attributed its zigzag course. John Flack is the 
first Justice of the Peace remembered. He was 






:^ 



508 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



an early settler in the northern part oftlic township, 
and was a (Jernian, and a man of exeellent eduea- 
tion. The first birth, death and marriage cannot 
be obtained after all these years. 

This section, like otlier portions of the county, 
was infested with Indians when first occupied by 
the whites, though they were not hostile. They 
used to encamp on Mohican Creek, and hunt for 
days at a time. i)n these excursions, they would 
trade venison to the whites for whisky and tobacco, 
and for victuals, if they could not beg what they 
wanted. Their integrity was not of the best, and 
they usually required watching, when at the settle- 
ments, to prevent their appropriation of little things 
that did not belong to them. That they probably 
occupied this country once, is evidenced in the fact 
that many relics of them, such as axes, hatchets, 
dressers of stone, and arrow and spear heads, with 
many other implements of Indian origin, are still 
to be found in the valley of the Mohican. 
Squire IMitchell has quite a collection of Indian 
relic's and curiosities, and some very rare ones. 
There are, also, some traces recognizable of the 
Mound-Builders. There is a mound on Section 7 
of this township, some twenty-five or thirty feet 
in diameter, and as high as a man's head. It has 
never been opened or officially examined, hence we 
do not know what it may contain. 

Christianity made its appearance in Troy Town- 
ship with the early settlers, but the first society 
was formed in that portion of the township now 
included in Richland County, and the first church 
in which the good people worshiped was over in 
that part of the township also, and was of barn- 
like appearance, and con.sisted of four log pens, 
which gave room inside for a large congregation. 
Rev. Mr. Johnson was one of the first preachers 
who proclaimed the (jrospel in this primitive 
church, and used to come over sometimes and 
preach in the portion of the township now in 
Morrow County. The first church organized in 
this township was by the United Brethren or Al- 
brights, but to which belongs tlie precedence is not 
known. A class of tlie Albrijrht denomination was 



formed at Jacob Haldeman's years before the so- 
ciety built a church edifice. Among the original 
members were Jacob Ilaldeman and family, John 
Fansler and wife, Daniel Hibbert and wife, Daniel 
Buckley and wife, and William Breler and wife. 
The church known as Emmanuel Church of the 
Albrights, and which is their second house of wor- 
ship, was built in 1855, and is a substantial frame 
building. The Pastor is Rev. F. Bone, and the 
church comprises a large membership. A flourish- 
ing Sabbath school is maintained the year round. 
As a gentleman informed us, " There is no more 
freezing out for that Sunday school." Alfred 
Haldeman is Superintendent, and the average at- 
tendance is large. 

The Waters United Brethren Church was organ- 
ized about 184:2, and the church built soon after. 
This movement resulted from a dissatisfaction on 
the part of some of the members of the Albrights, 
who split off", and organized a church of their own. 
Among them were Peter Brillheart and wife (Brill- 
heart was a sort of preacher), Jacob Hersler and 
wife, John Ettinger and wife, and perhaps others. 
The membership has run down low, probably to 
twenty. The present Pastor is Rev. J. F. Smith. 
There is a cemetery adjacent. Peter Brillheart is 
said to have been the first person buried in this 
cemetery. 

The Menuonite Church was built about 1840, 
and is located just west of Steam Corners. It 
is low in membership and not in a very flour- 
ishing state. The Pastor is Rev. Jacob Lantz, 
from Lexington, who preaches to them every two 
weeks. 

Who taught the first school in Troy Township 
could not be learned, or whether the first was 
taught in the northern or southern part of the 
town.ship. Schools in those days were taught by 
subscription, and the teachers generally '' boarded 
around.' The schoolhouses thenjselves were primi- 
tive affairs, and corresponded witli the (jualifica- 
tions of the teachers, qualifications that would 
scarcely come up to the standard now. Grand 
improvements have been made in educational facil- 



]^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



509 



ities since then. The statistics of Troy Township 
show up now somewhat cis follows: 

Balance on hand September 1, 1878 $882.2-5 

State tax 399.00 

Local tax, for schoolhouse purposes 777.52 

Amount paid teachers during the year 1,078.00 

Value of school property 6,100.00 

No. of .schoolhouses in township 5 

No. of teachers employed during the year — 

males, 6 ; females, 2 ; total 8 

Paid teachers per month — males, $32; females 

$15; total $ 47.00 

Enrollment — males, 145 ; females, 114; total 259 

Average daily attendance — males, 69 ; females 

58; total 127 

Balance on hand September 1, 1879 $1,119.78 

A post office was established in the north part of 
Troy Township so early that the date cannot be 
given. It was known as " John McEwen's X 
Roads," and was kept by John McEwen, for whom 
it was named, and who lived just across the road 
from where the Buckhorn Schoolhouse now stands. 
It was then moved to Steam Corners and kept 
there for awhile, and then discontinued. It was 
afterward re-established, and called by its present 
name. 

Steam Corners can scarcely be termed a village, 
and yet it is the nearest approach to one the town- 



ship can boast. It has never been laid out as a 
village, and consists merely of a dozen or two 
houses at the crossing of two roads near the center 
of the township. C. W. Rowalt built the first 
storehouse, and opened the first store, in 1865. 
A post office was established in 1867, with Row- 
alt as Postmaster ; it bears the same name as the 
village — Steam Corners. Albert Shauck is now 
Postmaster. There is but one store in the place, 
viz., Shauck & Maxwell. The name " Steam 
Corners " was given in consequence of a steam saw- 
mill erected here a great many years ago, by Hall, 
Allen & Co., and which is still in existence, but 
is now owned by Fred Stuhl. The business of 
Steam Corners is as follows, viz. : One store ; one 
steam saw-mill ; two blacksmith-shops ; one wagon- 
maker's shop, and one tavern. A substantial 
brick schoolhouse ornaments the little town, in 
which Miss Bower is the presiding genius (in the 
schoolhouse, not the town, though of the town, too, 
for aught we know). A good school is maintained 
for the usual term each year. 

The village is near the geographical center of 
the township, and contains the town house, where 
elections are held, and all the township business is 
transacted. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



LINCOLN TOWNSHIP— PIONEER TRADITIONS— THE BEGINNING OF TOWNSHIP AFFAIRS— EARLY 
INDUSTRIES— FIRST PREACHERS AND TEACHERS— CHURCH AND SCHOOL. 



LINCOLN originally formed a part of Har- 
mony Township, and, with the latter, shared 
its dominion over the tract of country directly 
north of their combined territory to the north 
line of Crawford County. It was by far the most 
attractive part of old Harmony Township, and 
was early settled. Later, as the lands within the 
present limits of Harmony were taken up and 
settlements began to multiply, there was a move- 
ment for a separation, and on March 3, 1828, the 
Commissioners of Delaware County erected the 
new township from " that part of Harmony and 



Westfield Townships, beginning on the north line 
of the county, in Westfield Township, one mile 
east of the line between the 17th and 18th 
Ranges ; thence south on lot line to south line of 
Westfield Township, and the line between the 6th 
and 7th Townships ; thence east one mile beyond 
the west line of the 16th Range ; thence north 
through Harmony Township to north line of the 
county ; thence west along the north line of the 
county to place of beginning. A glance at the 
map will show that the best of the land in the old 
township was set ofi" in the newly formed member 



:sr 



hL 



510 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



of the county. Tlie ea.stern IioihUt of tlie town- 
sliip i.s a natural boundary, the land risint;" so as to 
form a dividing Hue between the waters of Big 
Wahmt and Alum Creek. Just west of this ridge, 
the latter stream takes its rise in two branches in 
the low land in the northern part of the township, 
uni^Mig on the property of A. G. Emery, and 
flowing in a southerly course through the township. 
Along the upper branches of this stream is found 
some bottom land, though of no great extent, save 
on the farm of J. T. Buck. Below the forks of 
this stream, the banks, though not high, are abrupt, 
the clay formation coming in contact with the 
water. In the western part of Lincoln, the West 
Branch of Alum Creek takes its rise, and, flowing 
in a southwesterly course, passes through a part of 
Westfield, and, changing its course,unites with the 
other branch in the .southwest corner of Peru. 
The upjier end of this branch has been widened, 
and is known as the Williams Ditch, and thus serves 
to drain considerable territory, which was before 
inade(|uately provided for. The Avestern part of 
the towuship is low, and bears such timber as sugar, 
burr oak, birch and hickory. On the high land 
in the eastern part is found white oak, maple and 
beech, while on the bottoms originally grew black 
walnuts of mammoth size. The streams afford 
but little drainage. The banks are Ioav, and the 
fall is so slight that the surplus water occasioned 
by heavy rains, floods the fields to a considerable 
extent, while in other parts large ditches and 
extensive underdraining are necessary to the proper 
cultivation of the land. The predominant charac- 
teristic of the soil is that of a yellow clay on the 
higher ground, a good strong soil for grass, corn, 
and, when well flirmed, for wheat. On the bottoms 
is found a rich black soil, which yields large crops, 
and is easily renewed. The ordinary style of 
farming — raising corn, oats, rye and wheat, with a 
little stock — is the occupation of most of the resi- 
dents of Lincoln, though the present season is to 
witness the first experimenting in dairying. A 
cheese factory has been established in the township, 
joining on the north, and. owing to the few cows 



kept by the farmers, a long distance has to be 
traversed to get enough together to secure the 
highest advantages. The raising of pedigree stock 
has received quite an impetus in the town, during 
the past year ; Collins Buck and Sidney Smith 
making a specialty of dealing in fine-wooled merino 
sheep, and Gardner and James in short-horned 
cattle. 

The early organization of the township bounded 
it on the north by Gilead, on the east by Harmony, 
on the south by Bennington and Perry, and on 
the west by Westfield. Subse(|uent changes to 
accommodate the growing village of Cardington 
took a piece a mile square out of the northwest 
corner, and later six lots were taken oft" the north- 
eastern part, and attached to Gilead, to maintain 
the balance of power between the rival villages 
and their townshi})S. This was originally Fnited 
States military lands, and was surveyed by Jesse 
Spenser, in 1807. The third quarter, however, was 
surveyed as early as 1803 by the same civil engi- 
neer. The original notes rate the quality of th«^ 
land as third rate, and its appearance before the 
cultivating hand of the pioneer had wrought its 
changes doubtless warranted this estimate. 

The settlement of this country was due princi- 
pally to the Quakt'r coldny that settled in what is 
now called Peru. This community ct)ntinued to 
receive accessions from the East, who, finding the 
farms pretty well taken up, resorted to lands fur- 
ther north. Others came single, and, marrying, 
sought a home in the lands of Lincoln. The first 
settler was Benjamin Collins, a native of I\lu)do 
Island, but emigrating from Junius, in the State of 
New York, to this township. He was a man con- 
siderably advanced in years, and brought with him 
an only child, a married daughter, with a largo 
family. He bought a cabin situated on the banks 
of Alum Creek, just northeast of Pearsons brick 
house. This cabin was built in 1814, by Ednmnd 
Buck and Amos Earl. After coming to Peru, 
they struck out in the lands to the north, and, 
assuming a squatters I'ight, built the cabin and 
kept " bachelors hall"' for some six UKinths. Three 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



511 



venerable apple-trees mark the spot where the cabin 
stood. Three years later, William Steiner came. 
He was a native of Maryland, and, emigrating to 
Ohio, had stopped a few years in Fairfield County, 
but the ague seized him here and drove him out 
in search of a better situation. He was attracted 
by the prospect in Lincoln, and built his cabin on 
the Sunburyrcad, a little south of where the Card- 
ington and Chesterville pike crosses this road, 
boarding in the mean while at Mr. Collins'. After 
selUng out to Collins, Edmund Buck went some 
two miles up the river, and, buying land now owned 
by his son J. T. Buck, built his cabin on the 
Sunbury road, just north of the pike. Buck's 
mother was a widow, and related to the Benedicts, 
and was induced to emigrate from New York State 
to give her boys an opportunity to get a start in 
the world. She came with friends in 1812 to the 
settlement in Peru, Edmund making the journey 
on foot with a cousin by the name of Earl. It 
was not considered so much of an undertaking 
then as it would be now, but it taxed the undevel- 
oped powers of the young man to their full extent. 
It is related that at the end of the first day's tramp 
they stopped at a farmer's house all night, and 
Buck arose the next morning so stiftened that he 
had to slide down stairs. 

In a few years, he won the oldest daughter of 
Mrs. Hubbell, the daughter of Mr. Collins, and 
was married somewhere about 1815 or 1816, which 
was the first occasion of the kind in the township. 
He built a cabin in Peru and made a small im- 
provement, but in 1817, having sold this land, he 
went into Lincoln to find a farm. He rode u]) to 
where the Sunbury road and pike cross, and, look- 
ing the farm all over, decided to purchase it if he 
could find the owner. (Jn his return, however, 
he met a stranger, and, as was the custom in those 
days, stopped to exchange news, and soon learned 
that he was the man he sought. His name was 
David Finley, and, going over the property to- 
gether, they concluded the sale. Buck turning in 
his horse as part of the purchase price. The land 
was originally one of three lots granted to John 



Montour, a son and heir of Montgomery Montour, 
who served in the Revolutionary army as captain. 
The original warrant, signed by Thomas JeflPersou 
as President, and James Madison, Secretary of 
State of the United States, is in the possession of 
J. T. Buck. While Steiner is credited with the 
second cabin, Buck really made the second settle- 
ment, the former not bringing his family on until 
about a year later. There was an earlier cabin 
than those built by either Steiner or Buck, 
erected in the northern part of the township by a 
Mr. Beadle, but it was not occupied until 1818, 
when Asa Mozier sheltered his family temporarily 
in it while he built his own cabin in Gilead Town- 
ship. Closely following the preceding families 
came Joseph Kingman and Noah White, from 
Clinton County, N. Y. Kingman came West 
with his father-in-law. to Peru. He had just been 
married, and, having accumulated but little prop- 
erty, made the journey on foot, Mr. Wood bring- 
ing his wife and household goods on his wagon. 
For this transportation, he paid his father-in-law 
122 cents per pound. Fortunately for his slen- 
der purse, his wife weighed only about a hun- 
dred pounds, and the rest of his baggage was 
light, but aggregated to the amount of two 
hundred i^ounds, costing him $25. White was 
a nephew of Mr. Wood, and came with the 
party, a young man, to try the fortunes of the 
West. Kingman and White both bought land in 
Lincoln, locating opposite each other on the Sun- 
bury road, just above Buck's cabin, on land now 
owned by V. T. Kingman. White married in 
Bennington, and finally, in 1823, selling out to 
Kingman, went to Cardington, where he lived and 
died. Kingman's father, Alexander, an old Revo- 
lutionary soldier, came about "the same time to 
Lincoln and settled just north of Steiner. North 
of Kingman, Stephen Westcoat made his home, 
and Alanson Piatt just north of him, and just 
west of the latter Paul White built his cabin. 

Somewhere about the year 1818, Sylvanus Dil- 
lingham, a young man, worked for Jonathan 
Woods in Peru, for an acre of land per week. 



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512 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



He worked a year, and, luiving aecuinulatcd a little 
tarin of fifty-two acres, married and moved on to 
his land. It was situated in the northern part of 
the township, and is now owned by Christian 
Stdvenaur. This farm was subsequently bought by 
Christian Stovenaur Sr., and Dillingham bought, 
and improved somewhat, the property now owned 
by L. M. Cunard. In 1820, Marquis Gardner, 
Josepli Philbric and Steplien Doty, Sr., with a 
son of the same name, came into Lincoln, (lard- 
ner had come to Peru in 181G with his father, 
Jolin Gardner, from Virginia. The head of the 
family was a Scotchman, and came over as one 
of the British troops in the war of the Revo- 
lution, and was with Cornwallis at the sur- 
render of Yorktown. Pleased with the country, 
he determined to make it his home, and did not 
return to his native land. He settled in Virginia 
and afterward emigrated to Peru, where he died. 
About 1820, Joseph Philbric, a native of Maine, 
came into this township and bought some two 
hundred acres of land in the southern part of the 
township ; soon after, Marquis Gardner, who was 
related to Philbric by marriage, came to the latter's 
place, and, later, bought the property, where his son 
Kobert now lives. This part of the township at 
that time was sparsely settled, and it is related 
that the Gardners were obliged to invite the settlers 
living within a radius of eight miles about, to 
raise their buildings. Doty was a native of Maine, 
and first "squatted" on the school lands in Har- 
mony, but in a sliort time bought the land now 
owned by Collins Buck. Appleton Snell, from 
Maine, and James McConica, an Irishman, came 
into the settlement, and, marrying daughters of 
Mrs. Hubbell, built cabins and became members 
of the little community. The Pompey section, 
as it is called, was settled, about 1828, by a num- 
ber of families that came originally from Pompey, 
X. \ . i'rominent among these were the fiimilies 
of Leander Benson and his brothers Darius and 
Alnieran ; Job Davenjiort. Ephraim Davenport, 
John II. Warner, Lyman Wheeler and Jol) 
Liggefct. A little later, in the southeastern })art of 



the township, came Peter Powell and T. 1'. Ash- 
brook. 

The organization of the township of Lincoln in 
1828, was mainly due to the eflPorts of Collins Buck, 
Steiner and Shadrack Hubbell, who had come to 
maturity, married, and settle J down in a cabin on 
the site of Pearsons brick house. The first elec- 
tion was held on the first Monday in April, 1828, 
at Hubbell s cabin, and resulted in the election of 
Kdmund Buck as Justice of the Peace, and each 
one of the voters to one or more offices, as there 
were but seventeen men to fill twenty-four positions. 
Mr. Buck seems to have been thought well fitted 
for the ofiice of Justice, as he held the office a large 
part of his life after coming to maturity. He was 
first elected befn'e he was married, under the 
regime of the old Kingston Township, and then 
after the erection of Harmony, after a few inter- 
vening years, he was re-elected to that position. 
The summary sort of justice administered when 
occasion demanded, is set forth in a ludicrous light 
by^ an incident in which Mr. Scott figured as the 
Justice of the Peace. One day, in company with 
Abner Barras and James McConica, he went to 
Mount Gilead with an ox-team. While there, as 
was the custom in those days, the two latter took a 
little too much whisky, and got into a quarrel going 
home. The Justice commanded peace and threat- 
ened them with all the terrors of the law, but they 
paid him but little attention. Tired of expostula- 
tion, the irate Justice took the ox-gad and bela- 
bored them until they felt disposed to separate. 

The author of the name is not clearly known, 
but it was suggested by some student of Kevolu- 
tionary history in honor of Gen. Lincoln, who bore 
so noble a part in that struggle. The community of 
that time was not isolated from the outside world 
and the ordinary privileges of older, settlements as 
were the first pioneers, and yet stores and mills were 
reached only after traveling through miles of woods 
and fording unbridged streams, guided only by the 
blazed trees. Kdmund Buck had sold his horse 
in the purchase of his land, and for a time was 
obliged to do without a team, carrying his grain on 



l^ 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



513 



his shoulder to the mill at Sunbury, and bringing 
the grist back again in the same way. Stores M'ere 
to be found at Berkshire, Delaware and Frederick- 
town, where powder, lead, coffee, tea and a few 
pieces of calico could be bought at fabulous prices. 

In 1818, Alexander Edgar came to Peru and 
put up a store and distillery. This was then the 
nearest store, and absorbed the greater part of Lin- 
coln trade until the business at Chesterville and 
Cardington divided it. The nearness of these places 
of business and the lack of any good water-power 
in the township had the effect of discouraging the 
undertaking of similar enterprises in Lincoln. A 
saw-mill was built very early on Edmund Buck's 
place, near one of the branches of Alum Creek, by 
Shadrack Hubbell. This afterward passed into the 
hands of Buck, and later into the possession of 
Stephen Doty, Jr. After Stephen Doty, Sr., bought 
the Collins Buck place, his son, George W., built, 
in ISHO, a small saw-mill on the stream as it passes 
through that property. A tannery was early es- 
tablished on the Fulton farm by Steven Corwin, 
which supplied the neighborhood material for shoes, 
clothing and harness. About 1850, Thomas Roby 
established another tannery on the Ashbrook farm, 
but it did not prove a very permanent affair. 

Game was found here in great abundance. Deer, 
turkeys and wolves thronged the woods at an early 
day, and bears of the largest size were frequently 
killed by the early settlers. Kingman and his 
father-in-law, Wood, were peculiarly successful in 
hunting the latter kind of game. They had two or 
three powerful dogs that were well trained to 
the sport, and the hunters, profiting by their ex- 
perience in Northern New York, rendered them- 
selves famous by their success. Marquis Gardner 
was another pioneer who gained some local 
fame as a hunter, killing on one occasion a bear 
weighing nine hundred pounds. Isaac Bunker 
was quite a noted hunter in Peru, and one of 
his adventures in Lincoln came near ending 

o 

his career. He had been very sick for some 
time, and was just able to be out of bed. He 
attempted to walk out about half a mile, but 



grew so weak that he had to return before he had 
gone a hundred yards. Notwithstanding this, he 
sent for his horse, that was kept at a neighbor's, 
and, mounting him, he started out. taking his gun, 
to get some game. He soongot sight of a deer, and, 
getting off to shoot, he held the end of the bridle 
on his hand. The report of the gun caused his 
horse to pull away, which, dashing off through the 
woods, was soon lost sight of This was a serious 
matter with him in his condition, with several 
inches of snow on the ground. He at once recog- 
nized the importance of getting home, and started 
out to follow his horse's track. Thinking he 
would lead off to the neighbor's where he was kept, 
Mr. Bunker struck off from the trail along a little 
run, supposing it would take him toward home. He 
discovered too late that he had made a mistake in 
this supposition, and losing his reckoning, wandered 
aimlessly about. He shot a turkey while on his 
travels, and, throwing it over his shoulder, faced 
the situation. In his way, he crossed a trail that 
led to Peru, but did not recognize it. Some 
neighbors passing soon after noticed his tracks, and, 
recognizing the trail from the peculiar size of the 
foot — he having a pair of large carpet shoes over 
his moccasins — said "if Uncle Isaac was not sick 
in bed, they would declare that it was his track." 
Sure that it could not be his, they went on their 
way without further thought on the subject. They 
got home about dark and found the Bunker family 
alarmed at his failure to return. The horse was 
afterward found at the neighbor's where it was 
kept, and the conclusion was at once formed, that 
he had fainted and fallen off. A hunt was at 
once organized, and, going back to where the trail 
was seen, they proceeded to follow it up. It was 
nearly morning before they came upon him lying 
on a log trying to rest. He had lain down once, 
but, fearing to go to sleep, he had aroused himself 
and gone on, in the hope of reaching some point 
which he would recognize. He still retained his 
turkey and rifle, and was by no means discouraged 
at his unsuccessful attempt to regain his home. 
He was taken over to Collins' cabin, near where he 



1^ 



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514 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



was discovered, wamied and fed, and seemed to 
feel none the worse for his exposure. 

The Indians were a prominent feature of the 
early settlement in Lincoln. They had left their 
favorite haunts further south in the county with 
great reluctance, and, finding the settlements hud 
not disturbed the native quiet of this locality, they 
had settled down in the vain belief that they could 
rest here the balance of their days. They were 
chiefly of the Wyandot and Pottawatomie tribes, 
and were very friendly in their intercourse with 
the whites. They were soon awakened from their 
delusion, but continued to retain their camps along 
Alum Creek as late as 1 833. A fovorite location 
was on the ftxrm of Marquis Gardner, where there 
was a large camp. They built bark wigwams and 
dug holes in the gro nd in the center to put their 
fire, and traces of these holes are yet to be found 
in their favorite place along the creek. The whites 
frequently hunted and shot at a mark with them, 
but it is related that they showed no greater skill 
than the white man. At an early date of the set- 
tlements here, there were occasionally some difficult- 
ies with the savages growing out of their propen- 
sities to pilfer, which was sometimes carried to the 
extent of stealing horses. It is related that Ed- 
mund Buck one morning went out as soon as he 
rose in the morning, as was his custom, to listen 
for the bells on his horses. Not hearing the 
familiar sound, he concluded they had strayed 
away, and immediately after breakfast he started 
in search of them. It was some time before he 
got any trace of them, and he noticed, as he 
followed the trail across a low, wet spot, that 
there were moccasin tracks going the same way. 
He at once concluded that the Indians had taken 
them, and returning he armed, got two of his 
neighbors, and started in pursuit. Tracking the 
thieves was slow business, and the day was far 
gone before they started, but just after nightfall 
they came upon the Indians encamped near the 
Long Swamp in Harmony. A consultation was 
held, and it was decided to wait until morning be- 
fore making a descent upon the camp. At day- 



break, Mr. Buck, who had considerable at stake, 
proposed to go in and take his horses. His com- 
panions were rather disposed to give up the under- 
taking, but Buck told them that he intended to 
take his horses if he had to go alone. This decis- 
ion brought the wavering ones to their senses, and 
they determined not to let him go alone. The 
Indians were taken by surprise, and, when Buck 
demanded his horses, they explained by signs that 
they found his horses galloping off, and added, 
" Me catch ! me catch !" The marauders had sev- 
enteen horses with them, most of which they had 
probably stolen. They were all spanceled with raw- 
hide thongs, and the settlers put the Indians into 
considerable excitement when they proposed to 
cut them off their horses rather than untie 
them. 

The settlers were frequent visitors at the Indian 
camps, and were always ready to take a rough-and- 
tumble wrestle with the braves, or a trial of skill 
at the target ; but there was a part of their offered 
hospitality that they could not accept, i. e., their 
food. They seemed to have no delicacy of taste, and 
cooked everything without cleaning or discrimina- 
tion. A party of young men out hunting came on 
a wigwam as the meal was preparing. Some wood- 
chucks barely skinned were cooking in the pot, 
with their feet sticking out in sight, to which were 
added the entrails of a freshly killed deer without 
any previous preparation, save a perfunctory shake. 
The Indian pressed the young men to partake of 
his dish, but they one after the other pleaded sick- 
ness, which was probably near the truth, and the 
hospitable red man was forced to enjoy his meal 
alone, after expressing his disgust in his nearest 
approach to civilization, " Humph ! heap dam sick." 
The relics of this race are found in large numbers 
within this township, and a beautiful collection of 
these has been made by Edmund S. Buck. Arrow 
and spear heads, skin dressers, axes, tomahawks, 
pipes, whistles and the thousand articles that the 
natives so ingeniously worked out of stone are all 
represented in this collection, which would honor 
the collection of any college in the country. 



\ 



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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



515 



The earliest roads^lere were laid out about 1823, 
The State road, west of Alum Creek, was originally 
the famous Indian trail, which led up from Picka- 
way County along this stream. This trail was 
fitted for the passage of wagons by the settlers, 
and there are frequently found, on the unused 
portions even yet, some mementoes of the travel- 
ers who once used this road. The State en- 
gineers straightened the angles of this road, and 
it serves the same purpose it did in years gone 
by. The Sunbury road, east of the creek, was 
blazed out at a very early date, and was the 
one principally used by the earlier Lincoln settle- 
ment. It was laid out in 1824. The Westfield, 
Cardington and Chesterfield pike was projected by 
J. H. Benson, John Andrews, Dr. I. H. Pennock, 
M. P. Brooks, J. T. Buck, J. B. Trimble, Lester 
Bartlett and others. It was surveyed by J. T. 
Buck, and was built to Windsor Corners, where it 
connects with the Ashley and Delhi pike. It was 
constructed east only about four miles and a half, 
and then stopped, because it was found that fur- 
ther expenditure would not be warranted. Toll 
has been collected until recently, but it has never 
resulted in an income sufficient to keep up the 
repairs on the road, and it is now abandoned. 

The settlement in Lincoln, growing out of the 
Quaker community in the adjoining township, 
would naturally be an early supporter of church 
influences. The first families were intimately 
related to the Quakers, or joined their society, 
and all attended their meetings. There were 
other denominations firmly established in the 
communities settled not far away, and they were 
fortunate in having such able evangelists as Rus- 
sell Bigelow, Leroy Swampsted. Henry Greorge and 
others. These men, fired with a holy zeal for that 
religion which promises to the meek an earthly 
inheritance, and to the pure in heart, a heavenly 
kingdom, forgot the privations of self-imposed pov- 
erty, and brought salvation to the people a free gift. 

" No cloud-piercing spire marked the spot, 
Nor silver-toned church bell the hour, 
When midst the cool and silence, 

They knelt down and offered prayer." 



It is difficult to determine what denomination 
came first to share the work and responsibilities of 
the Quakers in Lincoln. Russell Bigelow was 
here early, and preached at the cabin of William 
Steiner, and a society was formed very early here. 
A log church was built about eighty rods south of 
where " Steiner's Corner" now is, Alexander and 
Joseph Kingman and William Steiner being the 
principal movers in this project. This was the 
first place of worship erected in the township. 
Russell Bigelow preached the first sermon within 
the bounds of the township, but that was before 
the township was organized. He traveled the 
Columbus Circuit in 1819, and one of his appoint- 
ments was at Butter's, some twelve miles south of 
Steiner's. He completed the circuit once in six 
weeks. Stopping one day at Steiner's for refresh- 
ments, and pleased with the cordial welcome he 
received, he appointed a meeting six weeks from 
that date at his host's cabin. The preacher and 
the people came at the appointed hour, and 
among the rest a mother had brought her rather 
mischievous boy. The lad disturbed the great 
preacher, and, turning on him, Bigelow shouted at 
him, telling him to get under the bed and keep 
still. The boy was taken by surprise, and obeyed 
with considerable promptness. The culprit has 
since grown into one of Lincoln's most prominent 
citizens. P]dmund Buck gave a site for this 
denomination, and a frame building was erected on 
the Sunbury road, just north of the pike, about 
1850. The first members are not known, but Mr. 
Kingman was very active in the organization of 
the society, and in securing a place of worship. 
An acre of ground was bought by this society, in 
1857, for cemetery purposes, on the north- 
east corner of Lot 36, in Section 2, and two 
or three years ago the church building was moved 
on to this property. It is known as the Ashbury 
Church, and numbers in its membership thirty- 
eight persons. The present Pastor is Rev.Yourtee. 
Just across from this cemetery is a private ceme- 
tery of the Buck family, where lie some of the 
older members of that family. 



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516 



HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. 



The Lincoln Christian Churdi was early organ- 
ized by Kov. William Ashley. Among the mem- 
bers of the first class, about 1843, were Leander 
Benson, Nelson Wheeler, Jehu Maun, J. H. 
Warner, and their wives. Meetings were held in 
log cabins and the schoolhouse until about 1858, 
when the present frame building was erected, at a 
cost of about S500. The membership reaches 
about thirty at present, over whom presides as 
Pastor, Rev. William R. Fuller. 

The Center United Brethren Church was 
organized with but a few members ; meetings 
were held in the log schoolhouse until 1853. A 
neat fra^e building was put up at that time, at a 
cost of some S800. A steeple has recently been 
added, and other repairs, at a cost of §600, mak- 
ing it a very attractive edifice. The membersliip 
is large, reaching about one hundred. Rev. Mr. 
Smith is Pastor ; Sunday school is maintained 
through the summer, and preaching and prayer 
meeting alternate as services on Sunday. 

The schoolhouse followed close in the wake of the 
church, and was established about 1819. The first 
structure for this purpose was built of logs, 16x19 
feet, on Lot 37, Section 2, the property now owned 
by J. T. Buck. The first teacher was Nathan 
Randolph, and thus was inaugurated an institution 
that has sent forth some of the most prominent citi- 
zens of the township ; among the early schoolhouses 
was one near the east toll-";ale. This was about 



twenty-four feet square, and ^as built in 1839 ; it 
was lathed and plastered, Samuel p]mery picking 
up the limestone about the fields and burning 
them in a brush-heap to get the lime for the mortar. 
The last log schoolhouse gave way in 1857. 
There are now seven districts in all, in which, save 
District No. 1, there are wooden buildings. In 
District No. 1, there is a brick house and improved 
furniture ; in both respects it is an exception to 
the larger number. The school statistics for the 
last year are as follows : 

Balance on hand September 1, 1878 $ 543 44 

Amount of State tax received 394 50 

Local tax for schools and schoolhouses 1,351 34 

Total amount paid teachers in last year 1,173 47 

Number of schoolhouses 7 

Value of school property 4,000 00 

Teachers employed — gents, 7; ladies, 10, total 17 
Average wages per month, gents, $32, ladies, $15 
Enrollment of scholars — boys, 141 ; girl.'*, 106, 

total 247 

Average attendance — boys, 68 ; girls, 57. 

Balance on hand September 1, 1870 1,027 46 

The change in the number of school children is 
quite remarkable. In 1838, the enumeration was 
104 males, and the number of girls was 219; it 
reaches now 263 all told. The town hall was 
built in 1872, and combines with it a schoolhouse. 
It is situated near the center of the township, and 
cost $1,000 when completed. 




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'1>L 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



517 



BIOGRAPHIES RECEIVED TOO LATE FOR ALPHABETICAL 

INSERTION. 



WM. F. BARTLETT, merchant; Chester- 
ville, O. (now transiently at Upper Sandusky, 
-O.). This gentleman, whose portrait appears 
in this work, is one of the oldest merchants in 
the county, he having spent 50 years in com- 
mercial pursuits in the vicinity of Chesterville. 
He was born in Clinton (as it was then called), 
2 miles north of Mt. Vernon, Knox Co., O., 
in April 1813. His education was limited to 
the facilities of the old log school houses of his 
period — he attending the Clinton, Pluinmers 
and Work Schools, located in the neighbor- 
hood of his birth-place. At the age of 17 he 
engaged in the store of Mr. Gilman Bryant, at 
Mt. Vernon, and clerked for him for 3 years; 
he then served 1 year with T. W. Rogers & 
Co, of the same place. Feb. 1, 1834, he moved 
to Chesterville, O., and assisted Mr. Wm. 
Shur in closing out a stock of auction goods. 
In Sept. following he went to New York with 
I. Warner Miller, and purchased a stock of 
goods for the firm of Bartlett & Shur, who 
opened in Oct., 183-1, at Chesterville. Our sub- 
ject's father, Hugh Bartlett, came to Chester- 
ville in 1835, and died in 1837. Messrs. Shur & 
Bartlet took the stock in store at appraisment, 
under the firm name of Shur & Bartlett. They 
continued until 1841 when the business was 
disposed of; during this year he bought a farm 
of R. E. Lord, and began improving same; 
also built a place for his mother in Chester- 
ville. In 1842 he again went into mer- 
chandising with his brother George, firm, W. 
F. Bartlett & Co.; they continued for 6 years, 
when it changed to Wm. F. & G. V. Bartlett, 
Mr. Wm. F. living on his farm part of this 
time. In the fall of 1845 he and his brother, 
C. T., occupied their new store in Chesterville, 
and later the firm of Bartlett & Moore was 
formed, and tlie business is continued under 
that name. Few indeed are they who can 
boast of 50 years of commercial life. During 
this long term Mr. Bartlett has seen whole 
generations pass away, and a vast forest 
turned to a productive county; the old lone- 



some and winding wood-road turned to well 
attended highways, dotted with beautiful 
homes and leading to cities then unknown. 

JOHN THEODORE BUCK, County Sur- 
veyor; Cardington, Ohio, who's portrait ap- 
pears in this work, was born in Lincoln Tp. 
(then in Delaware Co.), on the old homestead 
where he now lives. May 24, 1832. His father, 
Edmund Buck, was a native of Connecticut, 
and came, when a young man, to Peru Tp., 
in Delaware Co., Ohio, about 1813. He soon 
after married Anna Hubbell, a native of New 
York, and after purchasing, settled in 1817 
on the land now owned by the subject of our 
sketch; here John divided his time between 
the farm and the district school until 21 years 
of age, gaining a good common school educa- 
tion. During the years 1853-4 he attended 
Mt. Hesper Seminary, under the tuition of 
Jesse and Cynthia Harkness, whose names 
have almost become household words in this 
vicinity. In the winters of 1844-5, and 1862, 
he taught school; in 1856 he entered the Ohio 
Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio, 
where he paid especial attention to the de- 
partment of civil engineering; in the follow- 
ing year he was appointed Deputy County 
Surveyor of Morrow Co., under Thomas Sharp ; 
he served under him for the balance of the 
unexpired term, doing the greater part of the 
business of the office, and on the 11th day of 
October, 1859, was elected to the office of sur- 
veyor on the Republican ticket. Mr. Buck 
has filled this office with rare acceptance, and 
has been re-elected time after time, until he 
is now serving on his twenty-third year of 
service, with two more to fill out in his unex- 
pired term; his ability in the line of his pro- 
fession is recognized abroad, and he is fre- 
quentlv called into adjoining counties for the 
purpose of making surveys, or hunting up lost 
lines and corners. During the winter of 
1879-80, Mr. Buck prepared for the County 
Commissioners of Morrow Co. an elaborate 



:?r 



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I'.KKiRAPlIICAL SKETCHES. 



set of ina[)s lor the use of the county, which 
are fj^rcatly aihniretl for the eleg-aiice of the 
ilrawiuiJ-, and the accuracy of the phits. Mr. 
Buck is also a Notary Public, havinty served 
as such since Feb. 10, 1870; in 1S(;:J he was 
connnissioncd First Lieutenant in the first 
rcg-iruent of Oiiio Militia, and, sul)seqently, 
on the IGth (hiy of September, 1863, was pro- 
moted to the position of F.ieutenant Colonel 
of said re<;iment. In 180'^, during the Rebel- 



lion, lie served in the defense of the Southern 
border of Ohio against the threatened invasion 
from Ken ucky. Mr. Buck was united in 
marriage to Miss Martha Ann Nichols, Nov. 
19, 18G3; the latter was born in Uncoln Tp., 
July 5, 181:4. Five children have been born 
to them — Thaddeus Eugene, Arthur Henry, 
Annie Mary, Minnie and Ralph. Annie Mary 
died of that t^adful scourge — diphtheria — 
Oct. 20, 1875, aged four years, and 24 days. 



I 



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iLl^ 



' PART III.-BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



CILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



B. ANDREWS, attorney -at-1 aw; Mt. 
Gilead. Of the successful and highly re- 
spected attorneys of the Moi row County Bar, 
may be mentioned Mr. B. Andrews, who 
was born in Westfield, Chautavxqua Co., 
N. Y., October 31, 1822, and is the son of 
Erastus and Polly (Freeman) Andrews ; his 
mother was born in Massachusetts, and his 
father in Vermont ; our subject was raised 
on the farm, where he remained until he was 
about 20 years of age, when, in 1826, with 
his parents he came west to Ohio, and located 
in Medina Co., and formed the village of 
Westfield in that county; his father died there 
in 1846, and his mother died near Westfield, 
in 1873. Our subject, after obtaining a good 
common school education in the Wadsworth 
Academy, and a select school by Henry 
Bates, began the study of law in the office of 
C. A. Lake, of Medina, where he remained 
aliout one year, when he went to Wooster, 
wliere he entered the law office of Cox & 
Wason ; and in 1846 he was admitted to the 
bar in Wooster, when he returned to Medina 
and commenced the practice of law, which he 
continued in Medina for some three years, 
when, in June, 1849, he came to Mt. Gilead 
and began the practice of law, during which 
time he has formed partnerships with E. F. 
Kiley, one year; Henry Albach, one year; D. 
Rogers six years, and in 18? 5 the present 
firm of Andrews & Allison was formed, which 
to-day is one of the strongest law firms of 
Morrow County. In 1864 Mr. Andrews was 
elected to the office of prosecuting attorney, 
and re-elected to same office in 1866, which 
he filled with credit and honor for four j^ears. 
He was married S(^ptember 8, 1844, in Wooster, 
O., to Miss Rachel Hand. They have six 
children. 

O. ALLISON, wool dealer; Mt. Gilead; 
was born in Greene Co., Pennsylvania, July 
25, 1811, and lived there three years; the 
family then came to Ohio and farmed in Co- 
lumbiana Co., and lived on same until he was 
11 years of age; he was then bound out for 



seven years to Mr. Orth, a woolen manufac- 
turer, and continued with him six years there- 
after; he then went into ])artnership with 
Thomas Wallace, in a cabinet making shop at 
New Lisbon, and followed the business until 
1844, when he came to Delaware, now Morrow 
Co., and engaged in buying sheep and wool; 
which business he has since continued in. In 
1872 his son, Abner, became a partner in the 
business. Mr. Allison has been thrice mar- 
ried. First to Jemima Burt, a native of 
Columbiana Co., Ohio, Sept. 5,1833; she died 
Oct. 10, 1840; of their three children two are 
living: John and James. AVilliam died at 
Paducah, Ky., while in the army (20th O. V. 
I.) His second wife was Lydia Wheeler, a 
native of Columbiana Co., Ohio; they were 
married June 10, 1841; she died Sept. 9, 1861; 
they had nine children, seven now living: 
Charles, Abner, Melville, Isorah, Jane, Ellen 
and Kate. His present wife was Lydia 
Thompson, a native of York Co., Pennsyl- 
vania. They were married March 16, 1864; 
thev have no children. 

HENRY ADAMS, livery; Mt. Gilead; Mr. 
Adams' stables are located on Center street. 
He is the son of John F. and .lane (Fitting) 
Adams; was born on Feb. 23, 1830, in Lexing- 
ton, Richland Co. ; his father was engaged in the 
mercantile business for about forty j-ears, and 
died in 1864. Henry left home March 24, 
1850, being then 20 years of age; he went to 
California, where he remained two years, when 
he returned and engaged in the dr^^ goods 
business, with his father, in Mt. Gilead, until 
1856, when he took a trip to Northern Iowa, 
which consumed about six months, when he 
returned and went into the dry goods trade, 
with George E. House; he remained with him 
until 1861, when he went to work for the 
father of Mr. House, until 1865, when he 
bought out the grocery and pi-ovision stock of 
Dunn & Roland, and continued in that busi- 
ness for about two years, when he sold to T. 
B. Reynolds & Bro.; after which, in company 
with R. P. Halliday, he purchased the stock 



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520 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



of dry goods of E. P. George; one year later 
he sold out to Allen Levering, and remained 
with Mr. Levering seven years, or until 1874; 
he was then with Talinage & Styles one year, 
since which time, he has been in his present 
])usiness, first with L. Corwin, for two years. 
Since Sept., 1877, Mr. Adams has had for his 
jiartner E. C. Chase; they are conducting a 
first-class livery stable, and are ready at all 
times to acconnnodate tlie traveling public. 
Mr. Adams was married in 1859. They have 
two children, Frank and Jennie. 

D. R'. AXTELL, farmer; P. O. Gilead Sta- 
tion; was born in Knox Co., Ohio, June 10, 
182o, and lived there until 1837; he then went 
to Logan Co. witli his father, his mother having 
died June 19, 18:^3. In 1838 they came to Ma- 
rion (now Morrow) Co., and settled near Mt. 
Gilead, and he worked in that vicinity; Nov. 2, 
1848 he married Miss Catharine, daughter of 
Jacob and Elizabeth (Dillon) Brown; she was 
born in Knox Co., Ohio; after the marriage 
he settled on his present place, which he had 
previously bought, and has lived here since, 
except about fourteen months, spent in trav- 
eling West, in Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, and 
Kansas; of their'three children two are living — 
Lou and Nettie; he has eighty acres two miles 
northwest of Gilead Station, and forty acres 
in Canaan Tp., this county, which he has ob- 
tained by his own labor. Himself, wife and 
family are members of the M. E. Church; he 
since 1839, and Mrs. Axtell for the past thir- 
ty years; he has always taken an active inter- 
est in church affairs, and has served as steward 
or twenty-six years. He has also served as Sab- 
bath-school Supt. His parents, Isaac and Re- 
becca Riggs Axtell, were probably natives of 
Pa; they settled in Knox. Co., Ohio, about the 
year 1817; she died there in Knox. Co., after 
which he married Mrs. Abigail Jewell, with 
whom he lived until his death, in Logan Co., 
Ohio, in the spring of 1838. They had no 
children; she lived with her children by her 
first marriage, until her death in Union Co., 
Ohio. By Mr. Axteli's first marriage, there 
were ten children, of whom but one is living — 
D. R. 

ELI ASHWILL, farmer ; P. O. Gilead Sta- 
tion; was born in Canaan Tp., Marion (now 
Morrow) Co., Ohio, July 17, 1835, and lived 
with his parents until he was 12 years 
of ajre ; he then hired out and worked in the 



vicinity until 1857 ; January 19, of that year, 
he married Miss Sarah Cook. She was born 
in Knox Co., Ohio. After his marriage he 
lived with his father-in-law and farmed the 
place, and later bought the part he now lives 
on, and which now contains sixty-eight acres, 
adjoining the village of Gilead Station. By 
this marriage there were nine children, eight 
now living: Florence L., Elmer E., H. Estell, 
Fred, Jennie, Burt, Rosie B., and Nelson B. 
His parents, James and his second wife Agnes 
(Stewart) Ashwill, were natives of Virginia ; 
they married there, and, in 1826, came to 
Ohio and settled in Canaan Tp., where, 
by purchase and entry, they owned 160 acres 
of land, and lived there with what com- 
forts the pioneer days afforded. He 
died here in the year 1842. Mrs. Ash- 
will went to Illinois, and lived with 
her son until her death, in 1856. They 
had nine children, seven of whom are now 
living: John, living in Illinois; Robert, in 
Kansas; Richard, in Illinois; Eli, in Morrow 
Co., Ohio; Frank D., in Delaware Co., Ohio; 
Henry and Nelson C, in Kansas. All are 
married and have families, and are well-to-do. 
EDWIN H. BREES, farmer; P. O. Mt. 
Gilead; was born in New Jersey, Sept 30th, 
1829, and when but six months old his parents 
came to Mt. Gilead, Ohio, where his father en- 
gaged at his trade of wagon -making, and was 
probably about the first in the place. Edwin 
H. attended school until he was about 18 years 
of age; he also worked at farming some, and 
when 19 he was apprenticed to the carpenters' 
and joiners' trade with Townsend & Miller, 
and followed -the business for twelve years. 
He also served as express agent for thirteen 
years, and was for two years in the livery 
business, the firm being Corwin & Brees; they 
ran a hack line and had the mail route; he 
then engaged in the grocery business, and con- 
tinued in the same most of the time for eleven 
years, when, owing to the. partial loss of his 
sight, he retired from business for four years, 
when- he moved to his present place and 
has lived here since. May 28, 1854, he 
married Miss Harriet Talmage; she was 
born in Knox, now Morrow Co.; of their three 
children two are living, viz.: Lafe 15., drug- 
gist, now in Leadville, Col., and Charles S., 
apprenticed to carpenters' trade at Mt. Gilead. 
His parents, Alfred and Rachel (Lyons) 



(s 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



521 



Brees, were natives of New Jersey. They 
married there, and came here as stated. He 
served as Justice of the Peace in the early 
days of Lincoln Tp., and was one of the well 
known men of that period. By the marriage 
there were five children, four of whom are liv- 
ing; viz: Edwin H. on the old homestead; Ste- 
phen, now living in Chase Co., Kas.; Caroline, 
married and living in Chase Co., Kas.; Sid- 
ney A., living in Chase Co., Kas. After the 
death of Mrs. Brees, he married Miss Hannah 
Mosher, by whom he had seven children, six 
of whom are living, viz: Asa M., Rachiel, 
now Mrs. G. L. Wood, of this Co., Joseph, 
(Hannah and Alfred), and Bathiah, now Mrs. 
Kirk, of Iowa. After the death of his second 
wife, he married Eunice Mosher, with whom 
he lived until his death. She is living with 
her father, near Cardington, O. 

CHARLES BREESE, farmer and stock 
raiser; P. O. Mt. Gilead; was born in Morris 
Co., New Jersey, April 19, 1811, attended 
school and worked on the farm until Ke was 
17, and was then apprenticed to blacksmith- 
ing with Wm. Ford, at I)over, New Jersey, 
and served with him until he was 21; he then 
opened a shop at Rockaway, New Jersey, and 
in 1833 came to Ohio and worked in Mt. 
Gilead for two years; he then returned to 
New Jersey and lived there three years, 
during which time, July 22, 1836, he was 
married to Miss Phebe Bockoven, She was 
born in the same place, May 30, 1818. In 
1838 he again came to Mt. Gilead and built a 
residence and shop on some land he had 
formerly bought, and carried on his business 
there until 1854, when he sold out and bought 
his present place, located one mile northeast 
of Mt. Gilead, and containing ninety acres. 
At first he bought forty-five acres of timber 
and cleared the same, afterward adding 
to it. They had six children; three now 
living: Emeline, now Mrs. Mateer, living in 
Mt. Gilead; Lemuel H., blacksmith in Mt. 
Gilead, and Harriet A., now Mrs. Bargar, 
living in this vicinity. Mr. Breese came 
West in a wagon to Mt. Gilead, using the old 
Pioneer road, and has since crossed between 
here and New Jersey some twelve or fifteen 
times. In the early days he took wheat in 
payment for his work, and haulqd the same 
to Sandusky. His son Lemuel H,, enlisted 
in the 9Gth O. V. I., Company D., in 1862, and 



served during the war, being a prisoner some 
three months. His brother served 4tn the 
Mexican war. His father served in the war 
of 1812, and his grandfather served in the war 
of the Revolution. His parents were Stephen 
and Harriet (Ogden) Breese, natives of Morris 
Co., New Jex'sey, and lived there until their 
death. Mrs. Breese's parents were George 
and Margaret (Smith) Bockoven; they were 
natives of New Jersey; they died in Morris 
County. 

• G. S. BRUCE, farmer; P. O., Mt. Gilead ; 
was born in Culpeper Co., Va., March 26, 1813, 
and lived there until the fall of 1827, when 
they moved to Ohio and settled in Knox Co., 
near Mt. Vernon, and engaged in farming. 
While living there, June 1, 1829; his father 
was killed by lighting, while repairing about 
the barn. They next moved to Knox, now 
Morrow Co., and later moved to a farm in 
Chester Tp., on which a part of the 
family yet reside. Mr. G. S. Bruce lived 
there most of the time until 1839, he then 
lived in different townships, teaching school, 
and, while at Woodbury, served as Post- 
master and Justice of Peace for seven years. 
In 1851, he moved to Mt. Gilead, and was 
elected Auditor, a position he held for four 
years. In 1855, he engaged in mercantile 
business, which he followed until 1857. In 
1860, he was appointed Postmaster of Mt. 
Gilead, and served as such nearly six years, 
since which time he has chiefly been engaged 
in farming. In May, 1839, he married Miss 
Hannah Livingston, a native of Washington 
Co., N. Y.; she died May 7, 1851. They had 
four children, three now living — Sarah, now 
Mrs. Wm. Miller ; Libbie, now Mrs. H. G. 
Cooper, and Oswell M., living in Iowa; his 
present wife was Mrs. Hull, formerly Miss 
Rachel Adams, and a native of Knox Co., 
though raised in Richland Co. They have 
one child, William F., now living in Walla 
Walla, Washington Ty. His parents, Elijah 
and Malinda W. (Browning) Bruce, were 
natives of Culpeper Co., and came to Ohio as 
stated; she died i i 1854. Of their nine chil- 
dren; live are living — J. D., living on the old 
homestead, near Chesterville, this Co.; Nancy 
D., now Mrs. Livingston, living in Monroe, 
Iowa; Elizabeth S., now Mrs. Tnomas, living 
in Albion, Ind.; John A., at same place, and 
Mr. G. S. Bruce, of Mt. Gilead. 



^: 



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GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



'K* 



B. A^BARTON, of Miles, Barton & Miles, 
Mt. Giwad ; dry goods ; was born in Mor- 
row Co., O., Sept. 21, 1852 ; he lived 
on his father's farm until he became 
of age, and then engaged as clerk 
with Mr. B. Fogle, in the general merchan- 
dise business, and continued one year. He 
then formed a partnership with Mr, J. L. 
Swingle and conducted a millinery and notion 
business, which they continued one year, and 
sold out. Mr. Barton then became a partner 
in the present firm. x\pril 19, 1877, he mar- 
ried Miss Ell ma Talmage, who was born in this 
county. They have two children — James and 
Frank. 

D. 1). BOOHER, of Irwin & Booher, real 
estate and abstract office, also insurance; Mt. 
Gilead; was born near Weston, Va., Oct. 17, 
1841; his mother died during his infancy and 
he lived with relatives in Virginia until he 
was nine years of age, when he and his 
brother came West with their uncle, and set- 
tled in Westfield Tp., near Cardington, 
and lived there about five years; in 1853 his 
father settled near Cardington, and, upon his 
marriage in 1855, D. D. and his brother 
Spencer made their home with him. D. D. 
soon hired out by the month and worked until 
18G1; in April of that year he enlisted in the 
4th O. V. 1. for three month's service, and 
they were afterward reorganized and enlisted 
for three years' service, throughout which he 
served, taking part in the battles of Rich 
^^ourltain, Winchester, Fredericksburg, 
Cliancellorsville, Gettysburg, The Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania Court House, North Anna, Cold 
Harbor, etc. At Gettysburg he was slightly 
wounded, and at Cold Harbor, just three days 
prior to the discharge of the command, he 
was wounded and confined to the hospital for 
three months. He then returned to Carding- 
ton, Ohio, and attended school, commencing 
in the lowest classes, and, after a year's course, 
began teaching in the district schools part of 
the time and attending school part of the 
time. He taught the Westfield school, and 
later attended the Normal school at Lebanon, 
O., and in the summer of the third year he, 
with Mr. Brown, taught the Cardington 
school. The following January he resigned 
his position and entered upon the duties of 
County Recorder, serving as stich for six 
years. He continued in Mt. Gilead, after his 



term of office, until 1877, when he moved to 
his farm, located one and a half miles north- 
east of Mt. Gilead. Oct. 3, 1872, he married 
Mary, daughter of Dr. Granger, of Westfield 
Tp., this county. They have four children: 
Raymond, Edna Dean, Ada and Emma. 
His parents, Joseph and James (Devies) 
Booher, were natives of Virginia, and married 
there. She died there in 1841. They had 
two children: Spencer and D. D. He con- 
tinued in Virginia until 1853, when he moved 
to Cardington, and in 1855 married Miss 
Amanda Foust. lie lived in that vicinity 
until his death, in Septemljer, 1877; she is 
living near Cardington. 

DR. J. M. BRIGGS, retired; P. O. Mt. 
Gilead. The subject of this sketch was born 
on his father's farm in Washington Co., N. 
Y., Oct. 11, 1809, and resided there until he 
became ten years of age, at which time the 
family removed to Franklin Co., N. Y., and 
engaged in farming; during his residence 
there his parents died. He remained there 
until the year 1835 and began reading medi- 
cine in 1827, under Drs. Paddock & Bates, 
and later attended lectures at Burlington, Vt., 
graduating at the Franklin Co. Medical In- 
stitute, N. Y. In the year 1835, he came to 
Marion Co., Ohio, and practiced medicine in 
Caledonia for twenty years; he then moved 
to Iberia, Morrow Co., and educated his fam- 
ily, doing but a limited practice, and prefer- 
ring not to become actively engaged. After a 
residence of five and a half years, he came to 
Mt. Gilead and served as Clerk of the Courts 
for two terms; in 18G4, he was elected Presi- 
dent of the 1st National Bank of Mt. Gilead, 
and. retained the office until February, 1880, 
when he resigned. Nov. 26, 1839, he mar- 
ried Miss Sarah J. Farrington, a native of 
Erie Co., N. Y. Of their three children two 
are living, Mary A., now Mrs. Rev. A. T. 
Rankin, of Kingston, Iiul., and Wm. II. of 
this place. 

A. M. BARTLETT, farmer; P. O., Mt. 
Gilead; is a native of Delaware Co., O.; he 
was born on his father's farm, Apr. IG, 181G, 
and lived there sixteen years, wlien with his 
parents he moved to Columbus O., and in 
1833 he was apprenticed to the edge-tool 
trade at Mt. Gilead, and followed tire busi- 
ness for sixteen years; he then engaged at 
farming in this vicinity, and has followed the 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



523 



same since. In all he has served as School 
Director for 27 years, and has been President 
of the Board of Education for ten years; also 
served six years each as Township Trustee 
and Justice of the Peace here, and in North 
Bloomfield Tp.; Nov. 9, 1837, he married 
Miss Sarah Nichols, a native of Virginia, 
she died March 19, 1856. Of their eight 
children six are living — R. F., Juliet, Althea, 
Marcella, Albert W. and N. H. Jan. 4, 
1857, he married Miss Eliza A. Adams, a 
native of Nevp York; she died July 29, 1874. 
They had five children, three of whom are 
living, viz.: Fred W., Annetta M. and 
Alice P. Oct. 15, 1874, he married Mrs. Heit, 
formerly Miss Emily Sweetland. She was 
born in South Bloomfield Tp., this Co., Oct. 
6, 1830. She was married to Mr. J. C. Helt 
July 2, 1848; he died Aug. 4, 1871. They 
had four children, viz.: Morrilla V., now 
Mrs. Wright, of Knox Co., Winfield C, now 
at school in Boston, LaGrande and Nellie F. 
Of the two deceased children by the first 
marriage of Mr. Bartlett, one died in infancy, 
and the other, John O., enlisted in the 65th 
O. V. I., and served with the regiment until 
his death at the battle of Chickamauga. 

CHARLES BIRD, retired; Mt. Gilead; 
was born in Northumberland, Pa., Dec. 
3, 1810, and lived there eighteen years, being 
engaged on the farm and in attending school; 
they then moved to Knox (now Morrow) Co., 
Oliio, and engaged in farming in Franklin Tp., 
where he lived until he was 21 years old, when 
he was apprenticed to the carpenters' trade 
with Wm. Ely, Avith whom he remained two 
years; he then carried on the business on his 
own account. On Feb. 14, 1833, he married 
Miss Mary Geller; she was born in Knox Co., 
Ohio, in 1837 they moved to a farm near Mt. 
Gilead, and lived there for three years; he 
then came to the village, and followed his 
trade until 1860, when he engaged in the 
hardware business, and followed the same for 
some six or seven years; he then resumed his 
trade, and built many of the principal resi- 
dences of the place and surrounding country; 
in 1870 he retired from active business; of 
the ten children, six are living — John, Charles, 
Jr., Frank, Sarah, Clem and Sabina. Mr. 
Bird has always taken an active interest in 
all public enterprises, arjd he took an active 



j)art in securing the forming of Morrow Co., 
and contributed liberally to that end. .? 

ELZY BARTON, contractor; xMt. Gilead; 
was born in Belmont = Co., Ohio, Sept. 18, 
1813, and lived there four years, when they 
moved to Knox Co., and farmed there for 
eight y^ars; during their stay there, his parents 
died. After the father's death the children 
lived with friends in the neighborhood; at the 
age of 16, Elzy was apprenticed to the tailor- 
ing trade; in 1833 he came to Mt. Gilead and 
carried on a tailoring shop for seven or eight 
years; he then farmed i-n the county until 
1873, when he began contracting R. R. work, 
and in the fall of 1874, he moved to Mt. 
Gilead and occupied his present place, in 
the spring of 1875. Mr. Barton served as Con- 
stable in Marion, now Morrow Co., for seven- 
teen years, and was Sheriff of this county 
from 1859 to 1862, also Deputy Provost Mar- 
shal part of that time ; he has also acted as 
auctioneer for the past thirty- five years. 
April 17, 1837, he married Miss Nancy Ann 
Adams; she was born in Va., and came to 
Ohio in infancy with her parents; they had 
seven children, five living — Victoria, now Mrs. 
W. S. House, of Mt. Gilead; Walton C, Flora, 
now Mrs. M. L. Ryan, of Piqua; Berwick, of 
Miles, Barton & Miles, Mt. Gilead, and Ger- 
trude. 

DAVID BAILEY, farmer; P. O., Mt. Gil- 
ead; was born in Bedford Co., Pa., March 5, 
1820, and lived there until he was 12 years of 
age, when, with his grand-parents, he came to 
Marion, now Marrow Co., Ohio, and settled on 
his present place. He lived here with his grand- 
parents until their death, in 1841, and 1838 
respectively; he then worked by the month 
on the farm and in' driving team to Balti- 
more, Md. Sept. 8, 1843, he married Miss 
Sarah, daughter of John and Catharine 
Weaver; she was born in Belleville, Ohio, Dec. 
24,1821; he teamed after his marriage for 
six years, driving to Cumberland, Md., and 
Pittsburgh, Pa.; he also had a farm rented dur- 
ing this time, he teaming in the winter. He 
then bought 80 acres of land, and moved on 
same; and though he has never had any edu- 
cational advantages, nor acquired anything 
outside of legitimate farming, he has been 
successful, and has increased his property from 
time to time, until now he owns 640 acres 



w 



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524 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



here, and 130 in Kentucky. By the marriage 
there have been fifteen children; thirteen of 
whom are living — Mary Ann, now Mrs F'ag- 
ley, lives in this county, John, Andrew, Sam- 
uel and Nelson, live in Medcalf Co., Ky.; Jane, 
now Mrs. Baker, lives in this county; Hiram 
lives in this county; Amanda, now Mrs. 
Truex, this county; G-eorge lives at home; 
Viola, now Mrs. Baker, this county; Levina, 
Joseph and Sarah T. live at home. 

J. F. BOWEN, grocer; Mt. Gilead; was 
born on Christmas-day, 18-4G, in Radnor Tp., 
Delaware Co., Ohio; he was a son of Isaac and 
Ann Bowen; his father was born in Wales, 
in 1801; the mother, also a native of Wales, 
was horn in 1805; they emigrated to Radnor 
Tp., Delaware Co., Ohio, in 1838, where they 
remained l)uta sliort time, when they removed 
to Columbus, Ohio, staying some two years, 
then going to Brown Tp., where they bought 
sixtv-three acres of land, at that time a wil- 
derness, and built a home. The father died 
in 1849, the mother in 18G1. The son remained 
at home during his youth, and was finally 
bound out to Francis Jones, a farmer; four 
months later he enlisted in Co. D, 95th O. V. 
I., Capt. Edward Taylor commanding. The 
first engagement in which he participated, 
ended in the severe defeat at Richmond, Ky.; 
the forces were afterwards reorganized,becom- 
ing a part of Grant's army; he was at Shiloh, 
the second capture of Jacksf)n(Miss.)campaign 
before Vicksburg, and was afterward captured 
by Forrest, near Memphis, and was in the pris- 
on at Andersonville four months, then ex- 
changed; in 18G4 was in the pursuit of Price 
in Missouri, and was in the engagement under 
Thomas at Nashville; afterwards helped take 
Fort Spanish, at Mobile, Ala.; in 1872 he was 
married to Julia A. Jenkins, daughter of the 
Rev. Thos. D. J(!nkins, of Chesterville, Ohio; 
has four boys — Thomas Davies, William Clyde, 
Milo Stewart and Charles F. Mr. Bowen 
commenced the grocery and queensware bus- 
iness in 1878, and now, in company with John 
Galleher, has one of the leading stores of the 
kind in Morrow Co., situated on Main street, 
Mt. Gilead, Ohio. 

JACOB BAUGHMAN, Prop. American 
House, Mt. Gilead. Th(^ genial proprietor of 
the American House at Mt. Gilead, O., ranks 
among the few who really know how to keep 
a hotel. Uavinfr been in the business for 



nearly twenty-six years, he knows precisely 
what to do and how to do it. He was born 
in Adams Co., Pa., July 3, 1808. His father, 
Joseph Baughman, a native of Pennsylvania, 
was born in 17G7. His mother, Rebekah 
(Reynolds) Baughman, also a native of Penn- 
sylvania, was born in 1771, both deceased. 
In 1828, his mother with her three children, 
removed to Lexington, Richland Co., O.; 
Jacob being then 20 years of age. He re- 
mained at home until he was 25, then worked 
as an apprentice for one year, in his brother's 
shoe store. He then set up in business for 
himself, continuing in the business for thirty 
years. In 1854 he bought a hotel, carrying 
it on in connection with the shoe store, until 
18G6, when he closed out his interests and 
moved to Mt. Gilead, O., where he bought the 
American House, April 1, 1866. Mr. Baugh- 
man has been married twice; April 30, 1833, 
was married to Mary A. Woods, by whom he 
had eleven children — Joseph, Rannells, ]3avid 
W., Agnes, L. Harvey, Charles P., deceased; 
Elijah J., Amanda, Alexander, Henry H., and 
Owen. He married for his second wife Nan- 
cy J. Patterson, April 26, 1856, daughter of 
Thomas Patterson. They have one child, 
Hattie, born in the spring of 1861. 

COE BROS. (Coe Bros. & Co., hardware, 
drugs, etc.); Gilead Sta. S. Allen and Geo. O. 
Coe are natives of Marion Co., Ohio; they were 
born Sept. 26, 1846, and March 23, 1849, re- 
spectively. Mr. S. Allen Coe lived at home 
until he became of age, he then went to 
Johnson Co., Kas., where he bought and im- 
proved some land, which he afterwards sold; 
he also conducted a threshing machine; he 
remained in Kansas about nine months when 
he returned home and farmed until 1872, 
when he was engaged to conduct a lumber 
business at Gilead Station, for Johnson, Col- 
lins & Wensels, with whom he remained for 
eighteen months; he then engaged in the gro- 
cery business at Mt. Gilead under the firm of 
Bowen & Coe; they continued for three years, 
when he sold out and came to Gilead Station 
and formed the present firm. July 28, 1873, 
he married Miss Sybil E. Flint; she was born 
in Ohio; they have three children, two liv- 
ing — Homer F., and Nellie E. Geo. O. Coe 
lived at home about three years, when he 
went to live with his sister on a farm near Mt. 
Gilead, where he lived until 1867, when they 



-►- 



[hL 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



525 



moved to the old homestead, which his broth- 
er-in-law had bought, and they lived there 
until 1870; he then engaged in the drug busi- 
ness in Mt. Gilead with D. T. A. Goorley, and 
after three years he sold out his interest and 
went back to the farm; May 14, 1872, he 
married Miss Viola McCormick; she was born 
in this Co., and they lived on the farm (his 
brother-in-law's), which he farmed on the 
shares, until 1877, when he came to Gilead 
Station, and engaged in his present business. 
By his marriage there are three children — 
Elbert G., Lulu M., and Ray McC. — their pa- 
rents, Abraham and Margaret Nichols Coe, 
were natives of Virginia; he was born Dec. 
23, 1806, and married Nov. 5, 1829; she died 
Sept. 21, 1849. They had nine children, 
seven living. Dec. 28, 1851, he married Mrs. 
Sellers, formerly Miss Elizabeth Wallace, a 
native of Perry Co., Ohio; they have no chil- 
dren; Mrs. Coe has one child by former mar- 
riage — Avarilla R., now Mrs. Shepard of Coun- 
cil Bluffs, Iowa. Mr. Coe early learned the 
blacksmith's trade, and came to Mt. Gilead, 
O., about 1827, and has lived in this vicinity 
since. 

ANDREW CAMPBELL, farmer; P. O. 
Gilead station; was born on his present place 
Jan. 11, 1835, and has always lived on the 
same. Dec. 22, 1859, he was married to Miss 
Nancy Jane Farley. She was born in Wash- 
ington Co., Pa., and came to this locality, 
with her parents, when young. They had 
three children, two of whom are now living — 
Halleck S. and Amanda. He owns 95 acres 
of land, located a quarter of a mile west of 
Gilead Station. In 1863 he erected a sor- 
ghum mill on'his place, and has conducted 
the business in connection with his farming 
interests. His father, Andrew Campbell, was 
born in Jefferson Co., Ohio, July 25, 1803, 
and in his eighteenth year he and his brother, 
Johnson, came West on foot. He entered 
160 acres, the present place being part of the 
same. They built a log cabin, in regular pio- 
neer style — but one room, puncheon floor, 
split-board roof, etc.; they lived with their 
neighbors, cleared, and made improvements, 
put out some wheat, and went back to Jeffer- 
son Co., and returned with their mother and 
family, their father having died ,in the year 
1819. The family occupied the log cabin, 
near which was a camp of Indians, though 



the family experienced no trouble on their 
account, though, probably, the I'act of Mr. 
Campbell being a large, powerful man, and 
an expert hunter, had something to do with 
their friendly disposition. The fall after he 
came here he had two horses, two cows, a few 
sheep, and $18 in money ; they made their own 
clothing, and traded butter and deer skins in 
Frederick, for muslin and calico; he also 
worked at pump-making. After he became 
of age, he deeded 110 of his 160 acres to his 
mother, and lived with her until he was 26 
years of age, when he married Miss Susannah 
Burnside, a native of Virginia. After his 
marriage he occupied the remaining 50 acres, 
and improved and lived on the same until his 
death, Oct. 21, 1878. They had nine chil- 
dren, of whom but one is now living — An- 
drew. Mrs. Campbell died Sept. 8, 1864. 

D. L. CHASE, county clerk; Mt. Gilead; 
was born in Tompkins Co., N. Y., in 1834, 
and is the son of Robert and Annie (Cramer) 
Chase; his mother was born in New Jersey, 
and his father in Connecticut. In 1836, they, 
with their three children (our subject being 
one of them), started for Ohio, arrived and 
located in South Bloomfield, Morrow Co. (then 
Knox Co.) ; they settled on 72 acree of land ; 
his mother and father are now living, his father 
being 73 and his mother 75 years of age. Our 
subject was born on the farm; he farmed in 
South Bloomfield for a number of years, when 
he began teaching school, which he followed 
in Morrow and Delaware Cos. for several 
years; he was a resident of Iowa two years, 
and one year in Illinois. Mr. Chase has made 
his home in Morrow Co.; he was a resident of 
Westfleld Tp. for seven years; he filled the 
office of Assessor of South Bloomfield Tp. for 
six years, giving entire satisfaction, and in 
1875 he was nominated by the Republican 
party to the office Of Clerk of the Circuit 
Court, being elected to that office by a ma- 
jority of 190 votes; he was re-elected by 
same party in 1878, by a majority of 563 
votes, showing that Mr. Chase's first term was 
satisfactory to the people; he has gained many 
friends, and is recognized as one of the best 
County Clerks Morrow Co. ever had. Mr. 
Chase is a Republican in politics, and a mem- 
ber of the M. E. Church. 

AMOS CRICHFIELD, farmer; P. O., 
Mt. Gilead; was born in Somerset Co., Penn., 



52(5 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



Feb. J28, ]805, and lived tliere until 1812, 
wlion liis parents moved to Ohio, and farmed 
in Muskingum Co.; in 1824 Amos went to 
to Gawley, W. Va., and worked at the stone- 
work on the James Kiver Tuinpike, and in 
]82G worked on tlie stone-work of the Penn- 
sylvania Canal at the aqueduct, over the 
Juniata, May 15, 1829, he married Miss Re- 
becca Moore, who was born in Pennsylvania; 
in the spring of 1830 he drove to his present 
place and has lived here ever since; he had 
previously walked out here and entered the 
place; he found all a vast wilderness, in 
which wild animals abounded; he built a log 
cabin in the woods and cleared his place. He 
has a vivid recollection of the early pioneer 
times, in which he acted his part. He and 
his wife enjoy good health and live on the 
old homestead. They are members of the 
IJaptist Church, which they joined thirty and 
forty yeais ago, respectively. Of their ten 
children seven are living — John D. lives on ad- 
joining farm; M. A., now Mrs. Beaty, lives in 
Kansas; James R. lives in this vicinity; 
J\lary Jane, now Mrs. Goorley, lives in this 
vicinity; Geo. W. lives near Levering Sta- 
tion, this county; Elvira, now Mrs. Jas. 
Brown, lives in this vicinity, and Sarah E., 
now Mrs. J. M. Irwin, lives on the old home- 
stead with her parents. 

JOHN CRAIG, retired, Mt. Gilead; is a 
native of Washington Co., Penn.; he was 
born on the farm April 23d, 1807, and lived 
there for seventeen years; he then came West 
to Richland Co., Ohio, and w^as apprenticed to 
the carj^enters and joiners' trade, with James 
Bell, with w'liom he served for three years and 
six months; he then, April 1, 1830, married 
Miss Jane W. Kerr; she was also a native of 
^Vashington Co., Penn., and moved to Rich- 
land Co., Ohio, with her parents when she 
was but a child; after the marriage he bought 
a small piece of land near Lexington, and 
Avorked at his trade, doing a general builder's 
business until 1852, when he came to Morrow 
Co. and bcjught a farm in Congress Tp., which 
he farmed initil 1877; he then came to Mt. 
Gilead, putting the farm in the charge of Mr. 
.Ino. Piper, whom he raised from infancy. While 
in Richland Co. he served as Assessor of 
Washington Tp.; he has also served as Trus- 
tee of Congress Tp. Mi\ Craig has for eight- 
een years been a member of the Church of 



Christ, serving as Deacon in the same for 
twelve years. 

JOHN D. CRICHFIELD, farmer; P. O., 
Mt. Gilead; son of Amos and Rebecca (Moore) 
Crichfield, was born on the farm, Nov. 9, 
1830, and lived at home until 1852; Oct. 10, 
of that year, he married Miss Margaret Geary; 
she was born in Ireland and came to this 
■ country when 3 years of age. After his mar- 
riage he moved to his present place, and has 
lived there since; they have two children — 
Rosie E. and Sheridan E., both living at 
home. Mr. Crichfield has been a member of 
the Baptist Church for the past twenty-two 
years, and has taken an active interest in the 
affairs of the same ; he has for a number of 
years been Superintendent of the Sabbath- 
school. 

H. G. COOPER, furniture; Mt. Gilead; 
was born at Mt. Gilead, Ohio, June 8, 1815; 
the son of Elias and Mary (Talmage) Cooper, 
both natives of .Ohio. They had five other 
children, besides the one mentioned — S. L., 
J. H., Clara R., E. C, and Hortense (de- 
ceased). His father was a carpenter, follow- 
ing this business nearly all his life. H. G. 
Cooper spent his youth in farming, working 
at the carpenter's trade, and going to school. 
At about 18 years of age, he went into a gro- 
cery store with his father, remaining there 
about three years: he then resumed work at 
the carpenter's trade, following the same un- 
til 1872, when he began to work for Runyan 
& Ayers; he remained with them until the 
store passed into the hands of J. Hathaway, 
and was engaged with him until the 1st of 
January, 1877, when he entered into a part- 
nership with P..T. Miller & Co.; continuing 
with them until Dec, 1879, when the firm was 
changed to Cooper, Miller & Co. The present 
date finds them located in the Van Horn 
Block, Mt. Gilead, where they have one of the 
finest stocks of furniture in Morrow Co.; thoy 
also keep a large assortment of wall paper, 
and are agents for sewing machines, the Elb- 
ridge machine a specialty. Mr. Cooper was 
married Nov. 19, 1873, to Miss E. A. Bruce, 
daughter of George S.Bruce; they were mar- 
ried in Marion Co., Iowa; they have one child, 
Oswald P., born April 13, 1879. 

ELIAS F. COOPER, machinist; Mt. Gil- 
ead; was born in Mt. Gilead, in 1836; the son 
of William and Jane (Dunlap) Cooper. He 



1' 



f 



■l^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



527 



was born in Washington Co., Pa., in 1805; 
she was born in the same place, in 1812; Wil- 
liam Cooper was engag-od in cabinet making 
up to the time of his emigration to Knox Co., 
Ohio, where he continued the business until 
about 1840, when he went into the milling 
business, which he followed until his death, in 
1878. Elias remained at home, working in 
the mill, until 18G4, when he engaged in ma- 
chine work with S. R. Merrill, in Mt. Gilead, 
which he continued until 1873, when he re- 
sumed the milling business; in 1877 he was 
running a portable saw-mill, and during 1879 
was in the machine shops at Columbus, Ohio. 
March 15, 1880, he opened his machine shop, 
two blocks west of Main Street, in Mt. Gilea!, 
and is now in good shape for the transaction 
of business, with ample steam power; he 
gives special attention to the repairing of ma- 
chinery of all kinds, in both wood and iron. 
Mr. Cooper was married Oct. 1 o, 1863, to 
Frances Germain, daughter of Albert Ger- 
main; they have four children — Clarence, born 
Feb. 4, 18GG; Florence, March 16, 1869; Otho. 
March 10, 1871, and May, born May 3, 1875, 
Mr. Cooper has been a member of the order 
of Odd Fellows since 1858; in 1876 he joined 
the Universalist Church, and is a reliable and 
prompt business man. 

GEORGE N. CLARK, Vice-President of 
the Morrow County Bank, Mt. Gilead; was 
born in Boardman Tp., Trumbull, now Mahon- 
ing Co., Ohio, March 24, 1814, and like others 
at that early period, had i'ew facilities for ac- 
quiring an education; he lived at home on the 
farm until he was 24 years of age, and March 
22, 1838, he married Miss Mary A. Lowry; 
she was born in the same county. After his 
marriage he moved to Portage Co., where he 
farmed one year, and in the spring of 1839 
he came to Woodbury, Delaware, now Mor- 
row Co., and engaged in the general merchan- 
dise business, which he continued there for 
twenty-six years, serving as Postmaster for 
twenty-two years of that time; also, in 1851 he 
was elected on the Democratic ticket the 
first Representative of this county, to the 
Ohio Legislature, and served for two terms, 
it being the first session of the new constitu- 
tion. July 18, 1862, he was appointed Adju- 
tant of the 96th O. V. I., and served with that 
command for eight months, when, owing to 
disabilities, he received his discharge. In 



1864 he came to Mt. Gilead and served as 
County Auditor for four years, since which 
time he has been Superintendent of the 
County Infirmary for three and one-half 
years, and has also been identified with several 
of the business interests of this place. July 18, 
1876, Mr. Clark was called to mourn the 
death of his wife; they had five children, of 
whom four are living — Cyrus C, Augustine, 
Alice M. and Samuel C. In Feb. 1880, the 
Morrow County National Bank was organized, 
with Mr. Clark as Vice-President, and began 
busine'ss March 22, following. In early times 
when in business at Woodbury, Mr. Clark 
had his goods hauled by wagon from San- 
dusky, and in other ways participated in the 
comforts of pioneer life. 

SALO COHN, merchant tailor and dealer 
in gents' furnishing goods; Mt. Gilead. This 
gentleman came to America from BerHn, 
Prussia, in the year 1870, and took up his 
residence in the city of Cleveland, Ohio; where 
he engaged with Messrs. Koch, Goldsmith, 
Joseph & Co., (manufacturers and wholesale 
dealers in clothing and piece goods). He 
was assigned the charge of the piece goods 
department, by reason of his excellent judg- 
ment of that line of goods, which he acquired 
by fifteen years' experience among the manu- 
facturers in Germany. During his stay in 
Cleveland he became very popvilar, his frank, 
out-spoken manner, and fair and honest deal- 
ing, winning him a large circle of friends, 
with whom he was loth to part. But in the 
summer of 1879 he was called to mourn the 
death of his little son, Berthold, aged 7 years 
and 6 months, and being alarmed at the then 
prevailing sickness of the city, he determined 
to move to the country with his wife and re- 
maining son, Martin ; accordingly, upon 
hearing of the intention of Messrs. Rowland 
and Talmago to sell their business, he visited 
Mt. Gilead, and being favorably impressed 
with the place and the people, he concluded 
to purchase the business and make a per- 
manent settlement. The terms were arranged 
and he took charge in the spring of 1880, thus 
securing a prominent location and the largest 
storeroom in the place, in which he has since 
placed a mammoth stock, by far the largest 
in the county, all selected in the best taste as 
to style and quality, thus affording unequalled 
facilities to patrons. Though but a short time 



-^ — ^ r. 



528 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



luis elapsed since Mr. Cohn came to Mt. Gilead, 
he has already, by his courtesy and fair dcal- 
iiif^, established liis^s a reliable one-price 
store, in wliich all receive a hearty welcome, 
and a general satisfaction is expressed by tlie 
patrons, at the elegant goods, moderate prices, 
gtiitlenianly manners and advantages of the 
new one-])rice store. In social matters Mr. 
Cohn has also made his influence felt, and his 
liberality to enterprise, and all movements 
tending to the betterment of the community, 
is a prominent feature of his character. 

CORWIN & LAMB, livery; Mt. Gilead, 
Ohio; are located one block east of the 
American House, Mt. Gilead. They are 
])ruvide(l with eveiy convenience for the suc- 
cessful prosecution of their business, having 
a complete outfit of horses, bugi^ies and car- 
riages; they can, with pro])ri(.'ty, ask for a 
liberal share of the public patronage; Lean- 
der A. Corwin, the senior member of the firm, 
was born in the year 1834, being the fourth 
child of James Corwin, of Knox Co., O. Le- 
anders father and grandfather were tanners. 
James continued in the business for some 
time, but a brother taking his place in the 
tannery, he engaged in the stock trade, which 
he continued until the time of his death, in 
1876. The motlier having died in 1868, both 
being buried on Thank-giving day. Leander 
during his youth was engaged in farming, 
but hnally went to Mt. Gilead, where he went 
into the livery business with his brother, and 
buying and trading in stock; this paitnership 
was dissolved in due time, when he spent 
about one year in settling up his father"'s 
estate; he farmed another year but continued 
his residence in town. The year following 
was spent in buying and shipping horses to 
Michigan. Mr. C. married Susan B. Blakely, 
and has one son about 16 years of age. Mr. 
Corwin began his present business in 1879. 
W. B. Lamb, the other of the firm, commenc- 
ed business for himself at the age of 14; at 16 
having accumulated a little money, he com- 
menced trading in stock, and while at times 
has been farming, has been mainly occupied 
in buying and raising stock. In 1864 he en- 
listed in the 179th O. V. I., remaining in the 
service until the close of the war, during 
wiiich time he was principally employed in 
slaughtering cattle for the brigade. In 
March, 1859, he was married to Mary A. Dye, 



of Williamsport, O.; has an interesting family 
of two children — Ida Belle, born in 1861, 
Fred, i)orn in Sept., 1864. He joined the 
Odd Fellows' Lodge No. 469, in 1870; has 
been a member of the School Board some ten 
years; he is a Democrat. 

S. L. COOPER, planing-mill; Mt. Gilead; 
was born Fel). 2], 1838, at Mt. Gilead, Ohio. 
His father, Elias Cooper, and his mother Maria 
(Talmage) Cooper, were born in Knox Co., 
Ohio. Mr. Cooper being a carpenter, it was 
but natural that his son should turn to the 
sa>ne business as his father; he remained at 
home until 21 years of age, learning his trade 
thoroughly. Aug. 26, 1860, he was married 
to Margaret C. White. She died on the 22nd 
of May, 1873. In the spring of 1862 he en- 
listed in the 136th O. N. G., being honorably 
discharged at the end of a year from the time 
of enlistment. He then went to Gabon, Ohio, 
and entered the Government service as Local 
Mail Agent; about the spring of 1868, he re- 
moved to Newark, Ohio, where he engaged 
in railroad work, being one of the contractors 
for the building of the Newark, Somerset & 
Straitsville R. R.; he subsequently returned 
to Mt. Gilead, Ohio, and in 1870 commenced 
the erection of the Cooper Block, on Court 
street, fitting up a fine store for the sale of 
groceries and queensware; he continued in 
the trade until 1872, at which time he took a 
contract for grading twenty miles of the At- 
lantic & Lake Erie R. R. In October, 1874, 
he was again married, this time to Jennie, a 
daughter of William and A. Noe. They 
have one child — Claude C. Mr. Cooper is 
actively engaged in the lumber and planing- 
mill business, in company with Milo Doty, 
the firm name being Cooper & Doty, located 
two blocks west of Main street. Mr. Cooper 
is a Mason, and a member of the M. E. Church; 
in ))olitics, a Re])ublican. 

JUDGE A. K. DUNN, lawyer; Mt. Gi- 
lead; is the lawyer of the longest practice at 
the Morrow Co. Bar, and has built up a pro- 
fessional business that is second to none in 
the county. He was born in Washington Co., 
Maryland, Jan. 3, 1819. His parents, Jacob 
and Rosanna (Kershner) Dunn, were natives 
of Maryland, and reared a family of fifteen, 
hiring a teacher by the year to educate them 
and such other children as cared to share the 
benefit with the expense. Judge Dunn's 



;Rr 



ft^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



529 



father was a millwright in early life, but in 
later years he turned his attention to farming, 
and in 1830 came to Ohio, settling in Knox 
Co., just south of Mt. Vernon. Judge 
Dunn's early life was divided between the 
farm and the school, until about 1836. In 
the fall of this year, having come to Ohio 
with his father, he engaged as clerk in one of 
the stores of Mt. Vernon, in which his father 
was a partner. The business, however, proved 
exceedingly distasteful to him. Sleeping in 
the law office, where his older brother, David, 
was a student, and frequently visiting the 
place on other occasions, he early evinced a 
strong preference for the law. His older bro- 
ther, however, was the apple of his father's 
eye, and he was the only one which the fond 
parent thought fit for a professional career. 
The death of David, in July, 1837, however, 
disappointed the hopes of the father, and 
made him look more favorably upon the wish- 
es of his younger son. resulting in his sending 
him to Kenyon College for his preliminary 
education, where he remained three years. 
Mr. Dunn entered the law office of Hurd & 
Norton, in March, 1845, and studied three 
years. In April of 1848, he came to Mt. Gil- 
ead. The formation of the new county 
attracted a number of lawyers, young men 
seeking an unoccupied field and an equal 
chance, and others who aspired to a political 
life or preferment in the legal profession. 
These causes brought together some twenty- 
five or thirty lawyers. All have long since 
left Morrow Co., save Judge Dunn, who has 
been practicing his profession here for the last 
thirty-two years, and is the sole representative 
of the bar of 1848, at the opening of the first 
term of the Court of Common Pleas. In 
187G, he was appointed Judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas, to fill the vacancy occasioned 
by the resignation of Judge Dirlam, of Mans- 
field. He was one of the originators of the 
First National Bank of Mt. Gilead, and was 
the third President. At the end of this year, 
he closed his connection with the bank by 
disposing of his stock. Mr. Dunn was an act- 
ive worker in the Whig party, and during 
the first years of the Republican party. 
Since the days of re-construction and the 
prominence ot" the "machine" in politics, he 
has voted with the Republicans, under pro- 
test, and is a champion of the "civil service 



reform," and honest methods in politics. 
February 1854, he was married to Emily Ar- 
mentrout. His family consists of two sons, 
both of whom are lawyers, one in Charleston, 
111., the other in Mt. Gilead. 

THOMAS E. DUNCAN, lawyer; Mt. Gil- 
ead; was born in Holmes Co., Ohio, Nov. 21, 
1837; the son of William and Fannie (Elliott) 
Duncan. Until he was 20 years of age, Mr. 
Duncan worked upon his father's farm, laying 
the foundation of his education in the winter 
months at the district school. At this time 
he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University, 
where he studied some three years, leaving 
school at the end of that time to enter the 
law office of Messrs. Bancroft & Voorhes, of 
Millersburg, Ohio., as a student; in 1862, he 
was admitted to the bar at Columbus, and in 
the same year came to Morrow Co, opening 
an office at Cardington ; twelve years later, he 
came to Mt. Gilead, where he has continued 
the practice of his profession ever since; he 
was elected Prosecuting Attorney in 1868,and 
re-elected in 1870; three years later he was 
elected to the Legislature from Morrow Co., 
and was returned for a second term in 1875; 
in the spring he was elected to a place in the 
Village Council of Mt. Gilead. In April, 
1880, Governor Foster honored him with the 
appointment of Director of the Ohio Peniten- 
tiary, In all the public positions which Mr. 
Duncan has been called to fill, he has at all 
times shown himself to be possessed of marked 
ability, and has discharged the duties of his 
various offices with credit to himself and satis- 
faction to his constituents. In addition to the 
business of his profession and the cares of 
public life, he has found time to devote to 
commercial enterprises of considerable mag- 
nitude; he was for six and a half years a part- 
ner with the firm of Duncan Bros., hardware 
dealers, in Cardington, and is now a Director 
of the Cardington Banking Company, having 
been one of the originators of that enterprise. 
He was married to Rachel, daughter of Major 
John Frew, May 14, 1862; their union has 
been blessed by seven children, of whom six 
are yet living. 

ALLEN DALRYMPLE, farmer; P. O., 
Gilead Station; was born on his present 
place April 1st, 1847, and has lived there since. 
When he became of age, he farmed his 
father's place on shares until his father's 



^L> 



530 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



death, since when he has managed the place. 
July 4, 1868, he married Miss Elizabeth, 
daughter of George and Rebecca (Rogers), 
Miller; she was born at Cardington, Ohio. 
They have three children — Annie M., Mary 
M. and John M. Mr. Dalryiuple is farming 
the old lunnestead, which contains 133 acres, 
and is located one and one-half miles north- 
west of Gilead Station. His parents, Andrew 
and Jerusha Hazen Dalrymple, were natives 
of Sussex Co., N. J.; they moved to Knox 
Co., Ohio, he when a young man, she, with 
her parents; they married there in 1827, and 
came to the present place, which his uncle 
had entered for liim, about the year 1823; they 
came here in a wagon, and put up a log cabin, 
and cleared the farm. They had seven children ; 
four are living, viz: Elizabeth, now Mrs. J. 
Davis, Washington Tp., this Co.; John and 
Ziba live in Johnson Co., Kansas, and Allen 
lives on the old homestead. Mr. Andrew 
Dalrymple died Nov. 10, 1879. Mrs. Dalrym- 
ple is living on the old homestead. Their pa- 
rents were also natives of Sussex Co., N. J. 
In the early days, here in this vicinity, Mr. 
Dalrymple hauled wheat to Cleveland, and 
sold the same for 50 cents per bushel. The 
Indians were here, those days, and the wolves 
made the night hideous about the old cabin 
home. They had no stock at first — only a 
yoke of oxen — finally got two sheep, and then 
horses. Mrs. Dalrymple is now 75 years old, 
and has good health and memory; in the early 
days she spun all the yarn and made the 
clothing; she attended the first preaching 
h(>ld in Mt. Gilead, and has carried one of 
her children five miles to meeting.' At her 
residence many old pioneer religionists 
preached in early days. She has been a mem- 
ber of the M. E. Church for the past sixty- 
two years. 

JABEZ DICKEY, (Olds & Dickey, Atty's 
at Law) Mt. Gilead; was born in Richland Co., 
Ohio, June 15, 1838; his father died when he 
was but ten years of age; Mrs. Dickey and 
family remained on the farm until Jabez was 
in his loth year, when they moved to Mans- 
field; he attended school, and read law with 
Messrs, Burns & Dickey of that place, and in 
April, ISGl, he was admitted to the Bar, and 
on the I'Jth of the same month and year, he 
enlisted in the 15th Ohio Infantry, and served 
about four months; again, in 18G2, he engaged 



as clerk for Suttler of the 15th Ohio, and 
served in that capacity until after the battle 
of Pittsburg Landing; he then returned home, 
and began the practice of law in Mansfield, 
Ohio, where he continued until 186G; he then 
came to Mt. Gilead and followed his profes- 
sion, forming his present partnership in 18G7. 
He served as Prosecuting Attorney for the 
county in 1873-4, and held a similar position 
in Richland Co. in 1863; Sept. 1, 1869, he 
married Miss E. A. Rhodes; she is a native of 
Knox Co., Ohio, and came to this county when 
young; they have four children, viz: Chas. C, 
Edwin W., Berry B., and Carrie E. 

BRADFORD DAWSON, of House & Daw- 
son, millers; Mt. Gilead; was born in Water- 
ford, Knox Co., Ohio*, Jan. 4, 1846, and lived 
there until he was 12 years of age; he then 
went to Chesterville, Morrow Co., and lived 
with his brother, George A., who carried on 
the flouring mill there; he worked in this mill 
until 1863, when he and his brother, Robert 
T. (the latter at that time being in the army) 
bought a half interest in the mill, and upon 
the death of Robert T., in front of Atlanta, 
Bradford became a full half partner, the firm 
being G. & B. Dawson; they continued in 
Chesterville until 1867, and in 1868 located 
in Cardington, doing business there under the 
same name, until 1869, when Bradford moved 
to Marysville and engaged in the livery busi- 
ness; also, holding stock in a joint stock mill 
at Cardington; upon the completion of the 
building in 1870, he and his brother occupied 
the same, and milled there until 1875, when 
he traded his interest for a mill in his native 
town of Waterford, and conducted the same 
until 1877, when he came to Mt. Gilead, and 
entered upon his present partnership. Sept. 
9, 1864, he married Miss Abbie F. Cramer, 
who was born in Chesterville. They have one 
child, Albert B., born April 27, 1868. In 
May, 1864, Mr. Dawson enlisted in the 136th 
O. V. I., and served for four months, when 
the command was discharged. His parents. 
Turner and Lucinda (Tole) Dawson, were 
natives of Loudoun and Fauquier Counties, 
Va. They were married in Virginia and 
moved west to Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and later 
to Waterford, where he died in the fall of 
1847. In 1858 Mrs. Dawson married Mr.Wm. 
Levering, who died in 1864, and she died in 
Cleveland, Ohio, while on a visit, in 1875. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



531 



REV. W. S. EAGLESON, Pastor of Pres- 
byterian Church; is of Scotch-Irish descent; 
his paternal grandfather emigrated from 
County Antrim, Ireland; his paternal grand- 
motlier, Jane Hervey, was a sister of Revs, 
•lames, David, and Henry Hervey; his father 
was the late Rev. John Eagleson, D. D., for 
thirty-nine years pastor of the Church of Up- 
per Buffalo, Washington Co., Pa. Here 
young Eagleson was born Jan. 15th, 1840, 
and reared in a rural home; he was the young- 
est of three sons, by his father's first wife; 
his mother dying when he was about two and 
a half years old, he owed much to the mater- 
nal care and nurture of his step-mother, Mary 
Gordon, a sister of Revs. George and Joseph 
Gordon; he is one of a family of eight child- 
ren, all of whom are still living. When 17 
years of age Mr. Eagleson entered Washing- 
ton College, (now Washington and Jefferson 
College), and graduated when he was 20. He 
at once entered the Western Theological Sem- 
inary at Allegheny City, where he took a full 
course and graduated in the spring of 1863. 
He was licensed by the Presbytery of Wash- 
ington April 28th, 1863; in June following 
he was called to the pastorate of the church 
of Fredericktown, Knox Co., O., where he 
spent eleven years and a half; in the fall of 
1874 he received two calls, one to the church 
of Mt. Gilead, and the other to Apple Creek, 
O. He removed to the latter place, where he 
preached for sixteen months, but did not ac- 
cept their call; at this time the church of Mt. 
Gilead renewed its call, which he accepted, 
and here has since labored. Nov. 28, 1869, 
he was married to Clarissa E. Pentecost, 
daughter of George W. Pentecost, of West 
Middletown, Pa., by whom he has five child- 
ren — four sons and one daughter. 

C. D. ENSIGN, boots and shoes; Mt. Gil- 
ead. C. D. Ensign is one of Mt. Gilead's 
live boot and shoe men; he is located on the 
east side of Main street, and keeps a full line 
of ladies', gents', misses' and children's boots 
and shoes; he manufactures to order first- 
class sewed work. Mr. Ensign was born Dec. 
13, 1820, in Richland Co., Ohio; his parents 
were natives of the State of New York, his 
father, Silas Ensign, was born in Albany; the 
mother, Julia (White) Ensign, in Orange Co. 
Silas Ensign was at one time engaged in the 
manufacture of edge tools, in the city of New 



York; he afterwards studied theology, and 
became a minister in the M. E. Church; he 
emigrated to Richland Co., Ohio, in 1818, and 
in 1832 he engaged in the boot and shoe busi- 
ness, in Mansfield; having studied medicine, 
he began the practice of this profession in 
Mt. Gilead, in 1840. The grandfather of C. 
D. Ensign was an English clergyman. Coming 
to New York, he purchased 11 acres of land 
on the present site of Trinity Church; he 
preached there for a number of years, and 
served in the war of 1812; returning to Eng- 
land for a time, his property was confiscated, 
the city wanting the ground, falsely charged 
him with being disloyal, and although several 
attempts have been made, the property has 
not been, as yet, recovered. C. D. Ensign 
went into the shoe store at the age of 12, 
learning this trade; he stayed in the store 
until 17 years of age — at that time his father 
having closed out that business and entered 
the dry goods trade, running two stores; he 
commenced clerking for him, which he con- 
tinued until the age of 19, when he went to 
Oberlin College, where he remained until 21 
years of age; he then went to Mt. Gilead, 
where he remained a year, teaching a portion 
of that time; at the end of that time he began 
studying law with Judge Stewart, of Mans- 
field; in 1845 he commenced business for 
himself. He was married in the fall of 1842, 
to Catharine C. Ink, by whom he had four 
children — Xira Veturia, Winfield Scott, Ga- 
briella and Eva — all married in their 19th 
year. Mr. Ensign was an Abolitionist, at a 
time, when to express an opinion without dis- 
cretion, was not calculated to make a man 
exceedingly popular, and he still reserves the 
right of thinking entirely for himself — in fact, 
would be termed a rationalist. 

F. M. EWERS, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 
O., Gilead Station; is the son of Samuel and 
Emily R. (Coe) Ewers. He was born in 
Marion, (now Morrow) Co., Ohio, Feb. 11, 
1849, on his grandfather's farm, which ad- 
joined the present farm; he lived with his 
parents until he was 24 years of age, during 
which time he worked on the farm and at- 
tended school; he also taught school for four 
winters. Oct. 30, 1873, he married Miss Isa- 
bel Harnmond; she was born in Washington 
Tp., this coT^nty; after their marriage he 
moved to a farm located about one and three- 



^ 



532 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



fourths miles north of Gilead Station, and 
farmed there until 1875, when he came to his 
present place. They have two children — 
Daisy A. and Margaret E. He has held no 
office except those connected with the schools 
and roads. He owns 80 acres of land, located 
two and three-fourths miles north-west of 
Gilead Station. His wife's parents, William 
and Margaret (Mitchell) Hammond, were na- 
tives of Ohio; they were among the early 
pioneers of this locality. He assisted in blaz- 
ing early roads in this vicinity. They yet 
live in Washington Tp., this county. Their 
parents were natives of Ireland. 

SAMUEL EWERS, farmer; P. O., Gilead 
Station; is a native of Loudoun, Co., Va.; he 
was born on the farm, Jan. 19, 1832, and lived 
there ten years, when with his parents he 
came west to Ohio, and settled in Marion 
(now Morrow) Co., one and a half miles south 
of Mt. Gilead, and engaged in farming; Sam- 
uel lived at home until he became of age; he 
then with his uncle worked the latter's farm 
on the shares for three years; he then bought 
a thresher and threshed for three seasons; 
Feb. 10, 1848, he married Miss Emily R., 
daughter of Aliraham and Margaret (Nichols) 
Coe; she was born in Marion (now Morrow) 
Co., Ohio; her parents were natives of Virgin- 
ia, and came to this vicinity at a very early 
period; after his marriage he farmed his father- 
in-law's farm one season; he then bought a 
farm about one mile from his present place, 
and farmed there until 1875, when he came to 
his jiresent place; they had five children, four 
of whom are living — P'rancis M., Nancy J., 
George M. and Fhjra V. In addition to the 
oifices connected with the school and road, he 
has served as Township Trustee. Though 
confining himself to his business as farmer, 
he has been successful, and has given a liberal 
start to each of his married children, and ho 
retains as a competency for himself and wife 
the present place, which contains 115 acres, 
located about two miles north of Gilead Sta- 
tion. His parents, Ammon and Nancy (Tal- 
l)ert) Ewers were natives of Loudoun Co.,Va.; 
they married there and came west in a wagon, 
and farmed in this vicinity until their death, 
in .Jan., 1877, and May, 1848, respectively. 
They had six children, five of whom are liv- 
ing — Samuel, Rachel, now Mrs. Cletter, of 
this county; Susan, now Mrs. Ireland, of this 



county; Barton, and Sarah IL, now Mrs. Pier- 
son, of Clinton Co., Towa. 

ROBERT ELLIOTT, (deceased); was a 
native of Washington Co., Pa.; he was born in 
the year 1808, and came west to Knox Co., 
Ohio, at a very early day, during his infancy. 
In 1833, he married Miss Eliza Ward; she 
was also a native of Washington Co., Pa., and 
came to Licking Co., Ohio, with her parents, 
in the year 1821, and lived there until her 
marriage; they then came to Marion, now Mor- 
row Co., Ohio, and settled on the place she 
now lives on, located three miles north of Gil- 
ead Station. They came here in a wagon, and 
entered IGO acres, living in a log cabin until 
they cleared the place. They put out some 
corn and potatoes the first spring, and kept on 
increasing the tillable area, until his death, 
Dec. 28, 1852. Mrs. Elliott and family, except 
the married members, have lived here since. 
There were nine children, six of whom are 
living; Wiley lives in Livingston Co., Mo.; 
Elizabeth, now Mrs. Blaney, lives in this 
county. Mary lives at home; Nathan lives at 
Crawford Co., Ohio; John lives in this county; 
Albert lives at home. Mrs. Elliott has been a 
member a the Presbyterian Church for the 
past forty years; her parents, John and Eliza- 
beth (Beebout) Ward, were natives of Wash- 
ington Co., Pa., and Sussex Co., N.J. Mr. 
Elliott's parents, Charles and Jane (Lee) Elli- 
ott, were natives of Ireland. 

ALLEN M. ECCLES, stock-dealer; Mt. 
Gilead; was born in Licking Co., Ohio, Jan. 
23, 1828, and lived there about three years, 
when, with his parents, he came to Marion, 
now Morrow Co., where his parents engaged 
in farming; he lived at home until he was 30 
years of age, attending school and working on 
the farm. Nov. 29, 1859, he married Miss 
So])hia Lyman; she was born in Franklin Co., 
Ohio, and was raised in Delaware Co., and 
came to Morrow Co. in 1858; of their three 
children two are living — Myrtle M. and Joseph 
M. After his marriage, he moved to his pres- 
ent place, located three and one-half miles 
soutlie.ast of Mt. Gilead, and gave his atten- 
tion to l"arming until 18G4, when he began 
dealing in stock, in which he is now largely 
engaged; his business for the year ending 
April, 1880, aggregating seventy otld car loads, 
for which he paid between ^00,000 and 
$70,000. His parents, Jacob and Minerva 



M^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



533 



(Overturf) Eccles, came to this vicinity in 
1831, and lived here until their death, Nov. 
4, 1849, and Oct. 6, 1864. Mrs. Eccles' parents 
were Oliver and Joan Linaherry; they were 
natives of Vermont and Pennsylvania; they 
married in Franklin Co., Ohio, where they 
had moved when young. He died in Franklin 
Co., in 1845; she died in Iowa, where she 
lived with her son. 

SAMUEL FULTON, farmer and stock-rais- 
er; P. O., Mt. Gilead; was born on his present 
place, two and one-half miles northeast of Mt. 
Gilead, June 15, 1829, and has always lived in 
this vicinity. When about 7 years of age, his 
people moved to a farm, about a mile east of 
the present place, where he lived until he 
was 20 years old, working on the farm and in 
his father's saw-mill. Feb. 28, 1850, he mar- 
ried Miss Esther W. Hathaway, who was born 
in Franklin Tp., Knox, now Morrow Co. 
After his marriage, he came to his present 
})lace, which now contains 160 acres. They 
iiave one child — Albert R., who married Miss 
Mary Rogers. She was born in New York. 
They had three children; two are now living 
— Ernest C. and Marshal G.; they are living 
on part of the present place. Mr. Fulton 
assessed Congress Tp. for two years, while it 
was part of Richland Co. His parents, James 
and Margaret (Stockdale) Fulton, were na- 
tives of Greene and Washington Co's., Pa. 
They married in the latter county, and moved 
to Richland, now Morrow Co., Ohio, about 
1825, and lived in this vicinity until their 
deaths. Of their eight children six are living 
— W^illiam, in California; James, in Mt. Gil- 
ead; Samuel, on the old homestead; Mary, 
now Mrs. Cyphers, in Kansas; Stephen, ad- 
joining the old homestead; Robert, in this 
vicinity. The family came West with two 
teams, one four and one two-horse team. 
They settled here and lived in wagons until 
they could build a log cabin; they did their 
marketing at Zanesville, and shared in the 
early pioneer time in oreneral with others. 

JOHN J. GURLEY, lawyer; Mt. Gilead; 
is one of the oldest members of the Mor- 
row Co. Bar, who came to Mt. Gilead in 1850; 
he continued the practice of law here ever 
since, save when the partiality of fellow citi- 
zens have called him to occupy public offices. 
He was born in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. Aug. 
6, 1819; is the son of John S. and Nancy 



(Spink) Gurley. He comes of good New Eng- 
land stock, his mother being a native of 
Rhode Island, and his father of Connecticut. 
His mother lived to the rare old age of 88 
years, passing away at St. Lawrence County, 
in the present year. Mr. Gurley spent his 
minority upon the farm where he was born, 
when, possessed with a desire for the practice 
of law, he entered upon the preparation of his 
chosen profession. After reading law some 
two years, he came to Ohio, and in the year 
1843 entered the office of Corey and Ramsey, 
attorn eys-at- law, at McConnelsville, in Mor- 
gan Co. He was admitted to the Bar in 1844, 
at Bucyrus, and continued with this firm 
some four years longer, when he went to Ash- 
land, O., where he opened an office for the 
practice of his profession. Here he remained, 
however, only about two years, when he 
came to the newly-formed county of Morrow, 
and opened another office at Mt. Gilead, in 
1850. Three years later he was elected to 
the Legislature, a position which his love for 
his profession led him to resign to accept the 
position of Probate Judge in 1854, when he 
served the people for three years with great 
acceptance. In 1873, he was elected a mem- 
ber of the Constitutional Convention, an 
honor he prizes more than any other that he 
has received from the public. In 1874, he 
was elected Prosecuting Attorney, when his 
abilities as a lawyer were fully recognized 
and appreciated. Mr. Gurley is a Democrat, 
but brings to this subject, as to all others, a 
a candid consideration, unbiased by party 
passion or the hope of personal preferment. 
He is an earnest, conscientious worker for the 
principles of the cause which he has espoused 
and alike commands the respect of his 
political friends and foes. He was married 
in 1850 to Miss A. C. Armentrout, of Ohio, a 
union that has been blessed by the birth of two 
children. 

JOHN B. GATCHELL, County Recorder; 
Mt. Gilead; was born in Harrison Co., Ohio, 
June 18, 1843, and is the son of Amos P. and 
Barbara E. (Barger) Gatchell; his mother was 
born in Pennsylvania, and his father in Har- 
rison Co., Ohio, and was a farmer; here our 
subject remained until he was 15 years of age, 
when he began to learn the trade of carpenter 
and cabinet-maker, which he followed some 
years, and at the breaking out of the late 



V 



k 



534 



GII.EAD TOWNSHIP. 



civil war, he enlisted in Co. I, 15th O. V. I., 
three months' regiment, from Wyandotte Co., 
having moved there in 1850, participating in 
the battles of Philippi, Laurel Hill, etc., and 
was honorably mustered out at the expiration 
of his time, when he re-enlisted as private for 
three years in Co, F, 55th O. V. I., serving 
full time, and re-enlisted for the third time, 
and served until the dawn of peace; he par- 
ticipated in some of the most severe marches 
and battles of the war, took an active part in 
twenty-four prominent engagements, Cedar 
Mountain, Springville, Cross Keys, second bat- 
tle of Bull Run, and Gettysburg, where in the 
second day's tight, at dark, he was painfully 
wounded in the right hand and leg with a 
Minie ball and the bursting of a shell; he re- 
mained in the hospital from July 2 to Sept. 
15, when he reported for duty to his regiment 
in Virginia; when the regiment was ordered 
west, in company with Gen. Joe Hooker, he 
participated in the memorable battle of Look- 
out Mountain, known as the " battle above 
the clouds"; Mission Ridge, at Chattanooga. 
Mr. Gatchell took sick with the typhoid fever, 
remaining indisposed for a number of days; 
with this exception, his health was good; at 
the close of the war, being discharged Aug. 
15, 1865, he returned to Ohio and engaged in 
farming in Wyandotte Co. some two years, 
when in 18G8 he moved to Morrow Co. and 
located in Mt. Gilead, where he was engaged 
in clerking and the sewing machine business; 
in 1870 he was appointed Assistant U. S. 
Marshal, taking the census; he filled the office 
as Deputy Clerk over two years; in 1875 he 
was nominated by the Republican party as 
Recorder of Morrow Co., being elected to that 
office by a majority of 15, and in 1878 was 
re-elected to the same office by a rousing ma- 
jority of 590 votes. He is a Republican, and 
a hard worker in its ranks. He married Oct. 
12, 18G5, Miss Julia E. Bartlett, who was born 
in Mt. Gilead, Dec. 8, 1845, and is the daugh- 
ter of A. M. Bartlett, who settled in Mt. Gil- 
ead at an early day; they have two children. 
J. W. GALLEHER, of Bowen & Galleher, 
grocers; Mt. Gilead; was born on his father's 
farm, in Congress Tp., Richland, now Morrow 
Co., Ohio, Oct. 21, 1843, and lived there eight 
years, when they moved to Franklin Tp., and 
engaged in farming. He attended school un- 
til he was 15 years of age, and then began 



\ 



working at carpentering by the month, fol- 
lowing the same principally until 1872, when 
he began farming on his own account in ' 
Canaan Tp.; he lived there until 1875, when 
he engaged in the grocery business at Den- 
mark, the firm being Harris & Galleher; they 
continued about eighteen months; he then 
sold out and came to Mt. Gilead, and engaged 
in his present business. March 1, 18GG, he 
married Miss Mary J. Smith; she is also a 
native of this county. They have four chil- 
dren — Frank, Ardella, Clyde and Alice. In 
18G1, he enlisted in the 136th O. N. G., 
and served until the command was dis- 
charged. While in Denmark, he served as 
Postmaster, during the last year's residence 
there. His parents, William and Frances 
Itson Galleher, were natives of Loudoun Co., 
Va.; they were married there, and came here 
at an early day. 

D. T. A. GOORLEY, drugs, books, etc; Mt. 
Gilead; is a native of Brooke Co., Virginia; he 
was born on the farm, Aug. 3, 1836, and lived 
there until he was 7 years of age, when his 
parents moved West to Marion, now Morrow 
Co., Ohio, and settled on a farm about three 
miles south of Mt. Gilead; he lived at home 
until he became of age, during which time he 
attended school, and worked on the farm; he 
also taught school while at home, and during 
after years, in this and adjoining counties. 
March G, 1862 ,he married Miss Lucy A. New- 
son. She was born on her father's farm, near 
Mt. Gilead. After the mariage he moved to 
a farm, about four miles north of Mt. Gilead, 
and farmed there for about four years; he 
then came to Mt. Gilead, and engaged in his 
present business. By his marriage there are 
five children — Nellie, Netta, Anna, Clara, 
and Grace. His father, William Goorley, Sr., 
was born in Cumberland Co., Pa., April 3, 
1793. At the age of 13, he moved with his 
parents to Brooke Co., West Virginia, and in 
his 29th year he married Miss Nancy Archer, 
an estimable and devoted Christian lady, 
with whom he lived in happy fidelity for more 
than thirty years. Seven sons and three 
daughters were born unto these parents, and 
in addition to this large family, these parents 
had the charge of a widowed mother, who 
died in their house at tlie advanced age of 96 
years. In 1843, Mr. Goorley and family moved 
to Morrow Co., Ohio, and settled on a farm, 



:^ 



>^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



535 



located a few miles southeast of Mt. Gilead, 
where he lived until his death Oct. 14, 1877, 
aged 85 years. The first three years of his 
life was during Washington's second adminis- 
tration; he also saw the General at the head 
of 15,000 men en route for Western Pennsyl- 
vania,' to quiet the Whisky Insurrectionists. 
His father was a soldier throughout the Revo- 
lution, and he and his brother were soldiers in 
the war of 1812. Oct. 15, 1851, he was called 
to mourn the death of his wife. In Novem- 
ber, 1854, he was united in marriage to Miss 
Margaret Harper, who cheered him in his 
declining years. 

E. A. GOORLEY, farmer; P. O., Gilead 
Sta.; was born in Brooke Co., Va., Nov. 8, 
1825, and lived there eighteen years, receiv- 
ing but a limited education in the subscrip- 
tion schools of that period. In 1843, they came 
West, to Ohio, and settled on a farm two and 
a half miles south of Mt. Gilead; they came 
by wagons, one a four and one a two-horse 
team; on the route, near Rockford, the larger 
team became frightened and ran away, going 
a mile and a half; the wagon contained house- 
hold goods, on top of which sat the two 
daughters; it was upset, but, save a sprained 
wrist and some delay, no damage was done, 
and they finished the trip, and settled on the 
farm. E. A. lived at home until 1852; May 
13, of that year, he married Miss Matilda Coe, 
who was born in this county; they have no 
children; they raised Mr. Geo. O. Coe, and 
their niece, Sarah E. Blaney. Mr. Goorley 
now resides on his farm, located about two 
miles from Gilead Station; he has held offices 
connected with the school and roads, also that 
of Township Trustee and Assessor; his pa- 
rents, Wm. and Nancy (Archer) Goorley 
were natives of Pennsylvania and Virginia; 
they have ten children, seven of them boys; 
all are living and except one, away in Mis- 
souri; all were with their father during the 
last days of his life. 

JOHN GARDNER, farmer; P. O. Mt. 
Gilead; was born in Franklin Tp., Knox, 
now Morrow Co., May 1, 1819. In 1825, 
his parents moved to Richland Co., and 
located about four and one-half miles north- 
east of Mt. Gilead; he lived at home 22 years, 
then, in company with his brother-in-law he 
farmed a place Ijelonging to his father, and 
located near West Point. Dec. 29, 1842, he 



married Miss Harriet Carr; she was born in 
Richland Co., Ohio, April 17, 1821; they occu- 
pied a house on the farm, and with his brother- 
in-law, continued farming the place, until 
1850, in the fall of which year his father died, 
and the following year he bought the old 
homestead farm, which was entered by his 
father about 1822, and occupied in 1825; he 
farmed the place for three years, and then 
sold the same and bought his present place, 
and has lived here since. By his marriage 
there are four children — Quincy T., born Feb. 
16, 1844, and married Miss Lydia Truax, of 
Elkhart Co., Ind.; he is farming his father's 
place; of their three children two are living — 
Eliza and George; Eunice, now Mrs. Bargar, 
born May 22, 1846, and lives in this vicinity; 
they had three children, two living — Melville 
and Zoa; Mary E., now Mrs. Iden, born Nov. 
4, 1848, and lives in Denmark Co.; Albert C, 
born March 30, 1856, and lives near Denmark. 
Mr. Gardner resides on his farm, which con- 
tains seventy-five acres, and is located three 
and one-half miles northeast of Mt. Gilead. 
He has served in the offices connected with 
the school and road, also as Township 
Trustee. His parents, Timothy and Sarah 
(Hawkins) Gardner, were natives of New 
Jersey and Vermont; they were married in 
Knox Co., Ohio, where she came with her 
parents, and he when a young man; they set- 
tled here in Morrow Co. in 1825, and lived 
here until his death, in 1850; she lived on the 
old homestead until the sale of the same; she 
then moved to Minnesota, and later she went 
to the State of Maine, and lived with her son 
William until her death, March 17, 1873. 
They had eight children, six of whom are liv- 
ing. Her parents, Thomas and Sarah (Crosliy) 
Hawkins, were natives of Conn, and New 
Jersey; Mrs. Harriet (Carr) Gardner's parents, 
David and Sarah (Fisher) Carr, were natives 
of New Jersey; they came to Richland Co., 
Ohio, he in 1816, and she in 1820; they mar- 
ried there in 1820. He died there Feb. 2, 
1875; she is living on the old place where she 
has made her home for the past sixty years; 
of their eleven children, eight are living, all 
but one of whom are married. 

SAMUEL GELLER, retired; . Mt. Gil- 
ead; was born on his father's farm in 
Knox Co., Ohio, Sept. 3, 1820, and lived 
there about 12 years; when with his parents 



\ 



530 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



he moved to Marion (now Morrow) Co., and 
settled on a larm near tlie present Levering^ 
Station, where he lived until he was !^7 years 
of a<;'0, assistinjx his father on the farm; he 
then began farming on his own accoimt, on a 
piece of land in the neighborhood, given him 
by his father, upon which he continued until 
the year 18G6; he then sold his land and 
moved to Mt. Gilead, where has since lived a 
retired life. Jan. 9, 1848, he married Miss 
N. A. Beaty; she was born in Pennsylvania, 
and came to this county with her parents 
when a child. His parents, Solomon and 
Mary (Walker) Geller were natives of Penn- 
sylvania; they were married in Knox Co. O., 
whither they had moved at an early day; they 
came to Mt. Gilead as stated, where they died — 
he in March, 1861, and she in August, 18G3. 

ROSCOE S. GALLEHEll, carpenter; Mt. 
Gilead; was born Dec. 8, 1856, in Franklin 
Tp., Morrow Co., Ohio, he was a son of Jo- 
seph H. and Amei^ca C. (Hepsley) Galleher; 
his father was a native of Loudoun Co., Va.; 
the mother was born in Maryland, near Balti- 
more. Joseph H. was a farmer, and removed 
to Morrow Co. in 1830; Roscoe was the eldest 
of a family of six children, viz. — Caleb R., 
George F., William J., Dora M. and Ernest 
E., who died in infancy. Roscoe remained at 
home until 15 years of age, and then commen- 
ced learning his trade with Ezra Woodward, 
of Morrow Co.; he continued working at his 
trade until about 1875, when he went to 
Frederickstown, working on the grist mill, 
being at that time in business for himself; he 
stayed there until November, 1875, and then 
returned to his father's in Morrow Co. ; he after- 
wards worked on the Town Hall building, for 
Miller & Smith, at Mt. Gilead. In 1877 Mr. 
G. purchased 75 acres of land, and for two 
years his time was partly occupied in farming. 
In 1879 he returned to Mt. Gilead, and was 
married to Arrilla M. Cay wood, in 1877; they 
have one child— Ellis A., born Feb. 16, 1878. 
Mr. G. has finished for himself an elegant resi- 
dence on West High street, and is beginning 
to reap some of the results of an industrious 
and well-spent life. 

JUDGE HOUSE, retired, Mt. Gilead; was 
born in Chester Co., Pa., .Fan. 8, 1798, and is 
the son of Francis and Mary (F^oncy) House; 
both parents were born in Pa.; his father was 
a chair-maker by trade, but in latter years fol- 



lowed farming. In about 1805 or 6, our sub- 
ject Avith father and mother, emigrated to 
Ohio, and located in Jelferson county, near 
Mt. Vernon ; his father died in Knox Co., Dec, 
1843, over 69 years of age. Judge House 
and his brother, Nathan House, learned the 
house-joiner's trade, which they followed to- 
gether for a number of years. In 1828, 
Nathan House and Judge House commenced 
mercantile business two miles east of Mt. 
Gilead, where Nathan House carried on the 
business of the store, while our subject work- 
ed at the joiner's trade, and in 1832 they moved 
their store to Mt. Gilead, and was at that time 
the third grocery store of that place. In 
1833 Judge House moved to Mt. Gilead, 
where he has been one of its honored citizeri^ 
ever since. These brothers carried on a very 
large business, owning at one time a grist 
mill, tannery, distillery, saddle shop and store, 
and operating two fine farms. Nathan House 
died in 1845, a respected and honored citizen, 
leaving a wife and six children to mourn his 
loss. When Judge House came here he, in 
1833, built his present house, which he has 
made his home ever since; he continued in 
the mercantile business until 1872, when he 
retired. On the organization of Morrow 
County, he was its Associate Judge, filling 
that office in 1847 and '48 with marked abilit3^ 
He was married in Mt. Vernon to Miss Mary ]). 
Clements, of England, March 2, 1830; she 
came to America and located in Ohio in 1828. 
By this union they have four children. 

W. S. HOUSE, llouring-mill; xMt. Gilead; 
was born in Mt. Gilead, in 1837; he is the son 
of Richard House, further mention of whom 
will be found in the biography of Mrs. Clara 
House Talmage. W. S. House commenced 
the milling business when 19 years of age, 
and continued until 1862, when he engaged in 
farming in Gilead Tp. In 1877 he went 
back to the business for which he was so well 
fitted by early training and long experience, 
and since that time has been furnishing the 
public with the choicest brands of flour, feetl, 
etc.; he has for a partner, Bradford Dawson, 
who is also a man of large experience in the 
business, and is, withal, a genial, whole-souled 
gentleman. The quality of their ilour being 
well known in Morrow and adjoining coun- 
ties, they find ready sales for the same. Mr. 
House was married in 1859 to Victorine S. 



:k^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



537 



Barton. They had four children — Mary C. 
(being the only one livino-), Richard, Helen, 
and one who died in infancy. 

R. P. HALLIDAY, Cashier in the First 
National Bank; Mt. Gilead; is a native of 
Scotland, and was born in the village of 
Dalbeattie, Aug. 7, 1835, and at the age of 
14 he entered the wholesale and retail gro- 
cery house of John Nicholson, and served in 
the same for five years; he then served one 
year in the grocery house of John McCaig; 
and next went into the employ of the Messrs. 
Sloan Bros., wholesale dealers in groceries 
and importers of lumber; upon his becoming 
of age, he came to the United States, and set- 
tled in Mt. Gilead, O., where he engaged in 
the general merchandise business. In 1864 
he enlisted in the 136th O. N. G., and 
served about four months, the command being 
called out for 100 days. In 1867 he sold his 
general merchandise business and took his 
present position as Cashier of the First Na- 
tional Bank of Mt. Gilead. Oct. 29, 1862, he 
married Miss Lucretia J., daughter of C. H. 
and Sarah (Lyon) Chamberlain. She is a 
native of Knox, now Morrow Co., O. They 
have two children — Grant C. and Robert M. 

J. C. HOUSE, flouring mill; Mt. Gilead; son 
of RichardHouse; was born in 1832, in Mt. 
Vernon,0.,and when quite young went into his 
father's flouring mill, and at the age of 16 had 
entire charge of the mill; three years later he 
became his father's partner, the firm name 
being J. C. House & Co.; a few years after- 
wards a younger brother came into the firm, 
which then read J. C. & W. S. House. This 
partnership was dissolved in 1862, when the 
mill passed into the hands of J. C. House; his 
long experience in the business enables him 
to furnish a grade of flour which cannot be 
surpassed; is located on the Mt. Vernon 
road just east of Mt. Gilead. Mr. House was 
united in marriage to Arrietti M. Rhodes; they 
have three children — George C, born 1855; 
Miriam Belle, born 1857; Frederick Wilber 
Richard, born 1859. Mr. House has been a 
member of the Baptist Church since 1838; is 
«i Republican; he has been a member of the 
Board of Education and Town Council; he is 
liberal in his views, and an active, public-spiri- 
ted man. 

MILTON HULL, farmer; P. O., Mt. Gil- 
ead; was born on his father's farm in Congress 



Tp., Richland Co., Ohio, April 30, 1829; he 
lived at home until Jan. 26, 1851, when he 
married Miss Rachel Wink; she was born in 
Gilead Tp., Marion (now Morrow) Co., Ohio; 
after marriage he moved to a farm near Cale- 
donia and lived there one and one-half years, 
when he moved to a farm on the Whetstone, 
and lived there about two years; he then 
came to his present place, which contains 150 
acres, located about three miles northeast of 
Mt. Gilead; there were born six children, five 
of whom are living — Calvin, Alfaretta, Chas. 
S., Tillie and Ida; his parents, Chas. and Re- 
becca (Slack) Hull, were natives of Penn.; 
they married there and came west in the fall 
of 1828; they came West in wagons and win- 
tered at Ken's Tanyard, and the following 
spring they 1 'iated on some land about three 
miles northc st of Mt. Gilead, and lived 
there until 1. t- "Ath. After his death Mrs. 
Hull moved ''^vVilliamsport, and thence to 
Mt. Gilead, where she died; of their eleven 
children, eight are living — Isaac, Bradford, 
Julia Ann, now Mrs. Boxley; Jane, now Mrs. 
Bird; Milton, Lydia, now Mrs. Vanatta, 
Thomas, and Claude; all are married, and all 
except Thomas, live in this county; he lives 
in Missouri; Mr. Hull was one of the soldiers 
of 1812, who settled in this vicinity. 

BEN J. HULL, retired; Mt. Gilead; was 
born on his father's farm in Sussex Co., N. J., 
Dec. 20, 1819; when he was 5 years of age 
his parents moved to Knox (now Morrow) Co., 
Ohio, and engaged in farming near Chester- 
ville; he accompanied his parents to Indiana, 
and after their death there, he, in 1839, re- 
turned to Knox Co., Ohio, and in 1840 he was 
apprenticed to the masons' trade, to Mr. Joseph 
Beers, of Fredericktown; after three years 
service he came to Mt. Gilead and worked at 
his trade until 1874, since which time, owing 
to illness, he has retired, only looking after 
his farming interests. Jan. 12, 1847, he mar- 
ried Miss Elizabeth Newson, a native of 
Maryland; she came to Ohio when quite young; 
of their three children one is living — Alice R., 
now Mrs. Milton Davis, of Mt. Gilead, 

WILLIAM HAZEN, farmer and stock- 
raiser, P.O. Gilead Station ; was born in Marion, 
now Morrow Co., March 4, 1833, and lived at 
home until Sept. 26, 3867, when he married 
Mrs. Folk, formerly Miss Sarah L. Ham- 
mond; she was born in Marion, now Morrow 



Pv 



v> 



538 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



Co., Ohio. After his niarria<^e he farmed the 
oltl horiiosteaxl, which he had boiio-ht. His 
mother lived with him until her death, Sept. 
:23, ISGS; his father died March 12, 1845. 
William farmed the old homestead until 1875, 
except two years in Canaan Tp.; he then came 
to his present place, and has lived there ever 
since; he owns 255 acres, 185 being in the 
place he now resides on, known as the old De- 
witt Farm, and is located one and three-quarter 
miles north of Gilead Station. He has held 
no offices, except those connected with the 
schools and roads; he has earned his property 
by his own labor and management. His 
parents, John and Catharine (Hashner) Hazen, 
were natives of New Jersey and Pennsylvania; 
they were married in Marion, now Morrow 
Co., Ohio, about the year 1830; they came to 
this vicinity with their parents and lived here 
until they died. They had six children, five 
of whom are living — William, Jerusha, now 
Mrs. A. Sams, living in Kosciusko Co., Ind.; 
Mary, now Mrs. A. Commons, living in Kan- 
sas; Elizabeth, now Mrs. Henry Cole, in Kos- 
ciusko Co., Ind.; Catharine, now Mrs. Hash- 
ner, in Jasper Co., Iowa; all are engaged in 
farming. John Hazen's parents were Samuel 
and Elizabeth (Dewitt) Hazen; they were 
natives of New Jersey; they married there, 
and were among the early pioneers of this 
locality. He was a gunsmith and did work 
for the early pioneers and Indians. His wife 
died in this vicinity; he then went to Kos- 
ciusko Co., Ind., and lived with his daughter 
until his death. Mrs. Hazen's parents were 
John and Catharine (Rule) Hashner; they 
were natives of Maryland; they were married 
there and came to Ohio in 1818, and settled 
in Richland Co., and after a few years they 
came to the vicinity of Mt. Gilead, where they 
began clearing a piece of land, and lived on 
the same until their death. 

WM. HULL, hardware, stoves and tinware; 
Mt. Gilead; was born in Knox, now Morrow 
Co., Ohio, Oct. 29, 1830, while his parents 
lived on the farm near Chesterville, where 
they resided until 1838, when they moved to 
LaGrange Co., Ind., and engaged in farming; 
while there, his father and mother died, and 
after a three years' residence, he came to Mt. 
Gilead, living with relatives; he attended 
school until he was 16 years old; he then was 
apprenticed to the tinner's trade, at Mt. Ver- 



non, to Thomas Durbin, and served with him 
until 1850, when he returned to Mt. Gilead, 
and, in partnership with Mr. Durbin, opened 
a tin and stove business (W. Hull & Co.). 
At the end of four years the business came 
entirely into the hands of Mr. Hull, and in 
1868, he added builders' hardware, and has 
continued in the trade since. In Jan. 1852, 
he married Miss Laura Hart; she was born in 
Virginia, atid came to this county with her 
parents; his parents, Malon and Effie (Snook) 
Hull, were natives of New Jersey; they came 
west at an early day, and died as before 
stated. 

H. S. HERSHEY, dealer in boots and shoes; 
Mt. Gilead; was born in Ontario, Richland 
Co., Ohio, June 19, 1852; in 1854, the family 
moved- to Crestline, where he lived eighteen 
years; Mr. Hershey's schooling was very limi- 
ted, not exceeding a year and a half in all, 
most of his time being spent in active busi- 
ness, beginning at the early age of 10 as 
cash boy; the following year he took charge 
of a wagon, collecting butter and eggs in the 
surrounding country for some five or six years; 
he next engaged in the flour and feed busi- 
ness at Crestline, and later accepted a posi- 
tion in the P.,Ft.W. & C.R.R. Co.'s shops; later 
still, in a manufacturing establishment at the 
same place; he next engaged as clerk with 
Mr. Wm. Henshue, then Newman & Rey- 
nolds, of Mt. Gilead. Mr. Hershey then en- 
tered the boot and shoe business for himself, 
and having a real estate business in connec- 
tion with the same; he moved about, doing 
business in Shelby, Danville and Crestline; in 
January, 1880, he came to Mt. Gilead, and has 
determined to become permanently located, a 
fact well illustrated in the appearance of his 
store. Sept. 4, 1873, he married Miss Flor- 
ence A. Grace, of New Lisbon. They have 
one child — Lula Grace. 

JOHN M. HULL, farmer; P. O. Mt. 
Gilead; is a native of Morrow Co., Ohio, and 
was born on a farm adjoining his present 
place, May 15, 1856; he lived at home until 
21 years of age, attending district school and 
working on the farm; he then married Miss 
Ida B., daughter of Newton and Elizabeth 
(Nellaus) Winget; she was born in this vicin- 
ity. They have one child — Clyde. Mr. Hull 
is the son of Isaac and Mary Finley Hull, 
and resides on his farm, which contains 200 



1^^ 



Ml 



t 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



539 



acres, located three and a half miles northeast 
of Mt. Gilead. 

MINAR HARROD, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O. Mt. Gilead; was born in Knox 
Co., Ohio, on his father's farm, located eleven 
miles southeast of Mt. Vernon, March 27, 
1827, and lived there most of the time until 
he was 30 years of age; he attended school 
and worked on the farm until he was 21 years 
of age; he then farmed a rented place in Co- 
shocton Co. for one year, and then rented in 
Knox Co. for four years; he then bought a 
small piece, and has farmed his own land ever 
since. In 1858, he sold the home farm which 
he had previously bought, and came to Mor- 
row Co., buying a place one mile south of 
West Gilead, and farmed same for eight years, 
when he bought and moved to his present, 
place, and located on the Pike, one and one- 
half miles west of Mt. Gilead. Sept. 13, 1847„ 
he married Miss Juannah Campbelle; she 
was born in Knox Co., Ohio; of their six chil- 
dren three are living, viz. — Amanda E., now 
Mrs. Masters, of Morrow Co., Ohio; Ada A., 
now Mrs. J. Fish, of Morrow Co., Ohio; Dora 
D., at home. Mr. Harrod gives an example 
of what can be accomplished by good, honest 
effort and industry; starting as he did without 
any capital, he has, out of his own individual 
efforts, been successful, and now owns 330 
acres of land in this county, all well-improved 
and conveniently located to the county seat; he 
also owns farm lands in Wisconsin. Though 
not an office-seeker, he has taken an active 
interest in, and has held the offices connected 
with the schools and roads; he has also been 
a member of the Morrow Co. Agricultural 
Society, since 1858, and during the past three 
years has been President of the same. He and 
wife have been members of the Baptist Church, 
for upwards of twenty-five years, and have so 
lived as not only to win, but to deserve the 
respect of all who know them. His parents, 
L-evi and Rebecca Burgess Harrod, were 
natives of Pennsylvania and Maryland. They 
married in Pennsylvania, and moved to Knox 
Co., Ohio, in 1804, and lived there until their 
deaths in 1861 and 1865, respectively. He 
served under General Harrison during the war 
of 1812. 

ALEXANDER E. HAHN, of Hahn & 
Smith, undertakers and manufacturers of 
burial cases; Mt. Gilead; was born in Bu- 



cyrus, O., Nov. 29, 1829, and lived there 
until 1843, when, with his parents, he came to 
Mt. Gilead and in 1847 was apprenticed to 
the cabinet-maker's trade, with George Wren, 
with whom he served one year; he then work- 
ed at carpentering a year, and then finished 
his trade of cabinet-maker by serving two 
years with C. O. Vanhorn, finishing in the 
spring, and worked until fall, when he went 
to Rock Island, 111., and the following fall 
returned to Mt. Gilead, working at his trade 
until spring; he then engaged in his father's 
flouring mill, in which he had worked for 
three years, from his fourteenth year. He 
worked at his trade or in the mill, and Oct. 

25, 1863, he married Miss Louisa Hammell, 
who was born in Tuscarawas Co., O. In 
1874, he bought the undertaking portion of 
the business, then conducted by Mr. Chas, 
Wheeler, who had bought of Mr. C. O. Van- 
horn, and the firm of Hahn & Smith was form- 
ed, and in 1880, they added the manufacture of 
burial cases, caskets, etc. His parents, Abra- 
ham and Julia Ann Hahn were natives of 
Maryland and and Pennsylvania; he learned 
the milling trade in York, Penn., where he 
married. They came to Ohio at a very early 
date, and first settled at Canton, where he 
conducted a mill one year and also a hotel 
one year; he then moved to Bucyrus and rent- 
ed a hotel and later built the present Simms 
House, which he conducted until 1843, when 
he came to Mt. Gilead. At Bucyrus he built 
a saw- mill and and race, the latter two and a 
half miles long. In excavating for the latter 
the bones of a mammoth mastodon were 
found, and Mr. Hahn sold them in Columbus, 
for $1800. On his arrival in Mt. Gilead, he en- 
gaged in a flouring mill, and continued in the 
same until 1866, when he sold out, and Jan. 

26, following, died. Mrs. Hahn continued 
her residence in Mt. Gilead until her death. 
May 5, 1880. Of their ten children but four 
are living — Dr. Chas. Hahn, of Marion Co., 
O.; Julia, now Mrs. Walter, of Bucyrus; 
Alexander E., and Mary, now Mrs. Cooper, 
both living in Mt, Gilead. 

W. SMITH IRWIN (of Irwin & Booher), 
real estate and abstract office, also insurance 
agents; Mt. Gilead; was born on the farm in 
Richland Co., Ohio, Aug. 16, 1827, and lived 
there ten years. They then moved to Mans- 
field, where he became of age; in 1849 he 



^: 



:i£ 



540 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



joined the first company from Ohio, to ^o to 
Ciilifoniia. They went via New York and 
the Isthmus. His object was mining, which 
he followed on the north fork of the Ameri- 
can; he worked four months, and was reward- 
ed by obtaining gold to the value of $2,G00, 
half of which, according to contract, belonged 
to Mr. Herrick, of New York, who paid the 
exi)enscs of the trip. On his return, at the end 
of the four months, the partnership was set- 
tled, and the following spring he went back 
to California, by his former route, and settled 
in Sacramento, where he worked at painting, 
and the following fall returned home to Mans- 
field, and engaged as assistant clerk with his 
father until 1852, when they came to Morrow 
Co., and settled on a farm, where the Infirma- 
ry now stands. He assisted his father until 
1858, when he was elected on the Republican 
ticket to the office of Auditor, and in 1860 
was re-elected. In August, 18G2, he enlisted in 
the 121st O. V. I., and was appointed Lieut. 
Colonel, and served about eight months, 
when, owing to ill health, he resigned; in 
18G4 he engaged as clerk in Uio Adjt.-Gen- 
eral's office, at Columbus, Ohio, and upon the 
call for one- hundred-days' men, he served as 
Colonel of the 130th Regt., for the call; he 
then returned home, and engaged in farming. 
In March, 1854, he married Miss Arminda 
House, who was born in this vicinity, and 
died in February, 18G5. Of their two chil- 
dren, one is living — William C. In 18G6 he 
married Miss Isabella L. Knox. She was born 
in Pittsburgh, Pa., and was raised in Ohio. 
They have no children. His parents, William 
W. and Hannah (Finley) Irwin, were natives 
of Maryland and Pennsylvania, and were 
raised in Ohio, the Finleys being among the 
lirst settlers of Richland Co. Mr. Irwin 
served as Recorder of Richland Co., from 
18159 to 1845; he was then appointed Clerk of 
Court, and held the office until 1852; he served 
as Clerk of the Court in Morrow Co., from 
1854 to 18G0, and from that time lived on the 
farm until his death, in August, 18G5. Mrs. 
Irwin died in December, 18G1. Of their six 
children but two are living — W. Smith and 
B. Finley, of Emporia, Kansas. 

SAMUEL KELLY, retired farmer; P.O. Mt. 
Gilead; was born in Jefferson Co., Ohio, on 
his father's farm,. Inly 1 I, 1804, and lived there 
twenty-nine years, during which time he at- 



tended school in Salem, part of which town 
his fatluM- laid out on his farm; he also work- 
ed on the farm and in his father's grist mill; 
hit father died in 1830. The boys carried on 
the place until 1834, when they sold out, and 
with their mother and sister came west in a 
wagon to Marion (now Morrow) Co., and set- 
tleil in this vicinity; Samuel and his brother 
had been out the year before and bought the 
present place; they came on horseback. The 
family first rented a place, and work was be- 
gun on the land purchased, clearing same; 
shortly after. Miss Kelly married, and her 
mother lived with her; Samuel lived with a 
neighbor, and his brother lived some two miles 
distant. Feb. li>, 1841, Mr. Samuel Kelly and 
Miss Lodemia Pierson were married; she 
was born in Knox Co., Ohio, April 11, 1824, 
and came to this vicinity in 1828; after his 
marriage he occupied his farm, and has lived 
on the same since; of their seven children but 
five are living — Elizabeth A., now Mrs. Prof. 
Sharp, of Delaware, Ohio;. James H., Cham- 
bers K., Sarah E., now Mrs. Krout, of Morrow 
Co., Ohio; Margaret S., now Mrs. Campbell, 
of Fort Wayne. Ind. Mr. Kelly is one of the 
old residents of this vicinity; he owns 1G3 
acres of land, located three miles north of 
Gilead Station; his parents, James and Annie 
(McCamice) Kelly, were natives of Ireland 
and Pennsylvania; they married in Pennsyl- 
vania, and moved to Jeiferson Co., Ohio, in 
1801, where he lived until his death; she came 
west, and died in this vicinity in 1857; they 
had seven sons and seven daughters, thirteen 
of whom lived to be adults; twelve married, 
and eleven raised families; five are now liv- 
ing — Rebecca, now Mrs. Moffet, of this coun- 
ty; Robert, of this county; Elizabeth, now 
Mrs. McCasky, of Carroll Co., Ohio; Samuel, 
and Margaret, now Mrs. Irwin, of this county. 
J. H. KELLY, farmer and stock-raiser; 
P. O., Gilead Station; is the son of Samuel 
and Lodemia (Pierson) Kelly; he was born 
on his father's farm, adjoining the place on 
which he now lives, Feb. 12th, 1844; he lived at 
home for twenty-six years, during which time 
he worked on the farm and attended school; 
Feby. 10, 1870, he married Miss N. J., daugh- 
ter of Samuel and Emily R. (Coe) Ewers; 
she was born on her father's farm, in this lo- 
cality; after his marriage he worked on his 
father's farm for about seven years; he then 



\ 



-^\^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



541 



came to his present place and has lived here 
since. They have four children — Frank A., 
born Jan. 27, 1871; Edgar C„ born March 17, 
1875; Bertha E., Feby. 27, 1877; Ray O., 
Oct. 9, 1878. He has held no office except 
those connected with the school and road. 
He owns 120 acres in this county, located two 
and one-half miles north of Gilead Station, 
which he has earned by his own labor and 
manacrement. 

R. L. KELLY, farmer and stock-raiser; 
P. O., Mt. Gilead; was born on his present 
place June 30, 1832, and has always made 
his home on the same; he attended the 
schools of his day, and assisted with his fa- 
ther's stock, making five round trips to Phil- 
adelphia, Pa., with the same; when he be- 
came of age, his father bought him a farm 
in this locality, and, though living at home, 
he farmed the place on his own accord, and 
continued for four years, when he sold the 
place, and engaged in the general merchand- 
ise business, in Mt. Gilead, O., and followed 
the same for 2 years; he then closed out his 
business and came back to the farm, and has 
lived here since. In March, 1865, he married 
Miss L. J. Meredith; she was born in Har- 
mony Tp., this Co. They have two children 
— Blanche M. and Austy B. Mr. Kelly now 
lives on his farm, which contains 210 acres, 
and is located two miles east of Mt. Gilead. 
His parents, Allen and Miram (Dicus) Kelly, 
were natives of Pennsylvania and Delaware; 
they were married in Pennsylvania, and came 
to Ohio at an early day; when they came to 
this neighborhood, they at first camped in a 
hollow tree, and soon afterwards built a hew- 
ed log house, which was considered very fine 
in those days; they knew of no neighbors, 
until one calm morning they heard the cocks 
crow, and, following up the sound, found a 
neighbor, Ludwick Hardenbrook; in after 
years, Mr. Kelly started a store and tan-yard, 
and made an effort to establish a town, which 
was called Jamestown, and of which he served 
as Postmaster; but time and more favorable 
locations have left nothing but memory of this 
future great city. Out of their family of elev- 
en children, six are living — William lives in 
Mt. Gilead; Charles lives in Kansas; .Julia A., 
now Mrs. Dr. S. Newcomb, of Westerville; 
Henrietta, now Mrs. McCammon, now in 
Kansas; Keturah, now Mrs. Thomas, of Ada, 



O.; and R. L., living on the old homestead. 
In 1865, Mr. Kelly divided his real estate 
among his children, and retired to Mt. Gilead, 
where he died. 

R. B. LEVERING (of the firm of Lever- 
ing, Merwine & Co., dry-goods) Mt. Gilead; 
was born in the village of Woodbury, Rich- 
land, now Morrow Co., Ohio, Sept. 21, 184G; 
his early life was spent in attending school 
and assisting in the store; at the age of 18 
he attended the Bellville school for three 
terms; he also taught a number of terms; at 
the age of 22 he obtained an interest in the 
business of Merwine & Rule; the firm name 
changing to Levering & Rule, and continued 
for six years, when Mr. Levering sold his in- 
terest and managed the farm for the following 
three years; he then came to Mt. Gilead, and 
March 15, 1880, became a partner in the firm 
of Levering, Merwine & Co. April 6, 1871, 
he married Miss Louisa Dillin, who was born 
in Knox Co., O.; they have four children: 
Hibbard, Keturah, Alexander and John. Mr. 
Levering has taken no part in public affairs, 
having held no office except that of Justice of 
the Peace while at Woodbury. 

WM. LINN, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O., 
Mt. Gilead; was born on his father's farm in 
Monroe Co., Ohio, Dec. 7, 1814; he lived 
there fifteen years, when his mother and fam- 
ily (his father having died in 1819), came 
west, and settled on a farm in Franklin Tp., 
Knox, now Morrow Co., Ohio, renting for one 
year; when her son, Levi, entered 160 acres 
of timber, which they moved on, and cleared. 
When William became 17 years of age, he 
was apprenticed to tailoring with Hugh Kear- 
ney, in Waterford, though in a few months 
they moved to Mt. Gilead, where he served 
four years. He then worked as journeyman, 
transient, here and in Indiana; and later, 
formed a partnership with Mr. Kearney, until 
the later went to Missouri. William contin- 
ued in the business, and March 26, 1840, he 
married Miss Maria Thurston; she was born 
in Pennsylvania, and came here with her par- 
ents when young. He continued his residence 
in town until he was 37 years of age; he then 
sold out his business, and bought a farm about 
four miles southwest of Mt. Gilead, and lived 
on the same until about 1863; he then sold it 
and bought and occupied his present place, 
located one mile northwest of Mt. Gilead; 



-n: 



1^ 



r)42 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



since which time his wife died. They had 
three children, two of whom are livinj^; Syl- 
vester lives in Mt. Gilead, and Israel B., is R. 
R. Agent at Cannonsburg, Penn. His pres- 
ent wife was Mrs. Dennis, formerly Rachel 
Lamb; she was born in Richland, now Morrow 
Co., Ohio. They had two children, one liv- 
ing — Lewis M. His parents, Caleb and Nancy 
(Morrison) Linn, were born in the same neigh- 
borhood, near the Pennsylvania and Maryland 
line. They married there, and about 1810 
they moved to Monroe Co., O., and engaged in 
farming; while there, he died. The family 
then came to this locality. Mrs. Linn is now 
living with her son Isaac, about two and a 
half miles northwest of Williamsport. She 
has passed 100 years of age. She speaks of 
seeing George Washington in early times. 
Five of their six children are living; Levi 
lives in Illinois; Mary, now Mrs. Charabei"- 
lain, of Williamsport, Ohio; Anna, now Mrs. 
Levering, Maysville, Mo.; William and Isaac 
live in Williamsport, Ohio. 

HON. ALLEN LEVERING, Mt. Gilead, 
Ohio, the subject of this sketch and whose por- 
trait appears in this work, was born in North 
Woodbury, Richland Co., Ohio (since 1849 
Morrow Co.), Nov. 12, 1839. The name of 
Levering is traced through a lona; line of an- 
cestors, back to France, which country the}' 
left about the time of the edict of Nantes, 
and went into Holland (they being Hugue- 
nots); they came to America with Wm. Penn, 
and settled at Roxborough and Germantown, 
near Philadelphia, Pa. His ancestors on his 
mother's side came from England, and set- 
tled in Sussex Co., N. J. His great grand- 
father, Robert Bell, Sr., moved from New 
Jersey to Belmont Co., Ohio, in 179G, and to 
Richland Co., Ohio, in the year 1816, where 
he laid out the town of Belleville, now on the 
B. and O. R. R., where most of his mother's 
family have since lived and died. Robert 
was uncle of John Bell, of Tennessee, a can- 
didate for President in 18G0, on the Consti- 
tutional Union Ticket. Morgan Levering, 
his father, was born in Bedford Co., Pa., in 
1808, and came with his father, Wm. Lever- 
ing, to Knox Co., Ohio, in 1816. In 1835 
our subject's farther started ar general mer- 
chandise store in company with Mr. John 
Rule, Sr., under the firm name of Levering 
& Rule, in North Woodbury, and continued 



for sixteen years. Our subject was sent to 
common school in the winter terms and in 
summer was kept at work in his father's store 
and on the farm. At the time of his father's 
death in 1860 (occasioned by the effect of a 
surgical operation in removing a wen from 
the side of the face), though but little over 
20 years of age, he took charge of his father's 
store in partnership with Dr. Amos Rule, a 
son of his father's partner; the new firm, Lev- 
ering & Rule, using the old sign of same name, 
and continued for three years — after which he 
attended the Union schools at Belleville, Ohio, 
for two winters, and in the summer of 1865 
he finished a course of study in Eastman's 
Business College, at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. ; he 
tlien engaged as Bookkeeper and Teller in the 
1st Natl. Bank of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, and re- 
mained in that capacity nearly one year, when 
he purchased the dry goods business of R. P. 
Halliday, in Mt. Gilead, Ohio, and conducted 
the business for ten years. In Oct. 1873, he 
was elected one of the nine directors of the 
bank he formerly clerked in, and in January 
following he was elected Vice President of 
the same bank, which position he still holds. 
In 1875 he was one of the five who obtained 
a charter to organize the Mt. Gilead Building 
Association, and was elected Secretary and 
Treasurer, and still holds the same offices. In 
1876, this Association, in connection with the 
Town Council, built the Van Horn Block, and 
in it a hall Jiaving a seating capacity of near- 
ly 1,000 persons, which was named Levering 
Hall. In Aug. 1877, on the second ballot, he 
was chosen by the County Democratic Con- 
vention, the nominee for the office of Repre- 
sentative, and, in October, elected by 90 ma- 
jority, he being the first Democrat elected 
from his county in twenty-two years. By an 
examination of his record there, we find he 
was an active member of two important stand- 
ing committees — that of Finance and School 
and School Lands; he was also very success- 
ful in the business assigned to his care, hav- 
ing — in a total of nineteen bills and five reso- 
lutions — but two bills lost and two withdrawn. 
He says the bill that gave him most labor and 
anxiety, was the one to build the Mt. Gilead 
Short Line R. R. (which road afterward com- 
plimented him by favoring him with throwing 
the first dirt and driving the last spike on 
same). On his return to Mt. Gilead he de- 



'W 



,>> 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



543 



clined a re-nomination, and in company with 
N. Merwine and his brother, Robert B. Lev- 
ering, bought his former store, and now does 
business in the old stand, under the firm name 
of Levering, Merwine & Co. In social mat- 
ters, we find Mr. Levering has also taken a 
prominent part; in 18G8, as author of a so- 
ciety of young ladies, called Twelve Friends, 
which is yet in existence, and has its written 
history; also in 1875, '6 and '7, as Presi- 
dent of the Plug Fraternity, a society of 
young men. In Aug. 1878, when Governor 
Bishop accepted the then Co., I, of 12th Regt., 
now Co. E of 14th Regt., O. N. G., at the 
suggestion of Asst. Adjutant-General, and 
later, by the unanimous vote of the Company, 
it was christened "Levering Guard of Mt. 
Gilead, Ohio ;" also, in April, 1880, when the 
C. C. C. & I. R. R. completed the leasing of the 
Mt. Gilead S. L. R. R., the name of Gilead 
Station, on suggestion of Mr. Pappleton, their 
attorney, was changed to Levering Station, 
as a compliment, he having fathered the bill 
in the Legislature for building the S. L. R. R. 
In May, Mr. Levering was made an honorary 
member of the Philomathian Literary Society, 
of Otterbein University, at Westerville, Ohio. 
He is also an active member in the Masonic 
Fraternity, having filled the highest offices in 
his Lodge, and next highest in Chapter, and 
Junior Warden of his Commandery. In 1875, 
he received all the degrees in the Scottish 
Rite of Masonry to 33rd degree. He is Chair- 
man of his County Central Democratic Com- 
mittee, and a member of the Town Council of 
Mt. Gilead. 

JOHN LOREN, farmer; P. O., Mt. Gilead; 
was born in Washington Co., Pa., Aug. 7, 
1830, and lived there three years, when they 
came to Ohio, and settled on the present place, 
on which Mr. Loren has since lived; when he 
became of age,he bought his brother's interest 
in the farm (his father having died in 1845), 
and farmed the place ever since. Sept. 25, 
1862, he married Miss P. W. Banker; she was 
born in Delaware (now Morrow) Co., Ohio; 
they have five children — Doa Ann, Junietta, 
Willie, Mary and Margaret. His parents, 
William and Annie (Tan) Loren, were natives 
of Washington Co., Pa. ; they married there, 
and came to Ohio in 1833; Mrs. Loren is liv- 
ing here with her son. His wife's parents, 
John and Deborah (Wells) Banker, were na- 



tives of New York and Pennsylvania; they 
married in Delaware, Ohio, whither they came 
at an early day, and he lived there most of 
his time until his death, April 16, 1862. Mrs. 
Banker also lived here most of her time; she 
went to Missouri in 1879, and died there Apr. 
6, 1880. 

W. D. MATHEWS, Probate Judge; Mt. 
Gilead; is the son of William and Rebecca 
(Marlow) Mathews, and was born in Spring- 
field, Richland Co., Sept. 6, 1844. His father, 
though born in Ohio, came of Virginia stock, 
his parents being among the earliest settlers 
in Hardin Co., Ohio, and natives of the " Old 
Dominion " State. His mother was a native 
of the latter State. Judge Mathews' early 
education was derived from rough experiences, 
of the farm and the early district school, 
where he spent a part of the winter months; 
later he'attended the Seminary, at Lexington, 
Richland Co., for several years, where he re- 
ceived the greater part of his education; he 
remained a student here until the late civil 
war, when, in response to the call for volun- 
teers, he in 1862, enlisted as a private from 
Richland Co., in Company B., 87th O. V. L, 
for three months. With his regiment, Mr. 
Mathews went to Harper's Ferry, where he 
did garrison duty, until the attack of the 
rebels called him to discharge the sterner 
duties of the soldier; he participated in the 
engagement and surrendered, and was held 
for some time as prisoner; at length, having 
been paroled, he returned to Lexington, where 
he assisted in recruiting Company C, of the 
86th O. V. I., and went out with that compa- 
ny as First Duty Sergeant, under the six- 
months' call; with the company he participat- 
ed in a number of engagements, of more or 
less importance, his company taking an active 
part in the capture of John Morgan, in Ohio, 
and in the successful attack on Cumberland 
Gap, in 1863, when some 2,500 prisoners were 
captured; the company remained here on gar- 
rison duty until the expiration of their term 
of enlistment. On his return home, Judge 
Mathews assisted in recruiting Company G., 
178th O. V. I., and on the organization of the 
company, was elected First Lieutenant, de- 
clining the captaincy on account of his youth. 
The company was mustered at Camp Chase, 
from whence, with its regiment, it went to 
Tennessee, taking part in a number of en- 



t. 



544 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



gagements in that State. Crossing from this 
army, the regiment was ordered, by way of 
AVashington, I). C, to Fort Fisher, N. ('., 
and from there back to Buford and Kaleigh, 
taking ])art in tlie engagement at Kingston, 
N. C, where Judge Mathews, in command of 
sixty men, received a flattering compliment, 
from his superiors, for the elfective service 
rendered by liis command. At the surrender 
of Johnston, and the close of the war, Mr. 
Mathews received a complimentary transfer 
to a regiment which was to be retained in the 
service, but was afterward mustered out at his 
own request. On returning to his home in 
Ohio, Mr. Mathews located in Troy Tp., Mor- 
row Co., where he resumed his former occu- 
pation of teaching and farming. In 1878 he 
was elected Probate Judge, a position he has 
filled with marked ability. He was married 
in 18G7, to Marietta C. Dean, of Washington 
Tp., Richland Co., O., by whom he has six chil- 
dren. Mr. Mathews is a Republican, and in 
faith a Presbyterian, being a member of that 
church in Mt. Gilead. 

WILLIAM C. Mx\NSON, deceased; was 
a native of Darke Co., Ohio; he was born 
April 10, 1842; during his infancythe fam- 
ily moved to the town of Locke, Ohio, where 
he lived until 18G1, when he enlisted in Co. 
G of the 20th Reg. O. V. I., and served 
with that command during the war; in Aug., 
18G2, he, Avith a large portion of his company, 
were taken prisoners in a fight with Wheeler's 
Cavalry, near Middleburg, Tenn.; they were 
taken to Vicksburg, and corralled in the jail 
yard, and k(!pt there until exchanged, he re- 
turning to his regiment just one month after 
his cai)ture, and took part in all the battles of 
the command from that time to the close of 
the war; in all he was in over twenty battles,in- 
cluding Ft. Donelson, Raymond, Jackson, 
Vicksburg, Kenesaw Mt., Canyon to Atlanta, 
and the March to the Sea, passing through all 
without receiving any injuries or mishaps, save 
his capture. From the army he returned 
home, and soon after he began the study of 
dentistry with Dr. Disney, at Coshocton, and 
later finished his study with Dr. Bowman, in 
Columbus, after which he practiced for a 
short time in Mt. Vernon, and in the spring 
of 18G8 he came to Mt. Gilead, and followed 
his profession; Sept. "Z following, he married 
Miss Lizzie Johnson; she was born near Mt. 



Vernon, Ohio; after the marriage they settled 
in Mt. Gilead; the following spring they vis- 
ited at Mt. Vernon, going to Sparta in the 
fall, where he practiced for three years, when 
upon his being elected Sherilf of the county, 
they returned to Mt. Gilead; he served two 
terms in the office of Sheriff; in 187G, he with 
his family visited California; they returned to 
Mt. Gilead after one year's residence there; 
in January, 1878, Mr. Manson started out for 
New York, and on the 39th of that month he 
was accidentally killed by the cars at Altoona, 
Pa.; thus came to an untimely death ''a man 
of generous and noble impulses, thoughtful to 
the last of the good of others, and one whose 
relations to the community here during his 
two terms in the Sheriff's office, to society and 
to his church, of which he was a member 
during the term of his residence here, was 
such as to give him a strong hold upon not 
only the confidence, but the hearts of all." 
By the marriage there was born one child — A. 
Gertrude, who with her mother resides in Mt. 
Gilead. His parents were William and Rhoda 
(Orme) Manson; he was a native of the State 
of Maine; they were married in Knox Co., 
Ohio,where they had moved — he when a young 
man, and she with her parents; after their 
marriage they moved to Darke Co., Ohio, later 
returning to Locke, Ohio, where he died; she 
is living with her only child, Mrs. Wait, near 
Chesterville, Morrow Co., Ohio. 

D. C. MOZIER, of Mozier Bros., grain- 
dealer, Gilead Station; was born on his fa- 
ther's farm, at Gilead Station, Dec. 9, 1810. 
At the age of 14 years he engaged as clerk 
with J. D. Rigour & Co., dealers in grain at 
Gilead Station, and at the age of 17 he did 
the duties of Railroad Agent at the same 
point. In 1861, in addition to his position 
as Railroad Agent, he also engaged in the 
grain business, and has conducted both since; 
during which time he has opened a grain 
house at Iberia, and has buyers at several 
other points; in 1867, his brother William be- 
came a partner and withdrew the following 
year. In 1871, the present firm was formed 
with his brother G. W., and has continued 
since. June 13, 1867, he married Miss Mar- 
tha I. Rishtine; she was born in Zanesville, 
Ohio; they married there and came to Gilead 
Station, where they have since lived. They 
have three children — Mabel R., Clara L. and 



V 



^~ 



k, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



545 



Nellie E. Mr. Mozier has from early boy- 
hood, been actively engaged in business. 
Formerly the business of the station was 
done in the name of his father, and June 1, 
1880, Mr. D. C. was made the Agent, though 
except in form, no real change was made. 
Mr. and Mrs. Mozier are members of the 
Baptist Church, of which for the past four 
years he has served as Deacon, and has taken 
an active interest in its affairs. 

G. W. MOZIER, grain, wool, etc.; Gilead 
Station; is the fifth son of L. D. and Abby 
L. (Harrison) Mozier; he is a native of Gilead 
Tp., Marion, now Morrow Co., Ohio. He was 
born on his father's farm, located at Gilead 
Station, Oct. 2, 1846. In early life he attend- 
ed school, and at the age of 18 he engaged as 
assistant in the railroad station, and his 
brother's grain business, and he continued in 
this employment until in his 25th year, when 
the present firm of Mozier Brothers was 
formed between himself asd his brother, D. 
C, where he has continued since. April 26, 
1877, he married Miss Anna, daughter of 
Issachar and Sarah A. (Trembley) Rowley; 
she was born in Fredericktown, Knox Co., 
Ohio; after the marriage they occupied their 
present residence at Gilead Station, and have 
livGcl tnGro siriCG 

LUTHER D.* MOZIER, retired; Gilead 
Station. The subject of this sketch, whose 
portrait appears in this work, is the only liv- 
ing child of Joseph and Elizabeth (Dixon) 
Mozier, who were natives of the Eastern 
States, and were married in Vermont, where 
they lived a number of years. They were 
very poor, and saw very little opportunity 
for their children in that State, and finally 
in the year 1818, he got the job of deliv- 
ing a wagon to a man in Granville, O., and 
determined to move his family also to this 
State; they set out and located about one and 
one-half miles northeast of the present vil- 
lage of Chesterville, in this county; he then 
took the wagon back to Granville, delivering 
it to the owner, and returned to the neigh- 
hood of Chesterville; part of the family living 
with an aunt in that locality, and part going 
to the oldest brother's, in Delaware Co.; in 
the following spring the family occupied a 
log cabin, which had neither doors nor floor, 
and was situated upon a tract of 100 acres of 
militarv land that he had bought in the vi- 



cinity of Chesterville; the land was slowly 
cleared; Indians, wolves and deer were plenty; 
the men were robed in buckskin and the wo- 
men in homespun garments; some corn and 
potatoes were soon growing, and all seemed 
to prosper midst the wilds and solitude. But 
scarce had the little colony had time to think 
of its new abode, when they were called upon 
to part with their father; he met his death 
March 3, 1821, by a falling tree, while work- 
ing in a sugar camp; Mrs. Mozier lived on the 
place until 1836, when she left the old home- 
stead and lived with her children until her 
death, in 1842. Of their eight children but 
one now lives — Luther D., who was born in 
Chittenden Co., Vt., May 2, 1801; he lived at 
home until Nov. 29, 1832, when he married 
Miss Abby L. Harrison, who was born in Es- 
sex Co., N. J., in the year 1816. After their 
marriage they moved on a piece of land he 
had bought in the vicinity of the old home- 
stead, and in the year 1835 they came to 
their present place, at Gilead Station, where 
they now reside. By their marriage there 
have been eight children, of whom seven are 
living — Joseph W., William H., D. Carson, 
A. Miller, George W., Mary L. Dodge, of 
Valparaiso, Ind., and Charles R.; John D. is 
deceased. When Mr. Mozier came to his 
present place he bought out Mr, Eli Johnson, 
who had made some small improvements; 
since living upon it, he has seen beautiful 
homes and fertile farms supplant the wild for- 
ests, the railroad pass his dooryard, and the 
Station, located on his farm, grow into a 
thriving: villag-e of beautiful and comfortable 
homes, that may in a few years rival some 
more pretentious places. In early days Mr. 
Mozier served as Constable, as a member of 
the Board of Education for years, and as one 
of the pioneer educators, beginning to teach 
about the year 1826; he taught, for the most 
part, subscription schools, his wife being one of 
his scholars; he has for many years been Rail- 
road Agent at this Station; the business 
being done in his name until June 1, 1880, 
when it was turned over to his son, D. Carson. 
Though starting with very limited advantages, 
he has, through indomitable energy and per- 
severance, been successful', and while remem- 
bering that he has been the architect of his 
own fortune, he has lived so as not only to 
win, but to deserve, the confidence and es- 



<,|a. 



oi6 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



teem of all who knew him, and in addition to 
liberal donations to his children, he has re- 
served an ample competency for himself and 
wife in their old age. Mrs. Mozier's father, 
Josepl) Harrison, was a native of New Jersey; 
he came West, to Bennington, Ohio, in the 
year 1824, and was thrice married. First, in 
the year 1813, to Miss Charlotta Gould, of 
Essex Co., N. J.; she died about one year af- 
ter their marriage; they had one child — Char- 
lotta, now Mrs. Aldcn, of Toledo, Iowa. In 
1815 he was married again. His second wife 
died in Aug., 1827; they had five children, of 
whom two are living — Abby L., and William 
H.; the latter living at Toledo, Iowa. The 
third marriage was in 1828, to Mrs. Blinn, 
formerly Miss Mary Baird; during later years 
Mr. Harrison kept store at Morton's Corners, 
in this county, where he died Aug. 25, 1878. 
She died about two months previous; both lived 
to a good old age; he being 85 and she 80. He 
was raised a Presbyterian, becoming a mem- 
ber of that denomination at the age of 14, 
and always maintained the Christian princi- 
ples of his early life. In later years he afhli- 
ated with the Methodist Episcopal denomina- 
tion of his neighborhood, the Presbyterians 
being two few to form an organization. By 
the last marriage there were four children — 
Joseph, Aaron, Mrs. Rhoda Hibbard, living in 
Mich., and Mrs. Lydia Carey, in Ohio. Mr. 
and Mrs. Harrison traveled life's pathway to- 
gether for fifty years; they were well known 
and possessed unimpeachable integrity; their's 
Avas a long and happy life, brightened by 
many warm Christian friends, who long 
mourned their death, 

THEODORE ,J. MITCHELL, the Super- 
intendent of the Mt, Gilead pul)lic schools; is 
a native of Indiana, born at Booneville, in 
that state. May 28, 1850; his father. Rev, 
Walter Mitchell, is a Presbyterian minister of 
Quaker descent, born on Nantucket Island; 
his mother, a daughter of Piatt Evans, Esq,, 
was born in Cincinnati; he was the second of 
four children, and when quite young removed 
with his parents to Ohio, where he has since, 
for the most part, lived; his father was located 
at Marysville fcyj nine years, which comprised 
the greater part of his boyhood; he then 
moved to Galiipolis and stayed also nine vears. 
After graduating in the Galiipolis High 
Schools, the subject of our sketch went to 



Marietta College, and completed the full fovir 
years course. Three years after he received 
the degree of A. M. When cjuite young, he 
concluded to make teaching his life-work, and 
with that end in view, studied theory and ob- 
served practice, and cultivated the society of 
those far advanced and proficient in that ])ro- 
fession. In the college vacations, he taught 
district schools in the vicinity of Marietta. He 
left college with higher aims and more en- 
larged views of education, prompted by a 
thorough and liberal course of study. His 
first regular situation was in the schools of St. 
Mary's, Va, After that he had charge of 
Vincent's Academy; the next year he was 
Superintendent of the Public Schools of 
Buffalo, W, Va,; here he was re-elected, but 
receiving an offer of the position of Principal 
of the Galiipolis High School, where he had 
formerly graduated, he declined the former 
and accepted the latter. After teaching here 
several years he accepted a position at Russell- 
ville, where he afterwards organized and con- 
ducted a Normal School, The following 
year he was Superintendent of the Higgins- 
port Public Schools, On Dec. 25, 1878, he 
was married to Miss Mary F. Langley, second 
daughter of the late Wm. H. Langley, of 
Galiipolis, Ohio, The next year he was re- 
elected Superintendent of Schools atHiggins- 
port, and also Principal of the Galiipolis 
High School, but having accepted the Super- 
intendency of the Mt. Gilead schools, he 
removed to the latter place. 

WILLIAM MILLER, furniture dealer, 
Mt, Gilead; was born in Washington Co,, Pa., 
Sept, 11, 1818, being the third child of Jos- 
eph and Pamelia (Harris) Miller, they having 
had seven children, as follows: Neheiniah, 
Melvina, William, John T,, Benjamin, Tunis 
and Stephen, The fatlier was by trade a cab- 
inet maker, and afterwards became a contrac- 
tor and builder, but has been for some forty 
years engaged in farming, and is still living 
in Washington Co., Pa., at the advanced age 
of 89 years, William left home in 1836, com- 
ing to Mt, Gilead, where he learned the trade 
of carpenter and joiner; he then returned to 
Pennsylvania, where he remained one year, 
when he again settled in Mt, Gilead and com- 
menced in the contract business for himself. 
In 1850 he took the contract for the Court 
House in this place, and in 1853-4 piit up J. 



4 



>^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



547 



S. Trimble's residence; in 1855 he secured 
tlie contracts for Mt. Vernon and Bucyrus 
court houses — the former in connection with 
David Auld — the latter in connection with J, 
Jenning-s and David Auld. He had contracts 
for the prison at Columbus, also for the first 
Presbyterian Church, and Third Street School 
House, in 1858-59. In 1861-62 he built the 
"Neil House," at Columbus, and in 1863 he 
alone put up the Van horn residence and 
Granite Block; shortly after, in company with 
J. E. Smith, he was engaged in bridge build- 
ing; also put up the Bank Block, at that time 
the firm of Miller,Smith & Frayer; he put up 
the Crestline and Cardington school-houses; 
at about that time, he took the contract for 
the Richland Co. Court House, under the firm 
name of Miller, Frayer & Sheets, also the 
Erie & Licking Co. Court House; we might 
mention here that the Vanhorn Block at Mt. 
Gilead, and the Beatty & Chase Block at Car- 
dington, were put up by Miller & Smith. Mr. 
Miller has been married three times; first in 
1839 to Hannah Crawford, by whom he had 
four children, all deceased; some years later, 
he united in marriage with Mary Carpenter; 
they had four children, all deceased but one; 
irr 1864 he married his present wife, Sarah M. 
Bruce. Mr. Miller is now engaged in the 
furniture business; the firm name being 
Cooper, Miller & Co.; they keep a large as- 
sortment of everything usually found in a 
first-class store of the kind; he has been a 
member of the Masonic Lodge since 1852; he 
was at one time an Abolitionist, going through 
the ordeal of rotten eggs with the Rev. Shedd 
and others; of late years he has voted the 
Republican ticket. Mr.. Miller has led a busy 
Hie, and has ever been considered a man of 
sterling integrity, and the many public build- 
ings and private residences that he has erect- 
ed, will long stand as monuments of his skill 
and energy. 

WM. MONTGOMERY, deceased; was 
born in Washington Co., Pa., in 1792; about 
the year 1800 the family moved to Jef- 
ferson 'Co., Ohio, where he lived with his 
parents until the year 1819, when he mar- 
ried Miss Elizabeth Gregg; she was born 
in Lancaster Co., Pa., Feb. 21, 1800, and 
moved to Jefferson Co., Ohio, in the year 
1804, with her parents, and lived with them 
until, her marriage, after which they came on 



horseback to the place, upon which they now 
reside, one-half mile south of 'Mt. Gilead; 
Mr. Montgomery had visited this neighbor- 
hood in the year 1818, and entered the place, 
and the following winter he brought out a 
plow, log chain, etc., etc.; he built a log 
house, one room, puncheon floor, clapboard 
roof, oiled paper windows, and all the im- 
provements of the pioneer period. In the 
spring of 1820 he and his wife occupied the 
new home, near which was an Indian- camp; 
they had four cows and two hogs, and time 
was spent mostly in hunting and clearing a 
farm out of the timber. The markets were 
few and far, and by spinning and weaving, 
some farming and hunting, they lived and en- 
joyed the new home as best they could; at 
first there were nothing but Indian trails and 
blazed roads, but later, himself, the Harden- 
brooks, and others, cut the State road for 
twelve miles, leading northward from Mt. 
Gilead. During the war of 1812, Mr. Mont- 
gomery served in Capt. Allen's Company, 
under Gen. Harrison; he died Feb. 8, 1851. 
By the marriage there were ten children, 
four of whom are living. Samuel lives on the 
old homestead; John, physician, Seneca Co., 
Ohio; Jane, now Mrs. Williams, lives near 
Cardington, O.; Sarah H., now Mrs. Creigh, at 
Johnsville, Morrow Co.; Mrs. Montgomery 
lives on the old homestead, where she settled 
sixty years ago. 

WARREN S. MILES, of Miles, Barton & 
Miles, dry goods; Mt. Gilead; was born in 
Thornville, Perry Co., Ohio, Aug. 6, 1858, and 
lived with his parents until he was married, 
Oct. 1, 1874, to Miss Belle Russell. She was 
born in Morrow Co., Ohio; they have one 
child — Edson R. After his school days he 
engaged as clerk with Mr. B. Fogle, and con- 
tinued with him until he became interested in 
the present business. 

J. RUFUS MILES, of Miles, Barton & 
Miles, dry goods; Mt. Gilead; was born in 
Thornville, Perry Co., Ohio, March 26, 1852, 
and lived there about six years, when with his 
parents he moved to Chesterville, Ohio, where 
his father engaged in the mercantile business, 
and from there came to Mt. Gilead and engag- 
ed in the same business, under the firm name 
of Miles & Fogle. After a few years he sold 
his interest, and he and his son, J. R., engaged 
in the grocery business, as Miles & Son; this 



:f^ 



>> 



548 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



partnership was finally dissolvod, and J. R. 
enu:)«:;ed as clerk for Talmajre & Stiles, and 
in April, 1S74, engaged with Mr. B. Fogle; 
in May, 1875, the present firm was formed; in 
1873 he became a inetnber of the I. O. O. F. 
of Mt. Gilead Lodge, No. IGD, and has taken 
an active part in the affairs of the Order, serv- 
ing twice as N. G. and Chief Patriarch of the 
Encampment, and in January, 1880, was elec- 
ted Grand Rep. to the Grand Lodge of Ohio, 
to serve two years. 

JOS. W. MOZIER, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O., Gilead Station; is the son of L. 
1). and A. L. (Harrison) Mozier; he was born 
on his father's farm, located at Gilead Sta- 
tion, this county, Jan. 18, 1836, and lived at 
home until he became of age, when he began 
teaching school, and has taught, in all, about 
fourteen terms in this county; also, on becom- 
ing of age, he farmed his father's farm a few 
years; he then bought a piece of land two miles 
west of the Station, ancl April 4, 18(54, he mar- 
ried Miss Julia C, daughter of Ziba and 
Amanda (Torrey) Peak; she was born near 
Westfield, this count3\ They moved on his 
place, and lived there three years, when he sold 
out, and bought and occupied a place one-half 
mile south of the Station, upon which he lived 
for eight years, when he sold out, and came to 
his present place, which has been known as 
the Geller Farm; it contains 180 acres, and is 
located one mile northeast of Gilead Station. 
They had three children, two of whom are 
living — Clarence P., and Blanche A.; Mr. 
Mozier and lady are members of the Baptist 
Church, to which he has belonged for two 
years. 

MRS. M. L. MERRITT, Mt. Gilead; is 
the wife of the late Zenas L. Merritt, who 
was born in Canaan Tp., Morrow Co., Ohio, 
November, 18:24, and the son of Thomas and 
Maria Merritt, who came to Morrow Co. about 
18:21-2:2, locating in Canaan Tp., being among 
the first settlers of that township. Mr. Mer- 
ritt was raised on the farm, where he remained 
until he was about 18 years of age, when he 
came to Mt. Gilead and learned the cabinet 
makers' trade, which he followed for a num- 
ber of years; he entered the business with 
Mr. Vaidiorn, which partnership continued 
some two years, when Mr. Merritt became a 
partner with Mr. George Wren, one year; then 
he went in business for himself some three years. 



when he went to California, gold seeking, and 
worked in the mines some ten days, when he 
was taken sick with the typhoid fever; after 
getting well he entered the furniture business, 
remaining away from home some five years, 
when he returned to Mt. Gilead, where he 
entered the grocery and provision business, in 
which he continued until his death, in 1877. 
He was a man respected and honored, and by 
his death Morrow Co. lost one of its best citi- 
zens. He married in 1854 to Miss Martha L. 
Patterson, of Baltimore, Md., daughter of 
David E. and Rebecca J. Patterson, who came 
to Mt. Gilead in 1843. 

NEHEMIAH MILLER, farmer and stock- 
dealer; P. O. Mt. Gilead; was born in Wash- 
ington Co., Pa., Apr. 19, 1814; at the age of 
12 he began ^working at the joiner's trade 
with his father; when he was 20 years of age, 
his father retired from busiuess and engaged 
in farming; taking his father's tools and ap- 
prenticing his brother William, he continued 
in the business two years, and in the fall of 
1835 came West on horseback and entered 
100 acres in Putnam Co., Ohio; he then visit- 
ed Mt. Gilead, and drove back East in the 
spring of 1836, returning with his brother 
William the same spring, buying his father's 
tools, and William serving as an apprentice 
for two more years. They engaged in build- 
ing houses in the neighborhood of Mt, Gilead. 
Jan. 22, 1837, he married Miss Rachel Kline, 
whose parents were early settlers in this 
vicinity. After his marriage he moved to 
Mt. Gilead, and built a residence and shop, 
followed his trade, also manufacturing some 
furniture, until 1847, when he moved to his 
present place, located one and three-fourths 
miles northeast of Mt. Gilead, and cleared 
the place of timber. In 1858 he moved from 
his log cabin to his present residence, and 
during the first years of his residence, when 
he Avas engaged in clearing the place, he at- 
tended his father-in-law's saw-mill, and a fev?- 
years later he bought a tract of land and saw- 
mill in company with Mr. Chas. Breese; later 
he became the sole owner; he sold the lum- 
ber here and in Delaware; they have had 
eight children, seven of whom are living — 
Martha M., now Mrs. Bartlett, of Cardington, 
O.; Gilbert E., Superintendent of Morrow 
Co., in primary; Lucinda C, now Mrs. L. 
Breese, of this vicinity; John F., West 



V 



^f 



>^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



549 



Union, Iowa; Parker J., Mt. Gilead; William 
E., Mt. Gilead; and Melville D., at home. 
Mr. Miller is now living with his second wife, 
his first wife having died July 23, 18G2; his 
present wife's maiden name was Hannah 
Pugh; she was born in Harrison Co., Ohio. 
They were married Jan. 25, 1866. His pa- 
rents, Joseph and Permelia (Harris) Miller, 
were natives of Washington Co., Pa. They 
were married there March 4, 1813, and have 
always lived in that locality. Mrs. Miller died 
there at the age of 74 years, 4 months and 16 
days. Mr. Miller lives near the old Miller 
Homestead. He was a soldier in the war of 
1812, and is now in his ninetieth year. His 
wife's father, Mr. Harris was a soldier in the 
Revolutionary war under Gen. Washington. 

I. T. McCLAIN, dealer in lumber etc., 
Gilead Station; was born in Huntington Co., 
Penn., on his father's farm, near Burnt Cab- 
ins, May 14, 1836. In 1846, the family moved 
to Crawford Co., Ohio, and engaged in farm- 
ing near Bucyrus, until the spring of 1852, 
when they moved to a farm located a mile 
west of Gilead Station, where I. T. McClain 
lived until 1861. Jan. 19 of that year, he 
married Miss Sarah M. Shilcote; she was born 
in Licking Co., Ohio. After his marriage, he 
occupied a house on the farm, and farmed the 
place, which he came in possession of by his 
brother's will. In 1864 he enlisted in the 
136th O. N. G., and served until the command 
was discharged. July 23, 1867, his wife died, 
and the same year he sold his farm, and Sept. 
1, 1868, he married Miss Margaret E. Smith; 
she was born in Fairfield Co., Ohio. In 1809 
he engaged in the lumbering business with 
Mr. G. V. Smith, running a saw-mill in this 
county until 1871, when he sold out, and re- 
turning to Gilead Station, followed carpenter- 
ing about a year; he then engaged in his 
present business. By this marriage, there are 
two children — William G. and Mary E. His 
parents, William and Mary (Traxlei') McClain, 
were natives of Pennsylvania. They married 
there, and came here as stated, and lived here 
until their death. They died in 1806, and 
1864, respectiveh^. They had fourteen chil- 
dren, seven of whom are living. 

ABRAHAM NEWSON, deceased; was 
born on a farm in Washington Co., Md., 
and followed that vocation in his na- 
tive State. With his brother Joseph he 



lived on the parental farm, until at the death 
of the old people, they inherited the same. 
He continued to reside there until 1825, when 
he moved in a wagon, stopping for three months 
in Mansfield, and thence to the vicinity of Mt. 
Gilead, Ohio, where he continued to follow 
farming. His wife's name previous to mar- 
riage was Lucy Friend, also of Washington Co., 
Md. They were blessed with twelve children; 
eight of whom are now living — John, who re- 
sides on the old homestead; Louisa Talmao-e, 
Elizabeth Hull, A. B., Lucy A. Goorley, and 
Nelson T., all in the vicinity; and Joseph T., 
in Iowa; and Nellie F. McKee, in Bellefon- 
taine. At the time Mr. Newson moved to 
this State, the locality in which he settled 
was all timber land, and they lived in a tent, 
until he could erect a couple of round-log 
cabins, one for the seven colored persons 
whom he brought with him from Maryland, 
but who after a time returned to that State. 
Mr. Newson was a remarkably large man, 
having at one time weighed 448 pounds, and 
though when he first came west he was able 
to work, he was at length obliged to cease, on 
account of his great fleshiness. 

S. P. NEWSON, farmer; P. O., Mt. Gilead; 
was born in Washington Co., Md., April 9, 
1820, and lived there six years, when, with 
his parents, he came to Marion (now Morrow) 
Co., Ohio, and settled on and cleared the pres- 
ent place, on which he has lived ever since, 
it becoming his after the death of his parents 
—he Sept. 13, 1805, and she July 12, 1867. 
He married Miss Nancy R. Kingman Dec. 
24, 1855. She was born in Delaware (now 
Morrow) Co. They had six children ; five are 
living — William, Henry, George, Belle and 
Nellie. His parents, Joseph P. and Susannah 
(Snider) Newson, were natives of Washing- 
ton Co., Md.; they married there, and came 
West as before stated. They had twelve 
children; five are living — Moriah, now Mrs. 
M. G. Webster, of Mt. Gilead; S. P., on 
the present place; Susan, now Mrs. Dennis 
Loren, of this county; Sarah, now Mrs. Dr. 
Charles Hahn, of Marion Co.; Elizabeth, now 
Mrs. Wesley Roberts, of Crawford Co. Mrs. 
Newson 's parents, Joseph and Susannah 
(Wood) Kingman, were natives of Grand Isle 
Co., Vt., and Clinton Co., N. Y. They mar- 
ried in the latter county, and came West at a 
very early date. Of their ei^ht children, four 






550 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



are living — Hannah, now Mrs. Robert Blakc- 
ley, of this county; Melissa, now Mrs. Robert 
Owens, of Madison Co., Ind.; Orman lives in 
this county, and Nancy R., now Mrs. S. P. 
Newson, also of this county. After the death 
of his first wife, he married Miss Sarah Heren- 
deen, of Cardington, this county. They liad 
three children; one is living — IJinal T,, of 
Cardington. The exact date of his settle- 
ment is in doubt, but his oldest son born 
here, died in Indiana in the winter of 1878, 
and was aged 00 years; hence, they were here 
prior to 1818. 

NELSON T. NEWSON, farmer; P. O., 
Mt. Gilead; was born on his father's farm, in 
Marion, now Morrow Co., Ohio, Feb. 24, 
1843, and lived there until he was 24 years of 
age, during which time he attended school 
and worked on the farm ; he then sold his in- 
terest in the home farm to his brother, and 
bought his present place, which now consists 
of 108^ acres, located a mile south of Mt. 
Gilead. He married Miss Esther Wood, Oct. 
10, 1869; she was born in Marion, now Mor- 
row Co., about two and a half miles south of 
Mt. Gilead; they had one child, John F., who 
died in infancy. Mr. Newson is the son of 
Abraham and Lucy (Friend) Newson. 

JOHN NEWSON, farmer ; P.O.,Mt. Gilead ; 
was born in Washington Co., Md., March 2 
1820, and lived there five years, when the 
family moved to Ohio, stojiping a few months 
at Mansfield; they then came to this vicinity 
and settled on the farm Mr. Newson now lives 
on. The family arrived with a six-horse team 
and a two- horse carriage; they put up a tent 
and lived in the same until a log cabin could 
be built, in which they lived while clearing 
the farm. At the age of 25 John and his 
father conducted the farm in partnership, 
though John superintended, to a great extent, 
from the age of 17 onward; the conditions of 
the partnership continued until the death of 
liis parents. Jan. 18, 1847, he married Miss 
Ruth Blakeley; she was born in Virginia, and 
came to this county with her parents when 
young; they have no children. His parents, 
Abraham and Lucy (Friend) Newson, were 
natives of Washington Co., Md.; they married 
in Maryland and came here as stated, in 1825, 
and lived here until their deaths, April 18G1, 
and Feb. 1867, respectively. 

JAMES OLDS, attorney at law; Mt. Gil- 



ead. One of the oldest practicing attorneys of 
the Morrow Co. bar is Mr. James Olds; he was 
born in Westfield Tp., Morrow Co., Ohio, 
Oct. 4, 1823, and is the son of Benjamin and 
Abigail (Washburn) Olds; his mother was 
born in New York, and his father in Pennsyl- 
vania; both parents having come to Ohio at an 
early day, being among the first families of 
Westfield Tp., then Delaware Co., where they 
married. Mr. Olds' father was a farmer and 
a local preacher; he filled several offices of 
public trust in Delaware Co. — Justice of the 
Peace, and Commissioner; he was born in 
1795, and died in 1802, leaving a wife and 
family to mourn his loss; Mrs. Olds is now 
living in Mt. Gilead, at the ripe age of 74 
years. Our subject remained on the farm 
until he was 18, when he set out seeking an 
education; he engaged in teaching school for 
a short time, when he entered the law office 
of Judge Finch, of Delaware, and began read- 
ing law; after remaining there a few years, he 
was admitted to practice at Delaware; in 1848, 
he came to Mt. Gilead, and began his chosen 
profession, where he has been engaged ever 
since; to-day he enjoys a leading practice at 
the Morrow Co. Bar, being of the firm of Olds 
& Dickey,which is one of the leading law firms 
of central Ohio. During the late civil war 
Mr. Olds took an active part in recruiting Co. 
D, G5th O.V.L, of which regiment he was made 
Major, and served faithfully for one year, 
when he resigned and returned to Mt. Gilead, 
where he has since been in the practice of 
law. 

JAMES OUTCALT, Gilead Station; dealer 
in groceries, provisions, notions, queens and 
glass ware and confectionery; highest prices 
paid for country produce. Mr. Outcalt was 
horn on his father's farm in Fairfield Co., 
Ohio, Dec. 22, 1838, and lived there eighteen 
years, attending school and working on the 
farm; he then taught school for one year, when 
he went to Chesterville, Ohio, and engaged as 
clerk in the general merchandise store of his 
uncle, J. G. Miles, until 1801 — in that year he 
enlisted in the 17th Ohio Infantry Regiment, 
and served with the commaaid until 1804, he 
entering the service as a private and being 
mustered out as 1st Lieutenant; he partici- 
pated in the battles of Pittsburg Landing, 
Murfreesboro, Chickamagua, Atlanta Campgn., 
the March to the Sea, and the other battles of 



V 



M. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



551 



his regiment; on his return home he resumed 
his clerkship in his uncle's store, then con- 
ducted by Miles & Sperry, and continued with 
them until 1868; May 20 of that year he mar- 
ried Miss M.J. Lyon; she was born in Mor- 
row Co., Ohio. He principally engaged in 
the grocery and provision trade in Mt. Gilead 
until 1873, when he removed to the village of 
Poplar, Crawford Co., Ohio, and engaged in 
the general merchandise business, which he 
carried on until the spring of 1880, when he 
came to Gilead Station and engaged in his 
present business. By his marriage there are 
two children — Bertha M. and Eddie C. His 
parents John and Mary A. (Clark) Outcalt, 
were natives of New Jersey; they married in 
Ohio, where they moved with their parents 
when young. He died in Fairfield Co. in the 
fall of 1878. Mrs. Outcalt lives in Lancaster, 
Ohio. They had a family of three children — 
James, Clarjkson and Harrison; all are married 
and have families; the two latter live in Lan- 
caster, Ohio. 

J. H. POLLOCK, insurance, Mt. Gilead; 
is a native of Lake Co., Ohio; he was born in 
Paynesville in Nov., 1830, and moved to Sum- 
mit Co. with his parents when young; they 
settled near Akron, and farmed in that vicin- 
ity about five years; they then moved to 
Wayne Co., in the neighborhood of Saville, 
and J. H. tended store in the latter place for 
about four years; he then returned to the 
farm, and soon after began reading medicine 
and attended lectures at Cleveland Medical 
College for one season; he then determined 
to discontinue his medical course and turn 
his attention to farming, which he followed 
until 1870, conducting the insurance business 
in connection with farming; in 1866 he came 
to Morrow Co., and in 1870 he' sold out 
his farming interests and moved to his 
present residence; also formed a partnership 
in the drug business, as Briggs & Pollock, Mt. 
Giiead, Ohio. Li Nov., 1861, he married 
Miss Olive O. Taylor; they had five children, 
four living — Ernest, Walter, Edwin and An- 
nis. Mr. Pollock has long taken an active 
interest in the project of building a railroad 
to Mt. Gilead from Gilead Station, and finally 
the road was secured and authorized by an en- 
abling act; tlie court ajDpolnted a board of 
trustees, one of whom was Mr. Pollock, who 
was chosen President of the Board. His 



parents, Samuel and Sarah Harper Pollock, 
were natives of Pennsylvania; they married 
there and came to Ohio in the year 1823. 
They came to this county in 1866, and lived 
here until their deaths in June, 1874, and 
March, 1867, respectively. 

D. G. POLAND, dealer in groceries, etc; 
Mt. Gilead. He is a native of Monroe Co., 
Ohio, and was born April 10, 1828, and lived 
there seven years, when, with his parents, he 
came to Richland, now Morrow Co., O., and 
farmed in Congress Tp.; he lived at home 
until be was 20, when they moved to Mt. 
Gilead. He taught school and worked on the 
farm until 1864; he then engaged in the gro- 
cery business, and in 1865 took his brother 
Samuel in as a partner, and he remained as 
such until 1875, when he bought him out, and 
has conducted the business since, himself. 
He married Miss Charlotte Dawson; they 
have one child, Frank D. Mr. Poland's par- 
ents, Samuel and Mary (Truex) Poland, were 
natives of Pennsylvania; they were married 
in Richland, now Morrow Co., O., where they 
had gone when young; of their ten children, 
six are living. Mr. Poland was one of the pi- 
oneer educators in this country, and served 
twelve years as Justice of the Peace^ in Con- 
gress Tp.; on the organization of Morrow 
Co. he was elected Recorder, first for a six 
month's term, then for a three year's term, 
and later served as Deputy County Clerk, 
for four years, and, by appointment, for some 
time longer; he also served as Justice of 
the Peace; he and his wife lived in this 
county until their deaths, which occurred in 
1865 and 1864, respectively. 

CHALKLEY PEASLEY, farmer; P. O. 
Mt. Gilead; was born in Lincoln Tp., Addi- 
son Co., Vt., April 15, 1813, and lived there 
two years; the family then moved to Clinton 
Co., N. Y., and farmed until 1823, when they 
came to Ohio, and settled in Marion, now Mor- 
row, Co.; he lived with his parents until he 
became of age, and Oct. 23, 1834, married 
Miss Margaret Ashton. She was born in 
Columbiana Co., Ohio, where they were mar- 
ried; after which event he moved on the 
farm he had bought here, near Mt. Gilead, 
and lived on the same until he was 50 years 
old; he then moved to his present place, and 
has lived here ever since. They had four 
children — Jacob A., Joseph J., Martha, now 



>?', 



552 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



Mrs. "Wright, living near Mt. Gilead; and 
Eliza, now Mrs. Brown, living near Ft. Scott, 
Kansas. His parents, Joseph and Amie 
(Wood) Peaslcy, were natives of New Hamp- 
shire and of New York; they married in 
Peru Tp., Clinton Co., N. Y., in 1812, and 
came west as stated, and lived in this county 
until their death, which occurred in the years 
1836 and 1849, respectively. 

DAVID POTTER, farmer; P. O., Mt. Gil- 
cad; was born in Yorkshire, England, about 
1811, and lived there until 1838, following 
farming and general labor; he then came to 
Ohio, and worked at farming in this vicinity; 
in October, 1839, he married Miss Elizabeth 
Melott, who was born in Monroe Co., Ohio, 
and came to this county when 12 years of age. 
A])Out the year 1858, Mr. Potter settled on 
his present place, and has lived on the same 
ever since. Of their nine children, but four 
are living — Hannah, now Mrs. Geo. Pinyerd, 
of this vicinity; Martha E., now Mrs. W. F. 
Fin ley, of Jay Co., Ind.; Henry, living in this 
vicinity, and Charles E., living at home. Mrs. 
Potter's parents, Samuel and Massie (Straight) 
Melott, were natives of Pennsylvania and 
Ohio, Mrs. Melott being born at Straights- 
ville, which was named after her father, one 
of the pioneers of that locality. She died in 
Monroe Co.; he then married Mrs. Wink, for- 
merly Miss Mary Truex, and they came to 
this vicinity in 1831, where he died in March, 
18G8; Mrs. Melott is living on the old horae- 

SIMON ROSENTHAL, County Auditor; 
Mt. Gilead; was born in Germany, Feb. 17, 
1826, and is the son of Samuel and Hannah 
(Hauser) Rosenthal, both of Germany, where 
they died. Our sul)ject, after receiving a good 
education, entered the Polytechnical Institute 
of Stuttgart, where he completed his course of 
civil engineering, when he was employed by 
the Government, and worked at civil engineer- 
ing on the railroads of Germany until 1848, 
when in November he sailed for America, and 
landed in New York City, February, 1849; he 
came direct to Ohio, and located in Cincinnati, 
where he embarked in mercantile business, 
which he continued there for a number of 
years; in 1852, he came to Morrow Co., and 
located at Cardington, where he started the 
first hardware store of that place; he continued 
business in Cardington until 1857, when he 



returned to Cincinnati, and after remaining 
there for a number of years, he came again to 
Cardington, wliich has been his home since; 
he gained friends daily, and was acknowledg- 
ed to be one of the most popular and thorough 
business men of Cardington. In 1875, the 
Democratic party nominated him for Auditor 
of Morrow Co., to which office he was elected 
by a handsome majority of 369 votes. In 
1878, he was re-elected to the same office by 
a rousing vote of 532 majority, and has filled 
the office with marked abiilitv. 

B. S. RUSSELL, farmer; P". 0.,Mt. Gilead; 
was born on the farm in Loudoun Co.,Va., Sept. 
3, 1828; in 1829 his parents moved to Belmont 
Co., Ohio, where they farmed two years, and 
then came to the farm where he now resides. 
At the age of 16 he was apprenticed to the 
tailor's trade, with J. M. Talmage, of Mt. 
Gilead, serving with him for four years and 
ten months; he then traveled about six months, 
and returning to Mt. Gilead, opened a custom 
shop, in which he continued a year; he then, 
in 1850,' went to California overland, being 
six months on the trip, his object being mining; 
he remained there fourteen months, and re- 
turned via Panama and New York, walking 
across the Isthmus. He followed his trade 
again in Mt. Gilead, and Feb. 27, 1853, mar- 
ried Miss Malinda C. Ackennan; she was 
born in this county. After his marriage he 
again opened a custom shop, and in 1859 en- 
gaged in merchant tailoring and clothing, 
which he followed until Feb. 1880, when he 
turned the business over to his son, Ray C, 
and Wm. J. Simms, who now conduct it at 
the old stand. Mr. Russell now gives his 
attention to his farm. They have had eight 
children, six living — Belle, Ray C, Maggie, 
Edward, Kate and Blanche. His parents, 
Charles and Margaret (Ewers) Russell, were 
natives of Loudoun Co., Va.; they came here, 
as stated, and lived here until their deaths, 
Dec. 21, 1871, and April 29, 1841, respectively. 

DAVID L. SWINGLED, pliysician; Mt. 
Gilead; was born in Washington Co., Md., in 
1813, his father, Leonard Swingley being a 
native of that State; his mother. Prudence 
(Brentlinger) Swingley, was born in the fort, 
during the Indian war, on the present site of 
the city of Wheeling, W. Va. David L. had 
six brothers, and two sisters — William, Henry, 
Frederic, Alfred, Harmon B., George R., 



i 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



553 



Amelia, and one deceased; his father emi- 
grated to Knox Co., Ohio, in 1824, settling 
lour miles south of Mt. Vernon, remaining 
there a year; he then removed to Chester Tp., 
Morrow Co., at that time a part of Knox Co.; 
he died in Cardington, in 1849; was a mem- 
ber of the Lutheran Church, and respected by 
all who knew him. David, the subject of this 
sketch, left home at the age of 24, pursuing 
his studies at the Willoughby Medical Col- 
lege, of Lake Erie, near Cleveland, Ohio; he 
commenced the practice of his profession in 
Chesterville, then Knox Co., in 1840; in 1844 
he was married to Maria Holt, daughter of 
James and Elizabeth Holt, by whom he had 
two children — Mason, born March 10, 1848, 
and James L., born in 1852; the eldest son 
died Sept. 15, 1866; the younger son is well 
known as one of Mt. Gilead's leading drug- 
gists. Mr. Swingley became a member of the 
Universalist Church in 1867, and is widely 
known in Morrow and adjoining counties, as 
a successful physician, and a reliable man. 
His office is in the Van Horn Block. 

REV. HENRY SHEDD; Mt. Gilead; was 
born in JafFrey, Cheshire Co., N. H., May 16, 
1803, and is the son of John and Susannah 
(White) Shedd; his mother was born in Massa- 
chusetts, and his father in New Hampshire; 
he was a blacksmith by trade, engaged in 
farming the latter days of his life; he died a 
Christian in 1819. A few months after his 
death, Henry commenced study with a view 
of obtaining an education. While fitting for 
college at the Academy in New Ipswich, N. 
H., he was converted and united with the 
Congregational Church of New Ipswich. 
His college studies were pursued at Dart- 
mouth College, under the Presidency of Ben- 
net Tyler, D.D., where he graduated in a 
class of thirty-six, in the year 1826. Just 
one half of the class became ministers of the 
gospel. Five members of the class have re- 
sided in the state of Ohio — Salmon P. 
Chase, Prof. John Kendrick, Rev. A. R. 
Clark, Rev. Henry Little, were members of 
the class; during the course of Rev. Henry 
Shedd's classical studies, he taught school 
about twelve months to obtain means to en- 
able him to pursue his education ; pursued 
three years' course of study in the Theo- 
logical Seminary, Andover, Mass., and gradu- 
ated in a class of thirty-four, in the year 1829. 



While he was a member of college and of the 
seminary, he spent several vacations dividing 
his Sabbaths in neighborhoods destitute of 
regular preaching, holding religious meetings, 
organizing Sabbath schools and visiting from 
house to house. One of these places was in 
New Hampshire, where he labored in 1828, 
and where is now the city of Manchester, the 
largest city of that state. He was licensed to 
preach the gospel by the Presbytery of New- 
buryport, in April, 1829, and spent the vaca- 
tion of six weeks immediately following in 
assisting Rev. N. Bouton, of Concord, N. H., 
in his pastoral labors. During that vacation 
and the term following at the Seminary, he 
preached forty-four times in various places. 
He was ordained Sept. 24, 1829, with fifteen 
others, by the Presbytery of Newburyport, in 
Park Street Church, Boston. By his com- 
mission from the Executive Committee of the 
A. H. M. Society, he was appointed to preach 
the gospel in such place in Ohio as should 
be designated with the advice of Rev. Jacob 
Little, L. Gr. Bingham, and A. Pomeroy, after 
his arrival. Oct. 7, 1829, Rev. Mr. Shedd and 
wife left Leominster, Mass, the residence of 
his mother and step-father. Deacon Abel 
Kendall, for Ohio, by stage; went to Sche- 
nectady, N. Y.; proceeded by canal boat to 
Lockport; thence by stage by way of the 
Falls to Buffalo; thence by steamboat to Cleve- 
land; thence by carriage route to Granville, 
where they arrived Oct. 28, taking the most 
expeditious route, without unnecessary delay, 
taking them three weeks to make the journey; 
his location was fixed in the eastern part of 
Marion Co., in the beech woods in a place now 
called Mt. Gilead, then a new, woody, muddy 
country, without roads or bridges or any im- 
provements, except little openings here and 
there in the dense forests, with the hospitable 
new-comers in their cabins, connected by 
trails or blazed paths. Two Presbyterian 
Churches had been erected a few years pre- 
vious, and left without preaching; one three 
miles east, called Center, and the other six 
miles west in Canaan Tp. The Presbytery of 
Columbus, with which Rev. Mr. Shedd united, 
then embraced seven counties; this field he 
occupied twenty years. He then spent one 
year and a half in preaching in Pisgah, when 
he returned to Mt. Gilead, where he remained 
four years longer, when he received a call 






>> 



5o4 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



iVom Lower Liberty and Little Mill Creek; 
after an absence of eleven years he returned 
to Mt. Gilead. That field included what is 
now Morrow Co., and jiarts of Richland, Craw- 
ford, Marion and Delaware Counties, em- 
bracinjv fourteen points where he preached 
regularly, l)esides many other places where 
he preached occasionally. Within the field 
he supplied seven churches, as follows: Center, 
five years as stated supply and three years 
pastor; Canaan, four years as stated supply 
and one year ])astor; Mt. Gilead, seven years 
as stated suppl}', and eleven years as pastor; 
Oxford, one year as stated supply; Sandusky, 
two years as stated su])ply; Berlin, nine 
mouths as stated supply. The other mission- 
ary field to which he removed in April 1842, 
and occupied eleven years, embraced the most 
of Union, part of Madison, and a considerable 
portion of Delaware Counties; he had in the 
field seventeen points where he preached 
regularly. He also supplied seven churches 
in that field, Lower Liberty, Little Mill 
Creek, Middletown, Marysville, Newton, 
Delhi and Ashley. He has been installed 
three times; Nov. 1, 1833, pastor of Centre of 
Mt. Gilead and Canaan; May 27, 1842, pastor 
of Lower Liberty Church; April 28, 1854, 
pastor of Mt. Gilead Church. He had preached 
up to 18G4, 4,011 times, administered the 
Lord's Supper, either alone or assisted by 
others, 221 times; baptized 340 persons; mar- 
ried 107 couples, and officiated at the funeral 
of 223 persons. He began his ministry in 
poverty and in debt, and through the whole of 
his ministerial support, thirty-two and a half 
years, has averaged but §280 per year. Rev. 
Shedd married Miss Mary Gerrish, of Canter- 
bury, N. H., Sept. 28, 1829, by whom they 
had two sons, both living. She died March, 
12, 1835; was married to his present wife, 
Miss Lucretia George, of Dunbarton, N. H., 
Sept. 18, 1838; they have one daughter and 
four sons. 

HENR^ H. SHAW, physician; Mt. Gil- 
ead; was born in Franklin Tp., Morrow (at 
that time Knox) Co., in 1 825; he was the son of 
David and Elizabeth (Hardenbrook) Shaw. 
The native state of his father, was Pennsylva- 
nia, while his mother was born in Jefferson 
Co., Ohio. His father was a farmer; he re- 
moved to Ohio in 1810, and the condition of 
the country at that time being such that they 



were in many cases obliged to make their 
own road; settling first in Pickaway Co., 
they remained one year, then removed to 
Franklin Tp., where he followed farming up 
to the time of his death, which occurred in 
18G5. He had seven children — Henry H., 
Newton, Emily, x\lbert, Asher, Harriet and 
Clarissa A. Henry H. Shaw commenced the 
study of medicine with Drs. Lord, Swingle & 
Brown, in 1850, and at the end of one year 
the above firm was dissolved; he remained 
with Hcwett & Swingle, pursuing his studies 
with them three years longer, during which 
time he attended one course of lectures at 
Ann Arbor, Mich., and one at Starling Medi- 
cal College, in Columbus, Ohio, graduating 
in 1854; he commenced the practice of his 
profession in New Hartford, Butler Co., Iowa, 
and remained there until 1859, when he re- 
turned to Mt. Liberty, Knox Co., Ohio, at 
which place he continued his practice until 
the spring of 1861, at which time he removed 
to Johnsville, Morrow Co., Ohio, remaining 
there until the 1st day of October, when he 
enlisted as a private in the 180th 0. V. I., 
Co. I. About the middle of January, 1865, 
the Doctor was notified that his presence was 
required before the Examining Board, the re- 
sult of which was his appointment to the posi- 
tion of Assistant Surgeon, of the 184th regi- 
ment, which place he held until the regiment 
was mustered out of the service, in 1865. On 
returning he settled in Mt. Gilead, and re- 
sumed the practice of medicine, which he has 
continued since that time. The Doctor was 
married to C. Amanda, a daughter of C. H. 
Chamberlain. Of this marriage four children 
were born — Ola A., and three deceased. 

D. M. SLACK, farmer; P.O., Mt. Gilead; 
was born near Trenton, N. J., April 6, 1825, 
and lived there about four years; they then 
moved to New York; his father working at 
carpentering in Tompkins Co., for eight years; 
they then, in 1837, moved to Ohio, and set- 
tled in Knox Co., where his father followed his 
trade until his death, in 1840; Mrs. Slack 
afterward married Mr. John Crowl; he is a 
pensioner of the war of 1812; they now live 
in Mt. Vernon. After his mother's second 
marriage, D. M. Slack hired out, and later he 
learned the carpenter's trade, with his broth- 
er; Jan. 20, 1848, he married Miss Almeda 
Dexter; she died in 1852; they had two chil- 



-» — ► 



^1 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



565 



dren, one living — Franklin T.; his second 
marriage was to Mrs. Thomas; of their two 
children, one is living — Almeda; his present 
wife was Miss Martha Ann Logan ; they were 
married Dec. 20, 1871 ; they have two chil- 
dren — Budd L., and Sarah B. After his first 
marriage, Mr. Slack learned the cooper's 
trade, which he followed for a number of 
years; he also worked at carpentering and 
farming. In 1873, he came to his present 
place, which contains eighty acres, located 
three miles northeast of Mt. Gilead; he has 
been a hard worker, and is considerate towards 
his fellow men ; he has taken no part in pol- 
itics, and has held no office except connected 
with the school and road; his parents, The- 
ophilus and Sarah (Priest) Slack, were natives 
of New Jersey; they raised a family of ten 
children, eight of whom are living. 

G. V. SMITH, of Smith & Tucker, saw- 
mill; Gilead Station; was born in Perry Co., 
Ohio, Sept. 1, 1841:, and lived there until ho 
was six years of age; when, with his parents 
he moved to Fairfield Co., O., and lived there 
three years; thence they moved to Morrow 
Co., O., and settled on a farm about two miles 
north of Gilead Station, where G. V. lived 
until he became of age; Dec. 26, 18G8, he 
married Miss Margaret L. McCormick; she 
was born in this Qounty; after the marriage he 
moved to Gilead Station, and the year follow- 
ing he engaged in the lumber and saw-mill 
business; first in the firm of McClain, Rine- 
hart & Smith, and later was connected with 
the firms of McClain & Smith, Smith & Smith, 
and finally the present — Smith & Tucker; 
though the business was confined to the 
county, they had several locations. By his 
marriage there are six children — James E., 
Mary W., George C, Murdie I., Marshal B., 
and Roy; his parents were George and Eliza- 
beth (Pugh) Smith; he died in Fairfield Co., 
Ohio, and she in Morrow Co., O. 

HENRY SNIDER, farming and fruit-cul- 
ture; Mt. Gilead; is a native of Washington 
Co., Ind.; he was born on a farm on the banks 
of the Potomac, Sept. 15, 1812, and worked 
on the same and attended school until he was 
19 years of age; he was then apprenticed to 
the house-joiners' trade, to Geo. Keifer, and 
followed the business there until 1835; he 
then came to Mt. Gilead, Ohio, and in com- 
pany with Mr. D. S. Talmage, carried on the 



business of contractors and builders until 
1865, when he came to his present place and 
engaged in farming and fruit-growing. He 
married Miss Nancy C. Talmage, Oct. 29, 
1839; she was born on her father's farm, in 
Knox Co., Ohio, Nov. 7, 1820; of their four 
children, three are living — America M., now 
Mrs. E. C. Chase, of Mt. Gilead; Nettie H., 
now Mrs. J. M. Dunn, of Marysville, Ohio; 
Ida F., now Mrs. C. M. Jones, of Plane City, 
Ohio. Mr. Snider's parents were John and 
Eve (Broches) Snider; they were natives of 
Washington Co., Md., where they married, 
and where also Mrs. Snider died; he came 
west to Mt. Gilead in 1833, and lived there 
until his death, in 1844; of their eight chil- 
dren, three are living — John R., in Cincinnati; 
Susan, now Mrs. D. S. Talmage, of Mt. Gilead, 
and Henry, of the same place. Mrs. Snider's 
parents were Joseph and Catharine (Beers) 
Talmage; they were natives of New Jersey, 
whither their parents had moved from Eng- 
land. They mere married in New Jersey, 
and moved to Ohio in 1804; they settled in 
Fairfield (now Knox) Co., where they cleared 
a farm and lived until 1834; they then moved 
to Marion Co., where he died in 1837. Mrs. 
Talmage then came to Mt. Gilead, and lived 
there until 1874, when she died, in her 93rd 
year. 

JPSEPH SAYRE, deceased, Mt. Gilead; 
was born in Dover, Morris Co., N. J., Sept. 5, 
1805, and lived there twenty-four years, 
during which time he learned the blacksmith's 
trade, and in 1829 came West, prospecting, 
and entered the place located one mile north 
of Mt. Gilead; he then returned to New Jer- 
sey, and settled up his business, and Oct. 25, 
1831, married Miss Almira E. Hurd, a native 
of Morris Co., N. J.; in the fall of 1832, they 
came West on the farm he had formerly en- 
tered. They built a log caljin in the woods, 
and began clearing a farm, on which he lived 
until his death, Sept. 13, 1875. Of their 
eight children, seven are living — Louisa, 
now Mrs. W. H. Green, of Coshocton, O.; 
Alfred H., on the present place; Sidney 
A., in Nebraska; Eveline F., now Mrs. M. 
Burt, of Mt. Gilead; Annie E., now Mrs. Jas. 
Stewart, of Mansfield, O.; Emma C, teaching 
at West Liberty, O.; Maria C, living at 
home; Harry Seward, killed while in the 
army. Mrs. Sayre is living on the old home- 



550 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



stead, where she settled in 1832. Her par- 
ents, Joseph and Matilda (Seward) Hurd, 
were natives of New Jersey and New York. 
Tliey married in New Jersey and lived most 
of their lives in Morris Co., where they died. 
The ancestors of these families were from 
Holland and Wales, and bore a conspicuous 
])art in tlie Revolutionary war. Mrs. Sayre's 
grandfather was Col. Jolin Seward, who took 
an active part in that struggle. 

JACOB H. SHAFER, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O. Cardington; w\as born in Dela- 
ware, now Morrow Co., Ohio, about the year 
1815, and lived there until he was 25 years of 
age; he th(Mi moved to Marion Co., and farmed 
there for fourteen years; thence to Carding- 
ton, where he followed teaming and farming, 
until 1808, when he came to his present place, 
and has lived there since. Nov. 24, 18-11, he 
married Miss Hester Ann Cupp; she was born 
in Pickaway Co., and moved to Crawford Co., 
and lived there until she was 17 years old, 
when she went to Delaware Co., and lived 
there until her marriage. They had twelve 
children, eight of whom are living, viz. — 
Mary E., now Mrs. Albright, Van Wert Co., 
Ohio; Helen M., now Mrs. Lewis, of Morrow 
Co., Ohio; Barbara A. at home; Wm. S., 
Morrow Co., Ohio; Nancy, now Mrs. Loffer; 
Morrow Co., Ohio; Sarah C, now Mrs. Lucas, 
Marion Co., Ohio; Jacob A., Morrow ^Co., 
Ohio; Lucetta F., now Mrs. Kisling, Morrow 
Co., Ohio; also Minnie F., adopted in infancy. 
Mr. Shafer has always been a hard-working 
man, and has earned all he has by his own 
labor and management. Ho owns 113 acres, 
located two miles southeast of Mt. Gilead. 
His parents, William and Sallie (Dewitt) 
Shafer, were natives of Pennsylvania, they 
married there, and came to Delaware Co., 
Ohio, in the year 1810; he enlisted and served 
during the war of 1812, after which he moved 
to Cass Co., Ind., where he died; his wife 
died in Marion Co., Ohio, previous to his 
going West. Mrs. Shafer's parents, Conrad 
and Elizabeth (Cruninger) Cupp, were natives 
of Pennsylvania; they married there, and 
moved to Pickaway Co. at an early day, and in 
1824, they moved to Crawford Co., where 
they died. 

WM. TABER, farmer, P. O. Gilead Sta- 
tion; was born in Addison Co., Vt., July 2, 
1819, and lived there seventeen years; he 



then came to Ohio, first stopping for one and 
a half years on a farm near Gilead Station, 
and then came to the present place; he hired 
out in this vicinity, and later rented the 
homestead and farmed the same until after 
the death of his father; he then bought the 
])lace and has resided on it ever since. June 
28, 1845, he married Miss Sarah Hickok; she 
was born in Huron Co., Ohio; after the mar- 
riage they came to this vicinity; of their four 
children two are living: Wm. L. G. and Oria 
M. He owns 160 acres, located two miles 
northwest of Gilead Station, and has earned 
the same by his own labor and management. 
His parents, Thomas and Mariam (Worth) Ta- 
ber, were natives of Montpelier and Starks- 
boro, Vermont. They married there and 
came here in the fall of 1836, and lived here 
until his death in 1840; some years later, Mrs. 
Taber married Mr. Reynolds, of Huron Co., 
Ohio, and lived there until their death. Mr. 
Taber had nine children; the following are 
living, viz: William, Morrow Co., Ohio; Na- 
than, Noble Co., Ind.; Horace, Manistee, 
Mich.; Ehvood, Kansas; James, Rockford, 
Mich.; Lewis, Manistee, Mich. The family 
came West on a canal-boat to Buffalo, N. Y., 
and on the lake to mouth of Huron, thence 
by team to place of settlement. They set- 
tled in the woods in a log-cabin, in which 
they lived. They, like the other pioneers, 
made their own clothing and cut their farm 
out of the timber. 

SOLOMON TRUEX, farmer; P. O., Mt. 
Gilead; was born on his present place, Jan. 
13, 1844, and has always lived on same; at 
the age of 21, he and his brother Johnson be- 
gan farming the place in partnership, and 
have owned the place and proceeds in com- 
mon ever since — sharing alike. He married 
Miss Sarah A. Barler, born in Licking Co., 
Ohio; they have three children — Clara A., 
born Oct. 15, 1867; John W., July 14, 1872; 
and Cloy Ida, Dec. 28, 1875; his father, Jesse 
Truex, was a native of Monroe Co., O., and 
was thrice married: first, to Miss Rhoda Acres, 
and second, to Miss Sarah Rush; both natives 
of Monroe Co., O., and died in this vicinity, 
without issue; his third wife was Miss Esther 
Truex, also a native of Monroe Co.; they had 
four children, two of whom are living — Solo- 
mon and Johnson. John and Mrs. Bathena 
Truex were natives of Pennsylvania; married 



^- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



557 



there and moved to Monroe Co. at an early 
day. In 1832 they and their son Jesse, with 
his wife, came to this county in a wagon, and 
in 1838 they all moved to the present farm, 
where thev have since died. 

JOHNSON TRUEX, farmer; P. O., Mt. 
Gilead; was born on his present place April 
19, 184G; at the age of 19 he and his brother, 
Solomon, formed a partnership, and have since 
owned the place and proceeds in common. 
They have 358^ acres, located two and one- 
half miles northeast of Mt. Gilead. In Octo- 
ber, 18(39, he married Miss Delilah Kinney, 
who was born in Franklin Tp., this county. 
They have three children — Ardie May, Homer 
O. and Ellsworth B. His wife's parents were 
Peter and Margaret (McCoy) Kinney; they 
were natives of Berks Co., Pa., and Knox 
Co., Ohio. They married in Ohio, where he 
came with his parents when about 14 years 
old; after his marriage he came to Richland 
(now Morrow) Co., and in 1850 they moved 
near Mt. Gilead, where Mrs. Kinney died in 
1859. About 1864 he married Mrs. Rector, for- 
merly Miss Elizabeth Foglesong. They moved 
to Hancock Co., Ohio, and in 1873 he came 
here, and has since made his home with his 
daughter. 

AUGUSTUS TUCKER, of Smith and 
Tucker, saw-mill; Gilead Station; was born 
in Washington Co., N. Y., Dec. 29, 1839, and 
lived there until April 1, 18GG; his early life 
was spent on the farm; at the age of 14 he 
attended the Argyle Academy, and continued 
there four terms; he then went to Meriden, 
N. H., where he took a classical course in the 
Kimball Union Academy; he studied in view 
of the ministry, but owing to failing health, 
he discontinued his studies, and engaged in 
out-door pursuits until he regained his health, 
when he beffan teaching: in connection with 
farming and lumbering. March 23, 1866, he 
married Miss Julia McKellor; she was born 
in Washington Co., N. Y.; after marriage 
they came to Ohio, and settled at Gilead Sta- 
tion; he has lived there since, and has fol- 
lowed farming, teaching and lumbering; there 
have been four children, two of whom are liv- 
ing; his parents, Nathaniel and Jane A. 
Quackenbush Tucker, were natives of Rhode 
Island and New York. They married in the 
latter state, and came west with their son. Mr, 
Nathaniel Tucker died here in Morrow Co.; 



Mrs. Tucker is living in Highland Co., Ohio, 
with her daughter. 

HENRY CLAY VAN ATT A, farmer; P. 
O., Mt. Gilead; was born in Washington Tp., 
Morrow Co., Ohio, Dec. 5, 1852 ; at the age of 15 
he began learning the carpenter's trade with 
his father, and when 19 he worked on the 
bridges of the C. C. branch of the B. & I. 
R. R.; and Jan. 27, 1873, he married Miss 
Zoa, daughter of Isaac and Mary (Finley) 
Hull. They have had four children, two of 
whom are living — Ray H. and John R. Af- 
ter his marriage he farmed his father-in-law's 
farm until 1878, and in 1879, he built his 
present residence. His parents were Wash- 
ington and Sarah (l3awsey) Vanatta. They 
were natives of Ohio; were married in this 
state; came to this vicinity at an early day, 
and are now living on a farm in Congress 
Tp. ; he follows his carpenter's trade, and his 
son John attends the farm. 

JOSEPH VAUGHAN, farmer; P. O., Mt. 
Gilead; is a native of Columbiana Co., Ohio; 
he was born Sept 24, 1831, and lived there 
until 1839; they then moved to Marion, now 
Morrow Co., Ohio, and farmed near Mt. 
Gilead; he lived with his parents until about 
1855, when he went to Iowa, and worked at 
carpentering and building for fourteen 
months; he then came to his present place 
and has lived here since. Jan. 1, 1862, he 
married Miss Annie Hollingsworth; born in 
Morgan Co., Ohio; of their six children born, 
four are living — Mary E., Geneva A., James 
E. and Arthur E. He owns 127 acres in this 
township, located three miles southeast of Mt. 
Gilead; his parents, James and Rhoda (Cobb) 
Vaughan, were natives of Virginia. They 
married in Columbiana Co., Ohio, and came 
here as stated, where they lived until their 
death, in Dec. 1859, and July, 1877, respec- 
tively. Of their seven children, five are liv- 
ing — Rebecca, now Mrs. Kirk, of Sharon, 
Iowa; Joanna, now Mrs. Gardner, of Cottage 
Corners, Ind.; Rhoda, now Mrs. Thomas 
Wood, of this county; Joseph and Linley J., 
both in this county. 

C. O. VAN HORN, retired; Mt Gilead; was 
born in Leesburg, Loudoun Co., Va., Sept. 6, 
1808; at the age of 18 he was apprenticed to 
cabinet making, to Samuel Hammontree, of 
Union, same county, and served with him for 
four years; they then became partners, and a 



■;?r 



5o8 



GILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



year later Mr. Van Hdrii sold his interest and 
removed to Lcesburp;, and worked there for 
two years; he then, in 1834, came west and 
settled in Mt. Gilead, Avhere he engaged in 
cabinet and chair-making; he also made and 
sold furniture, and was identified with the 
l)usiness until 1873, after which lie retired; 
May 21, 1834, he married Miss Mary Emersou, 
of i^eesburg, Va.; oftlxur four children, three 
are living — Major Jas. J., U. S. A., who was 
appointed to West Point in 1854, and gradua- 
ted in 1858, entering the army as Second 
Lieutenant, and has since been promoted to 
his present position, having served during the 
late war as an officer in the 8th U. S. Regu- 
lars; also John W. and GTeorge D. His par- 
ents, James and Mary (Groves) Van Horn, were 
natives of Loudoun Co., Va.; were married 
therte, and raised five children. Mr. Van Horn 
wiis a soldier in the war of the Revolution, 
and was several times wounded in that strug- 
<'"le. 

'^ M. G. WEBSTER, retired; Mt. Gilead; one 
of the old and respected settlers of Morrow 
County is the subject of this sketch, who was 
born in Litchliekl, Ct., Feb. 5, 1804, and is 
the son of Charles and Chloe (Cook) Web- 
ster; both parents natives of Ct.; his father 
was a farmer and was mai-ried in Ct.; our 
subject's great gran']fath(!r and Daniel Web- 
ster's groat grandfather were brothers; Noah 
Webster's great grandfather and Mr. Web- 
ster's great grand father was the same person; 
our subject when about three years of age, 
with his parents, moved to New York State, 
where they remained some four or five years; 
thence to Crawford Co., Pa., where they re- 
mained until 1823, when they started for 
Ohio with five children, in a covered wagon 
drawn by two horses; after being many days 
on the road, traveling through a wild and 
wooded country, they arrived in Marion 
county and located south of the Mt. Gilead 
fair ground; Mr. Webster and his father went 
to work to build a mill dam and saw-mill; 
this was the first saw-mill built in this vicinity. 
In 1824 Jacob Young purchased land where 
the town of Mt. Gih^ad now stancis; Mr. 
Webster's father purchased some town lots, 
and immediately he and his father commenced 
the erection of a house, which was built on the 
northeast corner of the south Public Square, 
opposite the American House, and was the lirst 



house built in the town — one and a half stories 
high, 18x24 feet; this was the home of the; 
family for a number of years; his mother died 
here about 1829; about 1828 young AVebster 
was married to Miss Maria Newson; she was 
born in Washington Co., Md., Nov. 19, 1810, 
and came to Ohio with her parents by wagon 
about 182G, and in 1829 Mr. Webster built a 
log cabin in the rear of the present house, 
size 18x22 feet; he entered 80 acres of land 
where he now lives, then a wild,, wooded 
country; this 80 acres Mr. Webster has cleared 
principally himself;- he began working at the 
stone mason and carpenter's trade, which he 
followed for a number of years, working on 
the first church built in Mt. Gilead; walled 
the first cellar in the town; have four children 
living; had one son in late war, 100-day ser- 
vice; he did good service and was honorably 
mustered out. 

PHILLIP WIELAND, marble dealer; 
Mt. Gilead; is a son of George and Katharine 
(Bauman) Wieland, and was-born in Wurtem-' 
burg, Germany, July 29, 1828, the youngest 
of a family of four children — John, George 
and Rosa; the eldest died in 1843, and 
the father in 1852, in Germany; at the 
age of 14 Philip entered upon an ap- 
prenticeship, to the trade, of stone cutter, 
serving three years. He entered the German 
army at the age of 21, for a term of six years, 
but was discharged upon a petition to the 
King, after a service of over four years, for 
the purpose of emigrating to America. In 
1853, lie came to this country, in company 
with his mother, and joined a sister in Mt. 
Gilead, who had preceded them; at this time 
Mr. Wieland was ambitious to go to Cincin- 
nati or St. Louis for work, but to pacify the 
disturbed feelings of his people, he remained 
with them and found work in a brick-yard; 
subsequently he worked upon the stone work 
of the court house, and took part in laying the 
foundation of the Trimble residence, and 
other prominent buildings of the place; and 
finally, in 1857, he made a start for himself in 
the marble business; in this he has been suc- 
cessful, and now has the finest establishment 
of the kind in Morrow Co.; in 1854, he was 
married to Magdalena Schuerrly, and to them 
Avas born seven children — Rosa A., William 
F., Caroline, who died in 18(52; Emma, Kate, 
li'ranklin G., and Edward P. Their mother 



h- 



■^ 



>^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



559 



died in 1873, and in 1875 Mr. Wieland mar- 
ried Minerva McMasters, of Delaware Co.; 
he has been a member of the Universalist 
Church since 1861; served as a member of 
the City Council seven years, and hss been 
President of the Board of Education six 
years; his mother was a lady of excellent 
mind and heart, and to her wise councils and 
watchful care over him when young, he attrib- 
utes much of his success in life; her remains 
repose in the Mt. Gilead cemetery, and was 
the first to consecrate those grounds to burial 
purposes. 

PETER WASHER, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O., Gilead Station; was born in 
Sussex Co., N. J., Dec. 5, 1812; he lived at 
home until he was 24 years of age ; at the age 
of 21 he was apprenticed to the masons' trade, 
and worked with his uncle, and served two 
years; he then worked as journeyman one 
year. In 1836, himself, uncle and cousins came 
in a wagon to the vicinity of Chesterville, Ohio; 
he working transient at his trade, and Dec. 27, 
1837, he married Miss Elizabeth Dewitt, a 
native of Sussex Co., N. J., who came west 
with her parents at a very early day. After 
his marriage he lived in Chesterville, until the 
fall of 1838; he then came to his present 
place, and has farmed same since; he also 
has worked some at carpentering and shoe- 
making, making as high as five pair of shoes 
in one week, working mornings and nights. 
They had three children, two living, viz. — 
Mary, now Mrs. Brockelsby, living on the 
present place; and Levina E., now Mrs. Painter 
Gier, also lives in this county. He owns 105 
acres of land, located one and one-fourth 
miles north of Gilead Station, which he has 
principally earned by his own labor and man- 
agement. His son-in-law, Robert Brockelsby, 
is a native of England; he is farming the old 
homestead; he came to the United States 
when young; he has three children, viz. — Wil- 
liam, Francis and Rosie. 

NEWTON WINGET, farmer, P. O., Mt. 
Gilead; was born in Knox (now Morrow) Co., 
O., Feb. 5th, 1833; in 1835 they moved to 
Congress Tp., Richland (now Morrow) Co., 
and engaged in farming. After the death of 
his parents he worked on the farms in the 
neighborhood until 1857, when he bouoht a 
piece of land about a mile east 6f Mt. Gilead 
and lived on same about four years, and then% 



come to his present place, where he has lived 
(excepting about three years) ever since, 
Oct. 19, 1854, he married Miss Elizabeth Nel- 
laus, born on their present place, Aug. 5, 
1837; they have two children — Alonzo W. 
and Ida B. — both are married, the former to 
Miss Clara R. Hull, and has one child, Mary 
G.; the latter, Ida B., married Mr. .John Hull, 
and lives in this vicinity. Mr. Wino-et owns 
240 acres in this township, located three miles 
northe'ast of Mt. Gilead, and except a few 
hundred dollars, has earned all he has by his 
own labor. His parents, Daniel and Abigail 
(Coe) Winget, were natives of Pennsylvania; 
they married there and came to Knox (now 
Morrow) Co. at an early day, and moved 
thence to Congress Tp., Richland (now Mor- 
row) Co., where they died. Mrs. Winget's 
parents, James and Elizabeth (Truce) Nellaus, 
were natives of Ireland and Pennsylvania. 
Mr. Nellaus came to Ohio when but three 
years of age. They married in Belmont 
Co., Ohio, and came to the present farm in 
the year 1830, and lived here until their 
deaths, June 17, 1859, and April 17, 1879. Of 
their ten children, but three are living. 

SAMUEL WILSON, retired; Mt. Gilead; 
was born in Emmetsburg, Md., Dec. 10, 1808, 
and lived there until 1819, when they moved 
to Middletown, same county, and lived there 
until the winter of 1823, at which time they 
moved to Guernsey Co., Ohio, and began 
clearing land, living there until the winter of 
1832, when they moved to Knox (now Morrow) 
Co., and after living one year with his father, 
he, Aug. 14, 1833, was married to Miss Mary 
Paramore, a native of England; she died Aug. 
11, 1851; of their seven children, five are liv- 
ing— T. P., Mary A., Carrie M., William F. 
and Cyrus S. After his marriage he went on 
a farm of seventy acres, which his father-in- 
law gave him, to which he bought an addition, 
and lived on and improved the same. March 
1, 1853, he married Mrs. Lindsay, formerly 
Miss Phoebe Townsend; she was born in 
Galiipolis, Ohio; he moved on the old home- 
stead farm of his father in 1855, he having, 
after his father's death, bought out the heirs; 
he lived there until the spring of 1871, when 
he came to Mt. Gilead, and in 1872 moved to 
a farm he had bought, one and one-half miles 
north of town, and farmed the same for three 
years. In 1875, he came to Mt. Gilead, and 



-^ rv 



500 



CiILEAD TOWNSHIP. 



has lived a quiet life since. In 1828 he joined 
the Methodist Church, and has been a member 
ever since; the pastor, at the time of his join- 
ing the church, was tlie Rev. B. Christe, then 
preaching at Cambridge, Ohio. Mr. Wilson 
was a member of the Board of the First Churcli 
of Chesterville, Throughout his long life he 
has never given or taken occasion to use the 
law with his fellow man, and has so lived as 
to merit the confidence of all who know him. 

WILLIAM C. WILSON, of the firm of 
S. Thomas & Co., dealers in tile and earthen- 
ware; Mt. Gilead;Avas born on the farm he 
now owns, three miles south of Mt. Gilead, 
Sept. 15, 1839, and lived on the same until he 
was 35 years of age; he attended district 
school, and worked on the farm until he was 
19 years old; he then attended school in Mt. 
Gilead for three years, when he took the 
management of the farm for his father. In 
August, 18G1, he enlisted in the 3d O. V, I., 
Co. I., and remained in service seven months, 
when he was discharged, owing to an acci- 
dent he met with; he returned home, and re- 
sumed the management of the farm, and 
May 1, 1862, he married Elizabeth House. 
Siie was born in Mt. Gilead. They have four 
children — Frank W., Charles S., Maggie and 
Hattie. In the spring of 1875 he rented out 
the farm, and moved to Mt. Gilead, and en- 
gaged in his present business. His parents, 
Charles and Eliza (Morris) Wilson, were na- 
tives of New Jersey and Ohio. He came to 
Jefferson Co., Ohio, with his parents about 
1820, and after his father's death, about 1823, 
went to Morgan Co., and farmed about twelve 
years; he also taught school part of the time. 
In 1831 he married, and in 1835, came to 
Marion (now Morrow) Co., and lived on the 
farm until 1875, when he came to Mt. Gilead 
with his son, where he died in March, 1879. 
Mrs. Wilson died on the farm in 18G0. 

THE WOOD FAMILY. Prominent among 
the pioneers of this locality are the Wood 
Family, the head of which was Jonathan 
Wood, deceased, a native of Dartmouth, 
Mass., and born Dec. 9, 1760; about 1780 
he moved to Vermont, and in 1784 he 
married Miss Rachel White, of Nine Partners, 
N. Y.; about 1707, they moved to Clinton 
Co., N. Y., and lived there until about the 
year 1816, when they came to Ohio, and set- 
tled in Peru Tp., Delaware Co.; about 1818, 



they came to the vicinity of Mt. Gilead; they 
came from the east by team via. Buifalo and 
Lake Shore, Oberlin, thence to their son, Dan- 
iel Wood, Jr., who preceded them about two 
years. Theirs' is the usual story of trials and 
privations of the pioneers; they cleared a farm 
out of the woods, and lived on the same until 
their death. They had twelve children, of 
whom but one now lives — Rachel, now Mrs. 
Washburne, living in Huron Co., Ohio; Mrs. 
Wood died here on the farm, and Jan. 5, 1826, 
he married Miss Desire Osborn, then living 
in Peru Tp., Delaware Co., Ohio. She died 
in 1832, here on the old homestead. His third 
wife was Mrs. Mulinicks, with whom he lived 
until his death. May 7, 1838, after which Mrs. 
Wood went to Huron Co., Ohio, and lived 
there with relatives until her death. There 
were no children by either his second or third 
marriages. Among the deceased of the first 
marriage were David and Jonathan, Jr.; the 
former was born at Danby, Vt., Dec. 19, 1792, 
and came West with his parents; he married 
Miss Esther Mosher, Aug. 4, 1819; she was 
born in the East, and came here with her par- 
ents when young; they came to this vicinity, 
where he farmed and worked at his trade of 
carpenter until his death, July 7, 1847, at 
Dartmouth, Mass., where he had gone on a 
visit. She came west, and died on the old 
homestead, Dec. 31, 1864; of the nine living 
out of a family of eleven children, but one 
lives in this county. 

Asa M. Wood, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 
O., Mt. Gilead; was born in Marion (now 
Morrow) Co., two miles south of Mt, Gilead, 
Jan. 1, 1834; he attended school and worked 
on the farm until he was 21 years old, when 
he began work on his own account, renting 
the home farm, on which he lived until 1865; 
he also worked at carpentering, having picked 
up the trade; he then farmed at other points 
in this county, also in Chase Co., Kan., and 
in 1870 he came to his present place. March 
4, 1855, he married Miss Eliza Jane Hays; she 
was born in Coliimbiana Co., Ohio, and came 
to this vicinity when a child; they had three 
children — Josephine S., Calvin II. and Susan 
E. He owns 140 acres, located three and a 
half miles southeast of Mt. Gilead; except those 
connected with the school and road, he has 
held no public offices. Jonathan, Jr., was 
born in Peru Tp., N. Y., Sept. 1, 1801, and 



■s> V 



i^k. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



561 



came west with his parents, as stated; Feb. 
23, 1824, he married Miss Mary Ashton, then 
living in Columbiana Co., Ohio, and returned 
here and farmed in this vicinity (except one 
year when they went east, and two years in 
Mahoning Co., Ohio,) until his death, Nov. 
25, 1863; she died Feb. 8, 1873; they had six 
children — Thomas A., Stephen, Rachel A., 
Griffith L., Luly H. and Lamira W. 

Thomas A. Wood, farmer; P. O., Mt. Gil- 
ead; was born in Columbiana Co., Ohio, Dec. 
3, 1826, and the same year his folks returned 
to Mt^rion (now Morrow) Co., Ohio, and en- 
gaged in farming on the present place. Thom- 
as attended school and worked on the farm 
until he was 25 years of age; he then farmed 
on his own account at various points in the 
county, and finally settled on the present 
place, which is the old Wood homestead. 
Sept, 1, 1847, he married Miss Rhoda Vaug- 
han; she was born in Columbiana Co., Ohio, 
and came to this vicinity when young. They 
had five children, four of whom are living — 
Reuben E., Louisa T., Harriet M. and Caro- 
line T. He owns seventy-three acres, loca- 
ted three miles south of Mt. Gilead; he has, 
except those connected with school and road, 
taken no part in the public offices of the 
county. 

JOSEPH WATSON, farmer; P. O., Gilead 
Station; was born in Cumberland Co., Pa., 
July 31, 1838, and the same year his parents, 
Joseph and Barbara (Bender) Watson, of 
Cumberland Co., Pa., came west to Ohio, 
and settled in Richland Co., where they farm- 
ed for five years. They then came to a farm 
two miles north of Mt. Gilead, dealing very 
largely in stock. They remained there 
seven years; then moved to Canaan Tp., near 
Denmark, where he bought 160 acres of land, 
and lived there until the spring of 1863, 
when he rented his place and bought and 
moved to the present farm, upon which his 
son Joseph now lives, and he continued on 
this place until his death, July 25, 1865; Mrs. 
Watson lived on the place until her death, 
March 21, 1872. They had fourteen chil- 
dren, twelve now living — John B., Warsaw, 
Ind.; James, Morrow Co.; Christianna, now 
Mrs. Clark, of Blackhawk Co., Iowa; David, 
Aden, California; George, Mt. Ayer, Ring- 
gold Co. , Iowa; Joseph, Morrow Co.; Barba- 
ra, now Mrs. John N. Smith, Morrow Co., 



Samuel N. is with his brother David; Han- 
nah L,, now Mrs. Jas. H. Smith, lives at 
Holgate, Ohio; Jacob C, Reno, Nevada; 
Harriet A., now Mrs. McGowan, Black Jack, 
Douglass Co., Kansas; Mary C, now Mrs. 
Galleher, Denmark, Morrow Co.; Elizabeth 
died in infancy; William died aged 22. Mr. 
Watson was well known and respected; he 
served as a County Commissioner about 1860, 
and is credited with hauling the first printing 
press to Mt. Gilead. Joseph, Jr., lived at 
home until he was 17; he worked by the 
month in this neighborhood for two years, 
and in 1858 he went to Kansas, and thence 
to New Mexico, returning home in 1860; 
he then went to California, via New York 
and Panama, and lived near Yreka until 
1867; was engaged in teaming, charcoal and 
lumber business. He returned home via 
Panama and New York; and after his moth- 
er's death, he bought the home farm. April 
25, 1872, he married Miss Catharine, daugh- 
ter of Jonas and Hannah (Bender) Shewman; 
she was born in Richland Co., Ohio, and 
raised in Fulton Co., Ind. They had three 
children, two are living — Maggie B. and 
David S. He lives on the old homestead, the 
residence of which has been standing for forty 
years, and is located one mile north of Gilead 
Station. 

JOHN WEAVER, retired farmer, P. O., 
Mt. Gilead; was born on his father's farm, 
near Winchester, Va., March 8, 1797, and 
lived there about eight years, when, with his 
parents, he moved to Fairfield Co., Ohio, and 
lived there about five years; they then went 
to Richland Co. In the spring of 1821 he 
married Miss Catharine Zent; she was born 
in Pennsylvania; after his marriage he leased 
the old homestead for twelve years, and cleared 
35 acres of land; he then, in the year 1833, 
came to his present place in a wagon, and was 
obliged to cut a road through the timber to 
get there; he also opened an Indian trail to 
Mt. Gilead. He built a log cabin in the 
woods, and began clearing his farm. This 
old pioneer dwelling remains to this day; it 
is in good repair and in daily use as a kitchen; 
it has two rooms, one up and one down stairs. 
When he came, Indians, wolves, etc., were 
plenty. In 1875 his wife died; they had 
fifteen children, twelve of whom are living — 
Sarah, now Mrs. Bailey, this county; Susannah, 



-n: 



5G2 



CARDINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



now Mrs. Le Fever, Keokuk, Iowa; Levina. 
now Mrs. Pinyerd, Ganesville, Ind.; Polly, 
now Mrs. Buston, this county; Betsy, now 
Mrs. Uasliner, this county; Catharine, now 
Mrs. Feight, this county; David, Zanesville, 
Ind.; George, Zanesville, Ind.; Samuel, lives 
at Kendallville, Ind.; Jacob, this county; Isaac, 
lives in Iowa, and Leonard lives on the old 
homestead. June 22, 1870, Mr. Weaver and 
Mrs. Fleming, formerly Mrs. Zent, whose 
maiden name was Emily Earl, were married; 
she was bbrii at Cardington, Obioj ber parents, 



Daniel and Margaret Eley Earl, were early 
pioneers of that locality. She had four chil- 
dren by her first marriage, three of whom are 
living — Leonard, Elizabeth, now Mrs. Jones, 
Ashley, Delaware Co., Ohio, and Perry. She 
also had three children by her second mar- 
riage — Sarah E., Philemon and Delia. Mr. 
Weaver's son, Leonard, who is farming the old 
homestead, was born here, and has always 
lived on same. He married Miss Lucinila 
Parks, July 8, 1866; they have four children — 
Mary. Ida, Marion E., Samuel and Mattie. 



CARDINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



G. O. BROWN, A. M., Cardington; is a 
native of Tompkins Co., N. Y. He is the son 
of George and Beulah (Sutliflf) Brown, and 
was born Nov. 28, 1833. The father was a na- 
tive of Rhode Island, and is descended from a 
Scotch family of nobility. The Browns trace 
their lineage to Tobias Brown, who settled in 
America before the Revolutionary War, and 
who was the founder of tliis family of Browns 
in the United States. To George and Beulah 
Brown was born a family of seven children, 
four of whom are yet living. The parents 
came to Morrow Co., O., in 1830, settling near 
Chesterville, and engaged in farming. G. O. 
j)assed his early years on the farm, remaining 
there until sixteen, receiving a district school 
education. At the above age he began at- 
tending select school at Chesterville, which 
afforded better facilities for acquiring an edu- 
cation than the rude country schools in the 
township. He finally entered the O. W. Uni- 
versity at Delaware, and in 1857 graduated 
with high honors. Since his graduation, with 
the exception of three years, he has been en- 
gaged in teaching, and has a high reputation 
as an educator, and as one interested in educa- 
tional problems. Among his acquirements he 
studied law, and was admitted to the bar of 
Ohio in 18G6. He secured his collegiate ed- 
ucation at Delaware by rigid economy, teach- 
ing during the vacations to get means to con- 
tinue his college course. Soon after f -aduat- 
ing he took charge of the Union Sciiool at 
Chesterville, remaining there four years. A 



few years after this he went to Sedalia, Mis- 
souri, and while there organized the Union 
School at that place, which under his manage- 
ment became one of the finest in the West. 
He then came to Cardington and for the period 
of eleven years has had charge of the splendid 
schools of that city. This school is one of the 
best in the country, having eight teachers. 
Prof. Brown being the principal. He is a 
prominent Republican, a member of the M. 
E. Church, and is one of the Board of Exam- 
iners of Morrow County. He has no superior 
in the county for schoUarly attainments, and 
is a fine christian gentleman; he was married 
to Miss Maria McMahan. 

LEWIS BARGE, Sr., retired; Carding- 
ton ; was born on a farm in Chester Co., Pa., 
March 7, 1810, and lived there six years; he 
then with his parents moved to Ohio; they 
stopped one year in Harrison Co., then 
moved to Belmont Co., and engaged in 
farming. Lewis remained at home until he 
was 17 years of age; he then was appren- 
ticed to the wagon-makers' trade, to Mr. 
Aaron Mendenhall, of Harrison Co., and 
served for three years; he then worked as 
journeyman a few months in Jefferson Co., 
when he came to Cardington, and soon after 
married an old acquaintance of Harrison Co., 
Miss Susannah Merrick, who came to Carding- 
ton with her parents in 1829, and married 
Dec. 13, same year. After his marriage he 
occupied a residence within the present limits 
of Cardington, and worked at his trade for 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



5G3 



three years; he then entered eighty acres of 
timber, the same being; part of his present 
place; it never changed hands; he erected a 
round log cabin, which was hewed down in- 
side and plastered with mud; it contained one 
room, stick chimney, clapboard roof, etc., etc. 
His stock consisted of one Indian pony and a 
cow; he began burning the timber and clear- 
ing the place; they made their own clothes, 
and have hauled wheat to Sandusky, and sold 
the same for fifty cents per bushel ; in those 
days the wages for hauling was one-half the 
load. April 10, 1853, is the date of Mrs. 
Barge's death. They had ten children, but 
four of whom are living — Eli, married Eliza 
Moss, and lives in Marion Co., Iowa; Robert, 
married Jane Harrod, and lives here on the 
old homestead; they have two children — Wil- 
lis and Fannie; Slocurn, married Cynthia Ann 
Conwell; they also live on the old homestead, 
and farm the same; they have two children 
— Lillie L. and James P.; Hulda Ann lives at 
home. Feb. 8, 1854, he married Mrs. Bun- 
ker, formerly Sibbia Purvis; she was born in 
Seneca Co., N. Y., and came to this vicinity 
with her parents in 1824. They have no 
children. Mr. Barge had three sons in the 
late war — Morris enlisted in Iowa, and died at 
New Orleans, about two years after his enlist- 
ment; Robert served three years in the 96th 
Ohio, and Slocum served during the war in 
the 31st Ohio. Mr. Barge's parents, Robert 
and Elizabeth (Taylor) Barge, were natives 
of Pennsylvania; they came to Ohio in 1816, 
and later settled in Belmont Co., where they 
died. Of their nine children, four are living 
— Lewis, Taylor, Sarah Bendure and Keziah 
Blazer. His grandfather and wife, Sarah, 
were natives of Nova Scotia; they came to 
the Colonies previous to the Revolution, in 
which he took a part, and was killed at the 
Battle of the Brandywine. 

CYRUS E. BENEDICT, farmer and stock- 
dealer; P. O., Cardington; among the promi- 
nent and successful farmers of Cardington 
Tp., is the subject of this l)iography; he was 
born in Morrow Co., Ohio, May 3, 1831, upon 
the farm he now owns, and on which he lives; 
his schooling was but limited, owing to the 
fact* of the schools being none of the best at 
that early day; being the oldest child in the 
family, he was kept at home to' assist in im- 
proving the place. When 23 he began farm- 



ing for himself, which has been his occupa- 
tion through life. On the 30th of November, 
1854, he was united in marriage with Rosan- 
na Edgell, who was born in Franklin Co., 
Ohio, Aug. 9,1832. Her parents were Mar- 
cellus and Nancy (Blakely) Edgell, who came 
to Ohio in a very early day. From our sub- 
ject's marriage with Miss Edgell, there were 
born seven children — Nancy E., Marcellus E., 
Henry W., Robert E., Cyrus A., Barbara A. 
and Ada R.; the oldest is the wife of G. J. 
Peak, and lives in Cardington Tp. Mr. 
Benedict owns 250 acres of excellent farming 
land; he is a Republican, in politics, and a 
member of the United Brethren Church. 

T. D. BRADLEY, farmer; P. O., Carding- 
ton; was born in Chenango Co. N. Y., Dec. 
15, 1818. He is the son of David and Sarah 
(Ketchum) Bradley, both natives of New 
England. They were the parents of six 
children, five of whom are now living. The 
father died in 1872, and the mother in 1877. 
T. D. Bradley remained at home until about 
33 years of age, when he was united in mar- 
riage with Charlotta M. Knickerbocker, a 
native of New York, and adescendentof one 
of the oldest and most respected families in 
the State. There was one child by this union, 
who died in infancy. In 1858 Mr. Bradley 
came to Cardington, where he has since resid- 
ed. He ownes 45 acres of land which is 
nicely improved. He is a republican and a 
much respected citizen. 

LESTER BARTLETT, retired ; Carding- 
ton. This gentleman was born in Onon- 
daga Co., N. Y., Oct. 28, 1805; he worked 
upon a farm until 18 years of age, when he 
served an apprenticeship of three years at the 
hatter's trade, in the town of Pompeii. He 
then embarked in the business in the town of 
Delphi, his native county. Here he plied his 
energy and talents for about one year and a 
half, when the business became unsuited to 
him, and with a little fortune of three hundred 
dollars, accumulated by his great economy 
and industry, started for the West. He trav- 
eled on foot to Manlius, where he took pas- 
sage on a canal boat for Buffalo; thence across 
Lake Erie to Cleveland, and from there to 
Columbus, traveling on foot through the wil- 
derness up the Olentangy to Westfield Tp., 
Morrow Co. Here he selected a tract of 160 
acres of land, footed it to Chillicothe and en- 



>> 



564 



CARDINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



tered the same. On his way back he stopped 
at Columbus and purchased a horse, which he 
brought with him to his wilderness home. 
After erectinpr a \og cabin and clearin*^ about 
four acres of ground, he started on horseback 
for his old home in New York, a distance of 
700 miles, where he had left his young wife, 
(Bolitula Scofield) whom he had married the 
year before. He returned to his forest home 
with his wife the following spring. Here he 
jiassed through the various scenes and vicissi- 
tudes of pioneer life, working and econo- 
mizing until he became one of the wealthiest 
farmers and largest land owners in Morrow 
Co. His wife died Feb, 8, 1850. He was 
again married to Mrs. Nancy Wicks. By his 
first wife there are nine children, viz.: Han- 
nah, I^orin, Lorinda, Emeline, Louisa, Henry, 
Lorenzo, Loretta and Lester. By his second 
marriage are two children, viz : William W. 
and Alice. All his children are living, and 
all married except William W. Mr. Bartlett 
held while living in Westfield the office of 
Justice of the Peace for 20 consecutive years. 
Tn quite an early day he established a wheat 
fan manufactory, where hundreds of mills 
were made and sold in Morrow and adjoining 
counties. One incident in connection with 
his milling enterprises is \\»orthy of mention. 
Near Mr. Bartlett lived a man by the name 
of Clymer, who contemplated building a grist- 
mill on the Whetstone, and began its erection. 
Mr. Bartlett had long thought of doing the 
same thing, and as only one could success- 
fully do so on account of back water, the 
neighbors thought Clymer had the start and 
would run Bartlett out; but imagine the as- 
tonishment of the natives when they learned 
that the timbers Mr. Bartlett had gotten out 
were not for a mill, but a 7Jiill dam, securing 
to him the present site of Bartlett's Mill on 
the Whetstone. Mr. Bartlett is one of Mor- 
row County's most respected citizens. 

G. W. BOLINGEK, farmer and stock- 
raiser, P. O., Cardington, was born in Bed- 
ford Co., Pa., Aug. 26, 1827, and in 1834 they 
moved to Knox Co., Ohio, and settled in 
Franklin Tp., now in Morrow Co. They came 
by wagons and rented a farm; his father also 
worked at his trade of carpenter; G. W. also 
learned the trade, and lived at home until he 
became of age; Aug 20, 1849, he married 
Miss Mary Ann, daughter of Samuel and 



Catharine (Volentine) Singer; they came to 
this vicinity about 1824; after his marriage 
he found himself SlOO in debt, which he paid 
by working at his trade, at $16 per month; 
in 1863 he bought and occupied his present 
place, which at that time was mcjstly timber; 
he owns 127 acres in this county, located five 
miles northwest of Cardington; of their eight 
children but two are living — Delora C, now 
Mrs. McClenathan, living in this vicinity, and 
Cora Iva, at home; he has earned all his pro- 
perty by his own labor and management; he 
and his wife have been members of the Meth- 
odist Protestant Church, for fifteen and twenty 
years; his parents, Peter and Sarah (Horn) 
Bolinger, were natives of Pennsylvania; they 
married there, and came West about the year 
1834, and settled in Franklin Tp., at present 
in Morrow Co., Ohio, he carried on the carpen- 
ter business, and lived there until 1850, when 
he moved to Canaan Tp., where he lived until 
1873; he then moved to Van Wert Co., Ohio, 
where he now resides with a daughter, his 
wife having died about 1863; they had seven 
children; all are living — Benjamin, near Cal- 
edonia; G. W., Mrs. Mary Gyer, Van Wert 
Co., O., Andrew J., this township, Samuel in 
Douglas Co., 111., John, in Minnesota, and 
Mrs. Rebecca Miller, Van Wert Co.; Mr. Bo- 
linger lives with the latter, and will be 80 
^'ears of age in Aug. next; his father, Benja- 
min, was a soldier in the war of 1812. 

HON. JOHN H. BENSON, live stock 
dealer; P. O. Cardington. This gentleman 
was born Sept. 22, 1834, in what is now Lin- 
coln Tp., Morrow Co., Ohio; he is of Scotch 
English descent; his ancestors, who were of 
good families in their native lands, came to 
this country very early, and settled in 
what is now the "Empire State." From here 
his grandfather, Daniel, accompanied by three 
sons, Leander — .lohn H. Benson's father, Al- 
meron and Darius, with their families, came 
westward in 1831, and entered extensive 
tracts of land in Lincoln Tp., the country at 
that time being nothing less than an un- 
broken wilderness, and its inhabitants few 
and scattered. The newcomers went bravely 
to work, however, and by dint of hard labor 
and much perseverance, despite the many 
obstacles in their way, in a short time made 
for themselves what were considered in those 
days, comfortable homes; the tide of immi- 



r 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



565 



gration soon set in more briskly, and at the 
time of the birth of our subject the neighbor- 
hood had begun to assume a more civilized 
aspect. John H. Benson received the great- 
er part of his early education in the rude log 
country school-house. At the age of twenty 
he entered, as a student, the Ohio Wesleyan 
University, of Delaware, Ohio, where he re- 
mained some two years, and then engaged in 
the live stock trade, which he followed a num- 
ber of years with much success. It was dur- 
ing the time spent as a stock-drover that he 
became so well and favorably known to the 
people of Morrow and adjoining counties. 
On Feb. 2, 1858, he was united in marriage 
to Miss Louisa, daughter of Lester Bartlett, 
Esq., a wealthy and highly respected farmer 
of Westfield Tp. The fruit of this union was 
two sons, Austin E., born Aug 4, 1859, and 
Frank B., born May 31, 1866. The 
elder son now occupies the position of 
local editor of the Delaware Herald^ a 
live and ably edited journal, and the 
only Democratic paper in that county. Mr. 
Benson has always been closely identified 
with the best interests of his neighborhood, 
as well as the public in general; he organized 
a stock company, and was instrumental in 
building the first and only gravel road ever 
built in the county; he was president of this 
company until his business compelled him to 
resign the office. In 1871, together with a 
number of other gentlemen, he purchased the 
old Andrew's warehouse in Cardington, which 
was fitted up with all the necessary machin- 
ery, and converted into an extensive steam 
flour mill, with Mr. Benson as its Superin- 
tendent. This enterprise prospered, and its 
success reached far beyond the anticipations 
of its projectors; this was due in a great 
measure to the popularity that Mr. Benson 
enjoyed among the farmers for miles around. 
In 1875 the mill passed into other hands, 
since which time Mr. Benson has devoted the 
greater portion of his time to dealing in live 
stock. John H. Benson, during his life-time, 
has been somewhat of a politician; he began 
his political career in 1859, and in 1862, when 
only 28 years of age, he was elected Sheriff of 
Morrow Co., by a good, round majority, being 
the only Democrat elected to this office in the 
county in twenty-five years; in 1868 he was 
the Democratic candidate in the old Eighth 



District for Congress, against Gen. John 
Beatty. The district was hopelessly Repub- 
lican, but Mr. Benson ran away ahead of his 
ticket — another proof of his popularity; in 
1877 he was elected to the State Senate, from 
the Seventeenth and Twenty-Eighth Dis- 
tricts, by 3,300 majority; Mr. Benson has 
been an active and influential Democrat in 
the county and district, and his opinions are 
always regarded as sound in the conventions 
and meetings of his party, and his public as 
well as his private record, is without a blem- 
ish; he is one of Cardington's most influential 
and respected citizens. 

G. W. BELL, dealer in wool; Carding- 
ton; this gentleman was born in Georgetown, 
District of Columbia, July 17, 1826; he 
is a son of Elijah and Mary E. (Hart) Bell, 
both of whom were natives of Maryland, and 
the parents of four children. The Bells were 
among the first settlers of Montgomery Co. 
Md.; and their descendants are to-day among 
the most honored and respected citizens of 
that county. The father of G. W. Bell was a 
farmer, a business he followed for the most part 
during his lifetime. During the war of 1812, 
he assisted in the defense of Washington, D. 
C. In 1837 he removed to Ohio and located 
in Harrison Co., where he remained some time, 
when he moved to Franklin Co., and there 
passed the remainder of his days. His father 
dying in 1876, and his mother in 1864. G. 
W. Bell remained at home, assisting his father 
upon the farm, and attending school until six- 
teen years of age, when he learned the tanners 
and curriers' trade, after which for a number 
of years, he traveled through a great portion of 
the East and West, working at his trade. 
Mr. Bell came to Morrow Co. in 1851, and in 
1855, Sept. 26, was united in marriage with 
Miss Mary McMahan; she was born in Vir- 
ginia, Sept. 2, 1828; and when but one year 
old, her parents removed to what is now Mor- 
row Co., Ohio. From his marriage with Miss 
McMahan, there are two daughters — Ada T. 
and Maggie R. In 1854, Mr. Bell came to 
Cardington, and engaged in mercantile pur- 
suits, in which business he continued about 
three years, when he sold out, and engaged 
in the wool, seed and grain trade, a business 
he has since followed. For the past 25 years, 
he has been actively engaged in the wool trade 
at Cardington. He has held several positions 



ihL 



566 



CARDINGTON TOWNSHIP, 



of honor and trust in the city jrovernment, 
and is a Iii<^hly respected and iniluential citi- 
zen; he was one of the cliarter members of 
Cardington Lodge, number 384, F. and A. M. 
Politically he is a democrat, though liberal in 
his views, always voting for the man and 
measures, and not for party. He owns a great 
deal of valuable property in Cardington, and 
320 acres of land near the city of Toledo. He 
has an interesting, intelligent family, a com- 
fortable and nicely improved home property 
on Main St. Upright dealing and close atten- 
tion to business, have placed him among the 
most respected and honored citizens of Mor- 
row Co. 

A. J. BOLINGER, farmer; P. O., Carding- 
ton; is a native of Pennsylvania; he was born 
in Bedford Co., Oct. 4, 1832, and lived there 
until he was in his second year. The family 
then came to Ohio, and settled in Knox Co., 
his father was a carpenter, and he also learned 
the trade, and lived with his parents until he 
was 25 years of age; May 27, 1858, he married 
Miss Matilda Linder; she was born in Ohio. 
After the marriage he occupied twenty acres 
of land, he had previously bought; and which 
was located on the neighborhood of the old 
homestead place, and he farmed the same un- 
til 1866; though in 1864, he enlisted in the 
38th Reg. O. V. I., and remained in the ser- 
vice for ten months, taking part in the engage- 
ments of the regiment, which was with Sher- 
man on his " March to the Sea, " he was dis- 
charged at Washington and returned home, 
and in 1866, he came to his present place, 
which contains twenty-five acres, located six 
miles northwest of Cardington; of their seven 
children, five are living — Emerson R., born 
June 9; 1860, Daniel W., born Aug. 17, 1862; 
Andrew C, born Oct. 9, 1864; Lora B., born 
Oct. 25, 1871; and Glen D., born Jan. 6, 1875; 
Joseph E., and infant died. 

SAMUEL BENNETT, farmer; P. O., 
Cardington; is a native of JelFerson Co., Ohio; 
he was born March 2, 1822, and lived there un- 
til they came to this vicinity in the fall of 
1823. They came in a wagon, and part of the 
distance had to make the road. His father 
entered eighty acres, and through his wife 
got fifty acres more adjoining, he paying $50 
for the place, on which was a log cabin which 
they occupied, and began clearing the place. 
In 1828 they built a hewed log cabin, in which 



they afterwards lived, making their own cloth- 
ing of wool and flax. In 1845 Mr. Samuel 
Bennett and Miss ElizaWeth Bovey were mar- 
ried; she is a native of Maryland. They had 
five children, four of whom are living — John 
C, Hiram C, Walter C, and Amanda O. 
He owns 227 acres of land, located two miles 
northeast of Cardington, which he has earned 
by his own labor and management; he at first 
renting the place of his father-in-law, and in 
1850 he bought 70 acres, and has since in- 
creased his place to the present area. His 
parents, James and Lydia (Harden brook) Ben- 
nett were natives of Pennsylvania and Vir- 
gina; they married in Jefferson Co., Ohio, and 
came to this county in the fall of 1823, and 
lived here until their death — he in 1856, she 
1861. Of their eleven children seven are liv- 
ing — Isaac lives in Michigan, Mrs. Edith 
Crawford lives in this county, Lewis lives in 
Illinois, Mrs. Ann Pinkley lives in Illinois, 
Samuel lives in this county, Mrs. Magdalene 
Johnson, lives in Iowa, and Mrs. Lydia Hyde 
lives in Michigan. When the family first 
came to this county they bad, after entering 
their land, one five-france piece, four cows, 
and one sheep. He cleared land for others 
and enjoyed the pleasures of pioneer life gen- 
erally. 

STEPHEN BROWN, attorn ey-at-law, 
Cardington; -was born in Licking Co., Ohio, 
Nov. 19, 1816; son of Ebenezer and Mary 
(Cook) Brown, both natives of Washington 
Co., Pa. His grandparents on his mother's 
side, Stephen and Sarah (McFarlin) Cook, 
were born in Scotland, and came to America, 
and settled in New Jersey, where they were 
married, at the respective ages of twenty-five 
and fifteen. From their union there were 
fifteen children, seven sons and eight daugh- 
ters, all of whom lived for many years after 
the youngest Avas married. The mother lived 
to the age of ninety-three years, leaving a 
posterity of four hundred and seventy-two 
souls. Stephen Brown moved to what is 
now Morrow Co. with his parents in the 
spring of 1835. They settled on a farm of 
eighty acres of land near Gilead Station. He 
resided here with his parents until 1836, when 
ho went to Martinsburg, Knox Co. Ohio, 
where he was married to Nancy Boyd. He 
returned to Morrow Co. after his marriage, and 
settled in Caanan Tp. From this union there 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



567 



were five children, Orlando C, Alexander B., 
Samuel S. and Gilbert M. One died in infancy. 
After spending fifteen years in Caanan Tp., 
Mr. Brown moved with his family to Carding- 
ton, where he has since resided, coming to 
Cardington in 1858, since which time he has 
held several important town and township 
offices; he was elected first to the oifice of Tp. 
Clerk and afterwards Justice of the Peace, 
an ofiice he has by re-election held to the 
present time. He also held the office of 
Mayor four years, and County Coroner two 
terms. In 1864 he was admitted to the bar, 
and still remains in the practice of law. Hav- 
ing helped to bring the Republican party into 
existence, he stands to-day, firm, tried and 
true to the cause. During the war of the 
Rebellion he was the soldiers' friend, giving 
two out of four sons to help crush the Rebel- 
lion. 

S. V. BENEDICT, farmer and stock raiser; 
P. O., Cardington; Mr, Benedict was born in 
Morrow Co., Ohio (then Morvin Tp., Marion 
Co.) Nov. 20, 1834. He is a son of Eli and 
Elizabeth (Shaw) Benedict, both of whom 
were natives of Morrow Co., and the parents 
of eight children. The Shaws came to this 
county and settled upon the creek which bears 
their name, in 1808. They were the first set- 
tlers in that portion of the county. The Bene- 
dicts were also early settlers of the county, 
having settled near the present village of 
Woodbury soon after the Shaws settled on 
Shaw creek. Eli Benedict departed this life 
in 1846. He settled on the farm now owned 
by the subject of this sketch, soon after his 
marriage with Miss Shaw. He was an upright 
Christian gentleman, respected by all who 
knew him. His wife survives him, and is one 
of the oldest living settlers of the county. 
There were four of the " Shaw boys " in the 
late war. Jonathan S. was in Co, I. 3d O. V. 
I, and was killed at the battle of Stone River; 
Charles W. was also in Co. I, 3d O. V. I, was 
twice captured, but managed to escape on both 
occasions; Levi went from Colorado; S. V. 
Benedict was in Co. K, 88th O. V. I.; served 
from July, 1864, to July, 1865. He was raised 
upon a farm receiving a limited education. 
When 14 years of age, he left home and went 
to Logan Co., where he was employed for some 
time, working by the month upon a farm. He 
then returned to Morrow Co., and for a num- 



ber of years worked for $9 per month — " dry 
month" — upon a farm. He was united in 
marriage with Miss Louisa Curren, Nov. 2, 
1855; she was born in MorrowCo,, Ohio, Feb. 
7, 1836; from this union there were seven 
children, six of whom are now living — Cora J,, 
LeviE., Stephen N., William H,, Roy L,, and 
Dessie M, ; the one deceased was named Eunice 
L,; Mr. Benedict owns 105 acres of land in 
Cardington Tp., and eighty acres in Westfield 
Tp. he has had no pecuniary assistance to speak 
of, and his possessions were gained entirely 
by his own efi"orts. He makes it a point to 
keep good stock of all kinds, and believes in 
and practices the old saying: " What's worth 
doing at all is worth doing well." He has for 
a number of years been an earnest worker in, 
and member of, the U. B, Church. He is a 
member of Cardington Lodge No, 384, A. F. & 
A. M., and of Mt. Gilead, Chapter No. 59. He 
is an open-hearted, genial companion, a consis- 
tent Christian gentleman, and one of Morrow 
county's most respected citizens. 

CAPT. J. G. BLUE, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O., Cardington. David B. Blue, the 
father of Capt. Blue, was born in Northum- 
land Co., Pa., Aug. 5, 1814. When a small 
boy, his parents moved to Muskingum Co., 
Ohio. He was married to Miss Wealthy 
Bartlett, Feb. 10, 1839. She was born in Del- 
aware Co., Ohio, Nov. 1, 1822. Her father 
was a brother of Josiah Bartlett, one of the 
signers of the Declaration of Independence, 
and removed with his family from Pennsylva- 
nia to Delaware Co., Ohio, in 1812. David B. 
Blue is the father of nine children, five of 
whom are now living — Capt. J. G., his three 
brothers, Abner W., John D., and David L,, 
and a sister, Etna T., now Mrs. C. O, Morton, 
of Clinton, Iowa. The deceased were named 
Mary E., Sarepta O., Elum A. and Annie L. 
Capt. J. G. Blue, eldest of the nine children, 
was born near the town of Mt. Vernon, Knox 
Co., Ohio, Aug. 4, 1840; his parents removed 
to Wyandotte Co., Ohio, while he was yet a 
child, and from there to Mt. Gilead, Morrow 
Co., in 1848; and from there to Cardington, 
seven years later. In 1860, the parents pur- 
chased a farm in Cardington Tp., upon which 
they located, Capt. Blue remained at home, 
assisting his father at his trade — that of car- 
pentering — until 16 years of age. He then 
for a period of four years, taught school dur- 



yCr 



M^ 



568 



CARDINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



iiig the winter months, and was variously em- 
ployed during the summer. When President 
Lincoln issued his first call for 75,000 men, 
Capt. Blue enlisted in Co. I, 3d O. V. I, as a 
private. At the reorganization of the com- 
pany, some three months later, he was chosen 
1st Sergeant of the company, but soon after 
was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant — a position 
he held until the battle of Perrysville, Ky., 
when by by the death of Capt H. E. Cunard, 
he succeeded to the command of the com- 
pany, although he did not receive a cap- 
tain's comiftission until after the battle of 
Stone River. Soon after this battle, the 3d 
Ohio, 51st and 73d Indiana, were sent into 
Georgia to cut off supplies from the rebel army 
at Chattanooga. While here the entire com- 
mand were captured and taken to Rome, Ga. 
Here the officers and men were separated, and 
Capt. Blue, with other officers, was taken to 
Libby Prison, where they were kept one 
year, when they were transferred to Macon, 
Ga., and from there, in a few months, to 
Charleston, S. C, and Columbia. After an 
imprisonment of twenty-two months, Capt. 
Blue was exchanged, and returned to his home. 
During his stay in prison he underwent untold 
privations and sufferings. When he was cap- 
tured he weighed 165 lbs., and when ex- 
changed but 92 lbs. He was a brave and 
gallant soldier, and is spoken of by his com- 
rades in arms in the most complimentary 
manner. After his return home, for two years 
he was engaged in mercantile pursuits, when 
he sold out and purchased a farm of 40 acres. 
He has since added to it, until he now owns 
320 of as nicely improved land as is to be 
found in Morrow Co. He was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Annie E. Johnson June 13, 
1806. She was born in Morrow Co., O., Nov. 
8, 1846. From this union there are two chil- 
dren-^Jphnson W. and Mary E. For some 
years past Capt. Blue has made a specialty of 
raising and breeding Spanish Merino sheep; 
he was one of the first men to engage in this 
business in Central Ohio, and has fully and 
clearly demonstrated that the raising of good 
sheep is much more profitable than the rais- 
ing of inferior ones; his present flock is second 
to none in the State, and he finds ready sale 
for all he has at good round prices. Caj>t. 
Blue is a stalwart Republican politically, and 
a consistent member of the M. E. Church. 



He is an intelligent, kind-hearted gentleman, 
universally respected by all his neighbors and 
friends. He is a strict temperance man and 
a member of the Masonic order. 

GEORGE R. CUNNINGHAM, carriage- 
maker; Cardington; is a native of Troy Tp., 
Delaware Co., Ohio; he is the son of .Jolm 
and Sarah (Wise) Cunningham, and was born 
June 20, 1831. These parents were born and 
raised near Bellaire, Oliio, and were the parents 
of eight children, all of whom reached their 
majority; two of the sons, John A. and James 
A., died while serving their country in the 
last great war. The father came to Delaware 
Co., Ohio, in 1830, and himself and wife are 
yet living in Delaware City, and both are old 
and respected citizens of that place. The 
subject of this sketch lived on his father's 
farm until he was 17, when he went to Dela- 
ware and learned his trade of E. R. Thompson, 
with whom he remained three years. Shortly 
after this he came to Cardington with his 
possessions, consisting of $15 and a large 
share of native energy, with no bad habits. 
He started a small job shop upon his arrival 
in 1851, and the following year began a rapidly 
increasing business of making two-horse and 
spring wagons. About this time he formed 
a partnership with his brother, William A., 
which lasted until 1861, when the brother was 
bought out, and" our subject continued the 
business alone. In 1874 a sudden and de- 
structive fire burned him out, destroying 
property valued at $20,000, covered by $6,000 
insurance; just before the fire he had a busi- 
ness, the sales of which amounted to $30,000 
per annum. With characteristic energy he 
began anew, but lost heavily on account of 
hard times and an unstable currency. At 
present he is engaged in the same business in 
a large two-storied brick building, with about 
sixteen employees. On the 31st of July, 1856, 
he was married to Minerva J. Peck, who bore 
him two children — Mary A. and John L. His 
first wife died in August, 1864, and two years 
later he married his second wife, Sarah A. 
Gregory. Mr. Cunningham is a Republican; 
he has been a member of the Town Council 
and of the City School Board ten years. He 
is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is 
a strong temp(;rance man, allowing no driuik- 
enness among his workmen. He owns one of 
the larjrest vehicle manufactories in Ohio. 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



569 



HENRY CECIL, farmer, P. O., Gilead Sta- 
tion, was born in Shelby Co., Ohio, Sept. 9, 
1825, and b'ved there three years; the family 
then moved to Behnont Co., Ohio, where they 
"engaged in farming; in 1840, after the death 
of his father, Henry began the management of 
the place, and lived with his mother until Jan. 
29, 1845, when he married Miss Nancy Bon- 
ham, of Belmont Co., Ohio; they lived on the 
Cecil homestead for five years, and then moved 
to his uncle's place near by, and lived with 
him for five years, after which he rented in the 
neighborhood until in 1856, when his mother 
died; after which he bought the old homestead, 
and lived on the same for seven years; in Aug., 
1862, he enlisted for three years in Co. B., 
126th Ohio Reg. ; after serving eight months 
he was discharged, owing to ill-health; in 
1864 he settled in Cardington Tp., and has 
lived there since; he is now residing on his 
place, which contains eighty acres, and is lo- 
cated one mile west of Gilead Sta. By the 
marriage there was one child, which has since 
died — Esther Ann; she married first Mr. Levi 
Maxwell and after his death she married Mr. R. 
A. St. Clair; by the first marriage there were 
two children, one of whom is living — Harry C. 
Maxwell; he lives with his grandparents. By 
the second marriage there was one child, which 
has since died. Mr. Cecil's parents, John and 
Duannah (Long) Cecil, were natives of Mary- 
land and Virginia; they came to Ohio — he in 
1814, with his parents, who settled in Bel- 
mont Co.; she also came to Ohio with her 
parents, who settled in Belmont Co. They 
married there and died on the old homestead; 
of their seven children, four are living. Hiram 
lives in Belmont Co., Ohio; Henry, Thurza, 
now Mrs. Ross Greenfield, and Erwin, all live 
in Morrow Co., Ohio, and all are married. 

B. B. CRANE, insurance agent; Carding- 
ton. Robert Crane, the grandfather of B. B. 
Crane, was born in Mifflin, Pa., Aug. 24, 1776. 
His wife, whose maiden name was Jane Tay- 
lor, was born in Huntington Co., Pa., Aug. 
22, 1778; they removed to Muskingum Co., 
Ohio, in 1818. Robert Crane was a soldier 
of the war of 1812^ and occupied a high posi- 
tion as a citizen; he died Nov. 21, 1841, and 
was followed by his wife Aug. 24, 1851. 
Their son, R. T. Crane, and the father of our 
subject, was Vjorn in Pennsylvania, June 2, 
1807, and was married to Miss Rhody Hector, 



Sept. 2, 1832; she was born Jan. 2, 1814, and 
died June 7, 1877. The father died Aug. 30, 
1841; he was a man noted for his mechanical 
ingenuity; it was he who constructed the cele- 
brated " Political Spere," used during the 
campaign of Harrison and Tyler. It was an 
ingenious piece of mechanism, representing 
upon its surface the different States of the 
Union; during the campaign it was rolled 
through different states, and attracted a great 
deal of attention; it went the grand round, 
and at last found a resting-place in the "Smith- 
sonian Institute," Washington, D. C. B. B. 
Crane was born in Muskingum Co., Ohio, 
Aug. 10, 1834; he received a good common 
school education, and was variously employed 
until 17 years of age; he afterward served an 
apprenticeship at the painters' trade, after 
which he attended R. M. Bartlett's Commer- 
cial College, from which institution he gradu- 
ated in 1855; in 1857 he visited the Pacific 
slope, where he remained some time; after 
his return to Ohio, he followed painting until 
the breaking out of the Rebellion, when he 
enlisted as a private, in Co. E, 3d O. V. L; 
after serving for two years, he was discharged 
to accept the position of 1st Lieutenant in a 
company of the 97th O. V. I., but owing to 
sickness, was never able to do duty; in 1864 
he came to Cardington, where for some time 
he followed his trade. He was united in 
marriage with Mrs. Sarah E. (Doty) Shurr, 
Dec. 31, 1864. She was born in Morrow Co., 
Ohio, Jan. 3, 1842. Her parents were among 
the first settlers of Morrow Co., an account of 
which will be found in the history of Ben- 
nington Township, this work. In Mr. Crane's 
family were five children, three of whom are 
now living, viz: Fred L., Annie and Cora B; 
those deceased were named Mary and Nellie. 
Since his marriage, Mr. Crane has been vari- 
ously employed; he was one of a company of 
men who, in 1866, built the Enterprise Block, 
the first brick block in the town ; he has for 
some time been in the insurance business; he 
represents some of the best companies in the 
United States, and is doing a good business; 
during the crusades he did good and effective 
service in the cause of temperance; he is the 
present Secretary of Cardington Lodge, No. 
384, F. & A. M., and has been at different 
times a member of the City Council and the 
Union School Board; he is a Republican. He 



o70 



ClARDINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



owns a nicely-improved home property on 
Main street, Carding;ton, besides valuable 
timbered land in Michigan; he possesses great 
natural abilities as a business inan, and is well 
known for his integrity. 

• WILLIAM H. CURL, farmer and stock 
raiser; P. O., Cardington. This gentleman 
was born in Claik Co., Ohio, Aug. 20, 1834; 
he is son of William and Margaret (Arbogast) 
Curl; he remained at home, until about 20 years 
ofage, when he began for himself. He was mar- 
ried to Miss Rebecca Johnston, Apr. 27, 1854; 
she was born in Morrow Co., Ohio, Feb. 2, 
1832; she died May 7, 1864. The results of 
this union were four children— Perry N., Sarah, 
Lucena, and Lemuel. Mr. Curl was united in 
marriage with Miss Susanna Shaw, Sept. 14, 
1864; she was born in Morrow Co., Ohio, Feb. 
4, 1841; four children are the fruits of this 
union — Jonathan S . Willie H., Maggie O., and 
Ellis R. Mr. Curl owns 215 acres of land, all 
under a high state of cultivation. He has ob- 
tained all his property by hard work and 
close attention to business, and is in the full- 
est sense of the term, a self-made man. He 
is a Republican, and a member of the M. E. 
Church, and has held a great many positions 
of honor and trust in the township. He is 
one of Morrow county's most respected citi- 
zens. 

HENRY W. CURL, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O., Cardington; was born in Clark 
Co., Ohio, Oct. 21, 1829; his parents, William 
and Margaret (Arbogast) Curl, came from 
Clark to Morrow Co., Ohio, in 1835; the for- 
mer was born in Miami Co., Ohio, Aug. 9, 
1807, and the latter in Virginia, in 1808. Jer- 
emiah Curl, father of William, was a soldier 
of the war of 1812, and one of the first settlers 
of the Miami Valley; William Curl and wife 
are the parents of five children, all of whom 
are living, the youngest being past forty years 
of age. He and wife corniected themselves 
with the M. E. Church in 1828, and have ever 
since lived exemplary Christian lives, and are 
loved and respected by the entire community. 
Henry W. Curl lived with his parents upon a 
farm until he reached his majority, when he 
began for himself. He was united in mar- 
riage with Miss PJlizabeth Johnston, Oct. 24, 
1850; she was born in Perry Co., Ohio, July 
4, 1829. Her parents, William and Catharine 
(Fluckey) Johnston, were pioneer settlers of 



Perry Co., Ohio, and came from there to Mor- 
row Co. in 1830. They were the parents of 
nine children, seven of whom are now dead, 
as are the parents. In Mr. Curl's family there 
were seven children, six of whom are now' 
living— Elzy S., Franklin M., Cora A., Haze 
D., Ida M. and Ada B. The one deceased 
was a twin sister of Ida M., and died in in- 
fancy. Mr. Curl first purchased forty acres 
of wild woodland, and began its improvement; 
he added to it by purchase from time to time, 
until he owned 180 acres of well-improved 
land. This was in Marion Co.; he sold that in 
1867, and purchased " the old Kees farm," of 
148 acres, one of the best improved in Car- 
dington Tp., upon which he has since resided. 
He is a staunch Republican, politically, and a 
member of the M. E. Church. 

JAMES T3RURY, farmer and stock-raiser; 
P. O., Cardington. This gentleman is a son 
of James Drury, Sr., who came from Pennsyl- 
vania, his native State, to Perry Co., O., when a 
young man. Here he met Miss Rebecca Johns- 
ton, to whom he was married, and who was 
the mother of nine children. She died in 
Perry Co., O., Apr. 14, 1848, and he in Mer- 
cer Co. in 1860. James Jr. was raised upon 
a farm, receiving such education as the com- 
mon schools of that early day aflforded. He 
was born in Perry Co., O., Apr. 7, 1829, where 
he remained until 1855, when he came to Mor- 
row Co. He was united in marriage with 
Miss Margaret Fluckey Dec. 31, 1857. She 
was born in Morrow Co., O., Feb. 1, 1833. The 
Fluckeys came from Perry to Morrow Co., O., 
in a very early day. In our subject's family 
are four children — Mary E., Rebecca D., Har- 
ley G. and Joseph F. Mr. Drury owns eighty 
acres of nicely improved land, which he has 
cleared and improved since his coming to the 
county. He is a Republican and a member 
of the M. E. Church. 

W. B. DENMAN, merchant; Cardington; 
was born in Morrow Co., Feb. 21, 1847, the 
only child of John and Jane (Hayden) Den- 
man. The father when sixteen years of age 
removed with his parents from New Jersey to 
Ohio; he was a cooper byirade, and was for 
a number of years located in Chcsterville. 
He purchased a farm adjoining Cardington, 
upon which he resided until his death, in 1875. 
His wife survives him and resides upon the 
old homestead. The Hay dens were pioneer 



^'. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



571 



settlers of this county. W. B. Denman re- 
ceived a common school education; when 15 
years of age he became dissatisfied with. farm 
labor, and pursuaded his father to let him un- 
dertake peddling. He first began by peddling 
sweet potato plants; he soon secured a one- 
horse wagon and began peddling dry goods 
and notions. He peddled over Morrow and 
adjoining counties for a period of ten years, 
and was very successful. He is well and 
favorably known throughout this portion 
of the State as "Little Denman the Peddler." 
In 1870 he and Mr. Z. L, White engaged in 
the dry goods trade in Delaware, O. After 
two years they took in a Mr. Hyatt, as part- 
ner, and the firm was known as Hyatt, White 
& Co, In 1874 Mr. Denman purchased the 
entire stock, and for two years did business 
alone; he sold out in 1876 and came to Car- 
dington, where he has since resided. He has 
a large trade, and is a very successful business 
man ; he carries the largest stock of dry goods 
in Morrow Co., and does a strictly cash busi- 
ness. He was united in marriage with Miss 
Lucinda A. Dickey, of Richland Co., May 2, 
1874. From this union there is one child — 
John Harry. Mr. Denman is in political be- 
lief a Republican, although liberal in his views, 
and is a member of The Odd Fellows' Order, 
Royal Arcana, and M. E. Church. Since 
coming to Cardington he has devoted his en- 
tire attention to business; by zealous toil 
he has arisen to the enviable position he 
now occupies among the merchants of Car- 
dington, and foreshadows a career which will 
no doubt prove both useful and honorable 
among his fellow citizens, and a subject of 
proper pride to his family and himself. 

GEORGE A. DAWSON, miller, Carding- 
ton. Of those citizens of Cardington who 
have succeeded in their respective business 
enterprises, we must necessarily include the 
name of George A. Dawson. He was born 
in Fauquier Co., Va., Feb. 28th, 1836. His 
parents, Turner and Lucinda (Tolle) Dawson, 
were natives of Virginia, where they were 
married, and lived until 1837, when they re- 
moved to Mt. Vernon, Ohio,where Mr. Dawson, 
Sr. took charge of the "Norton Mills" of that 
place. At the expiration of two years he was 
offered, and accepted the superintendency of 
the "House Mills" of Mt. Gilead. After re- 
maining in Mt. Gilead two years he returned 



to Knox Co., and look charge of the mills at 
Waterford, where he remained until his death, 
June 4, 1847. His wife died Nov. 14, 1875. 
They were the parents of nine children, seven 
of whom are now living. The father was an 
industrious, intelligent man, whom every one 
respected and trusted. George A. Dawson 
was but eleven years of age when his father 
died; he had received but a meager educa- 
tion, and thus left at an early age to look out 
for himself, the energy that has been a prom- 
inent characteristic of his life, manifested it- 
self. He remained in the mill his father had 
been running, and although but eleven years 
old, had almost sole charge of it. After some 
time he entered the employ of a Mr. Walters, 
in a mill situated on Owl Creek. He remain- 
ed with him until twenty-two years of age, 
and was married to Miss Minerva Bright, 
March 5, 1857, who was born in Knox Co., 
O., Sept. 20, 1834, and died Sept 30, 1871. 
From this union there were two children — 
John and Mary. In 1858 he came to Chester- 
ville. Morrow Co., and purchased the Lord 
Mill of that place, which he ran ten years, 
and then sold out and came to Cardington, 
and with others built the Steam Flouring 
Mills of that place. He now owns a one-half 
interest in both the steam and water mills of 
that place, and is one of the most practical 
millers in central Ohio. For years after his 
father's death he gave all his earnings to his 
mother, to help support the family, and at the 
time of his marriage he had not a dollar he 
could call his own; but his energy and close 
attention to business has placed him in the 
front rank of affluent and enterprising citizens 
of Cardington. He has filled with honor to 
himself and lasting benefit to those for whom 
he has labored, numerous positions in the town- 
ship and city government; he is a staunch 
Republican. He was united in marriage 
with Maggie S. Ocker,''Apr.7,1875. She was 
born in Cardington Tp., Morrow Co., Feb. 3, 
1847. 

HENRY S. GREEN, M. D.; Cardington; 
is a son of Aaron S. and Nancy (Berry) 
Green, and was born in the village of Nor- 
ton, Delaware, Co., O., Feb. 25, 1842. The 
father when a young man came from Pa., 
his native State, to Marion Co., O., where he 
was married to Miss Berry, who was the 
mother of his two sons, Henry S. and James 



^7T^ 



_4. 



CARDINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



qc: 



H. The latter is a resident of Galion, Ohio, 
and Caslii(M- of The Citizens' National Bank 
of that place. The mother's people — the 
Bcrrys, were amon<r the first settlers of Mari- 
on Co. In 1852 the Greens moved to Card- 
ington where they have since resided. Here 
Henry S. spent his youth attending school 
and clerking in the stores of the place. He 
was for some time assistant postmaster of 
Cardington. When 19 years of age he went 
to Cleveland, where one year was passed in a 
drug store, when he enlisted in Co. C. 96th O. 
V. I. Soon after his enlistment he was pro- 
moted to the position of hospital steward, 
where he remained uHtil the close of the war; 
not long after his return home he began the 
study of medicine. He graduated from the 
Miami Medical College of Cincinnati in 1869. 
He was united in marriage with Mary, adopted 
daughter of David Martin, Esq., of Carding- 
ton, May 10, 1871. There are two children 
from this union — Lonora, born Aug. 24, 
1872; andAdnaS.,Mch. 19,1879. Dr. Green 
was the lirst Junior Warden of Cardington 
Lodge A. F. &. A. M., and has held the hon- 
orable position of Master of the Lodge for 
about eight years. He has been President 
and Secretary of the Morrow Co. Medical 
Association, and is a member of the State 
Medical Society. Dr. Green possesses those 
characteristics of industry, perseverance and 
honesty of purpose which lead to success, and 
has used well the powers given him, and 
enjoys the respect and confidence of the entire 
community. 

A. H. GRANT, liveryman; Cardington; 
was born near the village of Sunbury, l^ela- 
ware Co., Ohio, Feb. 26, 1836. He is the 
only surviving child of a family of four chil- 
dren of Andrew and Sarah (Hess) Grant. 
The father was a direct descendant of that 
old and respected family of Grants, who flour- 
ished during " feudal times " in Scotland. 
He was an early settler of Delaware Co., and 
came from there to Cardington, in 1843. He 
was a shoemaker by trade, and morally, one 
of the best men Cardington ever knew. He 
was a member of the Masonic and Odd Fel- 
lows societies, and of the M. E. Church. He 
gave freely of his means to those in need, 
while to all his friends he was both generous 
and just; and he evinced in his every act a 
true and exemplary Christian manhood, which 



T" 



commanded the esteem of his family and 
friends, and won the respect of all who knew 
him. His personal integrity and high sense 
of honor were never doubted. He died Oct. 
25, 1878. His wife survives him, and is to- 
day one of the oldest settlers of Cardington. 
A. H. Grant received the advantages of a 
good education, and when a young man 
learned the saddle and harness maker's trade 
with a Mr. Cunningham, of Cardington, soon 
after which he bought him out, and for four 
years carried on quite an extensive business, 
and had a number of men in his employ. 
He clerked for four years in Cardington, and 
then formed a co-partnership with Mr. John 
Sanderson, in dry goods, in Cardington, and 
sold out. In 1872 he began in the livery 
business, which he has since followed. He 
was united in marriage with Miss Nancy R. 
Rose, Nov. 10, 1859. She was born in Guern- 
sey Co., Ohio, Oct. 19, 1836. From this union 
there are five children — Sarah Irene, John 
B., Abraham S., Samuel P. and William Spen- 
cer. Mr. Grant has been a member of the 
Union School Board of Cardington, since 
1864, and was an efficient member while 
many public improvements were made. He 
has been identified with the Republican party 
since its organization, and was during the 
late war a staunch Union man. He is a mem- 
ber of the Masonic, Odd Fellows, and Red 
Men societies, of Cardington. Mr. Grant 
owns a nicely improved home property on 
Main street, and has an interesting family, 
being respected bv all who know him. 

ROSS GREENFIELD, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O., Cardington; Mr. Greenfield was 
born Nov. 6, 1825, in Harrison Co., Ohio; his 
parents, Levi and Jane (Miller) Greenfield, 
were both natives of Pennsylvania, where they 
were married, and resided until 1810, when they 
removed to Harrison Co.,Ohio, coming over the 
mountains in a one-horse wagon. They were 
frugal and industrious people, and by dint of 
hard work and economy, they soon had a lit- 
tle home for themselves and family. The fa- 
ther was a carpenter by trade, and was one 
of the most even-tempered men in all that re- 
gion of country. He and wife held to the re- 
ligious tenets of the followers of Wm. Penn. 
They were the parents of five sons and two 
daughters. The mother departed this life Feb. 
1, 1845, followed by her husband Dec. 30, 



:^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



573 



1867. Ross was raised upon a farm, and re- 
ceived a common education. When 21 years 
of age, he began for himself by farming dur- 
ing the summer months, and during the fall 
and winter he would run threshing machines. 
He was united in marriage with Miss Thurza 
Cecil, Apr. 6, 1848; she was born in Belmont 
Co., Ohio, June 7, 1828; her parents John and 
Duannah (Long) Cecil, were natives of Mary- 
land, and removed from that State to Miami 
Co., Ohio, where they remained a short time, 
when he moved to Belmont Co., where the re- 
mainder of their days were passed. They 
were the parents of four sons and three 
daughters. Mr. Ross Greenfield remained in 
Belmont Co. until 1864, when he came to 
Morrow Co., which he has since made his 
home. In his family were four children, three 
of whom are now living — James T., Ada D. 
and Adonirara J. The one deceased was 
named Mary A. He owns 113 acres of well 
improved land, which he has obtained by his 
own exertions. He is a Republican of the 
stalwart kind, and a consistent member of the 
M. E. Church. He at present holds the of- 
fice of township's trustee, and is one of Mor- 
row Co.'s most respected citizens. 

JOHN W. HOFF, Cardington; is a native 
of Harrison Co., Va., is the son of Abraham 
and Mary (Waters) HofF, and was born March 
10, 1834; the parents were Virginians, and 
the father lived there until his death, in 1839; 
a few years afterwards the mother married 
Edward Armstrong, who also died, when she 
came, in 1878, to live with her son, our sub- 
ject; she bore her first husband four children, 
two of whom are yet living; our subject and 
his sister, Sarah C. Drury, now a resident of 
Linn Co., Mo.; the father was a prominent 
man, occupying many positions of trust, 
dealing extensively in stock, and was one of 
the largest agriculturalists in Harrison Co., 
Va.; the mother is yet living with her son, 
John W.; until the age of fourteen, our sub- 
ject had received no education, but at this 
age he began going to school winters and 
working on farms summers, saving by econo- 
my sufficient money to pay his expenses for 
some time at the O. W. U., at Delaware, O.; 
he began teaching when eighteen, and has 
followed that calling every winter since, ex- 
cept two, when he was in the array; he was a 
member of Co. C, 145th O. V. I., and also a 



member of Co. K, 88th O. V. I., and served 
about one year; on the 9th of March, 1856, 
he was united in marriage with Miss Mary 
Hull, a native of Delaware Co., O., born Dec. 
15, 1835; these parents have had a family of 
eleven children, seven of whom are living — 
Mary A., Vinnie T., Zella M., Henry H., Her- 
man C, Virginia V., Neva R., living, and — 
Viola A., John W., Ida I., and a babe not 
named, deceased. Mr. Hoff owns forty acres 
of land in Cardington Tp., and one hundred 
and twenty in Benton Co., Iowa; for a num- 
ber of. years Mr. Hoff has dealt largely in 
horses, and is now one of two partners who 
own Forfar Chief, a full-blooded Clydesdale 
horse, imported from Scotland in 1874, by 
Rosser and Thompson, of Ontario, Canada; 
the horse is a dark bay, sixteen and a half 
hands high, and weighs 1990 lbs.; the horse 
in 1879 took the sweepstakes premium at the 
Ohio State Fair over eight competitors. Mr. 
Hoff is a Republican, and is a member of 
Cardington Lodge No. 384 F. and A. M., and 
Lodge No. 194 I. O. O. F.; his daughter Ma- 
ry A. began teaching at the unprecedented 
age of thirteen years, and has since taught 
nine terms; she was the youngest applicant 
who ever received a certificate to teach in 
Morrow Co.; Mr. Hoff came from Muskingum 
to Delaware Co. in 1852, thence to Morrow 
Co. in 1871, and is one of the county's best 
citizens. 

P. H. HIRTH, barber; Cardington; was 
born in Hesse Darmstadt, German}^, July 18, 
1836 ; one of a family of six children of 
Conrad and Catharine Hirth, both natives of 
Germany. He was educated in his native 
country. When fourteen years of age he 
left his parental roof, and for two years at- 
tended school in the city of " Frankfort-on- 
the-Main," pursuing the studies of anatomy 
and minor surgery. After this, for a period 
of ten years he traveled over different por- 
tions of Europe, working at the barber's trade. 
In 1860 he took passage for the United 
States, landing at New York City May 4 of the 
same year. He remained in the city some 
six months, and then went to Easton, Pa., 
where he began barbering. On the breaking 
out of the Rebellion he espoused the Union 
cause, and served with distinction three year, 
in Battery C, 5th U. S. Artillery. He was in 
some of the great battles of the war, among 



>j^ 



574 



CARDINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



which were Gettysburg, Spottsylvania C H., 
seven days' battle before Richmond, Chancel- 
lorsvilie, Fredricksburg and Coal Harbor; he 
was twice captured, but his bravery in both 
cases led to his escape. Mr. Hirth did good 
and gallant service for his adopted country 
and was respected and admired by his com- 
panions in arms. At the expiration of his 
term of enlistment he returned to Easton, and 
while there became acquainted with Miss 
Lizzie H. Wallace, of Morrow Co., Ohio; they 
were married Mch. G, 18G5, and soon after 
came to Cardington, where they have since 
resided; they have had four children born 
to them, one of whom in now living — 
Lizzie Maud. The deceased were named 
Irene, Imo M., and William E.; Mr. Hirth is 
a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows' 
Societies and of the M. E. Church of Carding- 
ton. He owns a nicely improved home prop- 
erty in Cardington and one of the neatest and 
cosiest barber shops in Central Ohio. 

CRAVEN W. JENKINS, farmer and stock 
grower; P. O., Cardington, O., was an only 
child, born to George W. and Eda J. (How- 
ell) .fenkins. He was born in Loudoun Co., 
Va., Aug. 10, 1833, and lived there five years, 
when, with his parents, he removed to Fred- 
ericktown, Knox Co., O. The family came by 
wagon, and Aj'hile crossing the AUeghanies 
met with an accident that came near termi- 
nating the journey. Reaching a point where 
the narrow road ran alongside of a precipice, 
the four-horse team became unmanageable, 
and starting to run, threw the wagon over the 
edge of the embankment. The horses man- 
aged, however, to cling to the edge, while the 
wagon bed with its load of household goods 
and humanity, became detached and slid to 
the bottom of the ravine, a distance of seven- 
ty-five feet. Mrs. Jenkins and C. W., who 
were on the load, were precipitated into the 
ravine but strange to say, received no injuries. 
With the help of the passengers in a passing 
stage-coach, the wagon was righted and the 
journey resumed. In Knox Co. they rented 
a farm, living on it for twelve years, when 
they moved to the vicinity of Chesterville. 
Alter a two years' residence here they re- 
moved to a farm in Cardington Tp. April 
12, 1855, C. W. married Miss Hamnutal Jack- 
son. She was born in Washington Co., Pa., 
Aug. 28, 1829, coming to this county in 1834 



with her parents, George P. and Mary (Hobbs) 
Jackson, who were natives of Pennsylvania 
and Maryland. Mr. Jackson was twice mar- 
ried; first to Elizabeth Crawford, by whom he 
had thirteen children, of whom seven are liv- 
ing. By his second marriage children were 
born to him, four of whom are living. Im- 
mediately after his marriage the subject of 
our sketch moved into a house on his father's 
farm. In 1860 his father gave him twenty 
acres of land, which he farmed until the death 
of his father, Feb. 1, 1801, when he occupied 
the old homestead. A year later he came to 
his present residence. His parents on coming 
to Cardington, occupied a log cabin in the 
woods. They had three horses, two or three 
cows, some sheep and hogs. Mr. G. W. Jen- 
kins was at Washington when Washington 
was burned by the British. He, in company 
with his father, took Col. Morgan, of 1812 
war fame, to Washington during the battle. 
August 12, 1870, Mr. Jenkin's mother died. 
Two children were born to Craven W. Jen- 
kins, one of whom only is living; George W. 
married Miss COra A. Cure, and is living on 
the homestead. 

JOSEPH JEWELL, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O., Cardington; Mr. Jewell was 
born in Washington Co., Pa., Sept. 14, 1827; 
his parents, Stephen and Elizabeth (Martin) 
Jewell, were both natives of Maryland, and 
the parents of eight children, four of whom 
are now living. Two of their sons, John and 
Jacob, were soldiers in the late war; Jacob 
was one of the first to enlist at his country's 
call, and well and faithfully served his country 
until the close of the war; John was killed in 
an engagement in Missouri. In the spring of 
1828 the parents came westward, and located 
in Licking Co., Ohio. The mother died in 
1843, and was followed by her husband in 
1868. He was a farmer — an honest, upright 
Christian gentleman, and during his lifetime 
held many positions of honor and trust. 'Jo- 
seph remained upon his father's farm until he 
was 21 years of age, when he served an ap- 
prenticeship at the carpenters' trade, a busi- 
ness he followed until he came to Morrow Co. 
in 1861, since which time he has been en- 
gaged in farming and stock-raising; he was 
united in marriage with Miss Permelia Marri- 
ott, Jan. 1, 1851. She was born in Licking Cq., 
O., Sept. 24, 1830; her grandfather, Homer 



V 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



575 



Marriott, came from Maryland to Licking Co. 
at a very early day. In .Joseph Jewell's fam- 
ily are seven children — Elizabeth, Mary E., 
Joanna, Laura B., Jacob E., John E. and 
Frank. Mr. Jewell owns 100 acres of well- 
improved land, which he has improved and 
obtained by his own hard labor; he began life 
as a poor mechanic, and is most emphatically 
a self-made man. He has held several offices 
in the township; is a member of the Masonic 
order and of the Bethel M. E. Church. Polit- 
ically, he is one of Morrow county's most stal- 
wart and uncompromising Republicans. 

HIRAM KERN, merchant; Cardington; 
among the old settlers and prominent busi- 
ness men of Cardington, is Hiram Kern. He 
was born in Berks Co., Pa., Oct. 19, 1828, the 
son of Joseph and Sarah (Swavley) Kern, both 
natives of Berks Co.. Pa., where they were 
raised, married and lived until 1831, when 
they removed to Perry Co., Ohio. They were 
the parents of fourteen children, six of whom 
are now living. The father was always en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits, and was noted 
for his energy, frugality and straight business 
habits. He died March 20, 1880; his wife 
died in 1867; she was a niece of the famous 
Daniel Boon, of Kentucky. Hiram Kern had 
but few advantages for obtaining an educa- 
tion, as he was " bound out " to a shoemaker 
at 14 years of age. After four years he began 
working for himself in the county in which 
his parents lived. After some time spent 
near his old home, he took a trip through the 
South and West, working at his trade to pay 
his way. After an absence of eighteen 
months, he returned to his home in Perry Co., 
where for some time he worked at his trade. 
He was united in marriage with Miss Louisa 
Lentz, Sept. 11, 1851; she was born in Perry 
Co., Ohio, March 26, 1834. From this union 
there are five children — Mary E., Margaret 
C, Adda, Clara I., and Henry S. In 1851 
Mr. Kern came to Cardington and began in 
the boot and shoe trade. He is the only man 
who has for a period of twenty-nine years 
past been constantly and continually in the 
mercantile business in Cardington; he is an 
honest, upright business man, and has a good 
trade. He is a member of the M. E. Church 
of Cardington; he is a Democrat, and a self- 
made man in the fullest acceptation of the 
term. 



JACOB KREIS, retired; Cardington; 
was born in Baden, Germany, April 28, 1810; 
he is the son of Joseph and Eva (Kelber) 
Kreis, both natives of Germany, and the pa- 
rents of five children, four of whom are living. 
When Mr. Kreis was in his 18th year, he left 
his native land and came to the United States, 
stopping for eight years in York Co., Pa.; 
while there, in 1836, he married Helena 
Smith, and the same year came to Ohio, set- 
tling in Marion Co., on a farm of forty acres; 
he was unable to pay for his land at that time, 
but leaving his wife and child in the wilder- 
ness, he went to Dayton, Ohio, where he 
worked on the pike until he had secured suffi- 
cient money to pay the balance oftheindebt- 
ness; he then began to improve his small 
farm, economizing and undergoing hardships, 
and, at last, by shrewd management and sa- 
gacity, had increased it to 900 acres; he 
continued speculating in land in Marion Co., 
laying there the foundation of his fortune. In 
1858, while still living in Marion Co., he be- 
gan in the mercantile business in Carding- 
ton, moving on a farm near there in 1864; 
nine years afterward he came to Cardington 
to live; he has since been engaged in almost 
all the enterprises to improve and build up 
the city; he was one of the men to build the 
Enterprise Block, the first brick building in 
Cardington; he was also one of the founders 
of the First National Bank, being one of its 
Directors; at this date he is the President of 
Battey's Bank, of Cardington, and is a Director 
of the Citizens' National Bank, of Gallon, 
Ohio; he has other valuable property in 
Cardington, owning one of the finest dwell- 
ings in the county, besides considerable 
property adjoining the city. He is the father 
of twelve childreji, ten of whom are now liv- 
ing — Joseph, Jacob, Elizabeth, Helena, 
George, John, Cassia, Mary, Daniel and Sam- 
uel, living; and Catharine, and one that died 
in infancy, dead. When Mr. Kreis arrived 
in the United States, he had but one dollar; 
he went to work for Jacob Coover, remaining 
with him seven years, receiving $4 per month 
for the first seven months, at the end of 
which time he pocketed the $28, not having 
spent a cent. He is a Democrat, though 
somewhat liberal in his views. Remember- 
ing his own trials in early life, he^as managed 
to ffive his children a difl"erent start. He is 



^ 



^ 




oneof the most prominent citizens at Card- 
in gton. 

K. W. LONG, farmer; P. O., Cardington; 
was born on his father's farm, then in Marion 
Oo., O. and now located in Gilead Tp., of 
Morrow Co., O., March 27, 1837, and made his 
home with his parents until he was 30 years 
of age. Upon becoming of age he engaged as 
Ward attendant in the N. O. Lunatic Asylum, 
and worked there for three years; he then en- 
listed in the 65th Ohio Inf'try Reg., Co. D, 
and was in the service four years, serving 
as Sergeant; he was in the battles of Stone 
River, Pittsburg Landing and Chickamauga; 
at the latter place he was taken prisoner and 
held captive for seventeen months and seven- 
teen days, serving in the Richmond, Danville 
and Andersonville prisons, being in the latter 
j)lace eleven months; he was paroled in March, 
1SG5, and in company with 2200 others was on 
the way home on board the ill-fated steamer, 
Sultana, which blew up on the Mississippi, 
and of tlie entire number but 500 were saved, 
our subject being among the number; he swam 
down the stream several miles, it being night 
and very dark; he finally found a log and held 
to it until rescued; he also assisted five others 
who were drowning to make the log. He re- 
turned home and worked in the county; March 
2S, 1867, he married Miss Sarah J. Smith; she 
was born in Pennsylvania, and came to this 
vicinity with her parents when young. After 
his marriage he rented one year and then came 
to his present place; he owns eighty acres, lo- 
cated two and a half miles north of Carding- 
ton. They have six children — Frankie P., 
Stella A., Charlie H., Harry W., Maud M. and 
Nadie. His parents, Daniel and Mary (Flem- 
ing) Long, were natives of Northumberland 
Co., Pa.; they married there in 1835, and 
came to this vicinity about the same year in a 
lumber wagon, and settled in the timber, liv- 
ing in a log cabin and doing their own spin- 
ning and weaving, living there until their 
deaths, November, 1879, and January, 1876, 
respectively; of their eleven children but six 
are living — Absalom and R. "VV., of this vicin- 
ity, Wm. H. in Nebraskii, Mrs. Nancy J. Bar- 
Icr and Mrs. Catharine Peal, of this county', 
and Martha J., living with her brother, R. W. 

T. W. r>ONG, dealer in saddles and har- 
ness; Cardington. T. W. Long was born July 
2 1, 1830, in Erie Co., New York; is son of Fred- 



erick and Sarah (Castleton) Long, both of 
whom were natives of England, where they 
were raised, married and resided until 183-i, 
when they emigrated to the United States, 
and located in Erie Co., N. Y. The father 
was a baker by trade, a business, he followed 
in his native country, and for some time after 
coming to the United States; for a number of 
years past he has been a minister of the gos- 
pel in the Presbyterian Church; he is a man 
of very much more than ordinary ability, re- 
spected and loved by all who know him. His 
wife died in 1877; she was the mother of 
eleven children, eight of whom are now living. 
T. W. Long was raised upon a farm. He re- 
ceived the benefits of a common school educa- 
tion, and when twenty-one years of age, he 
came to Ohio, but on the breaking-out of the 
Rebellion, he returned to his native State, and 
enlisted in Co. I, 116 N. Y. V. L, and served 
with distinction for three years. After his 
return home he went to the oil regions of 
Western Pennsylvania, where he remained 
some eighteen months, and then came to 
Morrow Co., Ohio, where he has since resided. 
On first coming to the county, he had charge 
of a grist mill in Cardington, which he run 
some time, when he purchased the harness 
shop of W. C. Nichols, in which business he 
has since continued. He has the largest and 
most complete stock of saddles and harness in 
the county, and has built up a large trade by 
his honest dealings and the close attention he 
has paid to business. He also deals largely 
in hides, pelts, furs and tallow, the sale of 
which annually amount to more than 125,000. 
He was united in marriage with Miss Sarah 
Wolf, Apr. 18, 1867. From this union there 
are two children — Hubert Clare and Edna 
Anna. Mr. Long began as a poor boy, and 
is a self-made man. He is liberal in his 
political views, always voting for the, man 
and measures, and not for party. He is a 
member of the Presbyterian Church and Ma- 
sonic Order, and has held -a number of posi- 
tions of honor and trust in the city and town- 
ship government, with honor to himself and 
lasting benefit to those for whom he labored. 

MORGAN LEWIS, retired farmer; P. O., 
Cardington; was born in Onondaga Co. N. 
Y., July 15, 1806. His parents, Jonathan and 
Mabel (Hoyt) Lewis,were born, raised and mar- 
ried in Vermont, to which State they removed 



— a) 



it 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



577 



ill 1800 from their residence in New York. 
They were the parents of five children, Morgan 
and his sister, Mrs. Maliala Wood, being the 
only ones now living; the parents removed 
to Westfiold Tp. in 1834, where, on the 26th 
of June, 18G0, the father died. His wife died 
Sept. 27, 1849. Morgan Lewis was married 
in the State of New York to Miss Syren a 
Scofield. He had been raised to hard work, 
receiving no education whatever, having at- 
tended but three months term of school pre- 
vious to his marriage. When seventeen years 
of age he built a large saw mill in New York 
State which he ran for some time with great 
success. Some years after his mill and a 
large stock of lumber were washed away by a 
flood. When his parents came to Ohio, he, 
with his family, came with them; he at once 
began erecting mills, at which he found steady 
employment for a number of years; it is said 
that he has built and owned more saw and 
grist mills than anv other man in Central 
Ohio; in 1840 he built the Meredith Grist 
Mill, which he run a great many years. From 
his marriage with Miss Scofield there were 
eleven children — seven of whom are now 
living, viz: Morgan S., Charlotte, George, 
Jerome, Caroline, Harriet and Joseph. Dur- 
ing the late war Mr. Lewis sent four of his 
sons to battle for the Union. Two of them — 
Orson and Jonathan — died in their country's 
service. Mr. Lewis came to Cardington 
some ten years ago, where he has since re- 
mained, and owns a nicely improved property 
of 11 acres within the city limits, also IGO 
acres of land in Iowa. Mr. Lewis has held in 
his life-time, many positions of honor and trust, 
he was a Justice of Peace in Westfield Tp. 
a great many years. He began life a poor boy, 
and has made what he has by close attention 
to business. He is a staunch Republican and 
a consistent Christian. 

W. H. MARVIN, banker; Cardington. 
On the paternal "side W. H. Marvin is de- 
scended from Matthew Marvin, who came in 
the ship " Increase " from England to Ameri- 
ca in lG3o, and settled in Connecticut. There 
his parents — Hiram G. and Sarah (Champ- 
lin) Marvin — were born, raised and married; 
and when Central New York was almost an 
unbroken wilderness, removed to Geneseo 
Co., in that State. Here, on the 15th of De- 
cember, 1828, W. H. Marvin was born. He 



is one of a family of four children born to 
them, three of whom are now living. In 1835, 
the parents removed t':^ Ohio, and located in 
South Bloomfield Tp., Morrow Co. Soon after 
their coming to the county, the father en- 
gaged in mercantile pursuits in the village of 
Sparta. He departed this life June 7, 18G4, 
and his wife. May 5, 1864. W. H. Marvin 
received a common school education. When 
fourteen years of age, he accepted a position 
as clerk in a store at Mt. Gilead. Here he 
remained three years, receiving f 40, $60 and 
$80 per year for his services. He then went 
into partnership with his father in a store in 
Sparta. At this time neither father nor son 
had sufficient means to purchase what stock 
was required; but through the influence of an 
uncle of young Marvin's, they obtained credit 
of a firm in New York city, and young Mar- 
vin was sent there to purchase the stock. 
After some years, the father sold his share of 
the store to his son, John W., and the two 
brothers continued in the business in Sparta 
until 1857, when they sold out and came to 
Cardington. The brothers remained in part- 
nership some years, when John W. sold his in- 
terest to his brother. W. H. Marvin continued 
in the business until 1876, when he sold out; 
since which he has devoted the greater portion 
of his time to the settling up of his business; 
he was for a number of years a large stock- 
holder in, and President of the Citizens' 
National Bank, of Galion, Ohio; he is at 
present President of the Morrow County 
National Bank, of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, and Vice- 
President of the First National Bank, of 
Cardinffton; he is also a larg^e stockholder in 
the Citizens' Savings Bank of Cokimbus, of 
which Gen. John Beatty is President; he is 
the Treasurer of the Mutual Endowment and 
Relief Association, of Ohio. Mr. Marvin's 
reputation is that of a prompt and careful 
business man, and by strict integrity and 
close attention to business, he has amassed a 
comfortable fortune. He was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Loretta F. Wolcott, Sept. 10, 
1855. She wajg born in Geneseo Co., N. Y., 
July 28, 1831, and is a direct descendant of 
the celebrated Oliver Wolcott, of Connecticut. 
From this union there are three children — 
Annie W., Clitus H. and William Beatty. 
Mr. Marvin is a "stalwart" Republican, and 
a member of the Masonic Order. His home 



■tt; 



fk. 



57S 



CARDINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



property is located on Marion street, and is 
one of the nicest in Cardin<rton. He has by 
his own exertions amassed an independent 
fortune, and behind his seeming reserve his 
friends find him a hirge-hearted, open-handed, 
generous gentleman, aud genial companion. 
M. L. MOUNEY; drugoist; Carding- 
ton; of those citizens of Cardiiigton who have 
succeeded in their respective business enter- 
prises, a list must necessarily include the name 
of M. L. Mooney; he was born in Sherman, 
Fairfield Co., Ct., Sept. 2, 182G; his parents 
removed to Courtland Co., N. Y., when he 
was three years of age; here his life was 
spent until twenty years of age, when he 
left home, and for some time traveled 
through the New England States, selling 
"Yankee notions;" he was married Nov. li, 
1850, to Miss J. K. Smith; she was born in 
Chenango Co., N. Y., Jan. 1, 1836; from this 
union there were five children, four of whom 
are now living, — Lydia J., Susan C, Mary L. 
and Henry S.; the deceased was named Fran- 
ces A. Soon after his marriage Mr. Mooney 
embarked in the hotel business in New York; 
at the expiration of two years he sold out, 
and removed to Portage Co., Ohio, where foi- 
five years he was engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits; in 1858 he came to Cardington, whore 
he has since resided; on coming here, he first 
went into the stove and tinware trade, with 
Mr. D. St. John, but after some time sold out 
and started in the drug trade, a business he 
has ever since followed; he is the oldest res- 
ident druggist in Morrow Co., and an honest, 
careful business man, respected by all who 
know him; he has held a number of offices in 
the town and township, and was an efficient of- 
ficer; he is a staunch Republican. Mr. Moon- 
ey is very liberal to religious and educational 
enterprises, and has done much to improve 
and build up the public schools of Carding- 
ton. ' 

GEORGE NICKOLS, retired farmer; P. 
O., Cardington; was one of fifteen children, 
born to Nathan and Sarah (Thomas) Nickols. 
lie was born in Loudoun Co.,Va.,May 20, 1807; 
Mr. Nickols' parents were natives of Virginia, 
where they lived until the death of the father. 
In 1827 the family moved to Ohio, settling on 
a farm near Mt. Gilead. In 1824 the father 
had come to Ohio on horseback and entered six 
quarter sections in different parts of the coun- 



ty, and in 1827, after his death, the family 
moved West in wagons and entered six more 
quarter sections, in the vicinity of Mt. Gilead. 
George lived here with the family a year and 
a half, when he returned to Virginia and 
brought back Miss Julia Ann K. Bradfield as 
his wife; she was a native of Virginia and 
died in 1845. They had nine children, four 
of whom are now living — Sarah, now Mrs. 
Walace; Matilda, now Mrs. Harris; Abner 
and Tamson, now Mrs. Fluckey. All are now 
married and are living in Iowa and Kansas. 
In 1849 Mr. Nickols married Miss Athenesia 
Spencer, a native of Belmont Co., O. By 
this second marriage were the following chil- 
dren — Joel, John, Eunice, Ettie and G. War- 
ren. Mr. Nickols has served as School and 
Road ofBcer, and as Township Trustee. He 
owns 190 acres of land, located one mile north- 
east of Cardington. Of his brothers and sis- 
ters, Mary, now Mrs. Barlett, lives in Illinois; 
Nathan lives in Illinois; the rest are deceased. 
It is related that Albert, a deceased brother, 
was out in the Mexican War a year, and upon 
his return home met another brother John, 
just going out to the army. 

WISEMAN C. NICHOLS, Cardington; 
has for the past twenty-five years been promi- 
nently identified Avith the best intei'ests of 
Morrow Co. Jonathan Nichols, his father, 
was born in Bolton, Mass., July 25, 1754, and 
when a small boy, went with his parents to 
Thetford, Orange Co., Vt. He was a soldier 
of the Revolutionary war, and fought with 
General Stark at the battle of Bennington; he 
was wounded, and for the last few years of 
his life drew a pension. He was a man of 
much more than ordinary ability, and held 
during his life-time the offices of Sheriff and 
and Surveyor of Orange Co. He was mar- 
ried to Miss Phene Sackett, about 1790; she 
vvas born in Kent, Litchfield, Co., Ct., Feb. 
17, 1707; when a girl she went with a married 
sister to Orange Co., Vt., where she engaged 
in teaching school. The lineage of the Sacketts 
can be traced back to 1597, to England, their 
native country; their coming to America 
dates back nearly three hundred years. Wise- 
man is the fiftli of eight children; they were all 
married, and at one time were all with their 
mother and wives, members of the First Pres- 
byterian Church, of Ripley, New York; of 
the number, Wiseman is the only surviv- 



BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



579 



ing one. On Oct. 9, 1813, his father, with 
his family, ten in all, started for the west in a 
wagon drawn by three horses, with a capital 
of $54 in cash. It being late in the sea- 
son, and the roads bad, the family walked 
more than half way. They were five 
weeks on their journey, and had but 12^ cts. 
in their purse on their arrival; Wiseman's 
boyhood was passed assisting his father in the 
summer, and attending school in the neighbor- 
hood during the winter; on the 22nd, of Oct. 
1829, he was married to Miss Fivilla, eldest 
daugliter of Joseph and Tabitha (Day) Cass. 
She was born in Stratford, N. H., Feb. 17, 
1811. They have had six children, four of 
whom are living. Forty years of Mr. Nichols 
life, including his boyhood, has been spent in 
agricultural pursuits; he followed carpenter- 
ing for six years,' and taught school eight 
terms; was in the mercantile business three 
years; was for three years sheriff; and three 
years mayor of Cardington, and for eighteen 
years a justice of the peace. He remembers 
very distinctly the eclipse of 1806, also the 
cold season of 1816, when there was snow or 
ice every month of the year. His first vote 
was given for William B. Rochester, " Buck- 
tail candidate " for Governor of New York. 
He voted with the Democratic party until 
1840, when he gave his vote for Gen. Harrison, 
since which time he has voted with the Whig 
and Republican parties. On coming to Car- 
dington Mr. and Mrs. Nichols connected 
themselves with the M. E. Church, of which 
they are still members. 

ISAAC H. PENNOCK, banker; Carding- 
ton; was born in Columbiana Co., O., Aug. 
16, 1825 ; his parents, William and Abi- 
gail (Welch) Pennock, were natives of Penn- 
sylvania, the mother coming from the " Quaker 
City," and the father from Chester Co. They 
were of English descent, and held with their 
ancestors to the religious tenets of the follow- 
ers of Wm. Penn. The offspring of William 
and Abigail Pennock were one son — Isaac H., 
and five daughters, all of whom are now liv- 
ing, as is the mother, at an advanced age, at- 
testing to the vigor and vitality of the original 
stock. The Pennocks came to Ohio while it 
was yet a part of the great Northwest Terri- 
tory, .lohn Pennock, the grandfather, built 
the first mill in that portion of the State now 
known as Columbiana Co. William Pennock, 



the father, was also a mill-wright and a suc- 
cessful business man. He departed this life 
in 1847. Isaac H. Pennock spent his early 
years in the schools of his native village, and 
at the age of fifteen years began the study 
of medicine at Marlborough, in Stark Co., O. 
He was a diligent and untiring student, and 
at the early age of nineteen graduated at the 
Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati. He came 
to Morrow Co. in 1843, and began the practice 
of medicine ; he remained at Woodbury 
twenty years, and while located there attend- 
ed lectures at some of the best medical col- 
leges in the United States. In the fall of 
1859 he was united in marriage with Carrie 
A., youngest daughter of Maj. Samuel and 
Annie (Northrop) Clark, of Boardman, Ma- 
honing Co., O. Maj. Clark emigrated from 
New Milford, Litchfield Co., Ct., and settled 
in Boardman in 1810, at which time nearly 
the whole of the Western Reserve was a 
wilderness. In 1863 Dr. Pennock removed 
to Cardington, where he continued active- 
ly in the practice of medicine until 1875, 
since which time he has devoted the most 
of his time to banking and agriculture; as 
a physician he was regarded as among the 
first in this section of the State, always a care- 
ful and close student of Pathology, as he found 
it in his practice; he became a leader in the 
use of new and rational remedies, and with 
uniform success. Shortly after locating in 
Cardington, he in connection with W. H. Mar- 
vin, Gen. John Beatty and others, organized 
under the National Banking law, the "First 
National Bank " of Cardington, and has been 
the largest stock holder, and the president of 
the bank since its organization; he is also 
President of the Citizens' National Bank of 
Gabon, O., and a stockholder and Director in 
the Morrow Co. National Bank of Mt. Gilead, 
and the Citizens' Savings Bank of Columbus. 
With sound judgment conducting his large 
business interests, he yet finds time to speak 
encouragement to the young and struggling 
members of the profession with whom he 
started in the world. With social qualities 
of a high order, he is an earnest, temperance 
advocate, and those who have heard him in 
his deliberate way sum up the evidence in the 
case against the great social evil, will admit 
that he practices temperance by precept as 
well as by example. His wife is an amiable 




lady, accom]>lishe(l and pleasing. In Dr. 
Pennock's family are two children — William 
C. and Mary A.; the son is now attondiii<x 
Koiivon College, near Mt, Vernon, O., and the 
chuiiihti^r a seminary for young ladies at 
Pouiihke-epsie, Now York, 

TAULTON PECK, farmer and dealer in 
horses; P. O., Cardington; this gentleman is 
the seventh son of John and Amy (Maxwell) 
Peck, and was born in Morrow Co., Ohio, Oct. 
9, 1835; his youth and early manhood were 
passed in school, and in and upon the farm. 
When quite a small bo}^ he manifested a 
strong liking and aptness for handling horses; 
as he neared his majority, it became apparent 
to his friends and relatives, that his judgment 
in regard to horses was second to none in the 
county; he began handling horses, and has 
owned some of the best horses ever brought 
into Central Ohio; and it has been greatly 
owing to Mr. Peck's exertions, that the peo- 
ple of Morrow Co., have so good horses. Car- 
dington, through the influence and labors of 
such men as Mr. Peck, is to-day one of the 
best horse-markets in the State. Mr. Peck 
was united in marriage with Miss Mary J. 
Ocker, Nov. 12, 1857; she was born in Mor- 
row Co., Ohio, Apr. 18, 1841. From this union 
are three children — John S. and Elva May, 
living, and William L., deceased. Politically 
Mr. Peck is a staunch Republican; he owns a 
nicely improved farm of eighty-seven acres in 
Cardington Tp. The most of his time is spent 
dealing in, and handling horses, and perhaps 
there is not a man in the county who knows 
so well what a horse is, and should be, as Mr. 
Peck; he began life poor, and is in the fullest 
sense of the word self-made. 

JOHN S. PECK, wholesale and retail fur- 
niture dealer; Cardington; was at an early 
age thrown upon his own resources, but by 
industry and application to business, he has 
come to be the proj)rietor of a large manu- 
facturing establishment. He has occupied 
numerous positions of honor and trust in the 
city and township, filling within the last de- 
cade the offices of Township and Corporation; 
Treasurer, Chief of the City Fire Department, 
meml)er of the City Council, and Union School 
Board. He was born in Lewis Co., — now 
West Va., .Ian. 31, 1832, the son of John and 
Amy (Maxwell) Peck, who are the parents of 
five sons and one daughter. The father was 



born in Watertown, Ct., and Aug. 7, 1825, was 
married to Miss Maxwell, a native of Virginia, 
who died May 23, 1847. The father removed 
to Cardington, and lived to a ri])e old age, 
dying Nov. 20, 1873. He was a shoemaker 
by trade, but for a number of years was en- 
gaged traveling over the country huckstering 
tin ware, and in old age was never more in his 
element than when relating the sharp bar- 
gains he drove with his wares, and reminis- 
cences of his life as a huckster. He was a 
Methodist. During the late war he was a 
strong Union man, and being more than or- 
dinarily out-spoken in his views, he did much 
in maintaining that strong loyal sentiment at- 
home which gave courage and conlidence to 
the boys in the field. His son John received 
the advantages of a common school education, 
and at the age of fourteen went to Delaware, 
O., and served three years' apprenticeship at 
the cabinet maker's trade. He then worked 
at his trade with C. O. Van Horn, of Mt. Gil- 
ead; he then removed to Westfield, thence to 
Newville, DeKalb Co., Ind., working five 
years at his trade. He then came to La Rue, 
Marion Co., O., and in the spring of 1865 he 
came to Cardington and engaged in the fur- 
niture and undertaking business; and in 1872 
he erected a three story retail establishment on 
Main street. In 187G his jobbing and foreign 
trade having outgrown his facilities, he built 
a three story brick factory on Railroad street, 
which he now occupies; it is filled with the 
latest and best improved machinery. This 
factory gives steady employment to from 20 
to 30 skilled workmen. He was united in 
marriage with Lorinda Bartlett, May 26, 1854, 
daughter of Lester Bartlett, Esq., one of the 
pioneers of Westfield Tp. Mr. Peck owns an 
elegant residence on Main St., surrounded by 
the comforts of a well earned competency. 

W. H. POORMAN, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O., Cardington; was born in Knox 
Co., Ohio, July 12, 1827. His parents, Chris- 
topher and Mary (Longsdorf) P(K)rman, were 
both natives of the " Keystone State " ; they 
removed to Knox Co., Ohio, in a very early 
day, and were among the most respected and 
influential people of that county; they were 
th^' parents of ten children — W. H., An- 
drew J,, Theodore, Margaret, Sarah, Serena, 
B^lizabeth, Phineas, Evaline and Susanna. 
The father was a cooper by trade, a business 



it 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



581 



he followed through life. W. H. Poorman 
made his home with his parents, going to 
school, and assisting on tlie farm until he was 
man grown. He was united in marriage 
with Miss Loretta Bowyer, May 6, 184*J, and 
by her has the following family — Theodore, 
Madison, William, Mary J. and Margaret, 
living; Isaac, Francis and two not named, de- 
ceased. Mr, Poorman began life at the foot 
of the ladder, and is, in the fullest sense of 
the word, a self-made man. His possessions 
at the time of his marriage were an old horse, 
and a dilapidated wagon ; he first purchased 
a small tract of land, which he improved and 
sold; he now owns one of the largest and best- 
improved farms iu Morrow Co., which he has 
the satisfaction of knowing he obtained by 
his own exertions. He is a staunch Republi- 
can, politically, an honest, industrious man, 
respected by all who know him. 

HENRY PROPHET; merchant; Carding- 
ton; was born in Warwickshire, England, town 
of Southam, Jan. 8, 1823. He is the son of John 
and Catharine (Roberts) Prophet, natives of 
England. These parents were married in 
England, and in 1830, came to the United 
States. They were six weeks on the ocean. 
There were three small children in the family 
at that time, and five more were born to them 
in the United States. The father was a tailor, 
working at his trade many years in and near 
Philadelphia. In about six years after com- 
ing to this country he moved to Columbiana 
Co., Ohio, remaining there some two years. 
He and family came to the State across the 
mountains in a one-horse wagon, the seven 
children in the family at that time walking 
most of the way. In about 1838 the father 
purchased forty acres of land near Carding- 
ton, and after paying for it had forty cents 
left. He was a man of great ambition, and 
accumulated some property. The mother 
died in 1856, and the fatl/er in 1861. Henry 
served an apprenticeship at the tailor's trade, 
working with his father. He received scarce- 
ly any education, and was married to Harriet 
Nichols, who bore him the following family — 
Ellie, Katie, Harry, Frank P., and Hattie. 
Mr. Prophet owns a nice homestead on Cen- 
ter street, in Cardington. He is a Democrat, 
and is one of the most influential men of the 
city. His son Harry was married to Miss 
Gussie Smith, April 7. 1880. This lady was 



born in New London, Ohio. Harry was raised 
at Cardington, and in early manhood traveled 
two years in the West. He owns one of the 
most valuable properties in Catdington, and is 
at present running a confectionery and fruit 
depot. He is one of the most prominent and 
enterprising young men in the city. 

D. B. PECK, dealer in furniture; Carding- 
ton; this gentleman was born in Lewis Co., 
Va., Sept. 29, 1830. He is the son of John 
and Amy (Maxwell) Peck, mention of whom 
is made in this work. D. B. Peck lived at 
home until eighteen years of age, when he 
went to Delaware, O., and served an appren- 
ticeship of three years at the carriage-makers' 
trade. He then came to Cardington, and 
formed a partnership with Mr. John Garvin in 
the wagon and carriage business. This was 
the first enterprise of the kind in Cardington. 
Mr. Peck worked at his trade some sixteen 
years, and then went into the furniture busi- 
ness with his brother, J. S. Peck. He has 
since been associated with him, and has greatly 
aided in building up the large and increasing 
trade they now have. He was married Apr. 
20, 1853, to Miss Margaret S. Paris, and by 
her had the follovving tamily of children — Ar- 
thur C, James F., Laura G. and Virgil W., 
living — Alden W. and Ellen 1., deceased. 
Mrs. Peck was born in Delaware Co., 0., Aug. 
17, 1836, and departed this life Feb. 13, 1873. 
She was a loving wife, kind and indulgent 
mother, and a consistent Christian lady. Mr. 
Peck was again married Oct. 23, 1873, to Miss 
.Jennie Evans. She was born in Sylvania, 
N. Y., Nov. 8, 1844. There is one child 
from this union — Maggie S. Mr. Peck is a 
thorough business man, a staunch Republican 
in politics, and one of Cardington's most re- 
spected citizens. He owns a nicely improved 
property on Nichols St., and has the satisfac- 
tion of knowing that his possessions were ob- 
tained by his own exertions. He has never 
aspired to any political prominence, but has 
devoted his entire attention to his business. 

JAMES M. PRINGLE, farmer and stock- 
raiser ; P. O., Cardington; this gentleman 
was born in Berkshire Tp. Delaware Co., 
O., Aug. 6, 1820. He is the son of Daniel 
and Deliverance (Rogers) Pringle, bo h na- 
tives of Luzerne Co., Pa., and descended from 
old and respected N(tw England families; 
they removed from Pennsylvania to Delaware 



k 



582 



CArvDINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



Co., O., in 1S20, and from there in 1829 to 
"Westfield Tp., Morrow Co., where they passed 
the remainder of their days. They were the 
parents of twelve children, eleven of whom 
reached their majority. They were hard- 
working, intelligent people, and hold to the re- 
ligious tenets of the followers of William 
Penn. James M. Pringle was brought up to 
farm labor, receiving but a limited education ; 
he was, however, a great lover of books, and 
at odd times applied himself so closely, that 
previous to his majority, he had mastered all 
the common branches, and had taught, sever- 
al terms of school. When twenty-two years 
of age, he began doing for himself. He was 
married to Miss Mary A. White, June 12, 
1842; she was born in Morrow Co. O., Oct. 
18, 1821; her parents, Noah and Fanny (New- 
ton) White, were among the very first settlers 
of this county, having come here as early as 
1808. Soon after Mr. Pringle's marriage with 
Miss White, he purchased forty acres of un- 
improved woodland and began its improve- 
ment. He had four years in which to pay for 
the land, but by hard work and economy, he 
had, at the expiration of three years, liquida- 
ted the indebtedness; he now owns 126 acres 
of very superior land, upon which are good 
buildings. He has always voted with the 
Whig and Republican parties, and has been 
an exemplary member of the M. E. Church 
since early manhood. He has held numerous 
positions of honor and trust, both in church 
and township, and has done much to advance 
the religious and educational interests of the 
county. 

JOHN RUSSELL, deceased; was born 
in Belmont Co., Ohio, Ang. 28, 1815, and 
lived there for twenty-three years. He then 
came to this locality, and spent his summers 
in clearing some land his father had formerly 
entered; he spent the winters in Belmont Co., 
Ohio. Sept. 17, 1844, he married Miss Sarah 
Parkins; she was born in Belmont Co., Ohio, 
Aug. 9, 1822, and came West, and settled on 
a farm adjoining the present place, in 1835, 
and lived there until her marriage, when they 
settled on the present place, and she has lived 
here since. He died Feb. 15, 1867. They 
had six children, four living — Hannah K. 
Strong, living in Kansas; Isaac P., at home; 
Mary N. Dibert, living in this vicinity; and 
Linneas J. lives on an adjoining place; Louisa 



J. and Geo. Wm. died — the former married 
Mr. Harmon A. Davis. They had one child — 
Geo. L. Davis; he lives here with his grand- 
mother. Though it was com])aratively a late 
date when Mr. Russell occu])ied the present 
place, all was timber. They lived in a log 
house of the pioneer pattern, and made most 
of their own clothing. His parents, Samuel 
and Sarah (Moore) Russell, were natives of 
Virginia, and settled in Belmont Co., Ohio, in 
an early day, and lived thei-e until their deaths. 
They had a family of thirteen children. Mrs. 
Russell's parents — Isaac and Nancy (Schooley) 
Parkins — were natives of Virginia. They 
moved to Belmont Co., Ohio, when young, 
and married there. They came here in 1835. 
He died Feb. 20, 1842. She has since lived 
in this vicinity, and at present in Cardington. 
Of their eight children, three are living — Sa- 
rah Russell, Jane and Hannah Pervis, Iowa. 
Linneas J. Russell, son of John and Sarah 
Russell, was born Dec. 10, 1853, and lived at 
home until April, 1880, when he occupied the 
adjoining farm. Aug, 26, 1879, he married 
Miss Laney E. Hissey, of Belmont Co.,''Ohio. 
In 1869 he began farming the old homestead, 
and has looked after the place and family 
since. 

M. C. ROGERS, farmer and stock-raiser; 
was born near Williamsporte, this Co., Dec. 16, 
1839, and lived with his parents until he be- 
came of age, when he went to Owen Co., Ind., 
and learned the cabinet making trade. In 
June, 1861, he came back to Ohio, and worked 
with his uncle until the following October, 
when he enlisted in the 43d Ohio Reg. Infant- 
ry, and served for three years and one 
month; after the first year he was transferred 
to the Engineer's Corps; he was in the bat- 
tles of Corinth, and on the March to At- 
lanta. In the Spring following his return 
home he went to Illinois, and worked at car- 
pentering at'Cerro Gordo, and from thence to 
Missouri and Kansas, and finally returned to 
this county and worked at his trade until 1873, 
when he came to this present place, which he 
and his brother J. H., had bought in 1866, 
and he has lived on the same since, having 
bought his brother's interest. May 1st, 1873, 
he married Miss Martha I\I. Christy; she was 
born in Belmont Co. Ohio; of their three chil- 
dren, two are living — Iva A., Dell and Ed- 
mond C, he owns sixty acres in this town- 



\ 



^1 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



583 



ship, located five miles northwest of Carding- 
ton. His parents, Wm. H. and Mary A. Cur- 
tis Rogers, now live in Canaan Tp., this 
county. 

JAMES ROSE, farmer; P. O., Cardington; 
was born in Bedford Co., Penn. Feb. 6, 1811. 
The Rose family originally came from En- 
gland, and settled in Pennsylvania. Our sub- 
ject's paternal and maternal grandfathers, both 
being Revolutionary soldiers. The founder 
of this branch of the family, Edward Rose, 
was born Jan. 22, 1747, and his wife, Drucilla 
Pierpont, June 14, 1750. Mr. James Rose's 
parents were John and Mary (Daulton) Rose, 
born respectively June 16, 1787, and March 
21, 1785, and were both natives of Pennsylva- 
nia. In 1814 |,they came to Ohio, where after 
thirty years residence, the father died in 
1844. His wife survived him twenty-four 
years, dying Feb. 26, 1868. At the age of 
three years, James Rose came with his parents 
to Perry Co., O., where the family settled on 
a farm near Zanesville; here they remained 
until 1834. James passing his majority in 
the ordinary way, dividing his time between 
the farm and schools as were then afforded. 
He taught one term of school, but moving to 
Sandusky, he turned his attention to the 
sterner duties of clearing a frontier farm. Be- 
fore moving, James married Miss Nancy Gor- 
don, a native of Perry county, Feb. 12, 1832. 
Two years later, he started for Sandusky Co. 
by wagon, consuming eight days in the jour- 
ney, and settling in an unbroken tract of tim- 
ber. He occupied a log house, which he had 
put up a month previous, 26x40 feet, contain- 
ing but two rooms. Here he cleared twenty- 
six acres, when he sold out and occupied a 
piece of land he had previously bought in the 
same neighborhood. On this place they at 
first occupied a round log house, containing 
but a single room, and two years later built 
a brick house, in which he lived until 1854. 
During that time he cleared seventy acres; 
this was near the Indian reservation, and the 
Wyandots and Senecas were frequent visitors 
at his place, often staying all night, but always 
exhibiting a friendly disposition. In this 
county he served as County Commissioner 3 
years, and eighteen years justice of the peace. 
Selling out in 1854, he brought his family to 
Lincoln Tp., settling on a farm five miles east 
of Cardington. During his nineteen years 



residence here, he served as road and school 
officer, as well as trustee of the township. In 
1873, he moved to Cardington, where he has 
resided since. Of eleven children born to Mr. 
Rose, nine are now living — David C, died 
in the army at Camp Dick Robinson, Dec. 
26, 1861, was captain of Co. E., 31st O. V. I; 
Mary M., now Mrs. Cunnard, lives in Lincoln, 
Tp.; Martha A., now Mrs. Mosier, in Carding- 
ton; James M., Kansas; Henry N., Nebraska; 
John M., Kansas; Edward L., died in Illinois; 
Chas J'., Delaware county; Alonzo J., Delaware 
county; Ferdinand H., Cardington; Eliza S., 
Cardington. During the late war of the Re- 
bellion, seven of James Rose's sons were in 
the army, the eighth son being too young to 
enlist. Three served in the 31st O. V. I., two 
in the 13th, O. V. C. and one in the 136th 
O. V. I. 

G. B. SMITH, farmer; P. O., Cardington; 
was born in Guernsey Co., Ohio, Nov. 19, 
1813; during his infancy his father died, and 
some four years later his mother married Mr. 
Aaron Smith. G. B. lived with his mother 
until he was 16 years of age; he received but 
a limited schooling, having to walk three 
miles to school; at the age of 16 he began 
working about the neighborhood at farming 
and carpentering, and followed the same until 
he was married to Miss Mary E. Clements, 
March 3, 1836. She was born in Loudoun 
Co., Va. After the marriage he moved to 
just over the line to Smyrna, where he kept 
the Ohio House for eleven years; he then 
sold the place, and followed carpentering 
until 1851, when he bought a farm, and lived 
on it until 1863, when he sold it, and came 
to Morrow Co., Ohio, and settled on his pres- 
ent place. By the marriage there were twelve 
children, nine of whom are living — William, 
living in Harrison Co., Ohio; Harriet H. Jen- 
kins, living in Hardin Co., Ohio; Minerva 
Kirk and Mrs. Francina Smith live at Potto- 
watomie Co., Kansas; Julia Ann Garberson 
lives in Mt. Gilead, Ohio; Josiah lives in Del- 
aware Co., Ohio; Charles E., Potto watomie 
Co,, Kansas; Mary E. Stewart lives in Minne- 
sota; B. Franklin, at home. He owns 117 
acres of land, located two miles north of 
Cardington. His parents, William and Hul- 
dah (Bogue) Smith, were natives of Virginia 
and South Carolina; they were married in 
Harrison Co., Ohio; they came to the State of 



J^ 



584 



CARDINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



Oliio — he in 180G, and she in 1801; they mar- 
riod in 1811, and settled in Gnernsey Co., 
where he died in 1819; she died near Carding- 
ton. Iler second hiishand died in Minnesota. 
liy the first marriage there were four chil- 
dren — two are living — G. B. and Amos; by 
the second marriage there were also lour chil- 
dren, of whom three are living — Syntha Stew- 
art, of Minnesota, William H., of Plymouth, 
Ind., and Henry D., of Cardington, Oliio. 

GEORGE P. STILES, Jr., lawyer, Card- 
ington; was born in the city of Council Bluils, 
Iowa, Nov. 25, 1853, and is the son of Judge 
George P. Stiles, a prominent lawyer, and at 
one time Associate Justice of Utah Territory. 
G. P. Stiles, Jr., received an Academic edu- 
eation, and when 19 years of age began the 
study of law. He was admitted to practice 
in the District Court for Morrow Co., held in 
the fall of 187G, soon after which he located 
in Cardington where he has since re- 
mained. He is a staunch Republican. 

DUBOIS ST. JOHN, mefchant; Carding- 
ton; is a native of Poughkeepsie, N. Y.; born 
Feb. 7, 1820; the son of Anson St. John, 
a native of Ridgefield, Fairfield Co., Ct. The 
father was the youngest of eleven children, 
and when small was apprenticed to a wheel- 
wright. After serving seven years, he con- 
cluded that the trade was of but little use to 
its possessors, because of the introduction 
of new machinery. He therefore learned the 
cabinet-makers' trade, and whilst young re- 
moved to Poughkeepsie. N. Y., where he 
began the manufacture of furniture, and con- 
ducted an extensive business. The greater 
])f)rtion of his stock was sold in New York 
City. While here he married Miss Phoebe 
White, a native of Orange Co., N. Y. She 
died in 1833, leaving three small children. 
In 1835 he sold out and removed to the 
" Mosier Settlement," in what is now Morrow 
Co., and in about two years came to Carding- 
ton. His next marriage was to Mrs. Sally A. 
Ink, a widow lady with three children. From 
this union there was one son — James. He 
was Second Lieutenant in Co. I, 3rd Reg. O. 
V. I., Captain John Beatty's company, in the 
three months' service. He re-enlisted in the 
same regiment, and Avas promoted to captain 
on Gen. Lytle 's staff, and was killed at the bat- 
tle of Perrysville, Ky. His untimely death was 
greatly deplored. Anson St. John died in 



1800. DuBois St. John left his home at the 
age of eleven, and worked at whatever he 
could find to do. When fourteen he entered 
the tin shop of Mr. John Gurley, of Marion, 
where he remained until twenty; then for four 
years worked as a journeyman; after which he 
started a small tin-shop in Cardington, His 
trade gradually increased until he becauu; 
the most extensive dealer in tin and hardware 
in the county. He was married to Miss Matilda 
Kingman, May 15, 1851; they had one child, 
Matilda A., who died in infancy. Mrs. St. 
John died March 31, 1852, aged 25 years, 1 
month and 18 days. His marriage with Eliza 
Galbraith occurred Jan. 22, 1855. She was 
born Dec. 13, 1832, and died Aug. 13, 1870; 
one child was born to them, Edgar A; he now re- 
sides in Union Co., although in partnership 
with his father in the hardware business. 
Mr. St. John has been identified for 
years with the banking interests of Mor- 
row Co.; was one of a company who institu- 
ted the First National Bank of Cardington. 
He is public spirited, and contributes to the 
welfare of the community or his fellow men. 
He owns a nicely improved farm of 700 acres 
in^Union Co., 800 acres of land in Michigan, 
besides valuable property in Kansas, and in 
Cardington. He is a stalwart republican, 
and advocates with earnestness the principles 
of that party. He is a genial gentleman and 
a much respected citizen. 

WILLIAM F. SPENCER, merchant; Car- 
dington. Mr. Spencer was born in Belmont 
Co., Ohio, Feb. 24, 1822, and is the son of 
George and Eunice (Tanley) Spencer, who 
were the parents of eleven children. William 
F. Spencer passed his youth upon the farm, 
and had a common school education; he was 
united in marriage with Miss Phoebe Mosher, 
March 27, 1844; from this union there were 
three daughters — Edith A., Eunice D., 
and Lydia. Mr. Spencer came to Cardington 
Tp. in 1840, and has since made it his home; 
he owns a nicely-improved farm of 221 acres 
ii(!ar Cardington, and has the management of 
the Stock Store in Cardington, of which he is 
a stockholder. This store keeps constantly 
on hand a large stock of dry goods, groceries, 
etc., etc. Mr. Spencer is a Prohibitionist, 
but makes it a rule to vote for the man, and 
not for the party. He and his family belong 
to the reliffious sect known as the Friends. 



-PT 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



585 



GEORGE S. SINGER, liveryman, Carding- 
ton; was born in Frederick Co., Md., Sept. 15, 
1837. Is one of a family of five children, of 
John and Sarah (Hockensmith) Singer, both 
of whom were of German descent, but natives 
of Maryland. The father owned a farm and 
country store — the most of his time being 
spent therein. He was a soldier of the War 
of 1812, and was a man who had the sincere 
respect of every one. He never removed 
from his native State but remained near the 
place of his birth until his death, in 1859; his 
wife survives him, and is now residing upon 
the old homestead in Maryland, aged 83 
years. Georg6 S. Singer remained at home 
assisting his father upon the farm and in the 
store until he was nineteen years of age. He 
then came to Ohio and stopped for some time, 
both in Tiffin and in Marion. He attended 
school at Delaware, O., some two years, and 
then taught school several winter terms. He 
was married to Miss Annie M. Roach, March 
6, 1859; she was born in Morrow Co., O., 
June 13, 1842. There are four children — 
Harley S. Van Doren C, Emery M. and Mary 
Ella. He came to Cardington in 1857, which 
for the most part he has since made his home. 
He first engaged in the grocery trade, but on 
the breaking out of the Rebellion he enlisted 
in Co. C, 96th O. V. I. He was in a great 
many hard-fought battles, and saw much ac- 
tive service. After well and faithfully serv- 
ing his country for three years, he returned 
home, after which for five years he was in the 
employ of the C. C C. & I. R'y Company as 
Shipping Clerk; he then engaged in the livery 
business. He owns one of the largest and 
most commodious livery stables in Central 
Ohio. In connection with his livery business 
he also is engaged in the coal and lime trade; 
he also owns a large ice house, and annually 
puts up large quantities of ice. His home 
property is nicely situated on Marion St. He 
is a member of the I. O. O. F., and of the I. 
O. R. M., of Cardington. Politically he is a 
Republican, though liberal in his views of 
men and things. 

JOHN SELLARS, farmer and stock-dealer 
and raiser; P. O., Cardington; was born in 
Perry Co., Ohio, Nov. 1, 1827, and is the 
oldest of a family of four chjldreh of Jacob 
and EfFa (Fluckey) Sellars; George Fluckey, a 
revolutionary soldier, and grandfather of John 



Sellars, removed from Perry Co., O., to Morrow 
Co., and settled upon the farm now owned by 
the former, in the year 1834. John Sellars' 
parents came the same year and entered an 
adjoining piece of land. They brought with 
them 40 iieads of sheep, but it was not long 
until the entire flock were killed by the wolves, 
which at that early day were very trouble- 
some. They were hard-working people, and 
had soon made for themselves comfortable 
homes. Jacob Sellars died in 1850, his loss 
being deeply felt by his family and numerous 
friends; his wife survives him and is a resi- 
dent of Cardington Tp. John Sellars passed 
his youth and early manhood assisting his 
father upon the farm; he received but a lim- 
ited education, and on the 29th of March, 
1849, was united in marriage with Miss Jane 
Curl, daughter of William Curl, Esq., one of 
the early settlers of Cardington Tp.; she was 
born Jan. 9, 1828, in Clark Co., O. The 
fruits of this union were ten children, eight of 
whom are now living — Selby, Lucinda, Wiley, 
Amanda, Lovina, Isadora, Ross and Leman; 
those deceased were named Alva and Free- 
man. Mr. Sellars first purchased forty acres 
of land, which he has owned a great many 
years; he now owns 310 acres of well-im- 
proved land in Cardington Tp.; also valuable 
property in the village, besides lands in 
Paulding Co., O., and in Missouri. He is a 
Prohibitionist politically, and an earnest advo- 
cate of the Temperance Reform. He takes 
great interest in religious and educational en- 
terprizes, and has, for a great many years, 
been a consistent member of the United 
Brethren Church. He deals largely in fine 
stock of all kinds; he has a stud of thirty 
horses now upon his farm, and is the owner 
of Mohawk Jackson, whose record as a trotter 
is scarcely second to any horse in the State; 
he is also the owner of several fine Bashaw 
horses. There are few men in Morrow Co. 
who have done so much to improve all kinds 
of stock as Mr. Sellars, and the county wovild 
be much better oif had it more such men. 

URIAH THOMPSON, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O., Cardington; was born on his 
father's farm in Portage Co., Ohio, July 31, 
1819, and lived there with his parents until 
he was 24 years of age, during which time he 
attended school, worked on the farm, and also 
at shoemaking and carpentering. Jan. 5, 



:rv- 



3L> 



oSf) 



CARDINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



1843, he married Miss Caroline Brooke; she 
was born in Columbiana Co., Ohio. After his 
marriaj^e he occupied a house on his father's 
farm and farmed part of the place a few years, 
when he and his brother William farmed the 
place in partnership until 1850, when Uriah 
and family came to JMorrow Co., Ohio, and 
settled on his present place, which he bought 
about three years previous; it is located one 
mile southeast of Cardington, and at first con- 
tained 140 acres, to which he has since added 
100 acres; he also owns 200 acres in Henry 
Co., O. By this marriage there are five chil- 
dren — Chester, Alzada, Leroy, Delbert and 
Claudie; Chester has been twice married, and 
now lives in ilenry Co., Q.; he was a member 
of the 96th Oliio Reg. Inftry, and served for 
three years; Alzada married Mr. Boulton and 
lives in this vicinity; Leroy married Miss 
Mary Smith and lives in Henry Co., O.; Del- 
bert and Claudie are single and live at home. 
Mr. Thompson's parents, Uriah, Sr., and Eliz- 
abeth (Allen) Thompson, were natives of New 
Jersey; they married there and settled in 
Portage Co., O., about the year 1810, and 
lived there until their deaths; of their eight 
children, but three are living — Uriah, William 
and Elizabeth Derrick, last living in Califor- 
nia. Mrs. Thompson's parents, Isaiah and 
DeboFah (Cattell) Brooke, were natives of 
Maryland and New Jersey; they moved to 
Columbiana Co., O., with their parents in 
1814 and 1812, respectively; they married 
and lived there until 1847, except a 
short residence in Iowa; they then came to 
this vicinity, and have lived here since. They 
had eight children, six of whom are living. 

W. B. TRINDLE, farmer and stock- 
dealer, P. O., Cardington ; was born in West- 
field Tp., Delaware, now Morrow Co., Ohio, 
Nov. 7, 1833, and lived with the family until 
he was 22 years of age. Feb. 28, 1856, 
he married Miss Harriet Lewis; she was 
Vjorn in the same place, and is the daughter of 
Morgan and Serena (Scofield) Lewis, who 
came to this countrv at an early date. Aft(>r 
his marriage he and his brother, James B., 
farmed the old homestead, and finally bought 
the same, together with a place of 120 acres 
near by. W. B., finally coming into posses- 
sion of the latter place, and lived on it until 
1873, when he moved to Cardington and en- 
gaged in the woolen mill business for one 



year, when he traded the mill in part for his 
present place, which he occujiied in 1876; he 
also sold his Westfield farm during that year, 
and has lived there since; of their two chil- 
ren one is living — Thomas M.; he owns 116 
acres, located two miles north of Cardington. 

His parents, James and Annie (Brundage) 
Trindle, were natives of Pa. and Va. They 
Avere married at Norton, Ohio, about the year 
1813, where he had come previous to the war 
of 1812, he taking part in the same, being out 
with Drake iu his celebrated defeat. Mrs. 
Trindle came West with her parents in the 
year 1807, and settled in the vicinity of Nor- 
ton, Ohio; .James and Annie B. Trindle lived 
at Norton until about 1825; they then moved 
to Westfield Tp., and lived there until their 
death. Of their twelve children six are living. 
Mrs. Elizabeth and Sarah Cole, of Delaware 
Co.; 'Mrs. Drs. Lewelen, Mrs. Gregory, James 
B. and W. B. 

THOMAS C. THOMSON, post-master; 
Cardington; was born near Taneytown, Fred- 
erick Co., Md., Dec. 12, 1812. His father, 
Samuel Thomson, was the youngest of a large 
family of children, who came from County 
Down, Ireland, to Cumberland Co., Pa., when 
he was but two years of age. When a young 
man he went to Maryland, where he met Miss 
Margaret Clingan, to whom he was married in 
1806. She was the mother of eight children 
by him, six of whom lived. The father died 
Nov. 15, 1831; the mother Sept. 23, 1823. 
Thomas C. Thomson was brought up on a 
farm, receiving a common school education. 
When seventeen years of age, he entered a 
shop, and served an apprenticeship at the 
wagon-makers' trade, a business he followed 
for most part for thirty years. Mr. Thomson 
came to Cardington in the spring of 1836, 
and has since been a resident of the place. 
He was married to Mary J. Shunk Sept. 
27, 1837. There was one child from this union 
— Margaret A. Mrs. Thomson died Sept. 
9, 1855; Mr. Thomson was married to Mrs. 
Charlotte P. Warren Aug. 21, 1865. There 
were two children by this union — Julia M. 
and Thomas O. Mr. Thomson held the of- 
fice of Postmaster of Cardington from 1841 
to 1851, when he resigned, and purchased a 
farm adjoining the village of Cardington, and 
farmed and worked at his trade until 1865, 
when he was again appointed Post-master of 



4i 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



587 



Cardington. He has since held this position, 
with the exception of four months during 
Johnson's administration. For some years 
Mr. Thomson has been a regularly ordained 
minister in the Methodist Cnurch. His per- 
sonal popularity increases instead of dimin- 
ishing with long acquaintance, and it is among 
those who have known him for years that his 
generous disposition and many noble qualities 
are most fully appreciated. 

GEO. THOMPSON, farmer; P. O., Card- 
ington; is a native of Washington, D. C, 
where he was born a slave about 1809, and 
lived in slavery until about 25 years of age, 
when he bought his freedom, paying therefor 
$1,075. When about 10 years of age he was 
sold and taken to Richmond, where he worked 
about ten years in a tobacco factory. He was 
taken from Richmond to Danville, at which 
place he was enabled to purchase his freedom. 
He then went to New York, where he lived 
three years, and came from there to Colum- 
biana Co., Ohio; and in about 1849 moved to 
Morrow Co. and purchased seventy-six acres of 
land near Cardington, which he has cleared 
and improved. He is now a well-to-do farm- 
er. He was married Feb. 10, 1853, to Mary 
Brown, who was raised in Clinton Co., Ohio. 
From this union there were five children — 
Garret, Chase, John W., Delila and Elsie. 
The mother of these children died in about 
1867. Mr. Thompson is now living with his 
second wife, to whom he was married in 1868. 
He is a member of the Quaker denomination, 
and his wife of the M. E. Church. 

JOHN B. WARRING, manufacturer of 
boots and shoes, Cardington; the present 
Mayor of Cardington, Mr. J. B. Warring, was 
born in Ulster Co., N. Y., Feb. 16, 1839; is a 
son of Anthony and Lois (Wycoff) Warring, 
the former a native of Ulster Co., and the lat- 
ter of Flatbush, Long Island; the father was 
twice married; by his first wife there were 
five children; his second wife — Hannah Phil- 
lip, a native of England — was the mother of 
fourteen children by him; he was a shoemaker 
by trade, and in 1846 he removed to Long 
Island, New York, which he has since made 
his home; Ezra Warring, grandfather of John 
B., was one of the first settlers of Ulster Co., 
N. Y.; He enlisted at Horse Neck, under 
Gen'l Israel Putnam, and served with distinc- 
tion during the Revolutionary war; he was 



also a soldier of the war of 1813, and lived 
to the advanced age of ninety-five years; 
.lohn B. Warring received the advantages of 
a common school education, and when yet 
quite young was apprenticed to the shoemak- 
er's trade with Mr. Charles Miller, of Flush- 
ing Bay, Long Island; after learning his trade 
and when eighteen years of age, he employed 
himself for six years as a sailor; he was mar- 
ried Dec. 34, 1847, to Miss Euphemia Walker, 
a native of Livingston, Essex Co., N. J.; they 
are the parents of five sons and two daughters 
— Emma A., Eugene L., Cassius O., George 
W., Edwin F., Ada E. and Harry E.; in 1S67 
Mr. Warring came to Cardington, Ohio, where 
he has since resided; he has been for the most 
part engaged working at his trade; he is a 
staunch Republican, a consistent member of 
the M. E. Church, and a strict temperance 
man; he owns a nicely improved property in 
Cardington, where he is respected by all who 
know him. 

JAMES L. WILLIAMS, M. D.; Carding- 
ton; was born in Belmont Co., Ohio, Oct. 
3, 1848. His father, Lemuel R. Williams, 
was of Welsh descent, and a native of Lou- 
doun Co., Va.; in 1838 he came to Ohio, locat- 
ing in Belmont Co.; here he was united in 
marriage with Miss Sarah Brokaw, a native 
of Belmont Co. They were the parents of 
seven children, five of whom are now living. 
In 1861 they removed to Adams Co., Ind. 
For sixteen years previous to his death he 
was a regularly-ordained minister of the M. 
E. Church; he died in 1877. His wife sur- 
vives him, and resides on the old home- 
stead, in Adams Co., Ind. James L. Wil- 
liams' life, until 18 years of age, was passed 
upon his father's farm; he then entered Liber 
College, where he remained one year, and 
from there he went to Michigan, where, for 
one year, he was engaged in school teaching; 
he then returned to his home in Indiana, 
where for some years he worked on a farm 
during the summer, and in the winter taught 
school; in 1871 he came to Cardington, 
Ohio, to visit friends, and, liking the place 
and people, he concluded to remain; he 
first engaged in school teaching, but after 
some time he entered the office of Dr. H. S. 
Green, and began the study of medicine; he 
graduated from the Miami Medical College of 
Cincinnati, in 1876, and almost immediately 



*^ 



^k 



688 



CAKDINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



came to Cardiiigton, and bep^an the practice; 
lie continued in the jiractice alone some three 
years, and then lormed a co-partnership witli 
J Jr. H. S. Green, liis former preceptor. He 
was united in marriage • \Vith Miss Lydia 
Spencer, June 27, 1870. She died Jan. 5, 
187'J. By his own exertions he obtained the 
means that took him through college. He has 
held a number ol" positions of honor and trust 
in the town and township; he is a member of 
the Masonic Order, and of the M. E. Church. 
At the organization of the A^orrow County 
Medical Society he Avas elected Secretary, 
which position he has since held; he is also a 
member of the State Medical Society. He 
was married to Miss Amanda E. Wood, a na- 
tive of Belmont Co., Ohio, April 15, 1880. Dr. 
Williams owns a nicely-improved property 
on Main street. 

THEODOUIC S. WHITE, lawyer; Car- 
dington. The paternal grandparents, of Theo. 
S. White, William and Margaret (Banker) 
White, were of Holland extraction. They 
were born, raised and married in the State of 
New York, and moved from Clinton Co., near 
Plattsburg in that State to Gilead Tp., now of 
this county, in the year 1830. His maternal 
grandparents John D., and Gillian (Lloyd) 
Shank, were natives of Fauquier Co., Va., and 
moved to Etna Tp. Licking Co., Ohio in 1833. 
The Shanks are of German origin: the Lloyds 
Welsh-English. Theo. S. White's parents, 
H. R. and Valeria A, (Shank) White, were 
rrtarried in Licking Co., Ohio, in June 1851, 
and settled ^ miles east of Cardington. They 
are the parents of five children, three of 
whom are now living — Theodoric S. Gillian 
L., and Charles S. Theo. S., was born in 
Cardington Tp., Morrow Co., Ohio, Oct. 3, 
1854. After graduating from the high school, 
of Cardington, he began the study of law, 
with Hon. Thomas E. Duncan, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar, June 30, 1870. Politically 
he is an uncompromising Republican. 

DAVID V. WHERRY; Cardington; was 
born in Washington Co., Fenn., May 9, 1839. 
He is the son of David and Eliza (Reed) 
Wherry, both of whom are natives of the Key- 
stone State. The father was a caq^enter, a 
professional miller and an ingenious mechan- 
ic. The parents were married in Pennsylva- 
nia and remained there until 1853, when they 
moved with their family to Ashland Co., O., 



where the father began milling and farming; 
their family consisted of seven children, our 
subject being one of them. In 1801 David 
enlisted in Co. G., 23rd. Reg., O. V. I., com- 
manded by Col. R. B. Hayes, and served over 
two years, j)articipating in the battles of Cross 
Lane, Carnafax Ferry, South Mountain, An- 
tietam, etc. After his return he began clerk- 
ing in a hardware store in Shelby, Ohio, 
remaining there until 1807, when he was em- 
ployed in the C. C. C. & I. R. R. to serve in 
the capacity of Telegraph Operator and Ticket 
Agent at Shelby. In March 1870, the Com- 
pany sent him to the more important 
station at Cardington, giving him full 
control of all its business at that point; 
he is also Express Agent. On the 33d of 
October, 1805, he married Mary L. Mickey, 
who was born in Shelby, Richland Co., Ohio, 
Dec. 34,1813, who bore him one child, Bessie 
L. He has been Township Trustee, Treas- 
urer of Cardington Union Schools, member 
of the Fire Department, Master of Car- 
dington Lodge, No. 384, F. & A. M., member 
of Crestline Chapter, No. 88, of Mansfield 
Commandery, No. 31, and also a member of 
the I. O. O. F. Mr. Wherry's father was 
born in Pennsylvania, Dec. 18, 1805, and his 
mother Feb. 37, 1800, and they were married 
Sep. 31, 1831. The Wherrys are descended 
from James Wherry, a native of Ireland, who 
came to America in colonial times, and settled 
in Chester Co., Penn. The Reeds were an 
old and respected family in Pennsylvania. 
The parents are yet living at Mansfield, O. 

JOSEPH WATSON, physician; Carding- 
ton; was born in Richland Co., Ohio, Oct. 34, 
1834 — a son of Noah and Eliza (Dodson) Wat- 
son, natives of Luzerne Co., Pa., and the pa- 
rents of seven children. In 1813 the father — 
then a young man — came to Richland Co., 
Ohio, where he met Miss Bathsheba Eastman, 
to whom he was married. She died in about 
two years, and he returned to Pennsylvania, 
where he was married to Miss Dodson. In 
1833 he again oame to Richland Co., where he 
passed the remainder of his life in agricultural 
pursuits. He was a soldier of the war of 
1812, under Gen. Harrison. He died in 1804. 
Dr. Watson remained upon his father's farm 
until 34 years of ago. On the IGth of August, 
1848, he was united in marriage with Lucy A. 
Barnum. She died in less than a year after 



■^c. 



fk^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



589 



their marriage, soon after which Mr. Watson 
began the study of medicine. He graduated 
at the Western College of Homoeopathy of 
Cleveland, in 1853. He first located in West- 
field, where he met with marked success, and 
whore he remained until 1861, when he came 
to Cardington, where he has since resided. 
He was married to Mary J. Mills, May 15, 
1855. She was born in Marion Co., Ohio, 
in 1836. They have four children — Orville 
E., Clarence V., Minetta and Jessie F. Dr. 
Watson has always been a close student 
of his profession, the result of which is, he has 
been a very successful practitioner. Besides 
a nice home property on Walnut street, Card- 
ington, Dr. Watson owns 360 acres of land in 
Michigan. 

WILLIAM WILLITS, farmer and stock 
raiser; P. O., Cardington. The subject of this 
sketch was born in Morrow Co., O., Jan. 19, 
1831; is a son of Joel and Cynthia (Lewis) 
Willit-s; the former is a native of Virginia, 
and the latter of Pennsylvania. They were 
married near Fredericktown, Knox Co., O , 
and were the parents of nine children, six of 
whom are now living. The father has been 
dead some years, but the aged wife and moth- 
er survives him, and is to-day among the few 
living representatives of those earlier days 
when women as well as men were expected 
to bear their part of the hardships, both out- 
door and in. William Willits received but a 
meager education, as his services were almost 
constantly required upon the farm. During 
the late war he served his country in Compa- 
ny I, 3d O. V. I. ; after his return home he en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits, a business 
he has since continued in. His marriage with 
Miss Lucinda Grandy was celebrated Nov. 
10, 1861; she was born in 1834. There are 
three children living in the family — Estella, 
William A. and Edward M. There was an- 
other child who died in infancy without nam- 
ing. Mr. Willits began life as a poor boy and 
is a self-made man in the fullest sense of the 
woid. He owns eighty acres of well im- 
proved land in Cardington Tp. He is a mem- 
ber of the Universalist Church of Mt. Gilead. 



CYRUS E. WEATHERBY; teacher and 
farmer; P. O., Cardington. Edmund Weath- 
erby, father of Cyrus E., was born in Tomp- 
kins Co., N. Y., Jan. 16, 1804; is a son of 
Edmund and Hannah (Harvey) Weatherby, 
both of whom were natives of New Jersey, 
and direct descendant of an old and much 
respected Puritanical family, and durino- the 
struggle ft)r liberty they fought with Gens. 
Washington and La Fayette. Edmund Weath- 
erby, our subject's grandfather, removed from 
New Jersey to Central New York in 1804, and 
ni 1833 he, with his family, together with his 
son Edmund, his wife and three children, re- 
moved to Chester Tp., Morrow Co., O. Cyrus' 
father began teaching school when about 19 
years old, a business he followed during the 
winter months for seventeen consecutive 
years. He was united in marriage with Miss 
Orril Sawyer Oct. 9, 1827. She was born in 
the Dominion of Canada in 1808, but when 
quite small her parents removed to New York, 
where she was raised; from this marriage 
there were seven children, three of whom are 
now living — Samuel S., Harriet and Cyrus 
E. Those deceased were named Clotilda, 
Olive, Philancy add Adiia S. Samuel well 
and faithfully served his country in the late 
war. Adna S. was a young man of more than 
ordinary ability, and at the early age of 21 
years graduated in medicine, and began its 
practice in Cardington. After a few year s of 
very successful practice, he was called to his 
reward, leaving a young wife and a large 
circle of friends to mourn his untimely death. 
All the children received the benefits of a 
good education, and with one exception, have 
taught school. Cyrus E. was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Lucy Woodruff in 1874. She 
died in 1879. There was one child from this 
union — Philancy, who died when about one 
year old. Mr. Weatherby owns ninety acres 
of well improved land in and adjoining the 
villaa-e of Cardino^ton. He and his sons are 
staunch Republicans, and consistent members 
of the M. E. Church. Cyrus E. for the past 
three years has had charge of the public 
schools. 



5i)0 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 



ik 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 



ISAAC BAKER, farmer; P. O. Chester- 
ville; this well-to-do I'armer was born 
February 20, 1830, in Knox Co.; his fa- 
ther, Morris, was born in Cosliocton Co., 
Ohio in 1795, and his mother Phoebe Bigf^s, 
was born in Knox, in 1797, in the same 
county. They were married in 1834, and 
sometime afterward settled in Harmony Town- 
ship. There the mother died in 1855, leaving 
Jerry, Mary, Isaac, Ezaon Harod, Susan, Ly- 
dia, John, Morris, and Francis. The father 
was again married to Sarah Purvis. The fa- 
ther died in 18G3, and was a Universalist. 
Isaac attended school in the pioneer school 
house, and endured the hardships of pioneer 
life. At the age of twenty-one he began car- 
pentering with Lewis Biggs, and in three 
years he formed a partnership with him which 
continued eight years, in which they were 
successful; he was jnarried in 1859 to Mar- 
garet, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Rees) 
Jones, natives of Wales, and came to Ohio in 
1843; both are deceased. They had seven chil- 
dren; two survive: Evan and Margaret; they 
were Presbyterians. He bought the present 
farm of ninety-eight acres in 1874, of I^evi 
Powell; he also owns fifty acres in Harmony 
Township, all well improved, and procured 
by hard labor. He and his wife are members 
of the old school Baptist church; he votes the 
DeuHjcratic ticket; they have two children: 
Thomas and William. His three brothers, 
Moses, Francis and John, were in the war of 
the rebellion; the two former enlisting in the 
O. V. I., and the latter I. V. I. John had 
one finger shot off. 

J. Y. BEERS, farmer, P. O. Sparta ; 
was born April 24, 1820, in Knox County; 
his father, Byram, was born in Morris Town- 
ship, Sussex Co., N. J., also his mother, 
Elizabeth Pittney; they came to Ohio by 
team, in 1818 ; they endured many hardships, 
but by careful management have obtained 
quite a little fortune. The fruit of their 
union was eleven children — Surah, Aaron, 
Abigail, J, Y., Daniel, Tryphena, Hannah, 



Catharine, Elizabeth, James and Ma'rgaret ; 
his father was commissioner of this county 
two terms, and justice of the peace for over 20 
years ; he also practiced law in his early 
days ; J. Y. attended school in his younger 
days in the old pioneer log cabin ; his 
father was a tanner, as was the son ; he was 
also engaged in making shoes for a period of 20 
years ; J. Y. Beers was married in 1849, to Ra- 
chel, daughter of Elias and Mary (Evans) How- 
ard ; she was of Welsh descent; her parents had 
12 children, four of whom survive — Martha, 
Esther, Madison, Catharine ; ' his wife was 
born January 17, 1830 ; they had six chil- 
dren — Retha, deceased, Eolia B., deceased, 
Emery P., Elizabeth, Millie, Essie ; his wife 
died December 16, 1877 ; she had been a 
member of the Baptist Church from child- 
hood; he has belonged to the same church for 
22 years, and was for 12 years prior a member 
of the Methodist denomination ; he held the 
office of deacon in the former for 16 years ; 
he settled on the present farm of 100 acres in 
1850, buying first 50 acres of Thomas Mc- 
Creary, for which he went into debt ; he now 
possesses 200 acres of finely improved land, 
which he has obtained by his own labors ; 
his first house on the said farm was an old 
wagon-shop ; his life has been spent in use- 
ful avocations ; he taught school at $10 per 
month, at which he was successful ; he made 
the first blackboard ever used in this town- 
ship ; on his farm yet remains the old oak 
log, from which many mold boards were made 
for the pioneer farmers ; he has always taken 
deep interest in all county enterprises, and is 
an upright, well-to-do-farmer. 

MRS. SARAH P. BARTLETT; Chester- 
ville; is a daughter -of Jacob and Mar- 
garet (Porter) Shurr; her father was born 
in 1776, in Little York, Pa., and was of Ger- 
man descent; her mother was born in Union- 
town, Pa., Nov. 6, 1785. They were married 
in Washington Co., Pa., and emigrated to 
Oiiio in 1810, settling in what is now Chester 
Township; here the father improved 250 acres 



T^ 



- ^ '\ >^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



591 



of land, which was sold to Pardon Brown. 
Her parents had eleven children, John, Wil- 
liam, Eliza, Maria, Belinda, Sarah P., Phoebe 
A., Cyrus P., Jacob J., Samuel P. and Milton 
M. The father died Nov. 25, 1834, and 
mother Nov. 27, 1876; both w^ere Presbyter- 
ians. Mrs. Bartlett was born June 20, 1818. 
Her attendance at school was under difficulties, 
walking one and one-half miles, following the 
Indian trails; she was married in 1841 to W. 
F. Bartlett, by whom she had six children, 
two of whom survive. Hugh M. married in 
1868 Mary C, daughter 'of William and 
Mary (Williams) Bearinger, and Maggie E,, 
who married Mr. Moore; Hugh has been en- 
gaged in railroading; Sept. 26, 1879, he met 
with an accident by falling under the car 
while making a coupling, receiving a severe 
injury to his ankle. Mrs. Bartlett holds a 
membership in the Presbyterian Church. 

SAUL BREECE, farmer; P. O. Chester- 
ville. Was born October 15, 1804, in 
Washington Co., Pa., and came with his 
parents to Ohio in 1810; his father Samuel 
and mother Elizabeth, whose maiden name 
was Cook, were born in New Jersey, and lived 
awhile in Pennsylvania before coming to 
Knox Co. They had the following children: 
George, Katy, John, Mary, Saul, Hugh, Eliza- 
beth, Rebecca, Anna, Henry, Phineas, Ruth, 
Arrena and Job. Mr. Breece attended school 
but little, and the greater part of his life was 
spent on the farm; he took a great fancy to 
gunning, and has become an expert hunter. 
He was married in 1828 to Sarah, daughter 
of Nathanael and Barbara (Sargeant) Kinney. 
Her father was born in Northumberland Co., 
Pa., and mother in Maryland; they came to 
Ohio in 1816, and her father was in the war of 
1812. They had nine children: Jacob, Mary, 
David, Stanley, Sallie, James, George, Betsy 
and William. Her father died in 1840, and 
mother in 1846. Mr. Breece bought ten acres 
where they now live, in 1856, and now enjoys 
a nice little home. They have had ten chil- 
dren, seven living: Jackson, now in Oregon; 
Stanley, a mason by trade, at Mt. Vernon; 
Julia married Garret Rittenhouse; he died, 
and she was again married to John Minich; 
David, teacher, in La Salle Co., 111.; Abigail 
married Willi;im Peril, she is deceased, and 
had two children, Emma D. alid Sarah E.; 
Daniel, carpenter, in Missouri; Lydia married 



James Peril; Sarah E. married Henry A., son 
of Michael J. and Alice E. (La Bolt) Warner. 
His parents were both born in Germany, and 
came to Holmes Co., Ohio, in 1852. His father 
enlisted in the 102nd O. V. I., and was taken 
prisoner and confined in the Anderson ville 
Prison, where he expired. His parents were 
Lutherans, and had six children: Catharine 
C, married Nathanael Wolferton ; Henry, 
William; Emma married Ferdinand Youse; 
Vina. One died on the trip across the ocean, 
and took a watery grave. Mrs. Breece has 
been a faithful member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church for forty years. The pioneer 
hardships of their parents are too numerous 
to mention. A few only are necessary — 
such as going barefooted in the winter, and 
going to mill on horseback by means of 
a pack-saddle; her father one time went 
quite a distance in this way, and when 
he was returning and within about six miles 
of his home — and no doubt was rejoicing that 
he would soon arrive with the " staff of life," 
but unfortunately, while going down a hill the 
pony stumbled, and falling, broke its neck. 
The father took the meal on his shoulder and 
footed the distance, six miles, to his wilderness 
home. They had to carry lights fastened to 
their hats and bonnets to keep the mosquitoes 
from annoying them. The first cow her 
parents had, her mother paid for by making 
maple sugar at five cents per pound, and ag- 
gregating the cow at i>19.00. Mr. Breece 
votes the Democratic ticket. 

D. W. BROWN, farmer; P. O. Chesterville; 
is a good representative of the substantial 
farmer element of Morrow Co. His father. 
Pardon, was born Sept, 15, 1788, in Rhode 
Island, and is a descendant of the Puritans or 
Plymouth Colony. The great-great grand- 
father of our subject came over in the May- 
flower; his father lived in Rhode Island until 
1814, when he went to Cayuga Co., N. Y., 
where he farmed; served in the war of 1812. 
He was married to Sophia Wilbor, in 1809, in 
Rhode Island. She was born Feb. 11, 1790, 
and died Jan. 28, 1849, and had ten children. 
William (deceased), Lydia, born Oct. 27, 1811, 
married John Nobles; Sophia, Jan. 2, 1814, 
married Thos. Weathcrby; Philena, Dec. 30, 
181(;, mairied Joseph Mocks; she died March, 
1879; Pardon, born Oct. 4, 1819; Mary, Jan. 
14, 1822, married George Peckhamj Daniel 



■?]' 



592 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 



W., bom Fob. 11, 18-->(;; Deborah W., May 22, 
182S, married Jacob Winters (deceased); KUa- 
abetlj, June 16, 1831, married Albert Parkliill; 
Sarah A,, June 8, 1833, married Mr. Freeman. 
The father emigrated to Chester Township 
in about 1853, and died June 8, 1863. His pa- 
rents were Presbyterians. They started life 
with nothing but one horse and wagon. He 
learned the hatters' trade before he married. 
Mr. Brown remained with his parents until 
married. Attheageof 18 he began teach- 
ing school in the State of New York, and con- 
tinued the same for four terms. His matri- 
monial alliance took place Dec. 28, 1847, with 
Adaline M., a daughter of William H. and 
Anna (Duel) Squires. Her father was born 
in Connecticut, and her mother at Quaker 
Hill: she was one of eleven children. Harriet 
married John Peckham; Plu-dora married 
Judson Johnson; William married Piiresonia' 
Chatham; Eliza R. C. married William Beards- 
ley; Adaline M.; Henry J. married Mary A. 
Youngs; Helen married Lemuel D. Hussey; 
Sidney married Martha Barber; Anna M. mar- 
ried George Hillinan, Marian B. married 
Edward Hussey; one infant died. Her 
father was a clothier, miller and farmer, 
and died in Feb. 1854, and her mother was a 
" birthright Quaker," and died Jan. 7, 1879. 
After marriage our representative ran a canal 
boat, "Sarah Sands," on the Erie canal, from 
Cayuga Lake to New York City ; in four years 
he became tired of the business, and sold it to 
his brother Pardon, and within a short time 
came to Ohio and has since farmed. Bought 
the Shurr farm of his father's heirs, and sold 
the same in 1870 to Elery P. Brown, a cou- 
sin. He then took a trip with his family to 
Missouri, Kansas and Towa, and returned in 
two months, and purchased what is known as 
the Corwin farm, in Franklin Township, where 
he dealt largely in stock; in 1872 he sold that, 
and bought 150 acres adjoining the town of 
Chesterville, on which he dealt in stock ; in 
the winter of 1878-9 he shipped thirty-two 
carloads from this ])lace. He has now aban- 
doned the stock business, and is giving his ru- 
ral life to raising wheat, in which he is having 
his usual success. Mr. and ]\lrs. Brown have 
had four children ; one died when young ; 
Frances A., born March 14, 1850, married 
William W. Van Eman, a salesman in San 
Francisco ; Marian A., born Oct. 14, 1855, 



married Marshal F. Smith ; Cassius, born 
April 1, 1858. Mr. Brown hired a substitute 
volunteer for $250 to serve in the rebellion. 
He is a member of Chester Lodge No. 204, 
I. O. O. F., in which he has held all the offi- 
ces and is now acting as permanent Secretary. 
He became early identified with the Whig 
party, casting his first vote far Win field Scott; 
he has since voted the Republican ticket, and 
by that party was elected Township Trustee, 
which office he now holds. He is also a mem- 
ber of the Town Council ; also held some offi- 
ces while in New York. He has always had 
good health. The only sickness he ever had 
was in 1877 ; this was the first time he ever 
consulted a physician (except once, when he 
was poisoned by a red flannel shirt). He and 
wife are members of the Presbyterian church. 
They are among our well-to-do farmers, and 
reside in a pleasant home in Chesterville, 
highly respected by their numerous friends 
and acquaintances. 

JAMES BEEBE, retired farmer; P. O. 
Chesterville; he was one of nine children, and 
was born June 24, 1792; his brothers and sisters 
were William, Polly, John, Clara, Phoebe, 
Hannah, Benjamin and Amos. His parents 
were William and Polly (Truman) Beebe. 
The former was born in Connecticut and the 
latter on Long Island. He emigrated to 
Ohio in 1818; this region was then a hunting- 
ground, for the Indians. He was married 
Jan. 1, 1826, to Mary Breece, one of the early 
pioneer ladies, who came to Ohio in 1810 with 
her parents, Samuel and Betsey (Cook) Breece, 
natives of New Jersey; she was born m Wash- 
ington Co., Pennsylvania, in 1802, and was 
one of fourteen children — George, Katie, 
John, Mary, Saul, Hugh, Elizabeth, Rebecca, 
Henry, Ruth, Phineas, Arrena, Job and Ann. 
By this union he had three children; Jane, 
married Isaac Huffman, September 26, 1843, 
Hannah married Mr. Lanning in September, 
1853, and one deceased. They started life 
with scarcely anything, and now possess a 
competency, which they have accumulated by 
their industry. They have been Methodists 
over fifty years. They are now passing their 
remaining years quietly in this village. 

AMANDA A. BAIN, widow; P. O. Ches- 
terville. Her father, Samuel Livingston, was 
born Dec. 4, 1778, in Washington Co., N. Y. 
Her mother, Asenath (Munson) Livingston, 



;^fv 



>^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



593 



was born Aug. 3, 1782. They were married 
Oct. 22, 1801. Her grandfather Livingston, 
was from Ireland; her parents came to Ohio 
in 1837, and settled in Franklin Tp., now 
in this county, where her father died Sept. 8, 
1847, and mother Nov. 3, 1863. They had 
ten children; John, born July 26, 1802; 
Nathaniel M., July 27, 1804; Anna N., Oct. 
30, 1806; Samuel, Jan. 23, 1809; Agnes M. 
April 25, 1811; Sarah J., May 18, 1814; 
Amanda A., Sept. 15, 1816; William A., June 
8, 1820; Edith A., May 1, 1823; Joseph R. 
Jan. 22, 1826. Her parents were members of 
U. P. church. Mrs. Bain was married Oct. 
16, 1834, to James I., a son of John and Anna 
(McEachron) Bain. His parents were natives 
of Washington Co., N. Y. Mr. Bain was born 
Dec. 19, 1811, and died May 12, 1849; four 
children were the fruit of their union. One 
infant died unnamed; Jennie, born Aug. 30, 
1837; married Darwin Leonard, Feb. 13, 
1862; she died April 23, 1872; had two 
children, Lizzie M. and Emma B; Edith L, 
born Dec. 24, 1841; married Aug. 26, 1866, 
to Samuel Carson. He was born in Pennsyl- 
vania, March 14, 1839; they have one child, 
Cora B., born June 24, 1869. Edith L. is a 
member of the Presbyterian church. The 
last child of our subject was John, born March 
3,1844,he enlisted in Co. E. 121st, O.V. I., and 
was taken prisoner and confined for eighteen 
months in Andersonville, Danville, and Flor- 
ence Prisons. He was taken from the*latter 
to Wilmington, N. C, where he died March 
13, 1865. Mrs. Bain's husband spent the 
greater part of his life as a blacksmith; how- 
ever his latter years were devoted to dentis- 
try. She and her husband united with the 
U. P. church; she transferred to the Presby- 
terian in 1867. She is in good circumstances, 
and owns some town property. He was a 
Republican, and served as Justice of the 

WILLIAM A. BEEMER, farmer: P. O., 
Chesterville; he is the son of William 
and Elizabeth (Decker) Beemer; his par- 
ents were born in New Jersey. The 
mother died there, and had six children, three 
of whom are dead; the living are John D., 
William A., and Harriet, The father was 
married to Eveline Rutan, and came to Ohio 
in 1838, by canal and team. By his last mar- 
riage he had nine children — Martha J., Julia 



A., Hannah E., Rosilla, Emeline, Allen, and 
Mary, (two deceased). His father is living in 
Franklin Co., Iowa, with his daughters. Mr. 
Beemer was born Nov. 9, 1822, in Sussex Co., 
N. J. He remained with his father until his 
marriage, in 1849, to Ann Eliza, daugh- 
ter of John and Margaret (Snook) Cary. Her 
parents are natives of New Jersey, and had 
ten children — Lewis H., William S., Isabel C, 
John R., George C, Ann Eliza, Margaret J., 
Lorena E. and Charles P., (one died in 
infancy). Her father settled on what is now 
the Nye farm. Mr. Beemer bought the 
present farm in 1854 ; it now contains 115 
acres of fine land. He has been afflicted 
with the asthma for many years, and has trav- 
eled over the greater part of the United 
States, made two trips to New Jersey on 
horseback. Active and enthusiastic worker 
in the Democratic paity. He and his wife are 
members of the Presbyterian church ; he 
takes deep interest in the same, reads the Bi- 
ble through often ; takes interest in all county 
enterprises. Is one of our most substantial 
citizens and farmers, and has always been a 
strong temperance man. 

RANSOM BOCKOVER, farmer; P. O. 
Chesterville; born Dec. 8, 1846, in Morrow 
Co., Ohio. His father, Jonathan, was born in 
New Jersey, May 8, 1797, and learned the 
blacksmith's trade when 19 years old; came 
to Ohio in 1835. Had eight children; James, 
Jacob, Ira, Isaac, Minerva, Ransom, Jason and 
Rebecca. The mother of these children was 
Elizabeth Adams, and was born in 1818. 
These old parents have enjoyed the most of 
their time on the farm, clearing and tilling 
the soil. Ransom was married June 18, 1871, 
to Mary, daughter of Richard and Eliza- 
beth Lanning. She was born May 12, 1851, in 
this county, and like her husband has enjoyed 
the attractions of home. They bought fifty 
acres of land in 1871, of Joseph Trowbridge, 
and have improved the same by fine buildings. 
This is a fine little home, the result of hard 
labor. Mr. Bockover once belonged to the 
Patrons of Husbandry; votes the Democratic 
ticket; enlisted in Co. F, 136th O. N. G.; 
settled here in 1876. Thev have one child, 
Joseph C, born April 21, 1874. 

JAMES W. BALL, farmer; P. O. Sparta; 
was born December 21, 1835, in Fay- 
ette Co., Pa., and came with his .parents 



_«^ 



594 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 



to Ohio in 1844; his father's name was 
Iden v., and his mother's Catharine 
(Woods) Ball; and, at their settlement in 
13Ioomfield Tp., they began farming and 
keeping hotel; the latter they continued 
for about twenty years. Their children were: 
James W., Preston, Joel, John, Iden, and 
Frank; the father is still living. Mr. Ball 
remained with his parents until twenty-seven 
3'ears old; his marriage occurred January 22, 
1859, to Isabel, daughter of William and 
Joanna (Golfing) Allen; her father was born 
in England and came to Pennsylvania, and 
there worked at shoemaking; and during his 
existence there Avas married, and came with 
his family, in 1836, to Licking Co., Ohio, 
where they bought 200 acres and, at their 
death, possessed over 400 acres of land. In 
1839, they went to Richmond, Indiana, and 
worked three years on the Ohio pike; they 
afterward returned to the farm. The father 
died February 22, 1877, the mother is still 
living; both were Methodists. Their children 
were: Levina, Isabel, Mary,. Joanna, William, 
Frank, and Sallie. Mrs. Ball was born Sep- 
tember 25, 183G, in Fayette Co., Pa. In 1858, 
James W. Ball bought fifty acres of Daniel 
Thomas, adding afterwards sixty-five acres. 
He has held some tcwpnship offices; is a mem- 
ber of Sparta Lodge, No. 268, I. O. O. F., in 
which he has held all offices; he always voted 
the Democratic ticket; himself and wife are 
members of the Methodist church, in which 
he has been, and is now, steward; they have 
one child, Ellen M. 

JOEL D. BRUCE, farmer, P. O. Chester- 
ville, one of the pioneers of this county; was 
born March 21, 1811 ; his father, Elijah, was 
born in 1780, and his mother, Malinda W. 
Browning, in 1786 — both in Culpeper 
Co., Va.; they were married in 1810, and 
in 1827 they came to Licking County, this 
State ; the father died in Knox County, 
1829 ; in 1831 the mother bought 190 acres of 
land, where Joel D. now lives ; she died here in 
February, 1854, having blessed the world 
with nine children, but five of whom sur- 
vive — J. D., G. S., Nancy", Eliza S., John A.; 
she and her husband were Old School Bap- 
tists ; Joel D. attended school some little 
time, and took every advantage of obtaining 
an education by procuring lor himself valu- 
able literature, and turned his attention to 



school teaching, which he followed success- 
fully for 72 months ; he taught one term in 
Mt. Gilead ; was married in May, 1847, to 
Abigail, daughter of John and Hannah 
(Conger) Lewis ; her parents emigrated from 
New .lersey to Knox County in 1806, or 
1808, and helped to build a block house ; by 
this marriage he had James B., Eliza J., Mary, 
Malinda, John W.; his wife died February 8, 
1862, and was a member of the Baptist 
Church. He was again married, the bride 
being Ann, daughter of Japheth and Charlotte 
(Howard) West. Her parents came to Ohio 
from Pennsylvania at an early day, and had 
12 children, eight of whom survive — Martha, 
Michael, Ann, Elizabeth, Jane, David, Dora 
C, Amanda. Ann was born in 1835, in Dela- 
ware Comity, now Morrow; by this marriage 
he has four children — George W., Frank P., 
Charlotte B. and Charles A. Mr. Bruce has 
been assessor four terms, and township trus- 
tee 10 years ; he has been an active member 
of the Baptist Church since 1846 ; his wife 
belongs to the same denomination ; he gen- 
erally votes for the man in township elec- 
tions, but in county and state elections he is 
an enthusiastic Democrat ; he has represented 
the same in county and congressional conven- 
tions ; he owns 95 acres of well improved 
land, which is a portion of the old homestead ; 
he is growing a fine nursery with good suc- 
cess ; he is confined to the inn, having been 
attacked some months ago with the rheuma- 
tism, which has nearly deprived him of the 
use of his limbs. 

E. P. BROWN, farmer; P. O. Chesterville, 
was bdrn in September, 1827, and is the son of 
George, born 1796 in Rhode Island, and Beulah 
M. (Sutlitf) Brown, born in 1802 in Connecti- 
cut; they came to Ohio in 1836 and settled in 
what is now Morrow Co.; they bought 260 
acres of land. The father died in 1870 and 
the mother in 1868. Their children were: 
William, graduated at Cleveland Medical 
College, and died June 27, 1864, at Alex- 
andria, Va., while in the service of his country; 
Edmond, living in Knox Co.; E. P., Sophia; 
George, principal of Cardington Schools; 
Amanda Thurston, deceased. His parents 
were Methodists. Our subject attended 
school some in the winter. He was married 
in 1853 to Phoebe E., daughter of .Tohn and 
Rhoda Talmage; her parents were from New 



^IV 



^1 



>^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, 



595 



Jersey and had seven children: Henry, 
Charles, Jonathan, Jacob, Phoebe E., Newton 
and Susan; all the family were Methodists. 
Mrs. Brown was born in 1827; they settled 
after marriage, for sixteen years, on the old 
Corwin farm, and then sold the same and 
bouglit stock in Mt. Gilead for one year, and 
in 1870 he bought the present farm of 246 
acres, known as the old Shurr farm, purchas- 
ing the same from D. W. Brown. It is known 
as the finest farm in Morrow Co., finely watered 
by spring. He has four children: Alice mar- 
ried E. Mclntire; Clarence, George and 
Blanche. He and his wife are members of 
the Methodist Church; he has held office in 
the same, and has been township trustee, 
member of school board, and votes the Re- 
publican ticke.t. He deals in Spanish merino 
sheep and Durham cattle and Berkshire 
hogs. 

CUNNINGHAM BROTHERS, millers, 
Chesterville; prominently identified among 
the millers of Morrow Co., is the firm of C. 
K. and Z. T. Cunningham. They have of 
late purchased of the Cunningham heirs the 
the old mill, long known as the "Cunningham 
Grist Mil!," and have re-fitted the same and 
made it entirely new. They are now running 
three sets of buhrs, and are prepared to make 
the new process flour. The machinery is in 
excellent condition, both the water and steam 
works; they have also added a first-class saw 
mill to the same, and deal in lumber. They 
are speedily circulating their new process 
flour in distant parts of the country. Their 
father's name was R. W. Cunningham; born 
April 9, 1819, and was the son of R. C. and 
Mary (Clark) Cunningham ; he was one of 
eight children — John, R. W., Margaret, Eliza 
A., Isabel, Harriet, Mary and Jane. The 
father died Dec. 27, 1876. Their mother, 
Mercy, was a daughter of Reuben and Olive 
(Austin) Gleason; her father was born in 1793 
in Vermont, and her mother in 1797 in the 
same State; her father came to Ohio about 
1816; she was born May 15, 1820, in Knox 
Co., and was one of nine children, eight of 
whom survive — Mercy, Lucy, Elisha, John, 
Asa, Joseph, Sylvester and Elizabeth. The 
marriage of R. W. to Mercy, occurred in 
18-12, which union blessed them with Warren 
K., who was in the. 174th O. V. I. for one 
year; George W. was in company F., 81st 



O. V. I. for three years; William H., deceased, 
Cleopas K., of the firm of Cunningham Bros., 
who was for five years boss of a five-buhr mill 
at Big Rapids, Michigan, and was in the 
employ of the firm for two years; he dealt 
two years in buggies, and is now President of 
the Mutual Life Insurance Company, at Fort 
Wayne, Indiana, Marcellus A., Zachariah T., 
L. E. and Anna A. The father enlisted in 
company A., 20th O. V. I., for over three 
years; he ranked as sergeant; he also manu- 
factured chain pumps and bedsteads at this 
place. The father of Mrs. Cunningham began 
an ashery in Chester Tp. about 1826, and 
transferred the same to Chesterville in 1830, 
locating his business on the lot where John 
Smiley now lives. He entered a contract to 
carry the mail from Mt. Vernon to Bucyrus, 
for two years. Mrs. Cunningham and Anna 
are members of the Methodist Church at this 
place. 

ABRAM CONKLIN, farmer; P. O. Ches- 
terville; was born Sept. 21, 1815, in Pike Co., 
Pa., and remained there until 1837, when he 
came to Ohio; his father Nathaniel was born 
in 1785 on Long Island, and worked at shoe- 
making. In 1810 he came to Pennsylvania, 
and farmed and ran a saw-mill; here he mar- 
ried Elsie Vanocker, by whom he had eleven 
children — Abram, John, Nathaniel, George, 
Jacob, David, Hannah, Elizabeth, Susan, Clara 
and Matilda. Jacob, John and David were 
in the war of the Rebellion. The parents 
were Methodists. Mr. Conklin attended school 
eighteen months; when nine years old he be- 
gan working on a farm for Philip Smith at 
$15.00 per month, and at the expiration of nine 
years he was getting $18.00 per month. He 
was married Oct. 19, 1835, to Mary A., daughter 
of Peter and Anna Sjtruble; her father was 
born about 1787, and mother in 1789, in Sus- 
sex Co., N. J., and came to Ohio by team, in 
1837. They had twelve children, John, 
George, Daniel, Philip, Wesley, Nelson, 
Stephen, Mary A., Phoebe, Cendrilla, Eliza- 
beth and Catharine. Her father died in 1856, 
and her mother in 1863; they were Method- 
ists. Mrs. Conklin was born in 1809. When 
Mr. Conklin and wife came to Ohio, he made 
their living by teaming, hauling wheat and 
pork for the merchants at this place, to Lake 
Erie and return, he continued this laborious 
avocation for eight or ten years. In about 



e) 



590 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 



the year lS-47 he began an ashery at this 
place, which he continued one year, and then 
farmed and bought and sold horses for quite 
a while; he has, likely, handled from 500 to 
1,000 head. He was elected Constable in 1841, 
and served about eight years; he took a mail 
contract in 1841 from Chesterville to Shelby, 
Richland, Co., for five years. In 1872 he 
took the route from Chesterville to Center- 
burg, Knox Co., for four years. In 18G8, he 
engaged in the same from Mt, Gilead to 
Frederickstown, which he still continues. He 
owns twenty acres of well-improved land, 
fourteen of which adjoin the town and the 
rest very near. They are now pleasantly lo- 
cated in a fine house, built in 1851, at a cost 
of S1,000, which has since been repaired and 
is now valued at $1,800. He was elected 
Sheriif of Morrow Co. in 1854-1856, by the 
Republicans, getting a large majority. If we 
mistake not, ttiis county was then Democratic. 
He has been an auctioneer 43 years, and 
while sherilf he did all his own auctioneering. 
In the winter of 18o8, he cried 05 sales, and 
has auctioned fifteen since Oct., 1879. He 
has always been a temperance man, and as- 
serts that he never treated any one for the 
sake of a vote. In 1876, he and D. S. Mother 
(mentioned herein) built a family vault at a 
cost of $1,000; Mr. Conklin hauled every 
stone in the same. In an early day he hauled 
wood for one winter to pay for a stand, chair, 
and bureau, all of which he has as relics. 
Mr. and Mrs. Conklin raised one child (Caro- 
line French), who married Dec. 20, 1860, D. 
S. Mother, who was born June 29, 18;}8, in 
Chesterville; he commenced working at plas- 
tering in 1852; he enlisted in Co. " E," 
121 O. V. I.; was first sergeant, served nearly 
three years; was wounded Sept. 20, 1863, at 
Chickamauga, Tenn., in the left forehead. 
He went with Sherman to the sea, lived five 
days on parched corn. On return engaged 
with Conklin in the mail route; member of 
Chester Lodge, No. 288, A. F. & A. M., Mt. 
Gilead Chapter, Clinton Commandery, No. 5, 
Mt. Vernon and Knight Templars. He has 
two children, Jewett A. and William B. Is a 
Repul)lican. 

L. C. CROWL, farmer; P. O. Chesterville; 
was born Se))t. 28, 1843, in Chesterville, where 
he remained the most of his boyhood days 
until 25 years old. His father, Philip, was 



born in Pennsylvania, and his mother, Har- 
riot Ayres, was born in Vermont; both came 
to Ohio when young. The father was an ef- 
ficient tailor in Chesterville for many years. 
They had ten children, six of whom are liv- 
ing — George, Ann, Marcella, Lucy, Olive and 
L. C. ; the father died in 1861, the mother is 
still living. Mr. Crowl enlisted in Co. " C," 
96th O. V. L, in which he remained for three 
years, when he returned then to the farm in 
1865, and worked for Mr. Rowling by the 
month for two years. He was married in 
1867, to Viola, daughter of Freeman and Ann 
(Lewis) Westbrook; her parents were both 
from Wales, and came to Ohio in 1840; they 
had three children, Viola and two infants de- 
ceased. Her father was killed, by falling 
from a balloon at Sparta about 1861 or 1862. 
Her mother afterwards married Creg Taylor, 
by whom she has one child — Rosa. Mrs. Crowl 
was born 1850; Mr. Crowl rented for ten years 
after marriage; and then in 1878, bought 55 
acres where they now reside, which he is im- 
proving, making a fine farm, being well 
watered by living water. They have had 
three children, Fred P., Anna Z., deceased, 
Hattie B.; himself and wife are members of 
the Baptist church, in which they take deep 
interest. 

CHASE COLE, teacher and farmer; P. O, 
Chesterville ; is the son of Thomas F. 
and Charity (Phillips) Cole; his father was 
born in Pennsylvania and his mother in Knox 
Co.; they are both living in Knox Co., and six 
children have blessed their home — M. F., 
Chase, William, Robert, Mary and Alice. The 
parents are active Methodists. Chase was 
born Sppt. 24, 1857, in Knox Co., and early 
manifested an interest in the common schools. 
He attended the National Normal School at 
Lebanon, Ohio, about three terms, and has 
engaged in teaching during the winters. He 
was married July 4, 1879, to Ettie, a daugh- 
ter of James and Mima (Campbell) Hull; her 
parents are living in B^ranklin Township. Mrs. 
Cole is a member of the Methodist Church at 
Pidaskiville, this county. They have one 
cliild — Thomas F. Tiiey are farming on Mr. 
Mettler's farm, and having good success. Mr. 
Cole is a irood teacher. 

MRS. SARAH DAVIS, widow; P. O. 
Chesterville; is the daughter of David James; 
l)orn in Pembrookshire, South Wales, and 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



597 



Elizabeth (Breeze) James, born in 1791 in the 
same country. They were married in Penn- 
sylvania, and soon after came to the Welch 
Hills, Licking Co., this State, and in 1816 set- 
tled where Mrs. Davis now resides, and here 
endured the trials of going to mill on horse- 
back, attending church barefooted, etc. The 
father began preaching in the Baptist Church, 
and continued for fifty years. They had ten 
children; Elizabeth and Sarah are the only 
survivors, and live together. The father died 
in 18G2, and the mother in 1855; she was a 
church member since she was 16 years old ; 
Sarah was born May 5, 1817, and in her girl- 
hood days attended school in the log cabin; 
she was married in 1839 to David P. Davis, a 
son of David and Margaret (Pugh) Davis. He 
was born May 3, 1816, in Wales, and came to 
Ohio when a boy, and learned carpentering 
and cabinet making; after marriage he farmed, 
and died in 1815. They had two children — 
Lafayette enlisted in Co. F, 136th O. N. G., 
and died in the service. Luther enlisted in 
Co. E, 121st O. V. I., in which he also died. She 
owns eighty-five acres of well-improved land, 
the greater part of which she has obtained since 
her husband's death by her own careful man- 
agement; she manages the same by hiring the 
work done, and makes a good profit; she and 
her husband united with the Baptist Church 
at an early day, in which she takes deep in- 
terest. Her sister Elizabeth, who lives with 
her, is also a member of the same church; 
they can both remember going to church bare- 
footed, as a case of necessity, and also riding 
to mill on a packsaddle. 

W. H. DALRYMPLE, farmer; P. O. Ches- 
terviile ; Avas born June 17, 1834, in 
what is now Morrow Co. He attended school in 
his youth, and worked for his father, who kept 
hotel for many years where they now live; 
was married in Dec, 1871, to Mary Busoul. 
Her father, Edmond, was born in Pennsyl- 
vania, and her mother in New Jersey, and 
were married in Finley, Ohio; they are both 
living in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. They 
had the following children: .John J., Phoebe A., 
Mary, born April 24, 1844; Edward and Abbie. 
Her father is publisher of the Wisconsin 
Farmer, and went to Italy in 1877, in com- 
pany with his daughter Abbie, for the purpose 
of educating her in vocal music. She now 
ranks among the noted singers of this coun- 



try. Mr. Dalrymple has one child by his mar- 
riage — Edward. He has held some township 
offices, and owns 136 acres of well improved 
land, valued at 175.00 per acre, on which he 
makes a specialty of fine sheep; is a 
member of Chester Lodge, No. 238, A. F. 
and A. M.; he votes the Republican ticket, and 
was one of the first two Republican suppor- 
ters of the Republican paper of this Township. 
His father, Charles, was born in June, 1795. 
in New Jersey, and married Feb. 1, 1821, to 
Nancy Hance, born Ju^ 10, 1800. The pa- 
rents settled on 116 acres, where the subject 
now lives and cleared the same; was justice of 
the peace eighteen years; tax collector for 
many terms. They had the following chil- 
dren: Mary, Thomas, H^A. M., Martha, Han- 
nah, W. H., C. H., J. W. The father was an 
Old School Baptist, and the mother a Quaker. 
The father was a soldier of 1812, and died 
Feb. 22, 1875. 

JOHN V. DeWITT, farmer; P. O. Ches- 
terville ; was born January 23, 1810, 
in Sussex Co., New Jersey, and came to Ohio 
wnth his father, John, in 1818, settling first in 
Knox Co., and there bought 100 acres. In 
one year the family came to Chester Tp., 
where the father built a mill and con- 
tinued the business for many years. His 
father died March 15, 1865; his mother's 
maiden name was Mary Washer. John C. 
was one of thirteen children: Price, Isaac, 
Peter, Henry, John V., Richard, Joseph, 
Lewis, William, Levi, Phoebe, Elizabeth, and 
Mary. His mother died August 19, 1864. 
Mr. DeWitt spent his younger days on a farm 
and in the mill; he was married in 1835 to 
Jane, daughter of John and Jerusha (Sylves- 
ter) Dalrymple, by whom he has had seven 
children, five of whom died in infancy; Mil- 
ton and Aaron; the former was born April 22, 
1844, enlisted in Company F, 136th O. N. G., 
was married June 12, 1876 to Nettie, daugh- 
ter of David B. and Eliza Phillips; her father 
was born in New Jersey in 1812; mother also 
was born in the same state. They had eight 
children: Nettie, Margery, Hugh, Nelson, 
Hattie C, and Daniel — graduated at the 
Michigan Pharmacy at Ann Arbor — Franklin 
and Ann, the latter graduated at the State 
Normal School, Trenton, New Jersey; is now 
teaching in the high school at Branchville, 
same state. Our subject settled on the pres- 



\ 



y- 



598 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 



ent farm of 140 acres in 1835. The greater 
part of this has been attained entirely by 
their own labors. Himself and wife are 
members of the Methodist church, and Mil- 
ton's wife of the Presbyterian. He is a Re- 
publican. 

WILLIAM DENMAN, farmer; P. O. 
Chesterville; was born July 7, 1812, in New 
Jersey; his father, Jonathan, was also born in 
Morris Co., New Jersey. His mother, Eliza- 
beth Butler, was born in the state of New 
York. They were married in Sussex Co., 
New Jersey, and there settled on 500 acres, 
which the father owned. They came to Ohio 
about 1837 or 1838. Their children were: 
Caroline, William, Electa, James B.,Jonathan, 
John and Martha. The father joined the 
church when twelve years old, and the mother 
when twenty-seven. William remained with 
his parents until married, and endured the 
labors that fell to the lot of the pioneer; he 
has missed but three harvests since he was 
sixteen years old, and made a full hand 
from that time. He was married Feb. 18, 
1841, to Sarah, daughter of William E. and 
Mary Larison Davison. She was born June 
7, 1822, and is the mother of thirteen children: 
Mary, Martha, Jonathan B., enlisted in Co. F. 
136th O. N. G.; William, Sylvester, Clarissa 
L., Samantha, Cyntha, Electa C, Phoebe, Joel 
B., Sarah and Ida M. In 1850, Mr. Denman 
bought seventy-five acres, a portion of his 
present farm of 240 of finely improved land, 
obtained entirely by his own labors. He had 
but $.30 when he married, but by careful man- 
agement he has accumulated a nice little 
fortune, and is classed among the well-to-do 
farmers of this township. He makes a spec- 
ialty of fine sheep. He and his wife are 
members of the Baptist church at Chester- 
ville; he has held the office of assessor for 
four years in Knox Co.; he cast his first vote 
for the Democratic party up to the time of the 
Douglas campaign, and since that time has 
been an active Republican. 

J. L. DENMAN, farmer; P. O. Chester- 
ville. The subject of this sketch de- 
scended from a long line of distinguished 
ancestors, all tillers of the soil. He was 
born January 17, 1815, in what is now 
Morrow Co., and is the son of Joseph and 
Mary (Trowbridge) Denman. His father was 
born June 23, 1776, and his mother on July 



18, 1782, both in Sussex Co., New Jersey. 
They were married Oct. 11, 1800, and moved 
to Pennsylvania, and there farmed six years; 
and then in 1806 they came by team to the 
lonely wilderness of Morrow Co., and entered 
a farm of Government land, the deed to which 
was signed by President Thomas Jefferson. 
Here this old pioneer couple enjoyed the so- 
ciety of the Indians, who would bring animals' 
skins filled with honey and cranberries, to 
trade them for meal and salt. Of course they 
started life in an old cabin, and their first 
dishes were chipped from a log of wood. The 
father served as a justice of the peace for some 
time. He would work on the farm during: the 
day, and at night cooper and watch the 
Indians. Several little reminiscences are 
mentioned, among which we relate the one 
in which he was awoke by the dog, and took 
his gun and determined to investigate the 
trouble, and in one moment would have killed 
a neighbor, who happened to cough, and who 
was coming over on some business. As they 
will be mentioned prominently in the town- 
ship's history, I will omit the rest here. They 
had eleven children — Elizabeth, born Aug. 
26, 1802, died 1810; Sallie, July 10, 1804; 
Phoebe, March, 1806; William, Sept. 18, 
1808; Lavina, March 19, 1811; Daniel, Feb. 
6, 1813; Joseph L.; Juluania, April 30, 1817; 
Polly, Sept. 2, 1819; Minerva, Oct. 15, 1821; 
Marilia, Feb. 27, 1826. When the father of 
Mr. Denman came through Mt. Vernon in 
1806, he was offered twelve lots on what is 
now Main street, for a pony he had, but far- 
ther west he was going. Our subject attended 
school in the old log school houses, and worked 
on his father's farm in his younger days. He 
was married in 1837, to Anna, daughter of 
Simon and Susannah (Abbott) Wright. Her 
father was raised in Vermont, and her mother 
in Connecticut. They came to Licking Co., 
Ohio, in 1816, and there died, leaving ten 
children. One died while young. Seth, born 
Jan. 22. 1792; Hiram, July 25, 1802— both of 
whom were in the war of 1812 with their 
father, who was Major; Sallie, July 5, 1805; 
Wait, July 20, 1807; Robert P., Aug. 26, 
1809; Polly, Apr. 5, 1813; Martha, May 3, 
1815; James N., Feb. 20,1818; Anna, March 
11, 1821. Her parents Avere Presbyterians. 
Mr. and Mrs. Denman settled on the present 
farm of 200 acres, obtained by buying out the 




heirs of his father. It is one of the finest 
farms in the county, being well watered and 
finely adapted to stock-raising, to which he 
pays the most of his attention — having now a 
tine lot of Spanish merino sheep and Abdallah 
horses, and fine cattle and hogs. They have 
had six children — Susannah, (now Mrs. S. J. 
Trusdell); Joseph, Livonia, deceased 1871; 
William, deceased 1854; Davis M. and Daniel 
T. Mr. Denman has served his share of town- 
ship offices. He and wife are exempiary 
members of the Old School Baptist Church, to 
which his parents belonged. 

JOHN W. EVAN S,^ farmer ; P. O. Ches- 
terville ; among the enterprising farmers is 
this gentleman : his father, John, was born in 
Wales, in 1795, also his mother, Mary Jones ; 
the time of her birth was in 1805 ; they were 
married in 1840, and came soon after to 
Harmony Tp. ; the father there died in 
1845, through injuries received from a tree, 
which fell upon him ; he was the father of four 
children — John W. Mary E., Ann V. and 
Thomas. John's mother is still living with him. 
Mr, Evans was born August 3, 1841, in Chester 
Township, and attended school some — com- 
mencing in a log cabin ; at the age of 21, he 
began for himself by working on the farm and 
teaching school in the winter time, at which 
he was employed four terms, at $18 to |30 ; 
he was married February 28, 1868, to Viola, 
daughter of Alexander and Catharine Marsh. 
She was born in 1845. They settled after 
marriage on the farm they now possess, 
which he bought in 1864, of William Lloyd ; 
it is finely improved, and is the fruit of hard 
labor. His union gave him six children — 
Stella P., Alexander M., Mary C, Ida M., 
John L., Alfred E. He was township asses- 
sor three terms, elected by both parties ; a 
member of the Patrons of Husbandry; he is a 
member of the Baptist church, in which he is 
one of the auditing committee ; he is an active 
member of the Democratic party, and is an 
upright and intelligent man. 

JOHN J. EVANS, farmer ; P. O. Chester- 
ville. This old pioneer was born June 11, 1807. 
in Pa.; his father, Edward, Avas born in Mont- 
gomeryshire South Wales, and his mother in 
Carmarthenshire, same country. Each emi- 
grated to Pa. when single ; however, Edmond 
was married to Mary Jenkins and buried her 
and one chi\d in the ocean while on the way ; 



his other two children, Edward and Arm, 
landed safely with their father. He was mar- 
ried in Chamberstown, Pa., to Sarah James. 
John J. was the only child of this union. The 
family came to Welch Hills, Licking Co., 
in 1808, and remained but a short time, and 
then moved to Radnor Tp., Delaware Co., 
and in 1812, they came to Chester Tp., and 
settled in a log cabin, on the farm. The 
father died in 1816 or 1817, and the mother 
died December 12, 1827. John being quite 
young when his father died, he was compelled 
to endure hard labor while young. He had 
but little advantage of obtaining an educa- 
tion. He was married in 1828, to Isabel, 
daughter of David and Mary A. (.Johnston) 
Miller ; she is a sister of Elizabeth McCrack- 
en, whose sketch appears elsewhere. She 
was born March 20, 1790. She and Mr. 
Evans settled on the farm left him by his 
mother, and remained there until 1875, when 
he sold the same to James Lewis, and bought 
ten acres where he now lives. His wife died 
June 22, 1865. He was again married Sept. 
19, 1865, to Mary E., daughter of James and 
Philanda Peren Miller, born March 22, 1843. 
Her people are of French descent ; her father 
was a twin, and was nursed by George Wash- 
ington. The Millers once kept hotel at Alex- 
andria, Va., in the same building where Col. 
Ellsworth was shot. Mr. Evans has had no 
children. He was elected Captain of the mi- 
litia ; he joined the Baptist church, at Ches- 
terville, in 1865 ; he voted first for Andrew 
Jackson, 1828, and has voted the ticket ever 
since. The sister of Mrs. Evans lives with 
them, and was married to George H. Scott, 
and has one child— E. E. She and husband 
are members of the Baptist church. 

W. A. FISH, farmer; P. O. Chesterville; 
was born June 4, 1836, in Congress Tp.; his 
father, Henry, was born March 6, 1801, and 
his mother, Mary A. Fish, was born Nov., 
13, 1816, both in Virginia. They came 
to Ohio about 1830, and settled in Congress 
Tp.; they there raised nine children, and 
never paid out ten cents for doctor bills. Mr. 
Fish attended school in a log school-house; 
but the greater part of his life was spent 
working on the farm; he learned the black- 
smith's trade in Galion, with Samuel Dunnis; 
he got hurt while shoeing a horse, after which 
he quit the business. He was married in 



W 



600 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 



1860, to Rachel, daughter of Jacob and Eliza- 
beth (Williams) Karr; her parents were from 
Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio at an early 
day; they had ten children. Mr. Fish settled, 
after marriage, near Williamsport; subse- 
quently he transferred to the employ of J. .T. 
Cover & Co., of Johnsville; he followed team- 
ing for twelve years; he then, in the spring 
of 1879, went to Chesterville. They had six 
children; three died when young; those living 
are — Henry M., born Aug. 7, 18G2, Isa B., 
Ijorn Feb. 28, 1866, Mattie F., June 11, ISIG. 
He is a member of Chester Tp. Lodge No. 
204, 1. O. O. F., in which he has held all offices; 
he is now Nj G. He and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Baptist Church. He votes the 
Democratic ticket. 

WILLIAM GREEN, farmer ; P. O. Ches- 
terville ; was born August 20, 1824, in Wash- 
ington Co., Pa. ; his father, Isaac, was born 
November 20, 1793, in New Jersey, and 
afterward moved to Washington Co., Pa. ; 
he was married in 1822 to Letice Miller. 
They moved to Ohio in 1829, and settled 
where they now live, and made their home 
by the side of an old log until they could 
erect a log cabin, which was afterward used 
for a school house. Isaac was a potter while 
in Pennsylvania, and in this county served as 
assessor and trustee ; both of these old pio- 
neers are living, and have had nine children 
— William, .Foseph M., David, Caroline, John, 
Elizabeth, Sarah, Mary and Isaac. Sarah 
and David w^ere Presbyterian missionaries t'o 
China for 10 years. The old couple now 
have a pleasant home. William attended 
school in a log meeting house, and partici- 
pated in the duties of the farm life with his 
father ; he was married January 22, 1849, to 
Anna, daughter of Fleming and Sarah J. 
(Barney) Higbie ; her parents were born in 
the State of New York, and came to Zanes- 
ville, afterward to Mt. Vernon, and to what 
is now Morrow Co., in 1843, or 1844 ; the 
father died in 1855, and the mother in 1871 ; 
they had the following children that grew up 
— Mary, Keziah, John L., Calvin, Ann, Eliza- 
beth, Haverland. Mrs. Green was born in 
1826 ; they began housekeeping with her 
parents for a sliort time, and then came to 
the present farm of 75 acres of well improved 
land ; his father owns 125 acres of fine land 
adjoining, which the subject farms to some 



extent ; he was trustee for eight years, and 
county infirmary director for seven years ; he 
is a member of Chester Lodge No. 238, F. 
and A. M., in which he has held offices, as 
well as being an active member ; he and iiis 
wife are members of the Presbyterian (church, 
at Chesterville ; their union gave them three 
children — Mary E., married Walker Lanning ; 
Adaline, deceased, David L. 

DAVID GRIFFITH, farmer; P. O. Chester- 
ville, is one of the industrious farmers of Mor- 
row Co. Born July 7, 1818, in Wales. His 
father Thomas, and mother Mary, were born in 
Cardiganshire, South Wales, came to Welch 
Hills, Licking Co., abovit 1822, and remained 
there fourteen years, and then came to Har- 
mony Tp., where the mother died in 1850, and 
the father in 1862. They had five children — 
Catharine, Edward, David, Thomas, John, 
deceased in the 3d O. V. C. Da,vid attended 
school some, and worked at home until 21 
years old, when he began learning the carpen- 
ters' trade with a man by the name of Belt, 
of Granville, with whom he continued three 
years, and then worked on his own responsi- 
bility for some time, and then moved to the 
present farm of fifty acres, and farmed in con- 
nection with his carpentering; the latter he 
quit in 1870. He was married in 1843 to Ann, 
daughter of Edmond and Esther James; by 
her he had six children — Albert, clerk in Bos- 
ton, Mass.; Gilman, farmer in Kansas; Marcus, 
switch engineer in Moberly, Mo.; Alice, mar- 
ried Marion Williams, in Iowa;- Roy and 
Delia. He has been justice of the peace six 
years, trustee four years, school director for 
many years; he is a member of the Patrons 
of Husbandry, and once of a temperance 
lodge. He and his wife are members of the 
Baptist Church, in which he has held office. 
He enlisted in Co. A., 20th O.V. I., and served 
his country faithfully for nine months; he 
was in the siege of Vicksburg and some other 
battles. He votes the Republican ticket, and 
is an active member of the party, as well as 
an upright man. 

FREDERICK GABERS, carriage-maker; 
Chesterville ; was born in 1822, in Hid- 
dengen, Germany. He is the son of 
Frederick, born also in Germany; his mother 
died when our subject was three years old. 
He attended school from the age of 6 to 13; 
he then sought the employment of his father. 



9> 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



601 



that of working on the farm and carpentering; 
the latter he devoted his entire attention to 
at the age of 16, which he continued until 
IS-ii, when he sought the American shores; 
landing at Baltimore, and subsequently com- 
ing to Mt. Liberty, Knox Co., Ohio, and 
then worked in a wagon shop for one winter. 
In the spring of 1846, he transferred his ser- 
vices to Mt. Vernon, same county, and there 
was in the employ of Wm. Sanderson, carriage 
maker, and continued with him one year, and 
then worked at the same business for Lever- 
age, in the same town. In 1849 he came to 
Chesterville, and worked one year at his trade 
for Stephen Trusdel; he then bought his 
employer out and continued the business there 
until 1876, when he bought his present shop, a 
splendid two-story brick, 50x20 feet, where 
he now continues the business of making and 
trimming carriages and buggies, together 
with wagons and repairs. He entered a mat- 
rimonial alliance in 1851, with Maria C, a 
daughter of Adam and Susan Shaffer. She 
was born in Pennsylvania, and emigrated to 
Ohio, with her parents, at an early day. Her 
younger days were joyfully spent with them 
in Knox Co., where the parents spent the re- 
mainder of their lives and had twelve chil- 
dren. Mr. Gabers was blessed with one child 
which died unnamed. She had given herself 
to the duties of the Presbyterian church, in 
which faith she died, leaving the record of a 
faithful member. He also belongs to the 
same denomination, and has been elder in the 
same. He has always been a temperance 
man, and has never used tobacco in any way. 
When he came to Ohio he had $20.00 in gold. 
He now possesses a good business, of which 
we have spoken, and also owns 28^ acres of 
well improved land, adjoining the village of 
Chesterville. His early work in Ohio was by 
the piece, which was 15.00 per set of buggy 
wheels. He would begin work at four in the 
morning and work late at night, and would 
construct two sets per week. Mr. Gabers 
does not confine himself to any political party, 
but votes for the best man. 

JOSEPH GUNSAULUS, Attorney at Law 
and Notary Public; Chesterville; was born on 
his father's farm, in Cayuga Co., New York, 
April 29, 1825. When he was 9,bout 13 years 
old they moved to this State and settled in 
Chester Tp., about three-fourths of a mile 



northwest of Chesterville, Knox, now Mor- 
row Co., coming by wagons. The land was 
but partially improved, and they occupied a 
log cabin for a time. When 18 he began to 
learn the carpenter's trade, which he followed 
for eight years, and during this time he read 
law at home and attended school during the 
winters. He next began a general trading 
and speculating business, dealing in stock, 
real estate, etc., and a considerable legal busi- 
ness before the justice. In the fall of 1861 
he was elected on the Republican ticket as 
Representative frcnu Morrow Co., in the Leg- 
islature, taking his seat in January, 18G2, and 
during the same winter was admitted to the 
bar. He represented the county for four 
years, spending his vacations in forwarding 
military matters. While in Columbus he 
served on the Military Committee, also as 
Chairman of the Committee on Municipal Cor- 
porations. Returning from Columbus in 
] 865, he came to Chesterville, and has since 
been engaged in the practice of law and look- 
ing after his farming interests. He has been 
Mayor of Chesterville, in all, about twenty 
years; was one of its incorporators, and has 
always been a member of its Council; has 
also been President of its School Board for 
many years. In the fall of 1854 he was mar- 
ried to Miss Mary J. Holley, who was born in 
Pennsylvania. They have two children: 
Frank W. and Lillian C. The former is now 
Rev. F. W. Gunsaulus, of Columbus. Mr. 
Gunsaulus' parents were Joseph and Nancy 
(Dempsey) Gunsaulus, of New York, who 
came to this part of the country in the fall of 
1837, and followed farming. The former died 
in 1848, and the latter in 1876. They had 
nine children, five of whom are now living: 
William, Joseph, Calvin, George W. and 
Lodema Crane, now living in New York. 
They are all married and have families. 

J. A. GOBLE, merchant; Chesterville; is 
engaged in the mercantile business in Ches- 
terville; is a representative of the thrift and 
enterprise of that village. He springs from 
a family of early settlers, and was born Aug. 
8, 1837. He commands the esteem and ad- 
miration of his fellow associates and others 
that are brought in contact with him. His 
father and mother, Ebenezer and Anna 
(Lindley) Goble, came to Ohio about the year 
1833. They were the parents of four children : 



^ 



t)02 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 



Josephus and an infant, deceased, Sarah E. 
and J. A. The family passed through those 
experiences incident to life in a new country, 
and were solid and influential in the com- 
munity of which tliey were members. 
VMRS. HANNAH P. HOWAKD, widow; 
Chesterville; was born July 23, 1829, in this 
county; her father, Moses Powell, was born in 
Wales Sept. 25,1794, and came to America in 
1801; he settled in Licking Co. in 1824, and 
came to Morrow Co. and settled on the farm 
now owned by John Bowen, where he re- 
mained until his wife died, which was in 1853; 
her name was Sarah Jones. They had six 
children: Infant, deceased; Benjamin J., 
Hannah P., Elizabeth, Thomas W., John J. 
Her father again married, the bride being 
Elizabeth (Hughes) Pittford; he died at the 
Welch Hills, Licking Co., Sept. 3, 1866; was 
justice of the peace sixteen years; clerk of 
the church forty years; he taught school for 
many years. Mrs. Howard taught school for 
three terms at 81.00 to $1.25 per week; she 
was married in 1849 to B. W. Evans. They 
had the following children: M. E., born May 
13, 1851, died March 1, 1853; Moses P., Feb. 
1, 1853, died Dec. 18, 1879; Sarah E., July 3, 
1855; Maria J., Oct. 21, 1861; William L., 
Nov. 28, 1860, died Oct. 27, 1861; Elizabeth 
K., Sept. 12, 1862. Her husband died 1864; 
he enlisted in Co. F, 136th O. N. G., in which 
service his death occurred. She was again 
married in April, 1867, to William Howard, 
by whom she had George A., born Feb. 7, 
1869, and J«li« M., in March, 1871. Mr. 
Howard died Oct. 31, 1878; he was an active 
Baptist. Slie has 125 acres of well improved 
land, which is finely adapted to stock-raising, 
being watered by living streams fed from 
springs. She has been a member of the 
church since she was eleven years old. On 
her farm is one of the largest grape vines in 
the State; it is 60 feet long and 3 feet 7 inches 
in diameter. 

HENRY HOWARD, farmer; P. O. 
Sparta ; is a son of Joseph ; born in Penn- 
sylvania ; came to Ohio at an early day ; 
his mother, Mary Bowers, died in 1857, 
having blessed her husband with 16 child- 
ren, 11 of whom were raised — Martha, 
James, Elias, Susan, Jessie, Jerrie, Joseph, 
John, Henry, William and Calvin. Henry 
was born August 20, 1818, and was married 



June 10, 1841, to Ann, daughter of John D. 
and Lena (Davis) Thomas ; she is a sister of 
Mrs. Jane Meredith, whose sketch appears 
elsewhere ; her birth occurred in 1819 ; she 
and her husband settled at marriage on the 
farm now owned by J. C. Sweatland, and en- 
dured the hardships of the pioneers ; in 1849 
they bought the present farm of 50 acres, 
then mostly in the green woods ; it is now 
one of the finest improved farms in the coun- 
try. They have five children — Louisa, mar- 
ried Thomas Rundall, how in Kansas. Lena, 
teacher, now in her 31st term. Vohn M., 
married June 30, 1875, to Sadie, a daughter 
of Rev. B. J. Powell ; she is proficient in 
music, and teaches ; she took instruction six 
years in Granville. Libbie married Ansel 
Main, of Delaware Co.; Ella, John M. had 
two children. Lena B. and Harry B., who 
died May 11, 1879. The family are mem- 
bers of the Baptist Church, in which they 
have taken a deep interest. Louisa and Lib- 
bie have also taught school with excellent 
success, as have the others. Henry is breed- 
ing fine Abdallah horses ; he has one of the 
finest horses in the county. 

BENJAMIN HOWARD, farmer; P. O., 
Chesterville; was born Oct. 25, 1837, on the 
farm where he now lives; his father, Jesse, 
was born in Virginia, and his mother, Mary 
(Burnes) Howard, in Pensylvania. They 
were married in Knox Co. The father came 
to Mt. Vernon when 6 years old, and farmed 
and taught school, walking two miles every 
morning and evening; his parents finally set- 
tled on the farm now owned by Benjamin, 
buying at first 100 acres, afterward 87 acres; 
the latter was sold to Casp. Sweatland, but the 
notes for which were willed to him by Mr. 
Howard's father, Sweatland having married 
a daughter. They had five children, but two 
living, Benjamin (subject), Emily, the wife of 
Sweatland. The father died in 1839. The 
mother is still living on the farm. Father 
was once Tp. Trustee, and he and his wife 
were Baptists. Benjamin married Lydia J., a 
daughter of .lames and Sarah (Cook) Tims. 
Their marriage occurred Oct. 28, 1858; her 
jKirents were born in New Jersey, the father 
in 1803, and mother in 1801, and came to 
Ohio in 1839; they settled in Bloomfield Tp. 
They had ten children, Phosbe, George, San- 
ford, Rubina, Jonathan, Watson, Lydia J., 



;Rr 



BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



603 



Alexander, Josiah and Melinda. Mrs. How- 
ard was born Sept. 17, 1837, in New Jersey. 
They had four children — Luther B., Clarence, 
Jesse B., and Essie E. Mr. Howard has been 
managing the present farm of 100 acres, for 
twenty-eight years. At the death of his mother 
it becomes his. He has also bought 100 acres. 
He has held some township offices, as school 
director, and clerk of the same board. They 
are members of the Baptist church, in which 
he is now deacon, and has served as treasurer 
of the S. S.; he buys and sells stock. He 
tells a small reminiscence which should have 
space here, as it is connected especially with 
the early settlement here of the father and 
grandfather. They started on a trip to a dis- 
tant mill, which would occupy about two 
day's travel to reach it. They had an ac- 
quaintance living midway, whose house they 
intended to reach in time for a night of re- 
freshing sleep, but ere they reached the 
chosen spot the night was far spent, and not 
wishing to disturb their friend, who had long 
ago retired, they repaired to the milk-house 
and made a supper of cold corn cake and 
milk, which they declare was the finest sup- 
per of their lives. The grandfather brought 
a blind nag to this country from Virginia, 
which got loose a few days after arriving and 
returned to its home in Virginia alone. 

THOMAS HUGGINS, farmer; P.O. Ches- 
terville; is a well-to-do farmer, and is the son 
of John and Rebjecca (Packer) Huggins. His 
father was born in Ireland, and came to Wash- 
ington Co., Pa., when 31 years old; he there 
married and farmed, and worked at other labor 
in Columbia City; he came 'by team, in the 
spring of 1834, to Guernsey Co. They had 
three children — Julian, married Asa Booher; 
she is deceased; Thomas and Edward, dead. 
Mr. Huggins was married in that county to 
Nancy J., daughter of James and Eleanor 
(Gaston) Moore; her parents were natives of 
Washington Co., Pa., and early emigrated to 
Ohio; she was one of nine children — 
James, John, Aaron, Thomas, Alexander, Lyle, 
Levina, Nancy J. and Elizabeth. In the 
spring of 1845, Mr. Huggins came to Morrow 
Co.; his parents being old, came with him, 
and made his house their home until death. 
He bought a portion of land, and sold the 
same in 1863 to James M. Rood and brother, 
and bought 200 acres, the present farm, of 



William Boner; it is now well improved, and 
his whole possession, 212 acres; 100 acres of the 
said amount was once sold for a horse, saddle 
and bridle. This marriage has blessed him 
with these children' — John, deceased, Mary A., 
Rebecca E., William, deceased when 17, 
James, Thomas A. and Edward C. Thomas 
A. taught school and read medicine some 
with Dr. Williams, at Chesterville. Mr. 
Huggins has been school director and super- 
visor, and township trustee and justice of the 
peace. He cast his first vote for W. H. 
Harrison, and has always been an active ele- 
ment in the Republican party. Himself and 
all the family belong to the Presbyterian 
church, in which he has been Elder. 

DAVIS E. JAMES, farmer; P. O. Chester- 
ville; was born in 1837, and is the son of Ed- 
mond and Esther (Griffith) James; while young 
he attended school, and performed his duties 
on the farm. In 1861, he enlisted in Co. "G," 
85th O. V. I., and in a few days received an ap- 
pointment in the quartermaster's department 
as commissary sergeant; he was discharged in 
Nov. 1864; he then engaged to the Wilson 
Sewing Machine Co. for some time, also in 
selling a history of the Civil Rebellion, in 
both of which avocations he was successful. 
He entered into a matrimonial alliance Nov. 
1, 1866, with Gem, daughter of Eraness and 
Elizabeth (Evans) Salisbury; she was one of 
eight children, and was born in 1846; they 
settled, after marriage, on the present farm of 
114 acres, purchased from the Emness Salis- 
bury heirs; he is a member of Chester Lodge, 
No. 204, I. O. O. F., in which he has held all 
offices; for two years he was representa- 
tive of the Grand Lodge, and was once a 
member of the Encampment at Cardington. 
He and his wife are members of Chester Bap- 
tist church, in which he has held office of 
clerk, and been superintendent of the Sab- 
bath School. He is an active Republican. 

DAVID JENKINS, farmer; P. O. Sparta; 
was born March 7, 1824; his parents, Thomas 
and Ann (Davis) Jenkins, were born in Wales, 
and emigrated to Welch Hills, Licking Co., 
very early, and from there to Delaware Co., 
thence to Morrow Co., where the father died, 
about 1873. They had the following children : 
Thomas D., born Feb. 26, 1822; David John, 
Aug. 16, 1826; Mary A., April 24, 1829; 
William, Dec. 28, 1831; Margaret, Feb. 16, 






t=l]iL^ 



()U4 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 



1835; Silvester, Aug. 20, 1840. Mr. .Tonkins 
remained at home with his father, working on 
the farm, splitting rails, grubbing, etc. He 
was married Oct. 13, 1845 to Tryphena, sister 
of J. Y. Beers; she was born Oct. 30, 1823. 
They farmed on his father's farm for sometime 
after marriage, buying soon after, forty acres of 
from Inm; he also bought forty acres of his 
brother, T. D.; he cleared about forty of the 
same, and then sold to Shamling and Bowers; 
he then bought eighty acres of Jacob Walter- 
mire, and sold the same in four years for 
$2,000; he then bought 160 acres, which is a 
part of the present farm of 230 acres, a portion 
of which belongs to his son William, obtained 
mostly by his own industry. By his first 
wife, they have theTollowing family: Mary E., 
Zelphia, Branson; B. T. attending Otterbein 
University, Westerville, Ohio; William and 
Maria E. His wife died June 14, 1869; his 
second marriage was to Lovina, daughter of 
.Tohn Shaw, of Pennsylvania; she was born 
Oct. 22, 1839. Mr. Jenkins joined the church 
when 16 years old; he began in the ministry 
in 1862, was ordained in 1803, and continued 
in the ministry since, and has two regular ap- 
pointments; he was very earnest in the Sun- 
day school cause in early days, and would 
walk four miles to attend; he never had a pair 
of Sunday shoes until 16 years old; he has 
preached at more than 200 funerals, and 
never refuses a call on account of poverty 
or denomination; he has married more than 
eighty couples. He and his brother T. D., 
made the first wagon that was used on their 
father's farm, by making the wheels out of 
logs; in this they went to mill, drawn by an 
oxteam. He has cleaned wheat with a sheet 
and made use of all other pioneer methods 
for performing these duties. 

E. R. JAMES, farmer; P. O. Chesterville; 
was born Nov. 10, 1814, in Licking Co., this 
State; his parents, Edniond and Esther 
(Griffith) James, were natives of Wales, and 
emigrated to Licking Co. when young. The 
father was one of five children — Edmond, 
Thomas, James, Joseph and Eliza. The 
mother one of seven children — Mary, Ann, 
William, Hannah, John and Catharine. This 
parental union was celebrated Jan. 28, 1814, 
by 'Squire John Philips. They remained in 
Licking Co. about one year, and then settled 
in Chester Tp., in a log cabin 18x18 feet; 



here they toiled to prepare homes for those of 
tlie world's riper years to enjoy. Jatmary 2, 
1850, the father was striken from life's roll on 
earth, and gathered into life eternal, leaving 
behind the companion of his joys and sorrows, 
with whom he liad shared for over thirty-six 
years. He was the father of eleven children — 
infant dead, E. R., William, Mary, Ann, 
Thomas, David, Joseph, Davis E., John H. 
and Benjamin. The mother is still living, 
and bids fair for many more years of useful- 
ness. E. R. attended school but little, but 
during his younger days he took advantage 
of every opportunity, and became, in due 
time, an efficient school-master. On April 
27, 1837, he chose a companion in the person 
of Phoebe, a daughter of Joel and Mary 
(Potts) Bockover; her parents emigrated to 
Ohio in 1831, and had two daughters — Phoebe 
and Susan. Her father was married prior, to 
a Miss Kymer, by whom he had — George, 
John, Esther, Mary, Peter, Henry, Elizabeth 
and Jonathan. Both of her parents were 
active members of the Baptist church. The 
wife of our subject was born Aug. 11, 1819; 
she settled with her husband, sul)sequently, 
on the present farm, they buying at the time 
fifty acres of .John Booher, which was entered 
by Ayers. They have, by industry and fru- 
gality added; and the family now possess 140 
acres of well improved land. E. R. .Tames 
hauled wheat from this farm to Cleveland to 
secure the means to liquidate his indebtedness 
for his first forty acres of this farm. His 
children are Flora A., graduated at Granville, 
O., College, in 1862, and has taught seven 
terms of school-, Wesley K., cattle dealer, 
now of Kansas; infant, deceased; Lewis J., 
graduated at the O. W. U., at Delaware, O., 
in 1868, and has taught school at Chesterville, 
Sparta, Waterford, Cardington, Iberia, and 
enlisted in Company F., 136th O. N. G. His 
brother Wesley enlisted in Company G., 85th 
O. V. I., and served in the battles of Corinth 
and Sherman's raids. Mr. James served a full 
share of those small offices where it is all labor 
and really no pay — such as trustee, clerk, and 
was once elected justice of the peace, but he did 
not take up his connnission. His early 
j)olitical career was with the free soilers, but 
as " time rolled on," they began to develop, 
and at the beginning of the war he joined the 
Republican party, in which he takes a very 



'y 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



605 



active interest, having represented the town- 
ship many times as a delegate. He and his 
son, Lewis J., are members of Chester Lodge 
No. 238, F. and A. M. He was secretary of 
the old Washingtonian temperance movement 
for eight years. He is one of the three voters 
in his minor district, whose endorsements 
were for the R. R. in this part of the county. 
Himself and family are members of the 
Baptist church, at Chesterville. 

B. F. JACKSON, M. D.; physician and 
surgeon; Chesterville; one of the leading 
physicians of the county; born May 27, 184:3, 
in Canada, Is the son of Thomas, born in 
Scotland and came to Canada in 1817. Served 
in a rebellion between Canada and the United 
States. His mother, Elizabeth Craft, was born 
in Nova Scotia, and married in Canada. They 
had the following children: Thomas, John C, 
Jonas B., Moses, George A., Elizabeth, (de- 
ceased); Mary deceased, after inarrying 
John C. Webster, Methodist minister; Mar- 
garet, Jennie, Rachel V. The father was a 
Presbyterian and the mother a Methodist. 
Mr. Jackson read medicine at Chatham, 
Canada, with Dr. O. Springer for four years 
after having graduated at the high school at 
same place, graduated at the Cleveland Med- 
ical College in the spring of 18(35, and prac- 
ticed two years at Marietta, and Sept. 3, 
1869, came to Chesterville, where he is having 
a lucrative practice in Homoeopathic treat- 
ments; was married in 1872 to Kate, daughter 
of Christopher and Marilla (Denman) Lindsay; 
she was born Feb. 22, 1850. They have two 
children: Frank, born Dec. 15, 1873; Lins- 
day A., Sept. 3, 1875. Member of Lodge No. 
204, I. O. O. F., in which he has held all 
offices. Been a member of the school board 
since 1876; votes Republican ticket; breeding 
fine imported Clydesdale horses; has one of 
the finest horses in the state; imported by 
.John Reber. 

T. C. LORD, insurance; P. O. Chester- 
vdle; is a native of Chesterville, where he was 
born Sept. 16, 1840; he received a good edu- 
cation, and tavight school for four terms; in 
1864 he entered the army as a member of Co. 
F, 136th Regt., O. N. G.; after this service he 
entered a drug store at McGregor, Iowa, as 
prescription clerk, being well qualified, hav- 
ing read medicine for one year; in about two 
years he returned, soon after buying a drug 



store at West Jefferson, Madison Co.; this he 
sold in about four months, and then engaged 
in the insurance business in Chesterville; a 
portion of his time, since entering upon this 
business, has been devoted to reading law 
with Joseph Gunsaulus. Mr. Lord was mar- 
ried July 7, ls70, to Ellen L., a daughter of 
William J. and Margaret (Case) Struble. She 
was born Sept. 20, 1846. One child, William 
R., was born to them Aug. 28, 1874, and died 
Sept 21, 1875. Mrs. Lord died May 15, 
1875. Mr. Lord is a member of Chester Lodge 
No. 204, I. O. O. F. His father, Richard E. 
Lord, was born May 2, 1803, at Marietta, 
Ohio; he engaged in school teaching when a 
young man; and came to Mt. Vernon at an 
early time, where he built a school house at 
his own expense, and taught a select school; 
he studied medicine with G. B. Maxfield, and 
graduated at Cincinnati Jan. 29, 1833, and 
practiced in Chesterville until quite advanced 
in years. He was married May 3, 1830, to 
Caroline L. Maxfield, by the Rev. W. B. Bur- 
gess. She was born in Vermont, Oct. 22, 
1811. There were seven children in the fam- 
ily — James M., who was born Jan. 23, 1822; 
Amelia, Oct. 28, 1833; Gilbert M., Oct. 22, 
1835; Clarinda, June 5, 1838; Thos. C. as be- 
fore given; Mary E., Oct. 21, 1842, and Will- 
iam O. July 14, 1847, Thomas C. being the 
only survivor. James M. was a medical grad- 
uate and died Aug 13, 1869; Mary E. was a 
teacher, and died June 27, 1865; the others 
died in early life. The Hon. Thomas Lord, 
paternal grandfather of these children, was a 
graduate of Yale College, and married a 
daughter of Gen. Robert Oliver. The mater- 
nal grandfather, G. B. Maxfield, was born July 
12, 1785, in Vermont. He was a physician, 
and married Amelia Graves, May 17, 1810, 
and came to Fredericktown, this State, in 
1813. In 1818 he moved to Mt. Vernon, 
where he practiced until his death, by cholera, 
Oct. 8, 1822. The children in this family 
were Caroline L., Emeline, Mary E., Abigail, 
and William E. 

ALPHEUS LAYCOX, farmer; P. O. 
Chesterville ; is a son of Henry and Catharine 
Struble Laycox ; his lather was born in Sus- 
sex Co., New Jersey, and came to Ohio in 
1819, settling on the place now owned by 
Irab Struble. His mother was also born in 
New Jersey, and came with her husband to 



~n' 



l^ 



(iOO 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 



Ohio by team ; the father died in 18G5 ; the 
mother in 1845. They had ten children : 
Amanda ; Caroline married Squire Os^den ; 
Lucy, Catharine, Juliet, Henry, Sarah A., 
Alpheus, Richard and Harrison. His mother 
belonged to the Old School Baptists ; the 
father was once constable, and also a Demo- 
crat, and was born Feb. 1, 1839, in Chester 
Tp.; he lived with his parents and engaged 
in farming and threshing wheat until 34 years 
old ; he was married, in 1853, to Nancy, a 
daughter of John and Mary Stilley, who are 
prominently mentioned in the Tp. history. 
She was born in 1838, in this county, on the 
farm where she now resides. They have 
seventy-nine acres, finely improved and well 
watered by springs. This property was 
obtained by buying out the heirs of her 
father. They have had two children — Emma, 
at home ; John S.,, deceased in 18G5. They 
are active members of the M. E. Church ; he 
has been trustee and class-leader in the same. 
He votes the Republican ticket, having 
always been an active member of that party. 
Mr. Laycox is one of our best substantial 
farmers, upright and honest. 

DANIEL S. LEONARD, farmer, P. O. 
Chesterville. He was born in Seneca Co., N. 
Y., July 15, 1811; his father, John, was born 
May 14, 1764, and mother, Mary (Pitny) 
Leonard, was born Sept. 5, 1768, both in New 
Jersey. The names of their children were : 
Josephus, bom March 7, 1789; Susan, Dec. 
33, 1790; Benjamin, Seut. 7, 1793; John, 
Dec. 1, 1795; Byram Apr. 13, 1798; Mary, 
April 38, 1800; Martha, Dec. 30, 1803; Eliza, 
March 10, 1806; Darwin, Sept. 15, 1808, and 
Daniel, as above stated. His parents were 
active Presbyterians; the father's boyhood 
days were remarkably interesting, though un- 
pleasant in some respects; he would go to 
school barefooted, and carry a heated board 
under his arm with which to warm his feet on 
the way to and from the old log cabin of 
"knowledge." Mr. Leonard remained with 
his parents until 31 years old; his younger 
days were spent in attending school and work- 
ing on the farm; he celebrated a happy wed- 
ding Oct. 8, 1833, with El'zabeth, a daughter 
ofWilliam and Rhoda (Conger) Lewis; her 
parents were natives of New Jersey, and emi- 
grated to Wayne Tp., Knox Co., in 1809, 
where they died; Mr. Leonard settled at their 



marriage on the present farm of 150 acres. 
A pleasant family of eight children have grown 
up to enliven their home — Darw'in, Elizabeth, 
Ann E., Abigail, Wellington, Sarah E., Mary 
G. and Minerva. Mr. and Mrs. Leonard have 
been members of the Old School Baptist 
Church for about forty years. He has always 
been identified with the ]3emocratic party; his 
emigration was made by canal at the age of 
33; his brother Byram came here early and 
served in the war of 1813, and was in the leg- 
islature three times, and keeper of the higher 
penitentiary two years. This old couple are 
the architects of their own fortune. 

SYLVESTER LANNING, farmer ; P. O., 
Chesterville. This enterprising farmer was 
born Oct. 31, 1844, in Morrow Co., where he 
has always remained. His father, Richard, 
was a native of New Jersey, as was also his 
mother, Elizabeth Struble. His parents came 
to Ohio early, and purchased a portion of 
land, where Sylvester now resides ; here they 
passed away, having blessed the world with 
four children — Sylvester, Delphina, Mary and 
Electa. They were both Methodists. Syl- 
vester passed his young days pleasantly on 
the farm and in the school-room, and on Oct. 
10, 1875, he married Florence, daughter of 
Richard and Rachel (Stilley) Laycox, by whom 
he has two children — Nancy M. and Stephen 
H. They now own 100 acres of well im- 
proved land, being well watered by springs. 
Mr. Lanning has been district supervisor, 
and has belonged to the Order of Good Tem- 
plars, and once a Patron of Husbandry. He 
has always voted the Democratic ticket, and 
takes interest in all county enterprises. His 
estimable wife belongs to the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 

MRS. AMANDA LEVERING; widow; 
Chesterville; was born Dec. 18, 1833, in Knox 
Co.; her father, Jacob Resley, was of French 
descent, born in Maryland, and her mother, 
whose maiden name was Ann Faber, was of 
German descent, and born in Virginia, in 
which state they were married, and came to 
Knox Co. at an early day, and finally bought 
a farm near Cardiiigton, Morrow Co., where 
the father died in 1803 or '64, and the mother 
in 1867. They had four children: Samuel 
W. (deceased), John W. married Sarah Brown, 
and is a physician at Legrande, Marshal Co., 
Iowa; Louisa married Chambers Ash; 



M>^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



607 



Amanda. Her parents were Presbyterians. 
Mrs. Levering was married in 1845 to Enoch, 
a son of Charles and Mary (Blair) Levering. 
His parents were from Pennsylvania, and 
settled in Knox Co. at an early day, and had 
the following children: Columbus, Enoch, 
Elizabeth, Drusilla, Daniel, Riley, Mary, 
Nancy, Lucy and Knox. His parents were 
also Presbyterians, and the father was justice 
of the peace for years. Mrs. Levering and 
her husband settled after marriage in- Miller 
Tp., Knox Co., there buying 100 acres of 
land, which they sold in 185'J, then bought 
13G4- acres of Jacob Struble — where she now 
lives. They afterward bought thirty-five 
acres of Anna Struble, adjoining the same. 
The boys lately bought seventy-six acres of 
Joel Ball. This 161 acres is attained entirely 
by their own labors. Her husband is de- 
ceased. She has had, and by him, twelve 
children; seven only survive: Riley married 
Elizabeth Lewis; Judson married Ella Ball; 
Charles, Benton, Ella, Maggie and Chambers 
A. Her husband once belonged to the A. F. 
and A. M.; he died June 17, 1877. The boys 
are dealing very extensively in fine sheep and 
Durham cattle, to which the farm is well 
adapted, being beautiful, rolling ground and 
well watered by Owl Creek. The family at- 
tend the Presbyterian church. 

CHARLES B. LEVERING, farmer; P. O. 
Chesterville; this well-to-do farmer was born 
B^eb. 26, 1840. His father, Joseph, was born 
in 1805, in Belmont Co., Pa., and his mother, 
Elizabeth Blair, was born in the same Co. in 
1806. They were married in Frederickstown, 
Knox Co., the father moving to Waterford in 
1813 and the mother to Franklin Tp., now in 
Morrow Co., in 1811. The former died May 
26, 1871, and the latter in August, 1876, the 
result of their union being seven children: 
Edmond (deceased), Lurana married E. W. 
Brown, farmer, Knox Co.; Charlotte (de- 
ceased), Charles B., Sherman married Lydia 
Ogle; Edmond married Satira Lanning; 
Calvin. The father was elder of the Presby- 
terian church, to which the mother belonged. 
Charles B. attended school in an eight-sided 
school house during his younger days. He 
was married in 1868 to Mary J., daughter of 
Joseph and Rachel (Evans) Grove; her father 
was born in Licking Co., Ohio, and her mother 
in Virginia; they had: Jacob (deceased), 



Mary J., Milton, Victorine. Mr. Levering's 
wife was born in 1845; he settled at marriage 
on ninety acres in Franklin Tp.; in 1872 he 
bought the Corwin farm in said township, and 
in 1878 sold the same to Lydia Wait, and 
bought the present farm of T. C. Lord; he has 
in all 155 acres of well improved land; the 
home place is finely watered by spring; he 
makes a specialty of sheep and horses. He 
has two children: Milton, born 1869; Homer 
B., born Dec. 14, 1875. Member of Lodges 
No. 238 A. F. & A. M., at Chesterville; Mt. 
Gilead Chapter, No. 59; Clinton Comma;ndery, 
No. 5, Mt. Vernon. Mr. Levering paid out 
considerable money for the draft of the town- 
ship; votes the Democratic ticket; cast his 
first vote for McClellan for president. 

JOHN M. MOORE, merchant ; Chester- 
ville ; prominent for years in the business 
interests of Chesterville; he was born 
Feb. 25, 1837, in Pennsylvania, emigra- 
ted to Ohio with his parents in 1846. 
His father, James R., was born in 1805, 
in Northumberland Co., Pa., and settled 
at the time mentioned in Franklin Tp.; and 
in 1872 he moved to Kansas. He had six 
children by his marriage with Priscilla Mar- 
tin — James, now in Kansas, .John M.; Jane 
E. married Asher Shaw, now in Iowa, farmer 
and stock-raiser ; Rebecca married Perry Z. 
Smith, who was killed at Toledo, in the Mil- 
burn Wagon Works, while superintending the 
iron machinery. She was again married in 
1880, to Bennett Taylor, merchant, of DeSoto, 
Johnson Co., Kansas ; Perry M., attorney, in 
Areola, 111.; read law with O. K. Denmore, 
Mt. Gilead, was superintendent of schools of 
Chesterville and Areola ; Maggie. Mr. Moore 
attended school at this place, and when 17 
years old commenced teaching at what was 
known as the "Blue Jay" school house, 
Franklin Tp. In 1857, he was employed jn 
the dry goods firm of Kelley & George, at 
Mt. Giiead, with whom he remained about 
two and one-half years. He then transferred 
to the employ of E. W. Bartlett, at Chester- 
ville. In four years from then, Bartlett sold 
to his brother 'W. F. and Goble, with whom 
John continued his valuable services for three 
years. In 1861, he enlisted in 4th O. V. I., 
under Capt. Banning, and remained three 
months. In 1864, he enlisted in Co. "F" 
136th O. N. G., as Lieutenant. In 1865 he 



^Tt: 



l^ 



608 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 



engaged in the grocery business at Lima, 
Ohio, under the firm name of Moore & Bart- 
iett, lor two years. Tlie firm tlien engaged 
in dry goods at Upper Sandusky, Wyandotte 
Co., for three years. Moore then sold to 
Bartlett and engaged with S. H. Hunt in the 
dry goods business at the same town, with 
wliom he continued for three years. He then 
engaged as salesman for some time with E. 
P. Sturges & Co., wholesale grocers, Mans- 
field. In 1874. he returned to Chestcrville 
and entered the firm of Bartlett & Goble 
as a partner. In 1875, Goble withdrew, and 
since then Moore has been doing business 
under the firm name of Bartlett & Moore, and 
now carry a full line of dr}'^ goods, notions, 
hats, caps, boots, shoes, groceries, etc. He 
was married in 18G8 to Maggie E. Bartlett, 
born April 12, 1844 ; by her he had three 
children — Willie B., James F., and Florence 
B. He is a member of Chester Lodge, No. 
238, A. F. & A. M. Chapter, Mt. Gilead and 
Clinton Commandery No. 5, Mt. Vernon. 
He and wife are members of the Presbyte- 
rian Church of this place. 

G. W. McCRACKEN, farmer; P. O. Ches- 
terville; is the son of William and Elizabeth 
(Miller) McCracken. G. W. was born Nov. 
7, 1S32, in Chester Tp., where he has always 
remained; was married Nov. 18, 1858, to 
Hannah .J., daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth 
(Williams) George. She was born Nov. 18, 
1837, in this township; her mother was born 
in Wales, and her father in Pennsylvania; 
they emigrated to Ohio in 1810 or 1812. The 
names of the children living are — Mary, Han- 
nah J., Lydia and John. The subject and his 
wife setth d on seventy-three acres of land, a 
portion of the present farm; he has since 
bought thirty acres, making in all 103 acres 
of finely improved land, obtained through 
hard labor. He enlisted in Co. "F." 13Gth O. N. 
G. In 1852, he and James Kinney moved a 
threshing machine to Wisconsin, and engaged 
in threshing wheat for six months, and wer * 
very successful. He is a member of Chester 
Lodge No. 238, A. F. and A. M., in which he 
has been treasurer. He is serving as town- 
ship trustee; himself and wife are members 
of the Baptist church, and he votes the Re- 
publican ticket; he has two children — DeWitt, 
born July 18, 18G4, and died 1874; Wil- 
liam L., born July 23, 187G. 



MRS. ELIZABETH McCRACKEN, wid- 
ow; P. O. Chestcrville; is the daughter of 
David and Mary (.Johnston) Miller. Her father 
was born in Scotland, and came to America 
with Cornwallis' army, and was a drum- 
mer; her mother was born in Ireland, and 
came to this country in 1775. They were 
married and came to Mt. Vernon, Knox 
Co., in 1806; David here worked at his trade, 
that of a tailor; settled on fifty acres of land 
in this township, about 1810; the father died 
here in 1814, mother, 1848. Their union 
blessed them with thirteen children — Andrew, 
Jane, Isabel, Mary, Sarah, Nancy, .James and 
Elizabeth; five died unnamed. Elizabeth 
was born Feb. 14, 1802, in Virginia; attended 
school in Mt. Vernon, to a teacher by the 
name of Norcross, the first pedagogue in that 
portion of the country; while in Chester Tp., 
she went to school to a Mr. Miles. She was 
married March 7, 1821, to William, son of 
James and Catharine (O'Neal) McCracken, 
both natives of Ireland. William was born 
Nov. 18, 1801, in Pennsylvania; came to Ohio 
in 1812, with his parents. The following are 
the names of their children — .J^nes, born 
April 1, 1823; Catharine, Feb. 4, 1825; R. 
Johnson, May 2G, 1827; Mary J., Nov. 12, 
1828; Nancy, Dec. 1, 1830; George W., 
.Jasper, April 23, 1834, Isabel, Sept. 26, 1836, 
Elizabeth, April 14, 1839; Lucretia A., May 
24, 1841; John A., March 29, 1844; James, 
Jasper and John A. were in the civil war. 
Mary J. was married Oct, 20, 1853, to D. B., 
a son of Enoch and Hannah E. (Dillman) 
Kinsell; his grandparents were from Prussia, 
and emigrated to Baltimore, at which place 
D. B.'s father was born. Her husband was 
born in Hagerstown, Maryland, March 4, 
1819; by him she had Henry C, born Nov. 13, 
1858; George M., born May 19, 1862; Hannah 
E., April 20, 18G4. Mr. Kinsell died Sept. 8, 
1869; he was a member of the Methodist 
church; he served as justice of the peace for 
twelve years; he was a strong temperance 
man. His wife, who survives him, is an active 
member of the Methodist church, to which 
her mother has belonged for forty years. 

NOAH MELICK, farmer; P'. O. Sparta; 
Mr Melick was born May 12, 18il, in Knox 
Co. His father, Jonas, was born about 1788, 
in Green Co., Pa., and emigrated to Knox Co. 
early, and there married Nancy Rose, by 






'V 



l>^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



G09 



whom he had Aaron, Drusilla, Greenbury, 
Eleanor and Caroline. His wife died, and he 
ag-ain married; this time to Sallie Duncan; 
by her he had Emeline, John, Noah, Harrison 
and Mary J. His last wife died about 1836 or 
1 837. The father married a third time, and had 
Jefferson, Madison, James and Rebecca, and 
two died unnamed. The third wife died, and he 
married for the fourth time. Aug-. 22, 1871, the 
father expired. He was a member of the 
Disciples' church; he was a Whig, Republi- 
can and captain of militia. Mr. Noah Melick 
had some advantages of education in the old 
log school house. He was married Aug. 22, 
1853, to Margaret, daughter of John and Na- 
omi (Creg) Bricker. Her father was born in 
Pennsylvania, and her mother in Knox Co. 
She was one of thirteen children — William, 
Margaret, Christopher, Truman, Marietta and 
Melissa (twins), Sarah E., Allen, Rebecca, 
John, Emma, Mary A. and Orpha. Her pa- 
rents were Methodists. Her lather died Sept. 
25, 1858, and her mother Sept. lU, 1865. Mrs. 
Melick was born Sept. 13, 1850, in Knox Co.; 
they farmed for a while in Knox Co., and in 
1858 they bought and settled on one hun- 
dred acres, the present farm now in Ches- 
ter Tp.; he has since bought 50 acres; it 
is, perhaps, one of the best- watered farms in 
the country. He enlisted in Co. F., 136th O. 
N. G. Himself and wife, and a part of the chil- 
dren belong to the Methodist church. A 
pleasant and intelligent family of eight chil- 
dren; their names are — Jane, married B. Bon- 
er; Ann, married Cravan Stilley; Alice, John, 
Ida, Emeline, George and Bud. Mr. Melick 
has always been a strong advocate of the Re- 
publican principles. Mr. Melick is nearly 50 
years old, but active, and in good health. The 
rields and groves that lie adjacent to his resi- 
dence, which is nicely situated on a beautiful 
hill- side, make a verv pleasmg picture. 

JOHN MEREDITH, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O. Chesterville; was born Dec. 1, 
1804, in Baltimore, Md.y his father, William, 
was born in England, and came to Baltimore 
when 29 years old; his mother, Mary Farmer, 
was also born in England, and came to 
America about the same; time. They were 
married in Baltimore, and lived there about 
three years, going from there to Belmont 
Co., Ohio, and one year later came to Licking 
Co., where they bought 100 acres of land, 



which they partly cleared, and in 1814 sold 
the same for $700, and bought 100 acres in 
Chester Tp., of Miller & May, where they set- 
tled and lived until death. They possessed 
150 acres at their death, which became the 
property of their ten children — John, Nancy, 
William, James, Thomas, Mary, Sarah,Charles, 
Robert and BetsJ'. Mr. Meredith was married 
in 1829, to Jane, a daughter of John D. and 
Lena (Davis) Thomas; her parents were born 
in Wales, and came to Pennsylvania — the 
father when 17 and the mother when 14. They 
married in Pennsylvania, and came to Licking 
Co., this State, in 1809 or 1810, where they 
rented for about ten years, and came then to 
Morrow Co. and purchased the 100 acres now 
owned by Isaac Bowen. The father here died 
at the age of sixty-two. They had ten chil- 
dren — (infant, deceased), Jane, David, Daniel, 
Mary, John, Zachariah, Ann, Eliza and Benja- 
min. Her father was a Baptist minister lor 
over twenty years, of which denomination her 
mother was a long and faithful member. Mrs. 
Meredith was born in 1808, in Pennsylvania; 
she had but little schooling; when they began 
farming, Mr. Meredith turned the soil with the 
wooden moldboard, and was perhaps hardly 
contented to give it up for the more modei'ii 
improvement ; in 1854 he began raising 
short-horned Durham cattle, and has con- 
tinued the same ever since, and has been orje 
of the most successful stock-breeders of the 
State; he has raised several cows which he 
has sold for $200 each; this is the highest 
price ever paid for any cow in the county. 
Perhaps no one is more attentive to his stock 
than he. This strict attention has won for 
him praiseworthy success. They have had 
three children — (infant, deceased), Mary, died 
when eleven years old; Zachariah, born 
1835, and worked at home with his father 
until he married which was in 1865, to Nancy 
L. Martin. They are now living in Johnson 
Co.,Kansas,where he has been in the hardware 
business, and was one term in the State 
Legislature of Kansas; while here he was 
captain of Company F., 136 O. N. G., and 
was called out. Mr. and Mrs. Meredith have 
been members of the Old School Baptist 
church for many years, in which they have 
taken great comfort. He votes the Demo- 
cratic ticket. 

SANFORD MODIE, blacksmith; Chester- 



<y - 



610 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 



ville; is the son of William and Margaret 
(Gates) Modie; his father was born in Culpep- 
er Co., Virginia, Aug. 23, 1799. His mother 
in Sussex Co., N. J., Jan. 10, 1811. They 
were married Nov. 21, 1833, by which union 
they had San ford, born Aug. 19, 1834; Mary, 
July 30, 183G, deceased March 31, 1870; 
George W., born Oct. 9, 1838; Martin G., 
Dec. 26, 1840; INIargaret A., born March 1, 
1843, deceased Feb. 25, 1801; Martha J., 
June 6, 1845; Minerva I., Oct. 26, 1847, 
married March 13, 1878, to Henry Weaver; 
Willie, bt)rn May 26, 1850, deceased May 4, 
1864; Emma L., Sept. 10, 1853, married Oct. 
20, 1875, to James Chalfant. Tiie father was 
married prior, Aug. 29, 1822, to Mary Pit- 
tenger, by whom he had Nancy, born June 
20, 1823, deceased March 1, 1824; Milton, born 
Jan. 24, 1825, married Aug. 24, 1848, to Isa- 
bel Ketcham, and died Sept. 16, 1861, (she 
again married 1865, Daniel Struble); John 
W., born June 11, 1827, married Jan. 2, 1849, 
to Levena H. McCarty; William — thefather 
— was one of tweb'e children; William and 
Rachel (twins), Sallie, John, Samuel, Andrew 
J., Washington, Jacob, Elizabeth, Harriet, 
Margaret and Perry. The father died Aug. 
13, 1872. The mother of Sanford was the 
daughter of John and Margaret (Merrin), 
Gates. Her father was a native of Mon- 
mouth Co., New Jersey, and mother born in 
Germany and came to New Jersey when a 
young girl. They had twelve children, Mary 
only survives, Elizabeth, Anna, George, Chris- 
tina, Martin, John, Jacob, Margaret. Three 
died while young. The father of our subject 
moved to Chester Tp. in 1843, and im- 
proved a small farm. Was one term justice of 
the peace of this township. Sanford attended 
school as much as he could, conveniently, 
in his younger days, and worked for his father 
in the blacksmith shop, seeking this as his 
avocation for life. He became a skillful 
workman. In 1857 he went to Geneseo, 
Henry Co., 111., and worked at his trade for 
some time. He then returned and worked 
with his father until 18(»(), when he formed a 
matrimonial alliance with Amanda, a daughter 
of Daniel Lyon; his father was born in New 
Jersey in 1798. In 1824 he was married to 
Hannah Dairy mple, born 1805, in Pennsyl- 
vania. Mr. Lyon came to Chesterville in 
1855, and engaged in wagon-making and con- 



tinued the same until 1877, when he retired. 
He has served as assessor of this township for 
twelve years; when 80 years old he assessed 
this townshijD, without the use of a horse or 
buggy; has been Township Trustee; joined 
the Methodist Episcopal church in 1829; his 
wife died Nov. 24, 1875; they had the follow- 
ing children: M. A,, A. J. graduated at O.W., 
U. at Delaware, O. — now presiding elder of 
the Mansfield district; Amanda, born 1830; 
Harriet," married Clark Pierce; Mary J., mar- 
ried James Outcalt; Charles W. married Fan- 
nie King. Mr. Modie settled in 1861 in 
Chesterville, where he has since been engaged 
in blacksmithing; he was elected townsliip 
clerk in 1864, and has since held the office; is 
a member of the scliool board; also of Chester 
Lodge, No. 238, A. F. and A. M. and Clinton 
Commandery, No. 5, K. T., at Mt. Vernon. 
He and wife are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church at this place. The result o:' 
their marriage was — Luella C. and Anna B. 
He enlisted in Co. F, 136th O.N.G. Was 
early identified with the Democratic party — 
casting his first vote for James Buchanan — 
and since that time has been an active He- 
publican. 

REUBEN METTLER, farmer; P. O. Ches- 
terville; was born Aug. 1, 1819, in Pennsyl- 
vania. His father, Levi, was born in 1778, in 
in New Jersey, and went to Pennsylvania 
when fifteen years old, and there married and 
engaged in shoe-making in Northumberland 
Co. His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth 
Campbell. Reuben was one of the follow- 
ing children: Sallie, Polly, Hesther, Asher, 
Levi, Robert, William, Elizabeth, Phoebe, 
Miles, Samuel, Maximilia. The father and 
mother and eight children came to Ohio in 
1827 in a one-horse wagon; the children and 
father walking the greater part of the day, 
some barefooted, and having no hats or bon- 
nets. They finally settled in Knox Co. The 
father and the two oldest boys built a pole 
cabin and filled it with straw, on which they 
slept, while clearing their first farm. All the 
hardships that fell to the lot of the pioneer 
came upon this family, but by their industry 
they were rewarded with better days. The 
father died in 1862, and the mother in 1855; 
both were Presbyterians. Reuben attended 
school, and actively engaged in splitting rails; 
he was married May 3, 1849, to Anna, 



;rv 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



611 



daughter of John and Tamer Lyon; they had 
one child: William. His wife died Feb. 7, 
1854; she was a Baptist. He was again mar- 
ried Dec. 21, 1851:, to Barbara, daughter of 
Daniel and Elizabeth Knous. Her parents 
emigrated from Adams Co., Pennsylvania, to 
Ohio in 1851, and had ten children; three died 
when young; those living are: Solomon, 
Daniel, Sarah, Elizabeth, John, Mary, Barbara; 
her parents were Lutherans; she was born on 
May 16, 1815, in Pennsylvania; their children's 
names are: M. E. married, James Hug- 
gins and Smith, at home. He now possesses 
125 acres of well improved land, and well 
watered by spring, which was obtained by 
hard labor. He served as township trustee 
twelve years, and also as a delegate to help 
nominate the first officers of Morrow Co.; he 
was once a member of the " Patrons of Hus- 
bandry." He and his wife are members of 
the church, the former a Baptist and the latter 
a Presbyterian. Mr. Mettler worked for ten 
years at carpentering; he has now retired from 
active labor on the farm. His mother was of 
Scotch descent, and his grandfather Campbell 
was a Revolutionary soldier for five years. 

JOHN McNAY, farmer; P. O. Chesterville; 
was born June 27, 1833; his father, Samuel, 
was born Feb. 13, 1797, in Adams Co., Penn- 
sylvania; the mother, Nancy Bigham, was 
born Dec. 11, 1804, in the same county. The 
father bought two hundred acres where the 
family now live, in 1830, and moved on the 
same in 1853, at which time he bade adieu to 
his native home. They had leased a portion 
of the same land, which was cleared before 
their coming. The father died April 26, 
1868, and was a member of the United Pres- 
byterian church; he had six children — Hannah, 
L., John A., Margaret L., M. E., Mary A., 
Rebecca J,, deceased. The mother is still 
living on the old homestead; her grand- 
daughter, Margaret L. Pollock lives with her. 
Nancy is a daughter of Thomas and Margaret 
(McNay) Bigham, and was one of four 
children — John, Margaret, Nancy and Alex- 
ander. John attended school in an old stone 
house, and farmed during his boyhood days. 
He was married in 1860 to Mary J., daughter 
William and Martha (Scott) McGaughy, men- 
tioned elsewhere in this work. He settled on 
his present farm of ninety-six: and one- half 
acres in a short time after marriage, and has 



improved the same, and now has a fine farm. 
His children are — Nancy J., Samuel A., Wil- 
liam S., James G., the latter two are twins. 
He is a member of Chester Lodge No. 20, 
I. O. O. F., and has gone through the same; 
he and his wife are members of the Presby- 
terian church. He takes an interest in the 
Republican party; his grandfather McNay 
was an active soldier in the Revolutionary 
war. 

WILLIAM MoGAUGHY, farmer; P. O. 
Chesterville; was born June 16, 1827; his 
father, William, was born in 1797, in Adams 
Co., Pa., and his mother, Martha Scott, 
in Chambersburg, Franklin Co., the same 
state. They were married, and lived on a 
farm in Adams Co. They came to Ohio in 
1853. The children by their union were 
Alexander S., Ann, William, Jane, Mary, 
James, Thomas, Margaret, Hugh P. and 
Robert C. The father died in 1875, and the 
mother in 1869. Both were members of the 
Presbyterian church. The subject spent his 
younger days in attending school, and work- 
ing on the farm, then came to Ohio in 1854, 
and was married in 1865 to Hannah L., 
daughter of Samuel and Nancy McNay. She 
was born July 7, 1851. They rented one 
year, and then bought twenty -five acres; after- 
ward twentj'^-five adjoining were given them 
by her father; he bought five adjoining that 
of the heirs; he afterward sold a portion, and 
bought 100; he now possesses 155 acres of 
finely-improved land, on which he deals in 
stock and farms the same in grain. When he 
began life he had one horse and one cow. 
They have four children — Samuel M., Jennie, 
Nancy and Missie. He was township trustee 
for seven years. Hiijnself, wife and three old- 
est children are members of the Presbyterian 
church, in which he is now trustee; he is an 
active Republican. The McGaughy family 
are Scotch-Irish descent; the mother of Will- 
iam was a cousin of Thomas Scott, the noted 
railroad president. 

ROBERT MEREDITH, farmer; P. O., 
Chesterville ; was born June 2, 1823 ; in 
what is now Morrow Co., he attended school 
some during his younger days and worked on 
the farm. He was married in 1846 to Jane, 
daughter of Walter and Elizabeth (Pugh) 
Williams ; her parents were natives of Wales, 
and had six children — Walter, David, Wil- 



S^ <i 



(112 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 



liam, Elizabeth, Mary A., Jane ; her parents 
are members of the Baptist Church. Rob- 
ert's wife died in Feb., 1872 ; he was again 
married to Sarah J., daughter of John and 
Jane (Talbet) Bhikely ; her parents were 
natives of Loudoun Co., Virginia, and emigra- 
ted to Behnont Co., Oliio, in 1823, and in 
IcSoG came to tliis county, settling near Mt. 
Gilead ; they there bought IGO acres of land 
of Albert Nickols, and farmed the same until 
his death ; ihe mother in 1841 and the father 
April 16, 1879 ; the result of the union was 
six children — Ruth, Letitia, Sarah J., Nancy, 
Mary and Susan. Mrs. Meredith was born in 
1821), and was married to Rev. D. Jenkins, 
who died Dec, 1873, leaving the testi- 
mony of having done a great work. Mr. 
Meredith rented for three ye:irs, and then 
bought seventy-three acres of Henderson 
Williams, and improved the same ; in the 
meantime? he added forty acres ; he sold the 
same in 180 7, and bought 182 acres of B. 
Shipley, in this township, which he still owns; it 
is well watered by spring and stream ; is 
finely adapted to stock-raising ; he makes a 
specialty of sheep. It is, perhaps, among the 
finest farms in the county. His wife owns a 
house and lot, together with twenty- two acres 
adjoining town. They reside in this dwelling 
He rents his farm to John E. George, whom 
he raised. He has been Township Trustee 
two terms. He and wife are members of the 
Baptist church at this, place. Honesty and 
uprightness are two great characteristics with 
him. 

EXOS W. Mn.ES,farmer, P.O.Chesterville; 
was the second in a family of three children, 
born to Davis and Julia A. Denman Miles, of 
Chester Tp. The Miles family is one of the old- 
est in Chester(tlie founder of this branch of the 
family coming here in 1815), and has always 
borne an active part in the history of the 
township. Davis Miles was born in Chester, 
Dec. 1-4, 1814, and his wife,, Julia A. Denman, 
of an early and important family of this town- 
sliij), was born here A])ril 30, 1817. Like all 
members of a new community, Mr. Miles be- 
came a farmer, but was repeatedly called 
from his chosen work to serve the county and 
State. He served as Sheriif one term; he was 
elected to the Legislature by the Republicans 
in 1857, and re-el(!cted in 18G1, r(>presenting 
the counties of Knox, Morrow, Holmes and 



Wayne. In the less consi)icuous position of 
Justice of the Peace he served his townspeople 
many years, and was for some time a Director 
of the First National Bank at Mt. Gilead; he 
died Aug. G, 18G5, a member of the Chester 
Lodge of Masons and of the Baptist church; 
he joined the latter in 1854; Mrs. Miles died 
on January 20, 1874. Eiios W. Miles was 
born May G, 1842, in Chester Tp. His early 
life was an uneventful one, spent upon the 
farm and in the village school; his life passed 
thus, teaching in the meanwhile one term of 
school, when, at the age of 19, he was chosen 
Teller in the Granite Bank of Mt. Gilead. In 
the the winter of 1864-5 he was elected En- 
grossing Clerk of the State Senate hlling a 
vacancy. He was afterward elected Message 
Clerk of the same body. In 1870, he engaged 
in the dry goods business, under the firm name 
of Miles & Trowbridge, but retired after con- 
tinuing some eighteen months, with complete 
financial success. With this exception, Mr. 
Miles has devoted his attention entirely to 
farming, making stock-ra,ising and wool- 
growing a specialty. In the village of Ches- 
terville, where he resides, and near which is 
located his farm of 165 acres, he occupies a 
prominent position in village affairs, is a mem- 
ber of the School Board and of the Village 
Council, havinj;' held the latter some twelve 
years. In the Masonic Lodge and in the Pres- 
byterian Church, of both of which he is a 
member, his valuable executive abilities have 
been brought in requisition. In 1877, Mr. 
Miles was the standard-bearer of ihe Republi- 
can party as its candidate for representative 
in the State Assembly; it proved, however, 
one of those off years, when a combination of 
circumstances wrought an almost unprece- 
dented revolution in political affairs. Mr. 
Miles was married Oct. 11, 18GG, to Deborah, 
daughter of John and Sarah A. Reed (Creigh). 
She was born January 31, 1847. They have 
but one child, a daughter, born Nov. 20, 1869. 
Mr. Miles' brother, Milton F., was born Dec. 
10, 1835; married Margaret E. Driver; served 
for awhile in the late war in the 43rd O. V. I., 
and was later transferred to the 49th O. V. 1., 
as Second Lieutenant. He is now a farmer 
and miller, in Madison Co., Wisconsin. A 
sister^ Mary E., completed the family. She 
was born Aug. 27, 184G, and died Sept. 1, 
1847. 



w 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



613 



W. W. NYE, farmer; P. O. Chesterville; 
was born Aug. 18, 1816, in Knox Co. His 
father, Samuel Nye, was born in Massachusetts, 
and his mother, Mary Bartlett, was born in 
the State of New York; the former came to 
Ohio in 1807, and the latter in 1808. They 
settled in Clinton, then the county seat of 
Knox Co., where the husband engaged in 
burning brick, and also in masonry, and built 
many buildings at that place, some of which 
are yet standing. They bought a farm of 
one hundred and thirty-seven acres on the 
Green Valley Road, some time subsequent to 
his settlement in Clinton, and moved to the 
same, where he died; the mother survived him 
about five years. Their children were — Eliza, 
Jane, Harriet, W. W., Mary, Sarah, Catharine, 
Caroline and Samuel D. Parents belonged 
to the United Presbyterian church at Mt. 
Vernon; the father was a captain in the war 
of 1813. Our subject attended school in a 
log house near his father's home, and also went 
to school in a frame house, which was built 
on their home farm. After becoming old 
enough, he was elected School Director, and 
superintended building a house on the old 
site, where he had learned his a, b, c. He 
early learned masonry with his father, and 
worked at the same for many years. He 
was married Nov. 22, 1838, to Martha, 
daughter, of Uzal and Peninah (Lyon) Ball; 
she was born 1817. They settled after mar- 
riage on twenty-six acres, which he had 
bought fronrhis father, and in 1850 sold the 
same and bought one hundred acres, subse- 
quently selling out, with the expectation of 
going west, but did not follow out his inten- 
tion, and located on the present farm of two 
hundred acres, which is finely improved and 
well watered by springs. The result of his 
marriage was nine children — infant died un- 
named; Sarah E., married Benton Peoples; 
Amanda and Almeda, twins, the former mar- 
ried Dr. Wemple, and the latter William 
Philips; Isabel married George Modie; Ella, 
Francis M., Alice and Charles L. Mr. Nye 
has been Township Trustee four years in 
succession; has been a member of the Good 
Templars since 1856, and is also a member of 
the " Patrons of Husbandry." He has been 
a member of the Baptist church since 1857, 
and his wife since 1856; he cast his first vote 
for President for Martin Van Buren, and has 



since taken an active part in the party; he 
has been a delegate to county and State con- 
ventions; deals in fine sheep and cattle; also, 
breeding fine Samson and English draft 
horses; takes interest in all modern improve- 
ments in farming implements. 

JOHN OGDEN, farmer; P. 0. Chesterville; 
was born Nov. 29, 1817, in what is now 
Morrow, Co. His father, James, was born in 
New Jersey, and emigrated to Ohio at an 
early day; his mother was a daughter of 
Joseph and Mary (Bowers) Howard, both of 
whom came to Ohio in 1810, and settled in 
Mt. Vernon when there were but four houses. 
Her parents settled on the farm now owned 
l)y J. C. Swetland, and here died, leaving 
Martha, Jesse, James, Joseph, Jeremiah, 
William, John, Henry and Susan; the parents 
are Old School Baptists. The father and 
mother of our subject began life in the green 
woods, having for a dwelling a log cabin 18x 
20 feet. Stick chimney, stone back wall, dirt 
hearth and clapboard roof. One door and 
one window, greased papers were used for win- 
dow lights, and at night they would retire to 
the Block House for protection. The father 
was in the war of 1812, and at one time stood on 
the Canadian shore besieging the enemy un- 
til the water run from his eyes like rain. He 
used to drive hogs to Baltimore, Philadelphia 
and Cleveland, and would return on foot. In 
his youth he taught singing school at night; 
his first gun was obtained by clearing timber 
for an old pioneer. He paid as high as $15.00 
per barrel for salt, paying for the same in 
maple sugar at five cents per pound. John 
was married Jan. 13, 1848, to Rhoda, daugh- 
ter of David and Phoebe Dairy mple; they 
settled on the present farm for two years 
after marriage, and then moved to Chester- 
ville, where he engaged in the grocery busi- 
ness, under the firm name of Struble & Ogden; 
in one year Struble withdrew and Ogden con- 
tinued the business for another year, and then 
closed out at auction, and bought twenty-five 
acres of land of Zephaniah Pierson. After- 
wards he sold the same and retired for a short 
time; he then rented of J. E. Rowland in 
Franklin Tp. for one year; and in 1868 set- 
tled where he now resides, and has now 100 
acres of finely improved land; ^1,000 he in- 
herited and the rest he obtained by his own 
industry. It is finely adapted to stock rais- 



^ 



±=£k^ 



(il4 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 



inpr. He has one child, William, who mar- 
ried Rebecca Bockover, and'has two children, 
Nellie M. and John. Rebecca is a member 
of the Oltl School Baptists; they are farming. 

GEORGE ORR, farmer; P. O. Chc^steV- 
ville; is the son of William, who was born 
Oct. 18, 1709, in West Virginia, and the 
mother, Sarah Buchanan, born Feb. 27, 180t5 
— in the same county. They were married 
Nov. 15, 1827, and came to Ohio in 1832, and 
settled on the farm now owned by their chil- 
dren. They bought 190 acres, in the green 
woods, of Joseph Tagart; here the father 
farmed and worked for many years at coop- 
erage. He died Jan. 18, lUGi; she, June 30, 
1870. They had seven children — Jane, Mar- 
garet; William enlisted in Co. B, 44 O. V. 
]., and was killed at the battle of Corinth. 
John enlisted in Co. F, 130th, O. N. G; Thomas, 
Mary A, and George — Thomas married Mary 
A., a sister of John A. McNay, mentioned 
elsewhere — and by her he has two children. 
Burr and McLeona N. The family now owns 
305 acres of well improved lands and are deal- 
ing in stock-raising and grain. They are active 
Republicans. Their parents were members 
of the Covenanter's church in Pennsylvania, 
but since here, of the United Presbyterian. 
The father started with $400, and at his 
dejijth was worth $15,000. The father was 
Ruling Elder in the U. P- church, and was in 
the war of 1812. ^ 

JOHN E. ROWLAND, hardware; Ches- 
terville; prominently identified among the 
leading merchan.ts of this county, is Mr. 
Rowland, who was born June 4, 1840, in this 
village. His father was born in Wales, in 
1797, and emigrated to Cambria Co., Pa., 
1809, and at the age of 21 began learning the 
saddlers' trade, continuing the same for many 
years; he furnished harness for Kneb, Moore 
& Co., the noted mail and stage contractors. 
During his sojourn in Pennsylvania, he visited 
Wales three times, looking after the interests 
of an estate; he also, in connection with a 
man by the name of Scott, published a histo- 
ry of Wales, which proved a success, both in 
merit and financially, but afterward Scott be- 
came possessor of the greater portion of this 
amount; and in 1837 Mr. Rowland came to 
Ohio by team, and settled in Chesterville, 
and there engaged in harness- making, contin- 
uing the same until 1858, when he retired 



from active labors. He died in 1873, and had 
eight children; three survive — L. H., mer- 
chant and tailor, Mt. Gilead; D. H., grain- 
dealer, in Union Co., this State; J. E.; the 
father, served as Sheriff in Pennsylvania; 
John E. attended school as much as jiossible, 
and at the death of his mother he began clerk 
ing for Mr. Shurr, a merchant at this place, 
transferring in two years to the employ of 
Mr. Bartlett; with whom he continued five 
years; in 1861, he enlisted in the 20th O. V. 
I.; in 18G3, he engaged in the grocery and 
livery business, under the firm name of Row- 
land & Ayers; in the same year they dissolved 
partnership, Rowland taking the grocery, and 
Ayers the livery; he then closed up his busi- 
ness, and engaged in a provision store, in Ga- 
llon, for nine months, and fhen sold the same 
for $22,000, clearing $2,800; he then re- 
turned and disposed of his grocery at this 
place, and entered the hardware business, 
which he still continues, and is having good 
success, keeping a full line of goods; he has 
153 acres of land in Franklin Tp.; he is a 
member of Chester Lodge, No. 238, A. F. & 
A. M.; his marriage occurred in Nov., 1866, 
with Angeline Carr, by whom he has one 
child-— Katie M., born 1867. Himself and 
wife are members of the Presbyterian church, 
at this place. In principle he is a Republican. 
H. G. ROGERS, farmer; P. O., Chesterville; 
was born Aug. 15, 1831, in Cambria Co., Pa. 
His father, George Rogers, was born in 
North Wales, and came to America in the 
same ship in which the father of John Evans 
emigrated. The mother, Catherine Reess, 
was also born in Wales; they were married 
in Blair Co., Pa., and settled in Cambria Co. 
They came to Ohio about 1841, and settled 
in Morrow Co., on the farm now owned by 
Jacob Struble. The mother died in this 
neighborhood, and was the mother of the fol- 
lowing children: Rogers, Rachel, Richard, 
Jane, Thomas, Mary, H. G., Hannah, (three 
deceased). The father was a Lutheran and 
the mother a Baptist; his father again mar- 
ried a Miss Buckley, who has since died, and he 
returned to Pennsylvania, where he died about 
1858 or 1859. H. G. Rogers began working 
on a farm at the age of 13 for Edmond ^Veath- 
erby, and at the age of 18 began learning the 
cai-penter trade, with his brother, Thomas W., 
at Ebensburg, Pa.; in two years he removed 



-K 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



615 



to Philadelphia and learned stair-making; in 
one year he returned to Ohio, and worked for 
five years in partnership with Adam Randolph, 
at Mt. Vernon; in 1857, he began for himself 
and continued until 1877, when he abandoned 
the business on account of sickness. He 
was married in 1858, to Rachel, daughter of 
Thomas and Plioebe Hayden Evans, and by 
her had the followino: children: Georg-e W. 
and Olive, living; Thomas and Lewis, deceas- 
ed; his wife died, and he was again married to 
Eliza, daughter of J. D. Bruce, v^hose sketch 
appears elsewhere. He settled on the pres- 
ent farm of 23G acres in 1878. This was ob- 
tained mostly by his own labor. He deals 
in sheep and horses; votes the Republican 
ticket; enlisted in Co. C, 96th, O. V. I.; was in 
the first battle made bj Sherman, at Vicks- 
burg, and was there disabled, and was dis- 
charged at Jefi'erson Barracks, at St. Louis, 
Mo.; he w^as Fourth Serjeant. 

HARMON SWINGLE Y, farmer; P. O. 
Chesterville; was born Feb. 10, 1815, in Mary- 
land; he spent his youth attending school and 
farming; when a young man he learned chair- 
making with his brother Henry, at Chester- 
ville, and continued the same for several 
years; he was married in 1840, to Ruhannah, 
daughter of John and Asenath (Graham) Ogle; 
her parents were married in Pennsylvania, 
and came to Ohio in 1811, and settled in Rich- 
land Co.; she was one of seven children — 
Rachel, Nancy, Ruhannah, born Mar. 23, 1811, 
Phoebe, Mary, Clarinda, John. They settled, 
after marriage, on the present farm of 112 
acres, then in the greenwoods; they have im- 
proved the same, and now enjoy the benefits 
of a fine, arable farm; they are members of 
the Christian Church. They had one child, 
Josephine, married in 1860 to Chambers H., 
son of Benjamin and Rose (Elliott) Kerr; his 
father was born in 1800, in Ohio, and his 
mother in Pennsylvania, in 1806; the father 
was a farmer and millwright. Chambers was 
born April 23, 1837, and was one of seven 
children — Sarah, John B., William E., Eliza 
J., Chambers H., Wilson S. and Rose. Mr. 
Kerr has by his marriage with Miss Swingley 
— John E., born Aug. 12,1861; James H., born 
in Nov., 1862; Harmon O., Mar. 25, 1865; 
Charles C, Aug. 3, 1869; Mary E., Oct. 11, 
1874; Rhue, Nov. 6, 1878. Mr. Kerr owns 
70 acres of well improved land. His wife is 



a member of the Christian church; he 
votes the Democratic ticket, and is a member 
of the Patrons of Husbandry. 

HENRY SELLERS, farmer; P. O. Ches- 
terville; was born in 1816, in Pennsylvania; 
his father, David, was a native of Maryland, 
and his mother, Sarah Snyder, a native of 
Pennsylvania; they emigrated to Ohio about 
1834, and settled in Harmony Tp., this coun- 
ty; their children were John, Henry, Joseph, 
David, William and Sarah, (twins), and 
George. Henry remained with his parents 
and attended school, aside from which he per- 
formed the necessary duties about the farm. 
He was married in 1844, to Margaret H., a 
daughter of Jacob and Priscilla (Martin), 
Wolfe; she was born in Richland Co., this 
State, and was one of thirteen children: 
Joshua, Eliza, Nancy, John, Jacob, Priscilla^ 
Margaret, Sarah, George, Sabina, Mary A., 
Martin — the latter was scalded to death — (one 
died unmarried). This union has given Mr. 
Sellers four children — Nancy, Loretta, Es- 
ther A., and B. A. In 1849, he bought the 
present farm of 100 acres, of Charles Wright, 
owned first by Thomas George; he has im- 
proved the same and has one of the finest 
farms in the country, being well watered by 
springs; he has been Township Trustee of 
Harmony. He votes the Democratic ticket. 
He and his brother John cut out 320 rods of 
road in this eounty. 

JOHN SMILEY, retired Farmer; P. O. 
Chesterville. This old pioneer of Morrow 
Co. was born March 18, 1800, in Washington 
Co., Pennsylvania, where he remained until 
1826, attending school in the old log school 
houses; he was the only boy of the family 
that lived to be of age; his parents had, in all, 
eleven children, all of whom are deceased but 
John. His parents moved to Knox Co. by 
team in 1832, where the father died about 
1840, and the mother in J 854; they were both 
Presbyterians. Mr. Smiley was married in 
1820 to Asenath, daughter of Stephen and 
Hannah (Woolverton) Corwin (a relation of 
Senator Thomas Corwin, of Ohio). They 
lived with his parents until 1826, when they 
came to Knox, now Morrow Co., Ohio, where 
he at once entered 160 acres of land, getting 
his patent from J. Q. Adams. His first wife 
died Aug. 22, 1828; they had three children: 
Daniel married Elizabeth Hardenbrook (now 



& I ■ 



=t>. 



()1G 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 



in Warren Co., Illinois); Nancy (deceased), 
Hannah inarriod Sterlinsr Koed, who died in 
the war of tln^ Kebellion; later she was mar- 
ried to Curtis Campbell. Mr. Smiley was 
attain married Oct. 11, 1830, to Sarah, 
daughter of George and Jeniiette (Dinsmore) 
Lee. Her father emigrated from Ireland to 
Pennsylvania when 20 years old; her mother 
was born in Pennsylvania. They had eleven 
children (two deceased): Elizabeth, James, 
Mary, Jane, William, John, Joseph, Sarah, 
Hannah. Her parents were Presbyterians. 
His father died about the year l8o!), and her 
mother in 1843. ^Irs. Smiley was born Sept. 
20, 1810, in P(uins3'lvania; she came with her 
parents to Ohio when 12 years old; she and 
her husband settled in Franklin Tp. soon after 
marriage, and bought a farm, now containing 
ninety-live acres, well improved, which is the 
fruit of their own labors. Mr. Smiley has 
split rails at 25 cents per hundred; by second 
marriage he has ten children: Samantha 
married Robert Allen; Eliza J. married Lewis 
Allen; Mary E. married W. W. Kendall; 
Martha, William L., clerking for Goble; C. D., 
grocer in Chesterville; four deceased. Wil- 
liam, Samantha and C. D. have each taught 
school. Mr. Smiley has been Township 
Trustee two terms, and School Director for 
many years. The family all belong to the 
church, in which they take a deep interest. 
In 1877, Mr. and Mrs. Smiley retired from the 
farm and are now pleasantly situated in this 
village, where they will enjoy their remaining 
days. 

JUUSON A. SALISBURY, farmer; P. O. 
Chesterville; was born May 31, 1850, in this 
township, where he has always remained. His 
father's name was Emness and his mother's, 
Elizabeth (Evans) Salisbury. His father died 
when he was young, which left Judson in the 
sole care of his mother, who took a mother's 
interest in him and gave him the advantage 
of an education, requiring only a portion of 
his time on the farm. He was married Dec. 
24, 1872, to Nora, daughter of William and 
Elizabeth (Titus) Kelly. Her parents had six 
children: Amanda, Henrietta, Bennett, Nora, 
Judson and Belle. She Avas born May 22, 
185] ; 112^ acres of land were given him by 
his mother. In 1871, he built himself a fine 
dwelling, in which he now resides. They have 
three children, Lizzie B., Charles K. and David 



C. He is a member of Chester Lodge No. 204, 
I. O. O F., in which he has held office. He and 
his wife are members of the Baptist church at 
Chester, in which he is Trustee. They are 
active members of the Sunday School. 

J. C. SWETLAND, farmer; P. O. Chester- 
ville; is among the well-to-do farmers of Mor- 
row Co.; he was born June 5, 1828, in 
Bloomfield Tp., this county; his father, Giles, 
was born in Luzerne Co., Pa., and his mother's 
maiden name was Sarah Lewis; a further 
mention of them will appear in Bloomfield 
Tp. Mr. Swetland remained with his parents 
until Dec. 24, 1854, wl-.en he was married to 
lOmily, daughter of Jesse and Mary (Burns) 
Howard; she was born Aug. 9, 1832, and 
taught school two terms; they now possess 
830 acres of finely improved land, the greater 
part is the fruit of their own labors; he has 
pipes carrying water from the many springs 
to dilFerent parts of the farm, making it con- 
venient for stock, in which he deals largely; 
Mr. Swetland paid out $700 to clear the town- 
ship draft; he is now Commissioner of this 
county, and has held other offices with credit 
to himself and those who have chosen him; he 
had six children — infant, deceased; Truanna, 
deceased; Avarilla, Elzina, Henry W. and 
William H. His wife and two daughters are 
members of the Baptist Church, and he of the 
Methodist Church. Mrs. Swetland spun the 
last tow in this part of the country; her grand- 
mother Howard would sew and knit on her 
travels to and from diiferent places, and would 
walk one and a half miles to milk once ])er 
day. He has plowed corn with the old wooden 
moldboard plow; this no doubt laid the prin- 
ciples of industry which have never been erad- 
icated, judging from his taste in improving 
his farm. He is an active Republican, an up- 
right and honest man. 

JAMES A. STRUBLE, farmer; P. O., 
Chesterville; is the son of Jesse and Alice 
(Hull) Struble — and was born Sept. 7, 1846. 
Was one of- six children — Lafayette, born 
April 15, 1845; James A., Nathaniel, Ausf. 
25, 1847; Mitchell L., May 17, 1849, married 
lona Roberts, by whom he has one child, 
Jennie A.; John M., born July 6, 1851; 
Jesse, Feb. 6, 1853, deceased Feb. 13, 1854. 
The father was married prior, to Clara Ky- 
mer, the result being Sarah J., born May 28, 
1837, and William J., Sept. 11, 1838. The 



:rv 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



G17 



father is dead. The mother of James was 
married afterward to Benjamin Thomas; 
James A. Smith was married Sept. 15, 1870, to 
Mary E., daughter of John and Sarah (Jones), 
Slater. She was born Oct. 14, 1847, in Mor- 
row Co., and has by her union one child, 
Charles W., born Dec. 25, 1871. They set- 
tled after marriage on the present farm of 107 
acres owned by the subject and brother 
Mitchell. He learned the mason trade with 
Barker, in Gallon, in 1868, and works at the 
same yet. His wife has taught four terms of 
school. He is a member of Chester Lodge, 
No. ^04, I. O. O. F., in which he has held all 
offices. His wife is a member of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal church. Mitchell's wife's 
folks are natives of Knox Co., and had six 
children — John, Belle, lone. Rose, Hattie, 
Ollie. The Struble boys vote the Democratic 

W.T. STUMP, farmer; P.O. Chesterville; 
was born March 19, 1836, in Wayne Co., this 
State. His father, George, was born in Fa- 
yette Co., Pa., in 1804. His mother's maiden 
name was Jane Patterson. The father came 
to Ohio when a boy, with his father, who set- 
tled in Fredericksburg, there engaging in grist 
milling; when married, he began keeping 
hotel at Edenburg, Wayne Co., afterward 
transferring to a farm in the same county, 
where he died June 6, 1847, leaving a wife 
and two children — W. T. and Matilda; the 
latter married Jasper McCracken. The 
mother married again, Avig. 2, 1854, to Jona- 
than Willitts, by whom she had one child — 
Francis A. She died May 2, 1870, having 
been a faithful member of the Presbyterian 
church. W. T. Stump attended school as 
much as he could, in his younger days, and at 
the age of 19 began working at the carpenters' 
trade with Hugh Rogers, at Chesterville, 
which he continued eight years; and was mar- 
ried July 4, 1865, to Mary J., a daughter of 
William and Elizabeth (Smith) Bruce. Her 
father was born in Virginia, and her mother 
in Ohio. They had three children — Mary J., 
Lovinia E. and Mildred M. The parents at- 
tended the Baptist Church. Mr. Stump set- 
tled, after marriage, on 43 acres, owned now 
by Mason Howard; in 1869 he bought 70 
acres, the present farm, of John SJater, and 
has improved the same, making it one of the 
finest farms in the country; he has since 



bought thirty-eight acres; he raises some fine 
sheep. Mrs. Stump qualified herself well for 
a mother by teaching in the school-room for 
nearly thi'ee years; she was born Oct. 22, 
1845. They have had five children (one in- 
fant died unnamed) — Grant V., born Jan. 12, 
1868; Alice, G. M-.iy 15, 1872; Cora E., Julv 
22, 1874; Leroy B., Jan. 8, 1877. Mr. Stump i^s 
now serving his fifteenth year as Justice of the 
Peace; was Land Appraiser for 1880, served 
as School Director, and enlisted in Co. " A., " 
20th O. V. I., being the second man to enlist 
from Chester Tp.; he also enlisted in Co. 
"F.," 136th O. N. G.; is member of Chester 
Lodge, No. 204, I. O. O. F., and F. & A. M., 
at Sparta; he is a strict Republican; he and 
his wife are Presbyterians. 

W. H. STRUBLE, farmer; P. 0. Ches- 
terville. He was born March 20, 1816, in 
Sussex Co., N. J. A portion of his younger days 
were spent in attending school in the old log 
cabins. His father, Richard, was a native of 
New Jersey, as was his mother, Elizabeth. 
They came to Ohio about 1828, and settled 
where Mrs. Levering now lives, buying of 
Mr. Dalrymple over 300 acres. The father 
died there about 1856, and was the father of 
W. H., Lucy A., Jacob, Peter, Daniel, Catha- 
rine, Mary, Nathaniel, Richard, and four de- 
ceased. W. H. was married in 1843, to 
Erail}'-, a daughter of Robert and Mary 
(Smith) Love, the result being one child, 
Mary L. His wife died in 1845, and he was 
again married to Nancy Lanning, who died in 
1867; and in 1869, he was married to Eliza- 
beth, daughter of William and Mary (Arter) 
Pitt; her first husband was James Gilkeson, 
who died in the civil war. She had two 
daughters by this marriage: Belle and Kate; 
and by Mr. Struble she had one son, Pitt. 
Mr. Struble settled on the present farm in 
1851, buying it of Byram Leonard. It con- 
tains 100 acres of well-improved land, adapted 
to stock-raising, of which he makes a specialty. 
This farm was mostly obtained by his own 
labors. He has been Supervisor, Township 
Trustee and School Director; served as Dele- 
gate to township conventions, and always sup- 
ports county enterprise. He and his wife are 
active members of the Presbyterian Church; 
he cast his first vote for Andrew Jackson, and 
has since strictly adhered to the Democratic 
ticket. 







JAMES STILLEY, farmer; P. O. Chester- 
ville; was born Sept. 10, 1821, in Morrow Co., 
where he has remained; his fatlier, Jt)hn, was 
born Dec. 1, 1792, in Alli'«>:haiiy Co., Penn- 
sylvania; and his mother, Mary Kirkhmd, in 
tile same, in ITlU. They were married there in 
1813; the father came out in 1807, driving 
a team for his Uncle John, stojipiug for a 
short time, but soon returned, and at the age 
of IG began boating on tlie Ohio and Missis- 
sippi rivers, continuing two years; he returned 
to Ohio in 1814, and bought 214 acres of 
land, a miltary tract. In 18i8 he brought his 
iamily here, ami spent the rest of his days. 
Hi was one of tiie first members of the 
Methodist Church; there was a class formed 
at his house. He was Justice, of the Peace; 
lie died June 25, 1878, and his wife died Nov, 
8, 18G7, and was a Methodist. Tiieir children 
were — Tobias, Eliza, Jeremiah (dead), James, 
Ruth, Rebecca, Nancy, Mary, Sanipsoii and 
Joel. James attended school some in the log 
school-house, and farmed. He was married 
Nov. 18, 1847, to Ann J., a daughter of David 
and Margaret (Pugh) Davis. They settled, 
after marriage, on the present farm of 107 
acres; he has added thirty-four and one-fourth 
acres, obtained entirely by their own labors; 
himself and son bought IGO acres of land in 
Kansas in 1880. This son, C. W., is their 
only child, and was born Feb. 7, 1849, and 
married Oct. 11, 1877, to Anna M., daughter 
of Noah and Margaret Melick; he has one 
child, Rebecca. Mr. Stiiley has been con- 
nected with the Baptist Church since March 
1, 1857, to which his wife has belonged since 
1855. He cast his first vote for HarriSon, and 
has since voted the Republican ticket. 

OTIS SHURTLIFF, farmer; P. O. Chester- 
ville; was born May 22, 18 IG, in Vermont; 
his parents, Otis and Lydia (Hinklcy) Shurt- 
lifi", were natives of Massachusetts, and were 
Scotch Yankees. They moved to Vermont, 
and there the father died in 1830. The 
mother then returned to her native State, and 
there died about 1814, and was the mother of 
thirteen children: Hiram, Lucy, William, 
Clarissa, Otis, Lydia, Seth, Mary, Harmon, 
Ruth, Caroline, Henry and Samuel. The 
father was in the war of 1812. Our subject 
was always energetic, attempting to carry out 
every act he began ; when quite a boy, he was 
engaged in splitting a log and finding he was 



unable to sever it with the maul and wedge, 
applied some powder in an auger hole and 
touched it off with a coal of fire; he has since 
had but one eye, a splinter having struck him, 
completely putting out the left eye. In 1835, 
he went to Panama, N. Y. and learned carpen- 
tering, which he continued for about twelve 
year.?, and during that time he served as Con- 
stable, and run a butcher shop a portion of 
the same. In 1855, he came with his brother 
William and his own family to Fredericktown, 
an(J remained there one year, and then farmed 
for J. L. Denman, for three years; and in 18G3 
bought four acres of his brother William, and 
has remained there since. His first marriage 
occurred May 12, 1842, in New York, to 
Cynthia A., daughter of Cyrenus and Rachel 
Glass; by her he had five children — Cyrenus, 
Helen, Otis, Walter and Charles P. All sur- 
vive. Walter is engineer on the Ft. Wayne 
& Chicago R. R. and Charles P. is brakesman 
on the same route; the other two boys are 
farmers; Helen married Wallace Gordon; he 
died; she again married a Mr. Mason; Mr. 
Shurtliff's wife died, April 18, 1872. He was 
again married in 1873 to Eleanor, a daughter 
of Joshua and Mary (Livingstone,) Ketcham. 
Her parents were born in York State, and her 
father died there; her mother came to Ohio in 
1835, settling near Chesterville. Her mother 
married Edward Robinson. Mrs. Shurtliff 
was one of ten children-John, Joshua, James, 
Jane, Mary A., Eleanor, Sallie, Phoebe, Isabel 
and Charles, (M. E. minister, in Cincinnati.) 
The rest that are living are farmers. Mrs. S. 
was formerly married in 1845, to David 
Ayres, by whom she had Carrington, who mar- 
ried Alice Thayer, and Alta L., who married 
Alvin Scott. Mrs. Shurtliff was born May 18, 
1821, in Hebron, Washington Co., N. Y.; she 
has 45 acres adjoining his, all well impro- 
ved. Mr. Shurtliff has been School Director, 
and once joined the Sons of Temperance; he 
voted first for the Whig party, and since for 
the Republican; his grandfather Shurtliff was 
a native of Rhode Island, and a noted tailor. 
The Mr. Robinson spoken of in this sketch 
was a Revolutitniary soldier. 

MRS. MARY A. THOMAS, widow; P. O. 
Sparta; was born in South Wales, Dec. 6, 
1813, and came to this country with the rest 
of her father's family. Her father, David 
Davis, was born in England, and came to 






A 



=k 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



619 



Baltimore July 3, 1820, with a family of two 
children ; her mother, whose maiden name was 
Pugh, was horn in Radnorshire, Wales. They 
moved to Pittsburg, and there, Sept. 17, 1828, 
the father died,leaving five children — Mary A., 
David P., Isabella, Thomas, and Anna. The 
mother was again married in Ohio, to Henry, a 
son of Henry George, Sr., by whom she had 
one child, Enoch P., who died June 4, 1866, 
Mrs. Thomas attended school in Baltimore, 
until about 14, and became very thorough in 
her studies, and at the age of 16 she began 
teaching school on the line between Dela- 
ware and Knox Co., her wages averaging from 
75 cents to $1.12^ per week. She was mar- 
ried Aug. 22, 1833, to Daniel J. Thomas. His 
parents, John D. and Lena Thomas, were born 
in Wales. Mrs. Thomas and her husband be- 
gan life in a log cabin. Daniel worked on the 
Ohio canal at 17 per month, and split rails at 
$10 per month, and worked by the day for one 
bushel of wheat, and would take that to mill at 
Mt. Vernon. She would add to his means by 
making butter, and in 1834 she sold 16 pounds 
of butter for $1 and got 5 yards of muslin 
for the same; and in 1857 she sold 5 pounds of 
butter for $1, and got 16 yards of muslin for 
the same. All the hardships imaginable were 
endured by them. They had the following 
children: John D., born June 11, 1834, died 
Oct. 1, 1844; Margaret, born July 31, 1836, 
married W. Sweatland; Lena, born May 12, 
1839; David D., born Feb. 17, 1842; Daniel 
G., born May 3, 1850. Her husband died 
April 21, 1867, and was a strict member of the 
Old School Baptist Church, in which he was 
Deacon for twenty-two years; he never missed 
a single meeting during his connection, with 
the same. Mrs. Thomas also belongs to the 
same church, and has been a member for forty- 
five years; she and her industrious husband 
made them a nice little home of 125 acres. 
Her son, D. G., has added 25 acres, making in 
all 150 acres of Ave 11 improved land; George 
married Belle Gilkison, a daughter of Mr. W. 
H. Struble, by whom he has one child, Ora, 
born Oct. 11, 1875. He is dealing in fine 
horses, buying and selling, in which he if* suc- 
cessful, being an uprig-ht and honorable man. 
SAMUEL J. TRUSDELL, farmer, P. O. 
Chesterville; is the son of Stephen and Re- 
becca (Bassett) Trusdell; his father was born 
in 1809, and mother in 1808, both in Sussex 



Co., N. J., where they were married in 1829, by 
Rev. Joseph L. Shafer; they emigrated from 
Newark N. J., via New York, Troy, and to 
Buffalo, and on lake Erie to Sandusky, and 
from there to Mansfield by railroad, then by 
team, landed in Chesterville in 1847, where the 
father engaged in carriage-making; here he 
made the first top-buggy ever built in what is 
now Morrow Co, He also dealt somewhat 
in stock. He traded in horses for twenty-five 
years, and has driven herds from here to 
Newton, N, J. In 1874, he started a boot 
and shoe store in Cardington. Mrs, Trusdell 
died Jan. 30, 1874; he then sold his stock of 
goods, and has since retired from actual la- 
bor. He and wife have been members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, since 1830. 
Samuel J. was born. Jan. 26 1837, and was 
married in 1858, to Susannah, daughter of J. 
L.Denman, whose sketch appears elsewhere; 
he began the livery business in Frederick- 
town,under the firm name of Trusdell & Mann. 
In one year Mann withdrew and in the latter 
part of 1865, Samuel bought six acres of the 
present little farm of 20 acres, of J. L. Den- 
man, and has improved the same, and now 
enjoys one of the finest little homes in the 
county. They have three children — Rebecca 
E., Nellie S. and Mary A. The father of 
Stephen was John and the mother Catharine 
Struble. The grandfather Trusdell was Fife- 
Major in the Revolutionary War. The grand- 
parents Struble were from Germany. 

Samuel is breeding fine Abdallah horses. 
He now possesses one of the finest horses in 
the State; we mention that he took the first 
premiums twice, at the State fair, also two 
second premiums at the same. He is a dark 
bay, with black points, sixteen hands high, 
and weighs 1,200 pounds. No horse in the 
State has a better pedigree. Mr. and Mrs. 
Trusdell are members of the Baptist Church, 
at Chesterville. 

J. W. WILLIAMS, Physician and Surgeon; 
Chesterville; has been a prominent physician 
at Chesterville for fourteen years; he was 
born in Perry Co., Ohio, Dec, 25, 1839; here 
he attended school in a log cabin, his father 
carrying him to and fro on his back; in 1849, 
his parents came to Lincoln Tp., Morrow Co., 
where they still reside. Mr. Williams mani- 
fested considerable ability, and his parents 
sent him to school at Mt. Hesper and Mt. 






G20 



NORTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



Giload: at the age of 21, he entered the office 
of Dr. lieelie, at Mt. Gilead, and read modi- 
cine for one summer; he then read with Dr. 
.[. W. Russell, of Mt. Vernon, for two years, 
in the meantime teaching during the winter; 
three years afterward he attended the Ohio 
Medical College at Cincinnati, and thence to 
Ann Arbor, Mich., where he graduated March 
20, 18G5; he began practicing at Chesterville, 
where he has since been engaged, and is 
having a lucrative practice. He was married 
May ;5, ISGCi, to ISIary, daughter of Dr. H. G. 
and Jane H. (Gordon) Main ; her father was born 
Oct. 9, 1820; her motiier was born in the 
State of New York. The father graduated at 
AVilloughby (Ohio) College, in 1845, and came 
to Chesterville in 18-tG, and formed a partner- 
ship with S. M. Hewitt for five years, and 
practiced here since, except two years, when 
lie was in AVoodbury; he died Feb. 23, 1865; 
her mother is still living; both of her parents 
united with the Presbyterian (Church; Mrs. 
Williams was born March 21, 1848, and was 
one of four children — Mary E., Ella G., Fred 
G.and Anna B. They have one child — Jennie, 
born Nov. 10, 1871. Mr. Williams has been 
Township Treasurer, and is a member of the 
Chester Lodge No. 238, A. F. and A. M., 
also, of No. 204, I. O. O. F.; in the latter, he 
has held nearly all offices. He is one of the 
leading Democrats of the county; he and his 
wife are membei-s of the Presbyterian Church. 
REV. E. G. WOOD, Chesterville; was 
born in Tyringham, Berkshire Co., Mass., 
June 14, 1814; his father, Elias V., was 
born in Connecticut and emigrated to 
Kenton, Hardin Co., this State, in 1850. He 
was a soldier in the war of 1812. He had 



eight children by Sarah Doud — E. G., A. V., 
Sdvester M., Esther L., Louisa M., Delia A., 
Eliza C, and an infant who died unnamed. 
The father was a Congregationalist and the 
mother a Baptist. Mr. Wood remained with 
his parents until 3 years old, and then lived 
with his grandparents, Doud. At the age of 
14, he returned to the parental roof, and soon 
afterwards began learning carpentering, 
continuing the same until 20 years old, when 
he began attending school at Guilford Acade- 
my, New York; afterward he pursued his 
studies at Meadville College, Pa. In 1837 he 
was married to Maria L., a daughter of Will- 
iam V. and Susan (Stone) Havens. Her par- 
ents were natives of Vermont; they settled, 
after marriage, in Loraine Co., this State, 
where Mr. Wood entered the ministry in the 
service of the Baptist Church, and continued 
the same until 1805, when he abandoned it 
on account of ill health. He has had three 
children — Julius V., married Etty J. Joy, and 
enlisted in Co. "C", 90th O. V. L; was wounded 
at Grand Coteau, Louisiana, which resulted in 
the loss of an arm; he was commissioned 
Postmaster at this place in 1864, which otRce 
he has faithfully attended to, and in connec- 
tion with the same has carried on a first- 
class drug business, and since added a full 
line of notions, fancy goods, groceries, oils 
and paints. He has two children: Edwin 
J, and Adelbert L., the second child of Rev. 
Mr. Wood was Lucius, deceased 1869, also 
Addie W., married to James M. Guthrie, 
Baptist minister, now in Pennsylvania. Mr. 
Wood votes the Rejiublican ticket. He 
claims to have organized the first Baptist 
Church in Delaware, Ohio. 



NORTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



STEPHEN B. APPLEMAN, farmer and 
stock dealer; P. O. Corsica; is one of the 
most prosperous and well known men in the 
county; born Nov. 14, 1837, in what is now 
Morrow Co.; (his father, James Appleman, 
was born in Washington Co., Pennsylvania, 
in 1798, and his mother, Nancy (Irwin) Apple- 
man, was born in Stark Co., Ohio). His father 



emigrated to this state when 18 years of age, 
settling in Stark Co.; when 23 3'^ears old he 
entered eighty acres of Government land in 
what is now Morrow Co., and worked on it 
for a short time, when he returned to Stark 
Co. and was married. They brought all their 
worldly effects in a cart, and commenced 
housekeeping in a cabin that had no upper 



\ 



-L 
3 ^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



621 



floor nor chinking; they had no bedstead, but 
slept on the floor until he made one from some 
scantling; their principal cooking v^essel was 
a small kettle, in which the good woman made 
porridge three times a day, and on this diet he 
would make over two hundred rails a day. 
After living in Stark Co. one year they 
moved to Morrow Co., where they ever after 
lived. He cleared his farm and bought more 
land as fast as he was able, until he owned 
3^0 acres. Stephen commenced buying stock 
on commission when only 16 years old, and 
has followed the business ever since, and 
deals mostly in hogs and. sheep, but has 
handled wool and grain for the last few years. 
He has been successful and careful in his in- 
vestments, which have brought good returns; 
he owns over 300 acres of land, and carries 
on a very extensive business. He was mar- 
ried March 24, 1859, to Julia, daughter of 
Joseph and Martha Waldrof; she was born 
Nov. 15, 1837, and died June 15, 1874, leav- 
ing two children: Alma I. and Joseph S. 
He was again married July 2, 1875, to Anna, 
daughter of William and Elizabeth (Hensel) 
Waldrof. She was born Oct. 11, 1843. His 
daughter graduated from the Ohio Central 
College at Iberia, in 1879. She is now teach- 
ing school at Blooming Grove, with very good 
success. His wife and daughter are members 
of the Presbvterian church at Iberia. 

ENOCH BOLYARD, farmer; P. O. Gallon, 
was born in what is now Morrow Co., Oct. 8, 
1830, and is the eighth of a family of ten chil- 
dren; his parents, Daniel and Hannah Bol- 
yard, were born and reared in Schuylkill Co., 
Penn., and emigrated to this State in 1830. 
His father was a wagon-maker by trade, but 
made farming his chief occupation after com- 
ing to this State; he entered Government 
land, and by industry and close application to 
business, soon possessed a valuable farm, on 
which he lived until his death, which occurred 
in 1874. Enoch commenced for himself when 
of age, and soon after was married to Eliza- 
beth Klopfenstein; she was born April 16, 
1830, in Switzerland, and came to this coun- 
try when only two years old. They lived on 
his father's farm till 1866, when they moved 
on the farm on which they now live. There 
have been born to them seven children, five of 
whom are living: Samuel I., Hannah E., 
Sophia S., Simon and Amanda. The oldest 



three are married and settled near home. They 
own over 200 acres of land, a part of which 
was inherited. 

JOHN BISHOP, farmer; P. O., Corsica; 
was born in this county, Jan. 30, 1851; his 
father, James Bishop, was born and reared in 
Merlin Co., Penn., and his mother, Elizabeth 
(Hinton) Bishop, was born in Michigan. His 
father went on the national road as a teamster 
when fourteen years old, and could soon han- 
dle six horses with perfect ease; he followed 
this for eighteen years, when he came to Ohio 
and settled on a farm; he bought 80 acres of 
land, which he cleared and improved, and at 
his father's death he bought the old home- 
stead, where he lived until Feb. 1, 1879, when 
he died in Kansas, where he had gone to visit 
friends. His body was brought home for in- 
terment. John left home when only three 
years old, to live with his uncle, John Mc- 
Cool, who thought as much of him as though 
he were his own child, and lived with him 
until March 21, 1874, when he was married to 
Emma, daughter of John and Catharine Rhine- 
hart; then settled on his uncle's farm, a part 
of which he now owns. Mrs. Bishop died 
Jan. 12, 1875; and Jan. 20, 1877, he was 
again married to Mrs, Elizabeth Marshall, 
(widow of Samuel Marshall) her maiden name 
being Scrofield. By this union three, children 
have been born — Maude E., Jessie L., and an 
infant. Mr. Bishop is a member of the I. O. 
O. F., at Blooming Grove. 

MARGARET BAGGS, farmer; P. O. 
Corsica; is the eighth of a family of nine 
children; was born Dec. 9, 1810, in West- 
moreland Co., Penn.; her father, Hugh Wliite, 
was born in Ireland, and her mother, Sarah 
(Moore) White, was born in Pennsylvania. Her 
father emigrated to this State in 1824, and 
entered a quarter section of government land 
in what is now Ashland Co. Margaret per- 
formed out-door labor most of the time until 
April 25, 1833, when she was married to 
James Bagsrs, the youngest son of James and 
Susan Baggs. He was born in Pennsylvania, 
but reared in Virginia; he came to Ohio at an 
early day, and soon entered eighty acres of 
government land, on which he ever after 
lived. They have had eight children, all of 
them arriving at maturity; four are now living: 
Sarah J., Susan, Martha A. and John W. All 
but the youngest are married; he is living on 



^ 



y*, 



622 



NORTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



tlie old homestead, and supporting his 
widowed mother, his father having died May 
!i7, 1874. Mrs. Baggs has been a member of 
the U. P. Church for many years, as was also 
her husband. 

EDGAR G. BARNUM, farmer; P. O. 
Gabon; was born Jan. 23, 1817, in Addison 
Co., Vermont; his father, Levi Barnum, was 
a native of the " Green Mountain '' State, as 
Wiis also his mother, Mercy (Graves) Barnum. 
His father made farming his chief occupation, 
and being a mason by trade, he followed this 
when it did not interfere with the duties of 
the farm. He emigrated to Ohio in 1832, and 
settled in Richland Co., near Lexington. Mr. 
Barnum commenced for himself when he be- 
came of age, and has ever since been one of 
the practical farmers of which our county may 
be proud; he farmed in Richland Co. for a 
short time, when lie bought the farm on which 
he now lives, and resided on it until the death 
of his father, when he rented it, and moved 
back to Richland Co. He farmed the old 
homestead for six years, and then came back 
to his own farm, where he has since lived; he 
was m<arried Jan. 20, 1841, to Melinda Lewis, 
daughter of Jacob and Sisson (Murphy) Lewis. 
She was born July 2, 1820, in Fayette Co.; 
they have four children — Theresa, Mary C, 
Royal E. and Bertha A. All have a good ed- 
ucation, the three daughters having been suc- 
cessful school teachers. The three oldest are 
married. Mr. Barnum is a member of the 
Congregational Church at Lexington; has 
been delegate to the Presbytery several times, 
and once to the General iVssembly. 

DAVID K. BAGGS, farmer; P. O. Cor- 
sica; is the seventh child of John and Isabel 
Baggs and was born May 28, 1840; he worked 
on the farm until 21 years old, when he en- 
listed in the service of his country; he was in 
Co. C, 15th O. V. ]., and was wounded at the 
battle of Stone River; he lay in the hospital 
for many months and was afterward placed on 
the First Kentucky ]3attery. Having taken 
cold in his wound he was again laid up and 
did nothing more during the war. On receiv- 
ing his discharge he came home, but has been 
troubled a great deal with his wound, not doing 
anything for three years. He was married 
June G, 18G7, to Sophronia, daughter of Aaron 
and Angeline Baird. She was born March 
14, 1845, and died March 2, 1880, leaving 



two children — Angle M., and Ethel. He owns 
100 acres of land, partly in this, and partly in 
Richland Co. He has always been a Repub- 
lican and still advocates the principles of that 
party. 

GEORGE B. BAGGS, farmer; P. O. 
Corsica, is sixth of a family of eight children, 
and was born Dec. 12, 1837, in what is now 
Morrow Co. His father (John Baggs) was 
born in Dauphin Co., Penn., in 1785, and 
moved to Virginia in 1811; his mother, Isa- 
bel (Kilgore) Baggs, was born in Pennsyl- 
vania, and her parents were among the first 
settlers of this county; they located on the 
farm now owned by John Worcester, build- 
ing their house one day, and moving in the 
next; it had no floor, door, nor window; in- 
side was a large stump on which the children 
played for many days. Mr. Baggs' father 
served in the war of 1812, and marched 
through Ohio when going to Fort Meigs; ad- 
miring the country, he came here soon after 
the war closed, and entered a quarter section 
of Government land. He would work on this 
during the summer, and in the fall, walk back 
to Virginia to take care of his parents (his 
father having been crippled in the Revolu- 
tionary war, and was unable to work). He 
worked this way for two or three years, when 
he moved them to his new home in this State. 
He supported his parents and a brother and 
sister who were deaf and dumb. He died in 
1863, after a career of honor and usefulness 
seldom excelled. George always had the 
privilege of doing for himself, his father being 
anxious for his boys to cultivate the principle 
of self-reliance. He was married May 29, 1860, 
to Amanda, a daughter of Aaron and Ange- 
line Baird. She was born June 24, 1841. 
They have four children — Dora B., Idell A., 
Ell Florence and Dick C; the eldest, a 
school-teacher of promise, having, with h6r 
sister, attended school at Lexington, in Rich- 
land Co. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., 
and has passed through the chairs. Both he 
and wife are members of the M. E. Church. 
He owns a nice farm and has an attractive 
home. 

PHILANDER CONKLIN, farmer; P. O- 
Corsica; is one of the most promising and 
eneigetic young farmers in the county, and 
was born Oct. 6, 1856, in Crawford Co., Ohio. 
His father, David Conklin, was born in Pat- 



\ 



.k 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



623 



erson, New Jersey; he was a shoemaker by 
trade, but, not liking the business, he worked 
at other occupations until the year 1851, when 
he moved to Galion, Ohio, and purchased a 
hotel and livery stable, which he managed 
with good success; but wishing to engage in 
business in which his boys could find useful 
employment, he traded his town property for 
a farm, three miles east of Galion, where he 
lived the rest of his life. His wife died soon 
after he moved to Galion, and he t-lien married 
Susan Acker, by whom he had four children. 
Philander was married Feb. 13, 1876, to Sarah 
S., daughter of Joseph and Samantha Mc- 
Farland. She was born Nov. 27, 1858, in 
Morrow Co. Her father is one of the leading 
men in the county, and has enjoyed a large 
and lucrative practice for many years, being 
the only doctor at Blooming Grove; he is also 
a local elder in the M. E. Church. Mr. Conk- 
lin has made farming his chief occupation, but 
has been engaged lately in selling farm ma- 
chinery, with good success. He and his wife 
are members of the M. E. Church at Bloom- 
ing Grove. His political views are Demo- 
cratic, but believes in the elevation of the 
best men, irrespective of party. They have 
one child — Joseph, born Jan. 14, 1879. 

T. WILEY DICKERSON, farmer; P. O. 
Corsica; is the eldest child and only son of a 
family of nine children; born June 27,1827, 
in Washington Co., Pa.; his father, Isaac H. 
Dickerson, was born in New Jersey, in 1802, 
and soon after came to Washington Co.; here 
he was married to Charity M. Evankirk, and 
in 1831 he emigrated to Ohio, settling in what 
is now Morrow Co.; he bought a quarter sec- 
tion of land, which he cleared and improved, 
besides working at his trade (mason and 
plasterer); he was accidentally killed in 18(57. 
Wiley never left the old homestead, but re- 
mained with his father on the farm, spending 
his leisure hours in reading useful works on 
various subjects; he has made practical use of 
his knowlege of medicine several times, with 
good results; he was in the war a short time, 
at a post near Washington City; he was one 
of the charter members of the Patrons of Hus- 
bandry, and the first Master of the subordi- 
nate Lodge which he joined. He is a mem- 
ber of the I. O. O. F., and has belonged to 
several temperance organ izations^ and been a 



Republican since the organization of that 
])arty, and for many years previous was an 
"Abolitionist." He was married Jan. 15, 
1850, to Mary, daughter of Elias and Mary 
Kisling. They have had nine children; eight 
are living — Ellen, Alfred W., E. Parker, 
Clara, William V., Eva. J., Mary M. and 
Louada. His wife died July 2, 1869, and 
Sept. 26, 1872, he was again married to 
Nancy Casey, daughter of Daniel and Nancy 
Casey. They have one child, Lillie. 

PHILIP DILL, farmer; P. O. Whetstone; 
the youngest of a family of eight children; 
was born in Germany, Nov. 9, 1825. His 
father's name was John W. Dill, and his 
mother's maiden name was Anna C. Allen. 
His father was one of the honest tillers of 
the soil, and made this his only occupation. 
He died Jan. 14, 1850. There were six boys 
in the family, all of whom were subject to the 
draft for service in the regular army; the two 
oldest brothers passed the required examina- 
tion for the regular army, and Philip for the 
reserve corps. Only a certain specified num- 
ber of these were required to perform military 
duty, and they were chosen by lot. These 
brothers each drew a number which exempted 
them from service, (but what is remarkable, 
they each drew the number "43.") Philip emi- 
grated to this country when 24 years of age, and 
came to Mansfield, Ohio; he soon apprenticed 
himself to a wagon-maker at Leesvilie, for 
two years, receiving for his services only 
$55.00; from this he paid a debt of $25.00 
which he owed to an older brother for assist- 
ing him to this country. When his trade was 
learned, he worked one year in Mansfield and 
one in Columbus, when he set up a shop in 
Johnsville, and lived there four years, doing 
a good business; then sold his shop, and 
moved to -the farm oil which he now lives, 
having bought it three years previous, ami 
has since been a farmer. He was married 
Jan. 28, 1855, to Elizabeth, a daugher of Jere- 
miah and Elizabeth Freeland. They were 
emigrants from Maryland, where she was 
born, April 26, 1833. They have ten children, 
all of them living — Albert W., Jeremiah H., 
James F., Charles E., Anna M., Amelia C, 
Sevilla C, Phoebe E., Susan M., and Ida May; 
the oldest is married and lives in Galion. He 
and wife are members of the Reformed Men- 



is 



noiiite Church. He owns near two hundred 
acres of hind, mostly acquired by his own 
industry and careful niana<>;ement. 

DAVID L. ELDER, farmer; P. O. Gallon; 
one of the most enterprisn<r and influential 
men in the county, and was born Dec. 21, 1842, 
in Morrow Co., Ohio. His father, Samuel 
Elder, was born in Bedford Co., Pa., and his 
mother, Abigail Elder, was born in the 
same State. Samuel was only 15 years 
okl when he came to this State, and passed 
his early days in a sturdy and vigorous con- 
test with the hardships which beset the first 
settlers. His father died soon after entering 
a quarter section of Government land, and 
Samuel became one of the supporters of a 
large family; he inherited a part of the old 
homestead, and has made an attractive home 
from what was a wilderness when he came 
here, more than a half century ago; he is now 
living a retired life. David is the only son 
living, and he ])assed his early life on the 
farm. At the call of his country he cheerful- 
ly responded, and spent three years in her 
service; he then engaged in farming, and 
taught school for six winters, when he com- 
iTfenced dealing in stock, and followed this 
business for some five years, when he quit; 
he has since dealt extensively in lumber and 
timber, besides superintending the farm; he 
was the Democratic candidate for Sheriff in 
187G, and was chosen Land Appraiser in 1880, 
for North Bloomfield Tp. ; he was married 
March 19, 1808, to Mary H., daughter of Abi- 
jah and Lydia A. Jackson. Five children 
have blessed this union; four are living — 
Maud, May, Minnie and Mattie. Both are 
meinl)ers of the M. E. Church. 

WJLLIAM H. ECKLER, farmer; P.O. 
Shaucks; ranks among the successful farmers 
of Morrow county; he was born Sept. 23, 
1815, in Maryland, the native State of his 
father, John Eckler, a farmer, who served 
in the war of 1812, and died when William 
was an infant. The mother, Margaret Eckler, 
was left with a large family, and William 
passed his early years with different families, 
most of the time with his godmother. Ho 
was apprenticed to a caqoenter, but this trade 
p oving distasteful to him, on reaching his 
majority, he abandoned it for the more con- 
gi-nial pursuit of farming. He soon emigrat- 
ed to this State, and has since lived in what is 



now Morrow county. By industry and good 
management, he has secured a good farm, on 
which he expects to pass the rest of his life 
in comfort and peace. He has been "^iVeas- 
urer pf his township several terms, perform- 
ing his duties with satisfaction to the public. 
He is a member of the Lutheran Church, in 
which belief he was raised. Mr. Eckler was 
married Jan. 21, 1842, to Sarah, daughter of 
Stephen and MaryBarhan; her parents were 
among the first settlers in the county, and 
endured the privations that usually fall to 
early emigiants. By this marriage three chil- 
dren were born, of which the eldest dying in 
infancy — Mary J. born Nov. 30, 1853, and 
Emma A. March 19, 1859. 

JOHN FLOWERS, farmer; P. O. Gallon; 
was born Oct. 10, 1831, in Richland Co., 
Ohio, and was the sixth in a family of twelve 
children; his father, William Flowers, was a 
native of Lancaster Co., Penri., but emigrated 
to this State in 1830, and settled on Govern- 
ment land in Richland Co., and never re- 
gretted the change; his death occurred in 
1878. Mr. Flowers' mother was Frances 
(Liter) Flowers, and was from Perry Co., 
Penn. Upon arriving at manhood, John 
started out in the world to make his fortune, 
with no capital but industry and a determina- 
tion to succeed. What he has accomplished 
is known to all; he owns 129 acres of land, on 
which is one of the fi est stone quarries in 
Central Ohio. Mr. Flowers has been Justice 
of the Peace, and held other township and 
local offices, and is a good auctioneer, does an 
extensive business, and is an energetic an in- 
fluential man. He was married Aug. 22, 
1852, to Rebecca, a daughter of Henry and 
Rebecca Hassler. She was born Feb. 3, 1830, 
in Wayne Co., Ohio. They have had six 
children, five are now living — Celia, Andrew 
,J., Sarah E., William H., and Frances. The 
two oldest are married, and located near their 
old home. 

JACOB B. GARVERICK, school teacher; 
Whetstone; is the eldest son of Peter H. Gar- 
verick, and was born March 21, 1851, in Morrow 
Co., Ohio; he connnenced teaching school when 
18 years old, and has taught every winter and 
one summer since. Not content with the edu- 
cation he received in the common district 
schools, he attended several terms where he 
could secure all the advantnges off-^red by 



ihL^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



G2o 



higher institutions. His professional duties 
have been limited to the school at West Point, 
with two exceptions, and, although other dis- 
tricts desire him, he still clings to the village 
school. He was married Oct. 2, 1873, to Re- 
becca M., daughter of John F. and Rachel 
Garverick. This union has been blessed with 
four children, three of whom are living.. 
Charles W., Silva E. and Newton Z. Both 
are Christians, and have many friends. He 
owns an interest in a farm, on which he works 
during the summer, and his prospects of suc- 
cess in life are quite flattering. 

EDWARD R. GARVERICK, merchant; 
Whetstone ; is the eighth of a family of 
nine children, and was born Sept. 6, 1851, in 
Morrow Co., Ohio. He is the youngest son of 
John F. Garverick, and when fourteen years 
old commenced clerking in his fathers store; 
at the death of his father in 1872, he obtained 
a half interest in the business, to which he had 
become strongly attached. He was married 
July 3, 1872, to Armmda E., daughter of Eli 
and Rebecca Bortner. She was born April 
26, 1851, in this county; three children have 
blessed this happy union; Violet N., Walter 
E. and Morgan W. He is a member of the 
German Reformed Church, and his wife 
belongs to the Disciple Church. He owns an 
interest in two farms, besides being the junior 
partner in the firm of J. R. Garverick & Co., 
at West Point; being an energetic man in 
business aff"Hirs, and although young in years, 
he is old in experience. 

PETER H. GARVERICK, farmer; P. O., 
Whetstone; stands prominent among the 
many substantial farmers and reliable citi- 
zens of this township; he was born in York Co., 
Penn., Feb. 19, 1822. His father, Peter 
Garverick, was born and raised, in Pennsyl- 
vania, as was also his mother, whose maiden 
name was Catharine Hosier; his father was a 
farmer, although he worked at the carpenter 
trade part of the time; emigrated to what 
is now Morrow Co., Ohio, in 1834, and set- 
tled on heavily. wooded land, and now has the 
satisfaction of looking back over a well spent 
and useful life. On arriving at his majority, 
Mr. Garverick learned the blacksmith trade, 
and followed it for ten years, when he aban- 
doned it for the pursuit of farming. He was 
married, April 8, 1849, to Caroline Bowman, 
by whom he had two children, one, Jacob B., 



is living. His wife died Sept. 13, 1863, and 
he then married Elizabeth Miller; two children 
were born — Mary J. and Edward T.; his sec- 
ond wife died Dec. 15, 1867, and he was mar- 
ried the third time, uniting, January 25, 
1869, with Mrs. Cassy Tshuty, who had two 
children — Henry J. and Elizabeth W. By 
this marriage, four children have been born, 
three of whom are living — William T., 
Franklin P., and Louisa M. Mr. Garverick is 
much respected and honored in his com- 
munity; he has been called upon to perform 
the duties of Assessor for thirteen years, 
and Trustee for nearly twenty years, besides 
filling other local offices. He owns a good 
farm and has a pleasant home, and is in the 
enjoyment of its comforts. 

LEVI F. GARVERICK, farmer; P. O. 
Whetstone; is the youngest of a family of 
seven children, and was born in York Co., 
Pa., Aug. 22, 1820; his parents, George 
and Charlotte (Eraser) Garverick, were natives 
of York Co., and of German extraction; his 
father was a farmer, but worked some in a 
still-hovise which he owned; at his father's 
death, in 1838, Levi commenced doing for 
himself, having learned the carpenters' 
trade, which he followed until his marriage, 
and since that time has been a farmer. He 
worked at his trade for two years in York Co., 
when he went to Center Co., in that State, and 
remained for three years; in company with a 
friend, he walked to what is now Morrow Co., 
Ohio, and after a short residence, returned to 
Center Co., in order to complete arrangements 
for making Ohio his future home, and while 
on this errand he was married to Sophia, 
daughter of Nicholas and Mary Vennathy; 
she was born March 23, 1820, and they were 
married June 27, 1848; they soon after came 
to this State, moving in a one-horse wagon; 
he bought eighty acres of land, which he has 
ever since been clearing and improving. By 
their marriage seven children have been born, 
five of whom are livitig — Emeline, William, 
George W., Elizabeth R. and Amos. Mr. 
Garverick and wife are members of the Ger- 
man Reformed Church. 

LEVI R. GARVERICK, farmer ; P. O. 
Whetstone ; is the seventh child of John 
F. and Rachel (Ruhl) Gaverick; and was born 
May 2, 1848, in Morrow Co.; he commenced 
doing for himself when of age, and farmed on 



V 



626 



NORTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



tho homestead for tlirce years, when his father 
died, and then he obtained 80 acres of land 
in Congress Tp., on which he lived for six 
years, when he sold it and bought the property 
he now owns. He was married Sept. 23, 18G9, 
to Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel and Mar- 
garet Brokaw; she was horn July 18, 1848, 
in Crawford Co., Ohio. They have four chil- 
dren, all of whom are living — Alice, John F., 
Elzie and Maggie M. He is a consistent 
member of the German Reformed Church; 
owns lOO acres of land, well improved, good 
location; and has an attractive and beautiful 
home. 

NOAH HUFFMAN, farmer; P.O.Galion; 
son of Michael and Sarah (Bortner) Huffman, 
was born Feb. 15, 1843, in what is now Mor- 
row Co. Mr. Huffman lived under the pa- 
rental roof until his marriage, and assisted 
his father in the management of the farm; 
he was married Oct. 6, 18G9, to Susan, daug'h- 
ter of James and Margaret Baggs. She was 
born March 12, 1838, in this township, where 
she has always lived. They have one child — 
Maggie E., born Nov. 13, 1877. Mr. Huff- 
man is a member of the English-Lutheran 
Church, and his wife, of the U. P. Church. 
He owns over one hundred acres of land in 
this county, and is well fixed in life for one 
so young. He has always been identified 
with the Democratic party. 

MICHAEL HOFFMAN, farmer; P. O., 
Gallon; is among the self-made men of 
this county; was born Nov. 11, 1813, in York 
Co., Penn.; his farther, Adam .Hoffman, was a 
native of York Co., and was of German de- 
scent; his mother, Susan (Ruhl) Hoffman, was 
also from York Co. Mr. Hoffman's father was 
a good mechanic, and wagon-making was his 
principal business. He emigrated to this 
state in 1838, and settled on forty acres of 
Government land (where Michael, now lives); 
after a residence of only three years on the 
farm, he moved to the village of Woodbury 
and worked at his trade the rest of his life; 
he died in 1858. Michael learned the trade 
with his father and worked at it the most of 
the time, until the year 1870, when he com- 
menced working on the farm. While he was 
working in the shop his boys had attended to 
the duties of the farm, and by (jconomy and 
frugality, he has obtained a splendid property; 
owns 1(J0 acres of land near the town of Gal- 



ion. He was married Nov. 2G, 1840, to 
Susan, daughter of Henry and Rebecca Bort- 
ner. They have eleven children, of whom 
five are now living: Peggy, Susan, Lovina, 
Amanda, and Noah. Mr. Hoffman and wife are 
members of the English Lutheran Church, of 
which he has been Deacon a number of years. 

THOMAS KERR, farmer; P. O. Galion; 
the history of Morrow Co. would be incom- 
plete without some mention of James Kerr, 
father of Thomas Kerr. He (James) was born 
March 18, 1804, in Washington Co., Penn., 
and during his boyhood emigrated to Knox 
Co., Ohio, where he lived until his marriage 
to Susannah Baskins, Jan. 20, 1825, when he 
moved to what is now Morrow Co., and pur- 
chased 200 acres of government land. He 
endured many of the privations and hardships 
that fall to the lot of early settlers. With one 
exception, he had no neighbor nearer than 
three miles, and had to go to Mansfield to 
trade. (Alone, and single handed, he cleared 
the greater part of hi? farm from the primitive 
forest, and helped clear and locate some of 
the early roads.) His wife died Oct. IG, 
1838, leaving five small children — Francis, 
Joseph, George, James and Rachel. He was 
again married, Oct. 24, 1839, to Mary, daughter 
of Isaac and Jane (Carpenter) Barnes. She 
was born Sept. 19, 1810, in West Virginia; 
her parents came . to this State in 1825, and 
located in Richland Co., but soon moved into 
what is now Morrow Co., where they lived 
until 1847, when they again moved west, 
living successively in Wisconsin and Minne- 
sota, making tlie latter their final home. By 
his last marriage, seven children have been 
born, three of whom are living — William, 
David and Thomas. Mr. Kerr, Sr., died Dec. 
6, 1867. Thomas, the youngest son, was 
born Oct. 3, 1851, and lived on the old honje- 
stead, which he partly owns, and controls. 
He is the support of his aged mother, and a 
consistent member of the M. E. Church, to 
which his parents belonged when it was first 
organized in the neiarhliorhood. 

DAVID MITCHELL, farmer; P.O. Galion; 
one of our most substantial farmers, and sec- 
ond in a family of nine children; was born 
July 4, 1831, in what is now Morrow Co.; his 
father, William Mitchell, was born in Center 
Co., Penn., and his mother, a native of the 
same State, was born in Washington Co. 



>y 



^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



627 



David's father was a practical farmer, and 
emigrated to this county when it was new and 
sparsely settled; he entered a quarter section 
of Governmentiand, and by industry and per- 
severance he at length owned a good farm, 
which he continued to improve till his death, 
which occurred in 1863. David left home 
when 18 years old to learn the carpenter's 
trade, and followed this occupation until 1870, 
when he relinquished it for the more free, 
happy and pleasant occupation of farming, 
Mr. Mitchell has been Trustee of his Township, 
and never sought or desired official cares and 
responsibilities. He is an old-?chool Demo- 
crat, and still has faith in the principles of 
Democracy. He owns the quarter section of 
land which belonged to his father, to which 
he seems much attached. He was married 
April 7, 1859, to Emma, daughter of Charles 
and Maria (Shaffer) Roberts; she was born 
Feb. 25, 1843, They had six children, five 
of whom are now living — Eliza M,, born Aug. 
12, 1861; Maggie J., Aug. 27, 1863; Lydia A., 
June 8, 1865; Hattie B., June 30, 1867, and 
David W., Jan. 26, 1869. 

ALEX, MOORE, farmer; P. O. Corsica; 
was born in Jefferson Co., Ohio, June 18, 
1833, the seventh of a family of thirteen 
children. His father, Alex. Moore, Sr., 
was bom in Greene Co., Penn., and his 
mother was a native of Ohio, her maiden 
name being Elizabeth McMillen. Mr. Moore, 
Sr., made farming his chief occupation, but 
for several years he owned a woolen mill, 
and also a saw mill in Jefferson Co.; from 
there he moved to Holmes Co., where he lived 
the rest of his life. Alex, commenced for 
himself when 21, and was a farm laborer for 
two years; he then learned the carpenter trade, 
which he followed till the commencement of 
the war, but came to Morrow Co. one year 
previous to his enlistment, and has since been 
a citizen of this county. He followed the 
flag over four years; Shiloh, Pittsburg Land- 
ing, Chickamauga and Mission Ridge are 
among the battles in which he was engaged. 
On receiving his discharge he returned to this 
county, and Jan. 31, 1866, he was married to 
Elizabeth C. Doak, daughter of John and 
Mary (Anderson) Doak. She was born 
Oct. 22, 1836, in Beaver Co., Penn.; her 
parents moved to this state in 1840, locating 
on the farm on which she now lives, Mr. and 



Mrs. Moore have five children — Stella V., 
Jud H. and Jay D., twins; Glenn A. and 
Anna May. Both are members of the Pres- 
byterian Church. Since the war he has been 
a Republican, but before that he was a Dem- 
ocrat. 

DAVID K. MITCHELL, farmer; P. O. 
Corsica; was born May 17, 1835, in what is 
now Morrow Co., Ohio; his father, Andrew 
Mitchell, was born in 1803, in Mercer Co., 
Pa., and passed his boyhood in Fairfield Co., 
Ohio; his parents moved to Richland Co. at 
an early day, and settled west of Mansfield on 
Government land; Andrew helped clear the 
farm, and then went back to Pennsylvania, 
where he was married to to Isabella Cunning- 
ham; in 1829 he moved to Ohio, and settled 
on a farm in this county; his wife died in 1833, 
and he then married Martha N. Kilgore, who 
was born in Washington Co., Pa.; he lived 
in this county till 1851, when he moved to 
Iowa, where he soon after died, leaving a wife 
with seven children, the oldest, David K., 
being only 16 years old. Although a mere 
boy, he placed himself at the head of the 
family, and moved back to Ohio in a wagon, 
where he was better able to support the fam- 
ily. He was married March 13, 1860, to 
Clara V., davighter of Isaac and Charity M. 
Dickerson; during the war he served a short 
time in the 102nd O. V. I.; soon after re- 
ceiving his discharge he moved to Iowa, and 
remained till 1869, when he returned to this 
State, and has since lived in Morrow Co.; he 
is a member of the I. O. O, F., and the En- 
campment; was one of the charter members 
of the Patrons of Husbandry, and Master the 
second year; he has been Master of the Po- 
mona Grange two years, and lecturer one 
years also represented this County for three 
successive years at the State Grange ; both are 
members of the Seventh-day Advent Church, 
at Blooming Grove. 

ROBERT McCLAREN, farmer; P. O.Whet- 
stone; is the fourth in a family of ten chil- 
dren, and was born Jan. 8, 1825, in Washing- 
ton Co., Pennsylvania; his father, Robert Mc- 
Claren, Sr., was born near Belfast, Ireland, in 
1788, and his mother, Sarah (McClenathan) 
McClaren, was from the Emerald Isle; his 
father was a farmer, by occupation, and des- 
pairing of ever securing a competency in that 
country, emigrated to America in 1823, with 



-w* 



628 



NORTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



his family, consisting of four persons; he 
first settled in Washiiip;ton Co., Pennsylvania, 
wliere he lived for six years; he had just five 
pounds, or twenty-five dollars when lie arrived 
in this country, and wishingr to increase his 
store, he loaned it to one whom he thought 
responsible and lost it all. In the year 1829, 
he moved to Ohio, and entered a quarter sec- 
tion of Government land, in Washington Tp., 
this county ; he endured all the ])rivations 
that fell to the lot of early settlers in a new 
country; he was poor in purse, but rich in 
energy, and he was determined to succeed at 
all hazards; he cleared his farm and lived on 
it until 18G5, when he disposed of it, and 
moved to Iberia; he cut his own wood till he 
was ninety years old, and when ninety-two 
he walked from Iberia to Mt. Gilead. Robert 
left home and commenced for himself, when 
twenty-four years old; he purchased part of 
the farm on which he now lives, and was mar- 
ried March 13, 1855, to Jennette, daughter of 
James and Susannah Richardson; this mar- 
riage has been blessed with seven children, 
all are living — Arminta, Mary J., Sarah A., 
Florence I., the twins, James F. and Anna C, 
Charles E. Mr. McClaren is giving his chil- 
dren a good education, as soon as they arrive 
at a proper age, wishing to place something 
in their possession, that cannot be taken from 
them. Himself, and wife, and the four oldest 
children are members of the U. P. Church, of 
which he is now deacon. 

ISAAC RULE, farmer; P. O. Whetstone. 
Among the many men to be found in this 
county, who have risen to aflluence from a 
small beginning, by the exercise of industry 
and frugality, we hnd the above named gen- 
tleman to be one of the first. He was born 
July 16, 1823, in Pennsylvania; his parents, 
•John and Susan (Blosser) Rule, were natives 
of Pennsylvania, and moved to this State in 
1825. Isaac's father worked in an oil-mill, 
when young, but on his arrival in this State 
he entered a quarter section of Governjnent 
land near North Woodbury; he cleared and 
improved this property, and kept it till his 
death, which was in 18T4: ; he had kept a 
store in North Woodbury, during this time, 
for nearly fourteen years, his partner being 
one Morgan Levering ; but desiring to re- 
tire from active life, they divided the goods, 
and Isaac broug-ht his father's half to West 



Point, and commenced business in a log 
cabin, near where he now lives ; his father 
gave him one thousand dollars worth of 
goods, and for the rest he paid as soon as he 
was able ; he did a large and successful busi- 
ness and soon built the store room now occu- 
pied by J. R. Garverick & Co. ; his father 
and himself were partners for three years, 
when his father withdrew, and his place was 
supplied by Norman Merwine, for the same 
length of time. Isaac then retired from the 
mercantile business, and has since followed 
farming, with good success. He was married 
Dec. 8, 1?>55, to Maria, daughter of John and 
Martha Price. ■ Seven chihh-en have been 
born of this union ; only three are now liv- 
ing — Newton, Irene and Edwin A. ; the sec- 
ond named is now attending school at Gran- 
ville, Ohio, and wants to complete the course. 
Before giving any of his property to his chil- 
dren, Mr. Rule owned near seven hundred 
acres of land here, besides Western property, 
the most of this having been obtained by his 
indomitable energy. 

LYDIA RUHL, farmer; P. O. Shaucks, 
was born Feb. 3, 1817, in Richland Co., Ohio; 
her parents, John and Rachel Painter, were 
natives of Virginia, and emigrated to Ohio 
about the year 1816, settling on Government 
land in Richland Co. Mr. Painter made farm- 
ing his chief business, but worked some at the 
cooper trade, and did rough cabinet work 
for his neighbors; his farm was only cleared 
by years of patient toil, and he had the satis- 
faction of owning a good and valuable farm 
many years before his death, which occurred 
in 1860. Mrs. Ruhl had very few advantages 
for getting an education at the schools, but at 
home the elements of hard labor were thor- 
oughly taught. She was married Sept. 18, 
183-1, to Jeremiah Ruhl, son of George and 
Elizabeth Ruhl; he was one of the practical 
farmers of the county, clearing his own farm 
from the primeval forest, and iin]>roving it as 
fast as circumstances would permit. He died 
November 19, 1873. By their marriage nine 
children were born, only three of whom are 
now living — Hiram, .John and George W. The 
two oldest are tiaarricd, and have families; 
the youngest is in the West to recruit his 
health. Mrs. Ruhl and her husband, were 
among the first members of the Old School 
liaptist Church. She owns 120 acres of land. 



<Jt 



fe. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



629 



on which she and grandchildren are now liv- 
ing. 

JOHN RHINEHART, farmer; P. O. Cor- 
sica. Among the many successful farmers of 
Morrow Co., Mr. Rliinehart deserves more 
than a passing notice; he is the eighth of a 
family of nineteen children, and was born 
Nov. 11, 1813, in Jeiferson Co., Ohio. His 
father, John Rhinehart, Sr., was a native of 
Washington Co., Maryland, as was also his 
mother, Barbara (Easterday) Rhinehart. Mr. 
Rhinehart, Sr., came to this State near the 
beginning of the nineteenth century, and lo- 
cated in Jefferson Co.: he was a minister in 
the " German-Lutheran " Church, but not un- 
like many other pioneer preachers, he was com- 
pelled to work on the farm during the week to 
support his family. John, the subject of this 
sketch, lived under the parental roof until his 
24th year, when he commenced doing for him- 
self; in company with a brother he moved on- 
to a farm west of Gallon, where he lived more 
than twenty years, and then came to Mor- 
row Co., where he has since lived a truly hap- 
py and prosperous life. Both he and his wife 
are members of the M. E. Church, and are 
strong advocates of temperance. He owns 
nearly 140 acres of good land, has good build- 
ings, and is provided with everything neces- 
sary to make life pleasant. He was married 
May 22, 1838, to Catharine, daughter of Tho- 
mas and Mary Scott. She was born Aug., 
12, 1812, in Union Co., Pa. They had five 
children, three of whom are now living — 
Clementine, born April 13, 1839; Franklin, 
Nov. 24, 1840; and Angeline, March 1, 1843. 

GOTLIEB SEIF, farmer; P. O. Gallon; 
was born May 31, 1822, in Baden, Germany, 
and crossed the briny deep when only seven 
years old; being the third of a family of five 
children; his parents and their family history 
is more properly described with that of his 
eldest brother (Jacob Self). Gotlieb lived 
around the family fireside till he took unto 
himself a helpmeet, when he bought the farm 
on which he now lives. His marriage oc- 
curred Feb. 13, 1853;' his wife's maiden name 
was Elizabeth Spigle, daughter of Henry and 
Catharine Spigle. She was born in Stark Co., 
Ohio, and is " German descent." By this 
marriage five children have bqen born, four 
of whom are living — Henry, Levi, Stephen, 
and Ida J. Mr. Self and wife are members of 



the German Lutheran Church. He has been 
Trustee and held other local offices. He owns 
145 acres of land, mostly acquired by his own 
industry and economy. 

AARON SEIF, farmer; P. O. Gallon; is 
an energetic and promising young farmer, and 
was born Aug. 11, 1850, in Morrow Co., Ohio; 
he is the sixth of a family of twelve children, 
and his father, Jacob Self, has his history 
among the first men who are now living in 
this section. Aaron, unlike many other young 
men, did not leave home at the earliest op- 
portunity, but has always lived on the old 
farm, to which he is strongly attached; he 
lived with his father till his marriage, and 
then settled on a portion of the old homestead, 
which he is improving and making attractive 
as fast as possible; he was united in marriage 
JNIay 31, 1877, to Mary Ricker, daughter of 
Peter and Dora Ricker; she was born Aug. 
27, 1854, in Crawford Co., Ohio, and is of 
German descent. This happy union has been 
blessed with two children, twins, named Min- 
nie and Tillie. Mr. Self and wife are con- 
sistent members of the German Lutheran 
Church. 

JACOB SELL, farmer; P. O. Whetstone; 
is the third of a family of ten children, and 
was born May 20, 1827, in York Co., Penn.; 
his father, Adam Sell, was born in Adams 
Co., Penn., and his mother, Mary (Schisler) 
Sell, was from the same State, York Co. Mr. 
Sell, Sen., was a blacksmith, and worked at 
the trade as long as he remained in his native 
State; he emigrated to Ohio in 1834, and soon 
settled on the farm on which Jacob now lives; 
there were enough logs cut to build a small 
cabin, and from these a shop- was formed; as 
soon as he could build a house he moved on 
the farm and when not engaged in the shop 
he was busy clearing up and improving his 
land. He soon quit the trade and paid his 
whole attention to farming, until his death, 
which occurred in 1878. Jacob left home 
when of age, to learn the carpenter's trade, 
and worked at this for twelve years, when he 
started lor the "gold fields'' of California. 
After five years of varied success as well as 
varied employment, he returned to this State, 
and once more worked at his old trade till the 
death of his father, when he moved on the old 
homestead, and has since been a farmer. He 
was married July 13, 1865, to Elizabeth, 



Li. 



630 



NORTH BLOOMFIELD, TOWNSHIP. 



(laughter of Adam and Margaret Hibner; she 
was born Feb. 13, 1841, and is German 
descent; her lather died when she was 5 years 
of age, and from that time till her marriage 
slie had to take care of herself; she experien- 
ced all the hardships incident to the life of one 
in her situation, yet she was protected by 
Him who has promised to be the orphan's 
guide. They have three children — Mary J,, 
Adam H. and Charley W. 

ANNA CATHARINE SEIF, farmer; P. 
O., Gabon; was born in Baden, Germany, 
•Ian. 1, 1830; she was the eighth in a family of 
ten children; her parents were Conrad and 
Charlotte Peaster. Her father was a farmer, 
and being in humble circumstances, he emi- 
grated to this country in 183-1:, hoping to bet- 
ter his condition. He first settled in Crawford 
Co., near Gabon; but in 1847 he moved into 
what is now Morrow Co., and remained two 
years, when he removed to Michigan, and 
lived there the rest of his life, dying in 1864. 
Catharine had few of the advantages of pro- 
curing an education in those early days, as 
she commenced working out when very 
young, and did a woman's work when a mere 
child; she was married Aug, 13, 1848, to 
Michael (second son of Jacob and Margaret), 
Self; they lived together very happily until 
his death, which occurred July 13, 1873. He 
was an upright man and strictly moral. He 
was a class-leader in the German Methodist 
Church for eighteen years, to which he and 
his wife belonged. They had eight children, 
seven of whom are living — Margaret, John 
F., Catharine E., Daniel, Joseph A., Mary H., 
and Lydia L. Their third child, Samuel, died 
in Michigan a short time before his father's 
death. The property was left to Mrs. Seif, 
and she is constantly improving it, and en- 
tleavoring to make it as attractive as possible, 
thereby hoping to induce her sons to remain 
on the farm and not let it go to strangers. 

PHILIP SEIF, farmer; P. O. Gallon; the 
youngest of a family of five children, was 
born in Baden, Germany, March 3, 1829, and 
was brought to this country by his parents with 
the rest of the family when but three months 
old; he passed his boyhood days in helping 
clear up the farm, on which he has always 
lived; when in his twelfth year, his father 
died, and his life was rendered none the 
pleasanter by this event, as it increased the 



cares of himself and brothers. He now lives 
on the old homestead, where he spent his ear- 
ly life; he was married Oct. 16, 1853, to Har» 
riet, daughter of Henry and Catharine Als- 
house, seven years afterwards she was called 
from this world of trouble, leaving a sorrow- 
ing husband and three small children — 
Franklin, Lewis and William. He was again 
married, Aug. 29, 1861, to Mrs. Rachel Dye, 
who had two children by her first husband 
(James Dye); their names are Vincent K. 
and Nancy. There are six children by the 
second marriage — Harriet, Ellen, Fernando, 
George, Michael and Edward. Mr. Seif owns 
a good farm of about 100 acres; he has been 
Trustee of the township, and his good nature 
and sociable disposition surround him with 
friends. 

JACOB SEIF, farmer; P. O. Gallon. The 
history of Morrow Co. would be incomplete 
without a sketch of Jacob Seif, whose suc- 
cessful career has justly entitled him to a 
place among the self-made men, and whose 
present surroundings are due to his industry 
and business tact. He was born August 21, 
1816, in Baden, Germany; his father's name 
was Jacob, and his mother's maiden name 
was Margaret Cronenwett; his father was a 
shoemaker by trade, and made that his occu- 
pation, although he worked some on the farm ; 
he emigrated to this country in 1829; his 
reasons for coming were to save I his children 
from the regular army, and to better his own 
circumstances in life; he settled in Columbiana 
Co., Ohio, where he remained for two years, 
when he moved to what is now Morrow Co., 
and entered eighty acres of Government land, 
which was ever afterward his home; he worked 
on the farm part of the time, and would some- 
times make shoes for the neighbors while they 
were clearing his farm; he was a very indus- 
trious and frugal man, and died in 1840. The 
subject of this sketch lived under the parental 
roof until his 24th year, when he married, 
which was Dec. 18, 1839, to Sophia Neyer; 
she was born Apr. 7, 1817, in Pennsylvania; 
they had twelve children, eight of whom are 
living — Jacob, Solomon, Elizabeth, Aaron, 
David, Adam, Christine and Caroline. Mrs. 
Seif died Sept. 1, 1873; Mr. Seif is a member 
of the German Methodist Church, of which 
he has been Steward for twenty-five years; 
has been Trustee a number of years, and was 



^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



631 



Land Appraiser in 1870; he is one of the few 
Germans who ally themselves with the Re- 
publicans in this county, having left the Dem- 
ocratic party during the agitation of the slavery 
question. 

JOHN SNYDER, farmer; P. O. Corsica; 
was born March 31, 1818, in Cumberland Co., 
Penn., likewise the native county of his par- 
ents, Henry and Elizabeth (Shetron) Snyder. 
John's father was an officer in the war of 1813, 
when but 16 years old. On receiving his dis- 
charge at the close of the hostilities, he worked 
on a farm till his 22nd year, when he went 
into the boot and shoe business in Shepherds- 
burg, Penn. Failing health induced him to 
again engage in farming, and in 1834, he 
moved to Ohio, settling in Richland Co. Here 
he lived nearly twenty years, when he sold 
his property and moved to Whitley Co., 
Ind., where he passed the rest of his life, dying 
in his 72nd year. John lived with his parents 
till his 23d year, working on the farm and 
teaching school during the winter in a cabin 
school-house, with slab-benches, the desks 
being shelves on three sides of the house. He 
was married June 13, 1841, to Mary A., 
daughter of Henry and Hannah Muck. She 
was born June 16, 1819. By this marriage 
were born nine children, only four of whom 
are living — Elizabeth A., Silas W., Mary A. 
and Charles H. Mr. Snyder cleared his own 
farm, and lived on it for six years, when he 
sold it and went into the mercantile business 
at Blooming Grove; his health soon failing, 
he retired after five years of close application, 
and has since been a farmer; he has held dif- 
ferent township offices, and was County Com- 
missioner one term, filling the office with 
credit. He is one of the charter members of 
the Patrons of Husbandry, and was the first 
Lecturer in the lodge. He is a Christian gen- 
tleman, and has hosts of friends. 

G. J. TISCHER, farmer; P. O. Whetstone; 
is the second of a family of three children; 
was born in Bavaria, Germany, March 16, 
1838; his parents were natives of Bavaria, 
his father's name being George and his 
mother's Margaret Pherman; his father served 
six years in the regular army in his native 
land, and when discharged made farming his 
occupation. He conceived the idea that he 
could better his circumstances by coming to 
America, and accordingly crossed the briny 



deep in 1840; he came directly to Ohio and 
settled on a farm in what is now Morrow Co., 
Congress Tp., where he now lives, owning one 
of the neatest homes in this section of 
country. Jacob lived around the family fire- 
side until his marriage, Dec. 12, 1861, to 
Leah, daughter of John F. and Rachel Gar- 
verick, who was born Jan. 10, 1843, in Mor- 
row Co., Ohio. By this marriage six children 
have been born — Mary E., John H., Margaret 
R., Edward F., Webster and Cora. Both he 
and wife are members of the German 
Reformed Church; he owns a beautiful farm 
of 100 acres, which formerly belonged to his 
father-in-law, John F. Garverick. He has 
good buildings, and his surroundings are 
such that he can take the world easy and 
enjoy a quiet and contented life; he has fol- 
lowed threshing for several years, with good 
success, and has always been identified with 
the Democratic party. 

• LEVI WARNER, farmer; P. O. Whet- 
stone ; is the eldest of a family of six chil- 
dren, and was born Nov. 6, 1831, in York Co., 
Penn., also the nativity of his parents; his 
father, John Warner, a farmer by occupation, 
emigrated to Ohio in 1834, and settled on 
Government land. He has always been an 
honest tiller of the soil, in which he has been 
successful. Levi commenced for himself after 
coming to manhood; he is also a farmer, which 
occupation, he considers, one of the highest 
callings of man. Besides farming, he has run 
a threshing machine ever since he was 18 years 
of age. He was married Nov. 25, 1853, to 
Caroline, daughter of Henry and Margaret 
Bortner. They have three children, whose 
names are Leah, Levina and Edward. Mr. 
Warner and wife are membersof the Reformed 
Lutheran Church, and are well respected. He 
is Township Treasurer, and has many friends; 
he has a convenient and well cultivated farm, 
on which he is putting good buildings, and 
can feel the pride and satisfaction that comes 
from an interesting and happy home. 

JOSEPH H. YEAGER, farmer; P. O. 
Steam Corners; is a native of Lancaster Co., 
Penn.; he is third of a family of seven child- 
ren; was born October 12, 1844; his parents, 
William and Harriet (Dase) Yeager, were 
born and reared in Lancaster Co. His father 
is a shoemaker by trade, and when a young 
man walked to Ohio with his " kit " of tools 



V9 

r 



'.hL 



632 



WESTFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



on his back, stopping at various places to 
work, and earn money with which to defray 
expenses; his object was to see the country, 
but unlike the "tramp" of modern times lie 
wislu'd to pay his way. He soon returned to 
his native county, and in 1852 gathered 
together his worldly eflfects and with his 
family came to this county, where lie yet 
lives. About the year 18GU he relincpiislKid 
the trade and hils since followed farming. On 
arriving at his majority Joseph commenced 
business for himself and has followed farming, 
to which he seems adapted, although he has 
" run " a threshing machine for ten years. He 
has had wonderful success; last year he 
threshed forty-three thousand bushels of 



grain ; this is no doubt owing to the fact that 
he is one of our enterprising men, and has 
been running his machine with an engine, for 
the last five years, of which he has always 
been the engineer. He was married Oct, 
10, 18C9, to Mary E., daughter of Jacob L. 
and Catharine Klinefelter. She was born 
Jvdy 10, 1849, in Morrow Co.; they have had 
six children, four are living — May, Daisy D., 
Edith B. and Clara A. Both he and wife are 
members of the Evangelical Church; and he 
was one of the charter members of the " Pat- 
rons of Husbandry," of which he has been 
"Overseer." He owns a farm of eighty 
acres and is very pleasantly situated. 



WESTFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



CYRUS G. BENEDICT, farmer; P. O. 

Cardiiigton; was born in this township, Nov. 
5, 1846. His father, Alfred R., was a native 
of Onondaga Co., N.Y., and his mother, Cyn- 
thia (Aldrich) Benedict, a daughter of one of 
the first settlers in this township. When a 
child, Cyrus came with his parents to St. Joe 
Co., Mich., where he received his education. 
When the war broke out he had two brothers 
join the army; Bently joined the 43d O. V. I., 
and Timothy joined the 26th O. V. I. The 
latter was wounded at the battle of Chicka- 
mauga, taken prisoner, and starved to death 
in Andersonville. Notwithstanding this, the 
patriotic motives of Cyrus could not be re- 
pressed, so he ran away and joined the 153d 
Illinois Infantry, and with it took part in the 
battle at Nashville, in the pursuit of Hood, 
and also the battle of Point Rock, Tenn., 
where his regiment lost about thirty men. 
After this they, with the 47th Wisconsin, 
were assigned to duty in the mountains, to 
hunt "bushwackers;" while acting in this 
cajiacity he witnessed the surprise and killing 
of a Captain and Lieutenant of a guerrilla 
company, the former while attempting to 
escape from a house which they had sur- 
rounded. He spent about two years in the 
army, and on his discharge, returned home, 
and after farming a short time, he engaged 



in the lumbering business about a year, and 
subsequently spent about five years in travel- 
ing, visiting Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
Tennessee and Alabama. Returning to Ohio 
in 1872, he married Lettie Jones, a native of 
this township, whose parents, Jordan and 
Rachel Jones, reside here. Mr. Benedict is a 
Republican, and a member of the Masonic 
order. He is a generous and liberal man, 
and of patriotic stock, his grandfather having 
served in the Revolutionary war, and was 
with Washington when he crossed the Dela- 
ware. 

JOSEPH BISHOP, farmer; P. O. West- 
field; was born Oct. 8, 1809, near the junc- 
tion of the two branches of Whetstone in Dela- 
ware Co. Pie was the oldest of five children 
of Elisha and Pherreby (CuiTcn) Bishop, na- 
tives of Tennessee, who came to Westfield 
Tp. in 1811. Being the oldest, the brunt of 
the work of clearing the farm and providing 
supplies for the family fell on Joseph. In his 
24th year he married Sallie Martha Place, a 
native of York state, whose parents came 
here about 1817. They were both familiar 
with the scenes of pioneer life and have 
been spared to enjoy the fruit of their early 
work. The Bishop family has been a patri- 
otic one — his father was a soldier of the war 
of 1812, and Mr. Bishop furnished two sons 



^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



633 



and a son-in-law for the war of the Rebellion. 
Henry enlisted in the 121st O. V. I., and after 
takin<r part in the battles of Perryville and 
Chickamaujya, died, and his remains repose 
in the Baptist cemetery. Barzilla W. was a 
member of the same company, and after tak- 
ing part with his regiment in several battles, 
lost his health, which he has never since fully 
regained. He is now manageir' of the hard- 
ware store of D. Waddell & Co. Levan Van 
Brimmer, to whom Mr. Bishop's daughter 
Lorinda, was married, lost an arm in the ser- 
vice. Anson, his remaining son, is now a 
resident of Henry Co., and Loretta, his other 
daughter, is the wife of Albert Williams, of 
this township. Mr. Bishop has a nice farm 
of 57 acres. He is a Republican. 

T. J. BENSON, farmer; P. O. Ashley; 
Thomas Jefferson Benson was born Jan. 10, 
1842 ; his father, Didymus Benson, was born 
in New York State, June 3, 1818, and came 
to Ohio in 1836; and when the Mexican war 
broke out, enlisted, but was soon after dis- 
charged, on the cessation of hostilities; he 
served about one year in the late Rebellion, 
when he was discharged on account of sick- 
ness, which so disabled him that he has been 
a cripple ever since; his wife. Amy (Foust) 
belonged to one of the very first families that 
settled in this township; they had a family of 
fifteen children,of whom eleven are now living, 
the oldest being the subject of our sketch, 
whose youth from his 13th to his 19th year 
was spent on his father's farm ; at the end of 
this time, he having some time previous made 
the acquaintance of Miss Mary E. Sipe, deci- 
ded to get married; to accomplish which, they 
both being in their minority, conceived and 
carried out the plan of eloping to Pennsylva- 
nia, where they were married; their married 
life, thus romantically begun, was soon des- 
tined to drift back to "stern realities;" on 
his return to Ohio, he was met with frowns in- 
stead of smiles, and found himself the posses- 
sor of $2.50, with which to begin housekeep- 
ing; setting to work with a will, by careful 
management and persistent industry he has 
secured, despite many adverse circumstances, 
a comfortable home, and reared a family of 
three children, of whom Melvina Victoria and 
Clinton Divillow are at home; the oldest 
daughter, Martha Ellienice, is married, and 
what is most remarkable, her son is of the fifth 



generation; all now living; his father, grand- 
father, great grandfather, and great, great 
grandfather are all now residing in the same 
vicinity. Mr. Benson has from the start had 
to combat adverse circumstances, and to re- 
pair the disadvantages of early life in the way 
of an education; it may be proper here to re- 
mark that Mrs. Benson dates her family back 
to the earliest pioneers, her grandfather ar- 
riving here the day that Perry's victory was 
gained; Mr. Benson's grandfather, Silas Ben- 
son, although over eighty years of age, is 
living with his son, and delights to relate his 
pioneer life to his grandchildren and great 
grandchildren. 

WILLIAM G. BRENIZER, farmer, and 
stock-raiser; P. O., Westfield; with his parents, 
Jacob and Mary (Griffith) Brenizer, is a 
native of Maryland, and was born Feb. 26, 
1827. When two years of age his parents 
moved to this township and settled on a farm 
then owned by John Elliott, on the Whet- 
stone river; and in 1831, moved to a farm of 
their own, where they spent the balance of 
their lives. On arriving at his majority, 
William went to work in the fanning-mill 
business, as did many other citizens who have 
figured prominently in the history of this 
township after one year here he spent two years 
in a factory in Indiana; one year in New- 
port, Ky., and one in Lima, O., in the same 
business. He then sold lightning-rods one 
year. At the age of 26 he married Miss 
Buly Ann Shaw, who was born Nov. 9, 1834. 
She is the daughter of John Shaw, who was 
born July 9, 1797, and Pamelia (Messenger,) 
born Apr. 10, 1807; her father was for many 
years a prominent man in the township, 
holding the offices of Trustee, Clerk and 
Justice of the Peace, and one of the foun- 
ders of the United Brethren Church; at 
the time of his death he was the largest 
land-holder in the township, owning about 
600 acres. The death of Mr. Shaw occurred 
June 6, 1860. Mrs. Shaw had died Aug. 9, 
1854. Mr. and Mrs. Brenizer have raised 
two children — Nelson O., born Apr. 9, 1854; 
graduated at the Otterbein University, Wes- 
terville, O., and the Homoeopathic College of 
Medicine, Cleveland O., in 1877, and is now 
a practicing physician in Prospect, O. Wil- 
liam, born Sept. 10 1867, is a youth of rare 
promise. Mr. Brenizer has a good, well water- 



(;:u 



WESTFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



ed farm of 100 acres, with good buildings and 
choice fruit; and besides the home farm an- 
other tract of 50 acres. He is now serving the 
township the third term as Trustee; is a mem- 
ber of Cardington Grange and a Trustee in the 
United Brethren Church. He enlisted dur- 
ing the llebellion, and served nearly three 
years in the 88th O. V, I. 

SAMUEL BEATTY, retired farmer; P. O. 
Cardington; was born at Belfast, Ireland, in 
1811; son of John and Ann (Hay) Beatty. 
His father was a merchant in a small town 
called Ballynure, in the county of Antrim, 
and kept tavern and had a farm in connection 
with his mercantile business; the father's 
family consisted of four boys — Alexander, 
William, Samuel and Robert; and three girls 
— Eliza, Jane and Mary. His parents Were 
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, and gave their 
children a good education. Samuel mastered 
the common branches, such as reading, writ- 
ing, arithmetic, geography and English gram- 
mar, and at the age of 18 went to join his 
two older brothers in the West Indies, where 
they held positions as overseers of planta- 
tions. Landing at St. Johns, on the Island of 
the Antigua, he found a similar situation, 
which he held one year, and then, with his 
other brother, joined the third, who, in the 
meantime, had come to the United States; 
locating at Pittsburgh, he there learned the 
chair-maker's trade. After spending a short 
time in Zanesville, O., and Medina, O., he 
went to Greersville, Knox Co., Ohio, where 
he spent three years in teaching school and 
working at his trade; from this place he went 
to Falisburg Tp., Licking Co.; in Dec. 13, 
184G, he married Sarah Nichols, of Howard, 
Knox Co. ; born Sept. 22, 1822. Her father, 
Amos, a native of Virginia, and her mother, 
Sarah (Davis) Nichols, a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, came to Ohio when the Indians roamed 
through that part of the State; her grand- 
father, a Frenchman, was killed in the Revo- 
lutionary war while on picket; her grand 
parents Davis were from Germany. In 1847 
Mr. Beatty bought the farm where he now 
lives, consisting of 132 acres, then covered by 
a dense forest. After one year's residence in 
Licking Co., and two years in Knox Co., he 
moved on his land in 1851, which now com- 
prises 155 acres. The change wrought by 
Mr. Beatty is wonderful; he cleared up over 



100 acres, and now has a model farm, with 
good buildings and a handsome residence, 
with delightful surroundings. They have 
raised a family of six children — Robert Alex- 
ander, a farmer, of Cardington Tp.; William 
John, Franklin L., who died May 8, 1874; 
Amos Mann, Ann Eliza and Evaline. Wil- 
liam John, at the age of 15, enlisted in the 40th 
and was transfered to the GOth O. V. I., and 
was in the battles of Wilderness, Nye River, 
Spotssylvania, North Ann, Bethesda Church, 
Shady Grove, Cold Harbor, Gaines' Hill; the 
battles before Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, 
Yellow House, Poplar Grove, Pegram Farm, 
Hatchers Run, Fort Steadman, and capture of 
Petersburg; passing through all these without 
a scratch. Mr. Beatty's youngest brother, 
Robert, succeeded to his father's business; 
and in 18GG his sister, Mary, visited him with 
her husband, the Rev. Robt. Wallace, who 
was a delegate from the Wesleyan Methodist 
Conference in Ireland to the Centenary of 
Methodism in America, but who died in Cin- 
cinnati, of cholera, just ten days after his 
landing. Mr. Beatty is a member of Carding- 
ton Lodge No. 384, of Free Masons, and is a 
Republican. 

YELVERTON P. BARRY, farmer; P. O. 
Cardington; was born near Utica, Licking Co., 
Ohio, March 12, 1832, and came with his pa- 
rents to Westfield Tp. at the age of 6 years; 
his father. Captain Elisha Barry, of the war 
of 1812, was born in Ann Arundel Co., Md., 
Sept. 4, 1787, and received a good common 
school education. He married at the age 
of 25, Rachel Lucas, who was born Jan. 3, 
1798. About 1830 they emigrated to Ohio, 
where Mrs. Barry died, June 10, 1835. Capt. 
Barry died at Shaw Town, June 7, 1873, hav- 
ing been a member of the M. E. Church over 
sixty years, and a class-leader over thirty. 
Yelverton B. received the elements of an 
English education in the old log school-house 
at Shaw Town. At the age of 18 he married 
Miss Hannah E. Benedict, daughter of Eli 
and Elizabeth (Shaw) Benedict. They moved 
to their present home in 1859, then consisting 
of 55 acres, all in the woods, to which they 
have since added 50. With his grandfather, 
a soldier of the Revolution, and his father of 
the second war with England, it was not sur- 
prising that when our country was again in 
peril that the patriotic fire should burn in the 



;k* 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



635 



heart of Mr. Barry; he turned his back on 
home and family, and joined the 6Gth O. V. I. 
Co. K, under Capt. J. H. Van Deman, in Oct., 
1861, and went to the Eastern army at once. 
He took part in the battles of Cedar Mountain, 
Antietam, Dumfries and Chancellorsville. In 
the last named engagement, while guarding a 
battery, he was struck in the arm by a piece 
of shell, and permanently disabled for further 
military duty, and was a few months afterwards 
discharged. The nature of his wound was 
such as to preclude his ever doing hard man- 
ual labor. His brother Joshua S., who joined 
the 121st O. V. I., was wounded at the battle 
of Chickamauga, and died in the field hospital, 
while his arm was being amputated. Mr. 
Barry has five children — Eli E., John W., 
Lorinda J., Charles B. and Rachel E. He is 
at present engaged in general farming and 
stock-raising, and is a Republican of the most 
pronounced order. 

JACOB CLAYPOOL, farmer and stock- 
raiser P. O., Westfield; was born in Ross 
Co., O., Jan. 23, 1820; his father, William 
Claypool, and mother Sarah (Sperry), were 
natives of Virginia, and came to Ohio in 1802, 
thus giving them rank among the early 
pioneers. His father served in the war of 
1812. He came to Westfield Tp. in 1827, where 
he spent his declining years, and where he 
reared a family of eleven children, eight of 
whom are now living (those deceased lived 
beyond the age of fifty years). Mr. Claypool's 
early life was spent amidst the scenes in- 
cident to the frontier. He has seen his father 
shoot wild game from his own door, and when 
the supply of meat began to run low, he would 
shoulder his gun and not return until he was 
well supplied with game, especially deer, 
which were quite common. Mr. Claypool 
gained such an education as the times would 
allow, and began to do for himself before 
arriving at his majority. He married at the 
age of 25 Miss Martha McDonegal, a native 
of Delaware Co. His father dying soon after, 
he began business for himself; he bought out 
the other heirs and took the home farm. 
There have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Clay- 
pool seven children, six of whom are now 
living, and all are married and settled in life 
except the youngest. The oldest^ Dr. Albert 
Claypool, is a prominent physician of Toledo. 
Another son is Gen. Agent of the Howe 



Sewing Machine Co., and resides at Nyack, 
New York. Mr. Jacob Claypool is one of the 
wealthiest farmers of Westfield Tp., possessing 
a farm of 214 acres of the best land in the 
township, and good buildings thereon, and a 
farm in Wood Co., and is a careful business 
man. He has for many years been a promi- 
nent member and officer in the M. E. Church. 
In politics he is a Republican, and was form- 
erly an Abolitionist, voting the ticket when 
only one other man in the township had 
the courage to do it. 

FREDERICK CUTLER, deceased; Fred- 
erick Cutler was born Dec. 12, 1829, in Ver- 
mont, and came to Westfield Tp. when a 
small boy, receiving the customary advantages 
of that day. He went with the great tide to 
California in '49, and after a year's absence 
returned with about $1,200 in gold, which he 
immediately invested in the farm where his 
widow now resides. At his country's call he 
early joined the 65th O. V. I., remaining in 
the service three years; while in the army his 
first wife died, and he married first a sister of 
Mrs. Cutler, and after her death, the present 
Mrs. Cutler, then Miss Maria Peak, a native 
of Westfield Tp., whose parents, Daniel and 
Clarissa Peak, came to Ohio from Vermont 
in 1825, and settled about a mile and a half 
west of Westfield. Mrs. Cutler received the 
best education the schools of that day afforded; 
her parents, with the characteristics of New 
England people, exercised a pious care for the 
education of their children. Mr. Cutler, dying 
in Jan., 1879, left the management and care of 
the estate and family entirely in her hands, 
which she is ably conducting, and educating 
the four children of her own, and four of her 
sisters', on her fine farm of 200 acres. 

STEPHEN H. CURREN, farmer; P. O., 
Cardington, was born in Westfield Tp., Oct. 
11, 1837. He attended school, and assisted 
his father until of age; his father, Nehemiah 
Curren, was born in the State of Tennessee, 
May 18, 1807, and came to Ohio with his par- 
ents when a child. His advantages for an ed- 
ucation were very limited, having to go four 
and five miles through the woods to reach the 
nearest school. His wife, Stephen's mother, 
was born in Fairfield Co., Ohio, in 1814; her 
parents, whose names were Willey, were from 
Pennsylvania. Nehemiah Curren was married 
March 1, 1835, and moved to the place where 



^T^ 




he now resides, then entirely in tlie woods. 
Of liis father's family, which consisted of 
twelve children, three brothers settled in this 
county. Of his own, there were ten children; 
two arc now residents of Michig-an, one of 
Delaware Co., Ohio, and five, three girls, and 
two boys, are in this county. Of the sons, one 
lives on the home-farm, and the other, 
Stephen, lives on his own farm, a half mile 
distant. One brother, George W., was killed 
at the battle of Arkansas Post. Stephen H. 
Curren was married to Miss Emily Wood, 
Nov. 3, 1858, whose parents came here in an 
early day from New York State. There were 
born to them five children, three only — Alice, 
Estelle and Rosa — are now living-. Mrs. Cur- 
ren , dying Nov. '23, 1872, he married Miss 
Phebc Brenizer, March 9, 1874, who also was 
a native of this county. From this marriage, 
there is one child living — Clay W. Mr. Car- 
ren is a member of the Cardington Lodge of 
Pree Masons. He started in life with only 
the smallest setting out, that the custom of 
that day recognized — a horse, saddle, bridle, 
and a suit of clothes; and has since secured, en- 
tirely by his own industry, a good farm and a 
nice home. 

T. J. CURREN, lumber manufacturer; 
Westfield; was born Jan. 31, 1845. His 
father, Jesse Curren, was born in Delaware 
Co., in what is now a part of Marion Co., June 
0, 1819, but at the age of 15 he moved to the 
vicinity of Norton, where, at the age of 21 
he married Miss Malinda Stratton, of Ver- 
mont parentage. From this marriage there 
were seven children, five of whom are 
now living. The oldest son, Francis M., served 
in the 9Gth O. V. 1., taking part in the battles 
of Pittsburg Landing, Arkansas Post, Vicks- 
burg. Fort Wagner,,Fort Gaines, and remain- 
ing until the close of the war. Thomas Jef- 
ferson Curren, with his parents, moved to the 
place where his father now lives, when he 
was 7 years of age; here he remained until 
his 27th year, during which time he learned 
the carpenters' trade. He married Exa Thorn- 
burg, a native of Westfield Tp., from which 
union there were two children — Jessie Estelle, 
born June 18, 1872, and Emory, Nov. 24, 
1874. After marriage he resided nearly four 
years in Van Wert Co., Ohio, and on his re- 
turn to Westfield Tp. his wife died, Marcjj 
16, 1877. He is now engaged in the saw-mi.. 



business, doing custom work chiefly, but also 
manufactures lumber for the market. He 
is a good business man, and highly esteemed, 
and is in politics a Republican. 

CHARLES B. COOMER, cooper; P. O., 
Westfield; was born in Niagara Co., N. Y., 
Apr. 29, 1825; his father was a shoemaker, 
but carried on a farm, at which Charles assist- 
ed when not in school, until his 19th year, 
when he went to Monroe, Mich., to learn the 
coopers' trade; after a year he returned to 
Ohio, where he finished his trade; and worked 
in different places; at the age of 25, he opened 
a shop on the home farm, and worked about 
three years; in 1852, he married MissEmeline 
Rogers, of Shawtown, a native of Delaware 
Co.; after some changes, they settled down in 
this township in ISGl, and Aug. 8, 18G2, he 
entered the army; only a battalion of three 
companies being formed, they were assigned 
to garrison duty,and subsequently consolidated 
with the 88th O. V. I. ; he was mustered out in 
July, 18G5; two years later he engaged in the 
coopers' trade, in which he has since continued. 
He has a good business and a pleasant home 
in Westfield; of his three children, only one, 
Emerson F., born May 3, 1853, is now living. 
Mr. Coomer is a member of I. O. O. F, Lodge, 
No. 269, of Westfield, and Encampment No. 
125, of Ashley; in politics he is aRepid^lican. 

EDWIN M. CONKLIN, farmer; P. O. 
Westfield; was born Sept. G, 1835, in this 
township. His father, ^acob Conklin,was born 
in St. Al burg Tp., Grand Isles Co., Vermont, 
June 10, 1782. His father, Abram Conklin, 
was a soldier in the war of Independence; he 
came to Ohio in the fall of 1813, and located 
in Liberty Tp., Delaware Co., and a year later 
joined the Light Horse, under Capt. Mvu-ray, 
and served under Gen. McArthur, partici- 
pating in several skirmishes, suftering the 
vicissitudes of war, sometimes going three 
days without food. He was married to Orra 
Payne, Sept. 17, 1818; she was born in New 
Hartford, Litchfield Co., Conn., July 6, 1798, 
and came to Ohio in 1817. They immediately 
started for their new home in Westfield Tji., 
as described in the history of the township. 
Mr. Conklin died March 12, 1875, having been 
a member of the Methodist Church seventy- 
two years, his home being the first preaching 
place in the township. Edwin had charge of 
the farm after his fifteenth year, and hence 



-^ 




was deprived of many school privileges which 
other boys had, but he has by no means 
neglected the cultivation of his mind, and is 
])roverbial for his accuracy. He has for more 
than twenty years kept a journal of every 
day's transactions, and for the same length of 
time a tri-daily thermometrical record. He 
married Lottie Shoemaker, Oct. 15, 1872, 
who died Jan. 12, 1876. To them was born 
one son — Edwin J., July 1, 1874. He mar- 
ried Martha Van Brimmer Feb. 11, 1880. Her 
parents were among the early settlers. Mr. 
Conklin has been prominently identified with 
the Odd Fellows; he was Deputy Grand Mas- 
ter for this district about four years, and Rep- 
resentative in the Grand Lodge two years; he 
passed all the chairs in both branches, joining 
the encampment at Delaware, and was a 
charter member, both at Cardington and Ash- 
ley, and was one of the charter members of 
the Myrtle Lodge of the Daughters of Rebec- 
ca, at Westfield. He was the first one to 
take hold of the Grange movement in this 
locality, and was the first delegate from here 
to the State Grange, in Xenia, in 1874, and 
was made Deputy for Morrow Co., and in 
that capacity organized the Grange at Card- 
ington, Lincoln, Harmony, Canaan, Johns- 
ville, Peru and Marengo. He has always 
been a Republican, casting his first vote for 
Fremont in 1856, and has held various town- 
ship offices. He has a farm of 105 acres, in a 
good state of cultivation, which is known as 
the " Pleasant Home Farm. " 

WILLIAM COOK, school teacher, Carding- 
ton; was born in this tow^nship, Feb. 11, 1854, 
near the east branch of "Whetstone." His fa- 
ther, John Cook, who deserves most especial 
mention as one of the earliest pioneers of this 
township, was born at Lancaster, O., Dec. 
5, 1811. His parents came from Vii'ginia to 
Ohio, about four years before the latter be- 
came a state — and came to Delaware Co., and 
settled at Fort Morrow, near Norton, in 1813, 
and a year later in this township. Of his father, 
David Cook, especial mention is made in the 
general township history. His mother's 
maiden name was Ruth McLung, Mr. 
Cook married Louisa Nicholas, March 9, 
1837, who was born in Shenandoah Co., Va., 
in- 1814. They had a family of eight chil- 
dren, six of whom are now living, and five 
residents of this county. 'Mr. Cook has been 



a resident of this township over sixty years, but 
nearly twenty years ago the light was forever 
vanished from his sight, and he became totally 
blind, and sadly he said to the writer: "Many 
grandchildren have grown up around me, the 
face of not one of whom have I ever seen." 
William is a young man of rare promise, and 
great energy. He improved his early advan- 
tages, although only permitted to attend 
school in the winter, his services being re- 
quired the balance of the time. At the ao-e 
of twenty he went to Cardington, where he 
spent one year in school, to fit himself for 
teaching, applying himself closely, especially 
in the study of languages, making a specialty 
of German. He intends shortly to enter on 
the study of medicine, and he will without 
doubt, make his mark as a physician. His 
grandfather was a soldier of the war of 1S12, 
and his great grandfather of the Revolution- 
ary war. 

JOHN B. GULP, farmer; P. O. West- 
field; was born in Franklin Co., Pa., June 7, 
1838. He was the oldest son of Andrew and 
Leah (Bean) Gulp, who raised a family of 
eight children. At the age of 20 his parents 
moved to Waldo Tp., Marion Co., O., where 
his mother died; his father is now a resident 
of La Bette Co., Kan. Mr. Gulp was for some 
time engineer in the Richland (now the 
Willow) Flouring Mills, and subsequently the 
Waldo Mills. He married Miss Catharine 
Strine Jan. 15, 1861, and soon afterward 
entered the army and served in the Quarter- 
master's Department in Kentucky for about 
four months. He afterward enlisted in the 
174th O. V. I., Co. L, under Capt. Garrett, and 
was assigned to the Western army, under 
Gen. Thomas; he was in the battle of Over- 
hall's Creek, and seven days later in the battle 
of the Cedars, in which he was Avounded and 
obliged to remain in the Hospital six months; 
he was mustered out at Camp Denison in June, 
1865. His wife died Aug. 22, 1865, and in 
1866 he married Mrs. Margaret Waddell, 
widow of Isaac Waddell, who died Nov. 6, 
1859, leaving her with three sons — John S. 
James G, and Benjamin I. She and the 
first Mrs. Gulp were sisters, and their parents 
were John and Mary (Moneysmith) Strine. 
Their grand-father, John Moneysmith, was a 
soldier in the Revolutionary war; their 
brother, Peter Strine, was killed at the battle 



;r^ 



(i38 



WESTFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



of Kenesaw Mountain, and anotlier brother 
died in the army of sickness. Mr. Gulp's 
brother Samuel, was one of the "Lincoln 
Guard," and died at Washington, J). C. In 
1873 Mr. Gulp bou<2;ht the farm whore he now 
lives, consisting of fifty acres, on which he in 
the fall of 1879 erected his elegant residence. 
His farm is known as Mt. Pleasant, and is 
under a good state of cultivation. 

MORRIS M. GOOMER, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O.Ashley; was born in Ontario Go., 
N. Y., Jan. 13, 1815. His father, Benjamin 
Goomer, was born March 22, 1783, in IBerk- 
shire Go., Mass., and at the age of 22 
married Miss Amy Wood, born in Benning- 
ton Go., Vermont, May 11, 1789, who was re- 
lated to the Hutchinson family, famed as sing- 
ers, and a cousin to Ex. President Filmore. 
To them were born Ira W. Jonathan, G. An- 
son, Seymour G., Morris M., Julia, married to 
Joseph Shoemaker; Rachel, married to Eph- 
raim Hubbell, Gharles B., and Wilson W. 
Morris began his education in New York 
State, but his advantages were limited after 
his arrival in Ohio. He learned the cab- 
inet-makers' trade, at which he worked one 
year; afterward in partnership with his brother 
Jonathan, he manul'actured fanning-mills for 
one year, and worked for fourteen years as jour- 
neyman in the same business. At the age of 
31 he married Miss Sarah Glark, daughter of 
Elihu and Mary (Keene) Glark; she was born 
in Franklin Go., Ohio, in 1810. Her grand- 
father, as well as Mr. Goomer's maternal grand- 
father, were Revolutionary soldiers. Her 
parents came from New York State to Ohio 
in 1811. Soon after marriage they moved 
to Oxford Tp., Delaware Go., and six years 
later to the farm where he now resides, consist- 
ing of 74 acres of productive land. They have 
had four children — Gicero, born in 1847, mar- 
ried to Miss Sarah Pierce, and now Treasurer 
of Delaware Go.; Monroe, born in 1850, who 
died at the age of 4 years; Alice, born in 
1854, apd married to Isaac Hickson, and Ada, 
born in 1858, and educated at the Ohio Wes- 
leyan Female Gollege, and now engaged in 
teaching school. Mr. Goomer is a member 
of I. O. O. F., No. 421, and F. and A. M., No. 
407, and in politics a Republican. 

LEVI P. DIXON, farmer, stock-raiser; 
P. O., Westfield; was born Sept. 29, 1843, 
on the farm where he now resides. Alexan- 



der Dixon, his fatlici, was born in Vermont, 
in 1807, and at the age of 2 years, he came 
with his parents to Bourbon Go., Ky. At 
the age of 21 years he resolved to try his 
fortune in Ohio, where he engaged in bi:^ing 
horses, which he took to Kentucky and ex- 
changed for sheep, which he sold in Ohio. 
In this way he for several years carried on 
a profitable business. He married Minerva 
Bartholomew, Jan. 3, 1829, who was born 
near Bradfordtown, Gonn., June. 9, 1804, and 
came to Ohio with her parents when a child. 
From this marriage there were eight children, 
only three of whom, two daughters and Levi, 
survive. Leander joined the 65th O. V. 
I., and immediately after the battle of 
Shiloh, ivas taken sick and died; Lincoln, 
another brother, joined the 174th O. V. I., 
and participated in the battles of Overhall's 
Greek, Cedars, Murfreesboro, and the evac- 
uation and burning of Decatur, Alabama; 
and returning home died of diseases con- 
tracted in the army. Levi enlisted in the 
187th O. V. I., and served with his regiment 
until the close of the war, when he returned 
home and took charge of the farm, which he 
carried on for about five years, and then on 
account of ill health spent one year in the 
west. On his return from Kansas, he mar- 
ried Miss Minerva Shaw,, born in this county 
Apr. 2, 1851. They have had three chil- 
dren — Oscar, born Oct. 2, 1873; Archie, July 
31, 1878, and died Sept. 14, of the same year, 
and Smith, May 8, 1880. His father dying 
in 1876 Levi came in possession of the home 
farm, consisting of 164 acres of good land. 
He makes a specialty of sheep-raising, keep- 
ing thorough-breds and good grades. His 
residence is one of the old landmarks, 
being the first frame house erected on the 
"school section." He is a Republican, and of 
a patriotic family; his grandfather, Alexander 
Dixon, Sen., having served through the Revo- 
lutionary war. 

WILSON FOUST, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O., Westfield; the only son of Abra- 
ham and Almira Foust, was born April 7, 
1821, near Winsor's Gorner, in Delaware Go.; 
his father was born April 7, 1796, and came 
to Ohio when a small boy, and settled first in 
Pickaway Go., and later in Delaware Go., and 
settled in this township, as noted in the history 
of the same. He married Mrs. Almira Gone, 



k 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



639 



and raised a family of four children, all of 
whom are now settled in this vicinity. When 
Wilson was a small boy, his father moved to 
the farm where he now lives, with limited 
advantages for an education, most of which 
was secured in one term; at the age of 18 he 
went to learn the carpenters' tradp, at which 
he worked some eight or ten years, in the 
meantime spending three years in Indiana. 
On his return he married Miss Ellen Claypool, 
Oct. 14, 1850, leaving the same day for Iowa, 
with his wife; he remained there two years, 
during which time was born, Warren M., 
Oct. 28, 1851, who now resides in Wyoming 
Territory; on their return to Ohio, two other 
children were born, Bruce B., Feb. 32, 1852, 
also now in Wyoming Territory, and Mary 
E., Oct. 16, 1854. He purchased the farm 
where he now resides, about this time consis- 
ting of G2 acres. Soon afterward his first 
wife died, and he married Miss Lucy A. Dur- 
kee, from which union there were six children, 
of whom four are living — O. K., born Nov. 8, 
1861; Flora L., Nov. 19, 1863; Harriet A., 
Nov. 20, 1865; Kelly O. K., Oct. 3, 1868. In 
addition to the home farm, he has by careful 
management accumulated considerable prop- 
erty, including a piece of land of 25 acres, of 
rich bottom on the Whetstone River; another 
piece of 32 acres, a farm of 84 acres, and 
another of 20 acres in Marion Co. He gives 
especial attention to breeding cattle, keeping 
good grades, and has a fine flock of sheep. 
He is a member of the Westfield Lodge I. O. 
O. F., and Ashley Lodge of Free Masons. 

DR. GEORGE GRANGER, deceased; 
was born in Vermont, in July, 1815, and 
attended school at Bethel Gilead, coming to 
Ohio via. Erie Canal and the lake; he arrived 
at Huron, from which point he came on foot 
to this part of the State, walking some days 
forty miles; he entered the Worthington 
Medical Institute, and graduated in 1837, and 
located at Westfield in the following year, 
where he began the practice of medicine; he 
married Miss Mary Bishop, who died in 1846; 
he married again, in 1847, Miss Adah Carpen- 
ter, who was born in Galena, Jan. 15, 1825, 
and whose parents came from Pennsylvania, 
and were among the very earliest settlers of 
Berkshire Tp.; her grandfather, Gilbert Car- 
penter, a Revolutionary soldier, -wis one of 
the most prominent men of Delaware Co., and 



is remembered as Judge Carpenter. Her 
parents moved to this township when she was 
12 years of age; she attended common school, 
and spent one term at Zanesville, Ohio. 
About this time Dr. Granger bought an in- 
terest in the fanning mill, pump factory and 
store business of Adam Wolf, and afterward, 
with Henry Keyser, established a clothing 
store and merchant tailoring establishment, 
and finally bought out Wolf and carried on 
business, managed his large farm and prac- 
ticed medicine until 1859, when, having been 
elected to the position of County Treasurer, 
he moved to Mt. Gilead, where after a resi- 
dence of little more than a year, he died, in 
June, 1860. In the fall following, Mrs. 
Granger, with her family, returned to West- 
field, where she manages her farm of 118 acres 
successfully, and gives especial attention to 
raising sheep; Mrs. Granger is the mother of 
three children — S. Granger, whose sketch 
appears in this work; Mary, married D. D. 
Booher, a real estate and insurance agent of 
Mt. Gilead, and Emma, married to Alfred 
Bishop, and now deceased. Dr. Granger was 
one of the Charter members of the Westfield 
Lodge of Odd Fellows; he began without a 
dollar, and by his own labor amassed a great 
deal of property. 

ALBERT GOODHUE, farmer and stock- 
dealer; P. O. Westfield, was born in West- 
field Tp., June 13, 1831. His father, J6siah 
Goodhue, was born in New Hampshire, March 
19, 1792. His ancestors served in the Revo- 
lutionary war, two of whom gave up their lives 
in that struggle. He was married to Eliza- 
beth Peak, March 25, 1825, about eight years 
after he came to Ohio. They settled on the 
west bank of the Whetstone, nearly opposite 
the site of the present town of Westfield ; here 
he early engaged in the ashery business, in 
which he laid the foundation of his fortune; 
carrying the products to Zanesville and Cin- - 
cinnati, and exchanging them for such goods 
as the settlers needed, which he in turn sold 
at a profit. This business he carried on for 
about fifty years, during which time he was in 
partnership with Henry Lamb, of Delaware, 
and others; he was the father often children, 
six of whom are now living. One of his sons, 
John Goodhue, of the 26th O. V. I., was killed 
in the battle of Murfreesboro. He lived to the 
advanced age of eighty-four years, vigorous 






t 



640 



WESTFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



in mind and body. Albert lived with his 
father until lie was thirty years of age, when 
he was married. He has two children, whom 
he is giving the very best advantages for 
securing a good education. He has a good 
farm, of 1U4 acres, and his residence com- 
mands a fine view. Besides this, he has town 
pr()|)erty, and an interest in other lands. In 
stock-dealing, he invests in whatever the mar- 
k(!t indicates as the most prudent to handle. 

WIIdJERT GRANGER, farmer; P. O., 
Westfield; was born June 21, 1845, in what 
is now Westfield Tp., but then a part of Ox- 
ford; he is the son of Dr. George and Mary 
(Hisliop) Granger. His father's history is 
noted elsewhere, and his mother's family were 
among the first settlers; he received a good 
common school education, and in 1863 en- 
listed in the 6th Independent Battalion of 
Cavalry, serving one year. Before his time 
of service expired he again enlisted in the 
13th Ohio Cavalry, and served three years* 
He took part in the battles of White House 
Landing, the Explosion of the Mine, at Peters- 
burg, the battles of Weldon Rail Road, 
Pegram Farm and Dinwiddie, C. H. During 
the last named engagement his regiment dis- 
mounted; was posted in a wood endeavoring 
to hold the line, when he was struck in the 
shoulder by a Minie ball and severly wounded, 
from the effects of which he still suffers. In 
March, 1867, he married Miss Mary A., 
daughter of Benjamin and Abigail (Wash- 
burne) Olds. Mrs. Granger was born in this 
township, in 1844, and her people are among 
the very first settlers of the township. There 
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Granger 
three children — Viola O., Audrie Jane and 
Walter O. Mr. Granger has a nice farm of 
forty-five acres, in the outskirts of the village, 
and his residence is one of the old landmarks. 
Mr. Granger was a good soldier in the field, 
and is a good citizen at home. He is in 
politics a Republican. 

SOLON GRANGER, farmer and stock- 
dealer; P. O. Westfield. Among the younger 
class of citizens, who are rapidly coming to the 
front, none are more pnjminentthan Mr. Gran- 
ger. He is the son of Dr. George and Adah 
Granger, whose biogra])hies appear more fullv 
elsewhere, and was born March 10, 1851. At 
the time of his father's death, which occurred 
when Solon was 9 years of age, he was attend- 



ing school at Mt. Gilead, Ohio, where his 
father was performing the duties of County 
Treasurer. He returned then to Westfield, 
and after spending a few years in the village 
school, and nearly a year in college, at Dela- 
ware, he went to Lebanon, O., where he com- 
pleted a business course and received a di- 
ploma. At the age of 20, he took charge of 
the home farm of 216 acres, forty-seven of 
which belonged to him ; to the latter he has 
added forty-seven acres additional, thirty- 
five of which he has cleared and improved. 
He marrried Miss Ethlinda Durkee, Nov. 16, 
1873., who .was a native of this township. 
From this union there are two children — 
George A., born Jan. 2, 1875 ; and Emma, 
born May 14. 1879. 

CHARLES HOLT, farmer and stock-dealer; 
P. O. Cardington. His father, Evan Holt, 
was a pioneer of Chester Tp., as noted else- 
where, and came to Westfield Tp. about 
1827, where he married, and reared a fami- 
ly of eight children, of whom Mr. Holt, 
the youngest son, was born July 21, 1841. 
He lost two brothers — one was killed' by 
lightning, and the other by a saw-mill acci- 
dent. Charles was early obliged to relinquish 
his school privileges, but says he received the 
best part of his education in the army. He 
enlisted iVug. 18, 1862, in the 121st O. V. I., 
and served to the end of the war, with a rec- 
ord that he may justly be proud of; he took 
part in the battles of Perry ville, Chickamauga, 
Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Resaca, 
Rome, Buzzard's Roost, Kenesaw Mountain, 
and the battles in that vicinity, and about 
Atlanta, and the battle of Jonesboro'. After 
the last-named battle he was detailed for hos- 
pital service, and assigned to duty at Indian- 
apolis, in which capacity he visited all the 
leading cities of the Union. Mr. Holt relates 
an amusing incident in which he took part: 
A few days before the battle of Chickamauga, 
a detachment to which he belonged made a 
dash into the enemy's lines, capturing a lot 
of sweet potatoes, which the rebels were wash- 
ing for supper, and reached an eminence 
commanding the station where Longstrcet's 
corps was disembarking, into which they 
poured a lively fire, and then fell back to 
make their supper off their recent capture; 
but by the time they had their fires kindled, 
and were in high anticipation of a rich sup- 



^ pv 



L^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



641 



per, a few shells from the rebels warned them 
to extinguish their fires, and they were com- 
pelled to lay on their arms that night, and 
eat their sweet potatoes raw. At one of the 
skirmishes, at Kenesaw Mountain, while his 
company was charging the rebels through a 
thicket, they very unexpectedly came on 
the enemy intrenched behind railroad ties; a 
volley from their guns was received, and his 
companion, Chester Bartholomew, fell, mor- 
tally wounded, and died in his arms, his last 
words being: " Tell my wife I have been a 
good soldier. " On his return from the army 
he moved to the place where he now resides. 
On one of his furloughs home he married Miss 
Delight H. Mary, born in Westfield Tp., Aug. 
4, 1844, whose parents, Edwin and Electa 
(Aldrich) Mary, came here in an early day. 
From this marri.age there are seven children — 
four boys and three girls. On his return from 
the army, Mr. Holt had but 1200 to start with, 
purchasing a mill-seat and apiece of land; he 
has added to this until he has a farm of 63 
acres, 25 of which are rich bottom-land, situ- 
ated on both sides of the Whetstone river. 
He gives especial attention to the breeding 
of hogs, taking, in 1879, the first premium at 
the Morrow Co. Fair, as also, the first premi- 
um on draught horses. For the past six 
years, he has been engaged in buying hogs for 
the Eastern market, as a member of the firm 
of Holt & Payne; he has been Township As- 
sessor for three years. Mr. Holt has that en- 
ergy and decision of character which marks 
the thorough business man, and is destined to 
be one of the leading men of the county. 

J. G. KEHRWECKER, farmer and stock- 
raiser ; P. O., Cardington. John G. Kehr- 
vvecker was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, 
and came to America at the age of 22. He 
received a good German education, being 
required by law in that country to attend 
school from the age of 6 to 14. In 1830, he 
landed in New York, and went direct to Lan- 
caster, Pa., where he spent five years. In 
1835, he came to Delaware Co. and located in 
what is now Westfield Tp., Morrow Co., pur- 
chasing ninety acres, in the woods, and 
erecting a log cabin, began the work of 
making this township what it is to-day, in 
which none have taken a more prominent 
part than Mr. Kehrwecker. It was here that 
he made the acquaintance of, and subsequently 



married, Mary Hack, who also was a native of 
Wurtemberg and came to this country with 
her mother and located in this vicinity in 
1832 and became Mrs. Kehrwecker in 1837. 
Thirteen children in all to gladden their 
hearts, five of whom are dead. Of their 
children who now survive — Christina, the 
oldest, married George Renz and afterwards 
Harmon Ruhrmond; Mary married Clay Hard- 
sock; Caroline, the third daughter, married 
George Karns; Fredrica married William A. 
Payne; Geo. H., the only surviving son, lives 
in this vicinity. The three younger daughters 
are Sarah, Anna and Ella. When our 
country was in peril, Mr. and Mrs. Kehr- 
wecker surrendered two of their three boys a 
sacrifice to the cause of Freedom. They bade 
them farewell, never again to see them, and 
to-day they sleep beneath a Southern sky. 
Frederick joined the 31st O. V. I., for which 
a company was raised at Cardington; in 1861; 
he took part in the battles of Stone River and 
Shiloh and died at Nashville, Sept, 28, 1862. 
John enlisted in the 96th O. V. I. and part- 
icipating in the battles of Chickasaw Blufi"s, 
Arkansas Post and the siege of Vicksburg; 
he was taken sick immediately after the latter, 
and died at Vicksburg, July 17, 1864. By 
careful attention to business, prudent invest- 
ments and untiring industry, Mr. K. has in- 
creased his tract to over four times its original 
size, and his farm now embraces 380 acres of 
the finest land in the township, all well 
ditched and under-drained, everything about 
his premises denoting thrift and enterprise. 
He is a member of the Lutheran Church, and 
in politics a Republican. 

DR. EPHRAIM LUELLEN, physician; 
Westfield; was born in Meigs Co., Ohio, 
Feb. 21, 1824; his father, Philip Luellen, was 
born in Pennsylvania, his mother in New 
York State* When he was 3 years of age his 
parents moved with him to a place near Dela- 
ware, and two years later to Waldo Tp., then 
in Delaware Co. It was here the Doctor ex- 
perienced the vicissitudes of frontier life, his 
parents moving into the woods, with not a 
neighbor within a mile. Their home was of 
the most primitive style, built of round logs 
" chinked and daubed," with puncheon floor 
and ceiling, and in fact without any sawed 
lumber. Thus he began his youth, with few 
of the comforts of life, but amidst surroundings 



:Tx: 



)> 




whicn tended to develop those sterling quali- 
ties lor whieh our pioneers are noted. When 
he was 9 years of age liis lather died, and 
about a year after, he was enabled to attend 
the first school opened in that vicinity, a sub- 
scription school, even the school-house being 
])uilt by voluntary contributions of labor. 
From this time until his IGth year he attended 
school, occasionally having to go two miles 
through an unbroken wood. He went to learn 
the tanner's trade in Westfield, at which he 
continued to work for about five years. Owing 
to failing health he undertook the study of 
medicine with Dr. Granger, and subsequently 
attended the Eclectic Medical Institute at 
Cincinnati, and then began to practice with 
his preceptor. He married Miss Nancy Trindle, 
Dec. 14, 1853, whose family history appears 
under the sketch of J. B. Trindle. In 1873 he 
moved to Delaware, Ohio, to give their two 
children, Clara Estelle and James C, better 
advantages for an education. While there 
he opened a drug store, in which he did a 
thriving business, and although not designing 
to practice, he was forced by his old friends, 
and many new ones, to do so. Yielding to the 
urgent entreaties of the people of Westfield, 
among whom he had spent nearly forty years, 
he returned after an absence of four years. 
He has a fine residence and 128 acres of most 
excellent land, and a residence in the city of 
Delaware. He is a self-made man, and, 
although public-spirited, he has never aspired 
to public office. In the practice of medicine 
he has associated with him Dr. C. L. Morgan, 
of Alliance, Ohio. He is a Republican, and a 
prominent member of the M. E. Church. 

JOSEPHUS McCLEAD, farmer and stock- 
raiser: P. O. Westfield; was born in Wash- 
ington Co., Pa., Apr. 25, 1818; his father 
moved to Athens Co., Ohio, in 1830, where he 
remained about seven years, he then moving 
to Westfield Tp. Joscphus spent about eight 
years in the fanning-niill business, traveling 
and selling; during this time, besides spend- 
ing a good deal of time in Ohio, he covered 
much of Indiana, and spent four years in Mis- 
souri, and had an opportunity to observe the 
early settlements in those states. When the 
gold fever broke out, he led a company to 
California, and made his first stand at Hang- 
town, since called Placerville; after a varied 
experience of about four years, with good 



success, taking out in the meantime great 
quantities of gold, he returned to the more 
quiet scenes of his early home. He had in 
1837, purchased a farm in Westfield Tp., at 
about $3.00 per acre, unimproved, and this, 
on his return, he set about improving, which 
he was now able to do with earnings in the 
gold regions; after devoting a few years to 
this work, he decided further to increase his 
happiness by making Miss Mary Ann Wiley, 
a lady born and educated in Lincolnshire, 
England, the sharer of his fortune; they were 
married in 1856, and have since had six chil- 
dren, all of whom are now living. He is of a 
family of thirteen children, all of whom are 
now living, and scattered over four states, the 
youngest being about 43 years of age; he is 
of Scotch descent, his great grandfather emi- 
grating from Scotland, the characteristics of 
which are plainly marked in Mr. McCIead; 
he is strong in his convictions, fearless in the 
expression of them, and when he espouses a 
cause which he believes to be right, you will* 
find him staying by it. He is truly a self- 
made man, but unlike many such, he belongs 
to the advanced school, and favors education, 
culture and the improvement of society; he 
is now quietly enjoying the pleasures of home 
on his farm, one of the largest in the town- 
ship, and his elegant residence commands the 
finest view in that part of the county. He 
gives especial attention to stock-raising, par- 
ticularly cattle, of which he keeps a fine herd; 
in his religious belief he is Deistic. 

WILLIAM H. MILLER, farmer and stock 
raiser; P. O. Westfield; son of Philip and 
Hannah (Mattux) Miller, was born in Waldo 
Tp., Marion Co., Ohio, Aug. 17, 1838. He 
received a common school education, and 
attended Mount Hesper one term. He joined 
the 26th O. V. I., Company C, May 1, 1861, 
and was the second man in the township to 
enlist; he served three years, taking part in 
the battles of Cross Lanes, Cotton Mountain, 
Raleigh, Kanawha Falls, Scurry and Sewell 
Mountain, in Virginia. In Feb., 18G2, his 
regiment was transferred to the Army of the 
Ohio, and was in at the last of the battle of 
Pittsburg LandinT, taking part in the pursuit 
of Hood. At Kenesaw Mountain, of the 
ninety-four who had reported for duty in his 
company, the morning they went into battle, 
only eight answered to roll call after the two 



k: 



\hL 



»- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



643 



days' fight. While in the service he was 
detailed for several foraging expeditions; in 
one of these, while near Nashville he, with a 
detachment, went out on the Nolanville Pike 
to secure some corn, and while removing it, 
was surprised and captured by Morgan, of 
guerrilla fame, but one of their number 
escaping, carried the news to camp, and they 
were recaptured the same day by the 3d Ohio 
Cavalry and the 17th Indiana Mounted 
Infantry, Mr. Miller suffering only the loss of 
his boots, which a "reb"had appropriated; 
secured his watch and revolver, which he had 
taken the precaution to hide when he found 
himself surrounded; he had . five brothers in 
the army, of whom one died at Newbern, N. 
C. On his return from the army, he read law 
a short time, which he abandoned to resume 
farming, purchasing the 'Bijah Wilson farm of 
100 acres of good land, valued at about $6,000. 
In 1868 he married Ellen, daughter of Hartman 
and Mary (Stinger) Gickhout, born March 29, 
1846. Her father came to America from 
Hesse Cassel when a young man. They have 
two children — Ollie Varrence and Hartman 
Gickhout. Mr. Miller gives his attention in 
the way of stock to fine wool sheep; as a 
citizen he is generous hearted and public 
spirited, and has the confidence of those who 
know him. He is a Rejjublican, and a mem- 
ber of the Ashley Lodge No. 407, of Free 
Masons. 

JACOB MOYER, blacksmith; Westfield; 
was born in Bavaria, April 8, 1831; a son of 
Henry and Salomi Moyer. His father was born 
in 1800 and was brought up to the blacksmith's 
trade, which Jacob, having spent eight years 
in school, began to learn at 14 years of 
age, of his father. In 1847, his parents emi- 
grated to America, with their three boys and 
five girls; but as they were about to land, 
their vessel was wrecked on a sand-bar, on 
Long Island, and soon went to pieces, the 
passengers barely escaping with their lives, 
the first mate losing his in his efforts to save 
them. His family lost all their property, ex- 
cept such as they had on their persons. 
Coming to Marion Co., where his wife had a 
brother, Henry Schaaf, his father bought a 
small farm. Sometime after, Jacob came to 
Westfield, and worked at his trade about a 
year, and then went to Columbus, where he 
worked a year and again returned to West- 



field; where, after working six years, he pur- 
chased a farm on which he remained seven 
years. Selling out, he engaged in the provis- 
ion business, in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, in 
which he continued three years. He returned 
U) Westfield again in 1868, and erected his 
present shop, where he has since carried on 
the blacksmith trade successfully. He has an 
improved arrangement for setting tire, which 
obviates the dishing of the wheel, which has 
made for him a considerable reputation. In 
1853, he married Mary Detwiler, whose par- 
ents, Henry and Anna Detwiler, came from 
Switzerland, in 1847, to Marion Co. They 
have a family of six boys and two girls, named 
in the order of their birth, as follows: Henry, 
Charles, Jacob, Frederick, Dillie, Wesley 
Adam and Nettie. He has been a member of 
the I. O. O. F. since 1855, and is a member of 
the German Reformed Church. 

JONATHAN McQUlSTIAN, farmer ; 
P. O., Cardingon ; the son of Thomas and 
Jane McQuistian, who are natives of Penn- 
sylvania, and came to Ohio in 1812, and 
settled on Salt Creek, Wayne Co., where 
Jonathan was born, in 1816, amid the ex- 
citing times of pioneer life. His father 
built the first mill and still-house in Holmes 
County, which was largely patronized by the 
Indians. His early advantages were limited; 
the school-house in which he was a pupil 
was built of logs, with the ground for a floor 
and greased paper for windows. At the age 
of 16, he engaged in teaming from Millers- 
burg to Massilon and Cleveland. At the age 
of 22, hewent to work on Wahlhonding Canal, 
and a year later he marrried Miss Sarah 
Hardraan, and three years later moved to 
Iberia, this Co., and four years afterwards to 
his present farm, which at that time was in the 
woods but which he has since made one of the 
best improved farms in this section, with a 
good residence. He has been married three 
times ; by his second wife he had seven chil- 
dren — James, Thomas, Rebecca, Peter, 
Amanda, Jacob and Mary. He is particular- 
ly engaged in breeding fine horses, and is 
the owner of the horse Pride of Normandy, a 
a beautiful dapple-gray, 16 hands high, and 
weighing about 1600 pounds. In politics, 
he is a Democrat. 

WILLIAM T. PEAK, farmer and stock 
raiser; P. O. Westfield. William T. Peak, the 



K 



:l>_ 



G44 



WESTFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



only son of Zilui and Amanda Peak, was born 
June 3, 184:5. His lather was born in Windsor 
Co., Vermont, Sept. 13, 1802. His grandfa- 
ther, Daniel Peak, served in the war of 1812, 
with two of his sons — John andOnin; he took 
part in two battles, those of Bridge water and 
Stony Creek, and in the latter his son Orrin 
was killed. Daniel Peak emigrated to Ohio, 
with his familv of seven cliildren, in 1819. 
The education Ziba gained, was secured be- 
fore he left Vermont, the hard and incessant 
labor incident to the new country preventing 
the further prosecution of his studies. When 
he became of age, he engaged in business with 
his father, farming and running an ashery, the 
latter probably the first in the township. 
They found a market for their products in 
Zanesville, which were exchanged for dry 
goods, groceries, hardware, etc., which in turn 
were traded for ashes on their return. In 
1834, he married Miss Amanda Torry, a na- 
tive of Windsor Co., Vermont, Avho emigrat- 
ed to Ohio at an early day, and taught 
school for some time, on what is known as 
the "school lands," in a double log house, 
a part of which was used as a dwelling. 
In 1850, Mr. Ziba Peak joined the Delaware 
Company of gold-seekers, and went to Cali- 
fornia. Since then he has carried on farming 
with more than ordinary success, as his farm 
of 240 acres of excellent land attests. Mr. 
Peak has been a member of the Methodist 
Church for over fifty years, and was one of the 
first members in this township, while Mrs. 
Peak traces her family back in the same 
church for generations,^and her father's home 
in Vermont, as well as Ohio, was also the 
home of the itinerant preacher. Mr. and Mrs. 
Peak, although far advanced in the afternoon 
of life, are still hale and hearty, and are now 
quietly enjoying the fruits of their early labor, 
and awaiting the reward of the faithful. 
Their three daughters are — Eliza, Mary and 
Julia. William T, relieves his parents of the 
responsibility of managing the farm, and re- 
mains with them. He has also a farm of his 
own under a good state of cultivation. He 
was educated in the common schools and 
spent one term in the Ashley school and six 
months in Cleveland. 

W^ILLIAM ALBERT PAYNE, farmer 
and stock-raiser; P. O. Cardingtoii; was born 
in Lima, Ohio, June 11, 1840. His parents, 



Hiram and Adeline (Goodrich) Payne, were 
born in Delaware Co., and soon after the mar- 
riage moved to Westfield Tp. After living 
for diiferent periods at Lima, Worthington 
and Liberty Tp., Delaware Co., they again 
settled in Westfield Tp., on the farm now 
owned by William. He has one brother and 
five sisters. Mr. Payne received his educa- 
tion chiefly in common schools, and attended 
Cardington High School one term. He mar- 
ried Miss Fredrica Kehrwecker in lS73,whose 
family history forms an interesting part of 
this work. They have been blessed with five 
children — two bo^'S and three girls. His farm 
consists of 152 acres of land, all tillable, and 
well adapted to stock-raising, which he turns 
to good account in the rearing of good grades 
of sheep, of which he has a large flock. 
Although Mr. Payne is a Democrat 
in a Republican locality, he is, by all 
parties, spoken of as one of the foremost and 
most respected citizens of the township, and 
as liberal and public spirited in the highest 
degree. He is a member of No. 269, 1. O. O. 
F., of Westfield. 

RICHARD PEAK, farmer and stock-raiser; 
P. O., Westfield; was born in Windsor Co., 
Vt., Jan 19, 1813; his father, Daniel, served in 
the war of 1812. When he was 6 years of 
age his parents moved to Wayne Co., O., and 
the next year to this township. They were 
induced to take this step at the solicitation of 
their son, John, who, having settled in West- 
field Tp. after his return from the war,sent back 
glowing accounts of the productiveness of the 
country. Richard spent his boyhood in at- 
tending the backwoods schools occasionally, 
as opportunity alforded, and assisting in clear- 
ing ofl" the place until his IGthyear, when his 
brother Ziba took charge of the farm; he then 
assisted in this, as well as the manufacture of 
pearlash, cheese, etc.; their nearest market 
then for the simplest kind of produce being 
Delaware. After arriving at maturity he 
worked for several years at farm labor, saving 
^350 with which to begin business. At the 
age of 28 he, with his younger brother, George, 
took charge of the home farm, and cared lor 
their parents during their declining years. 
In 1851 he married Miss Maggie Himlich, 
whose parents came from Alsace, Germany, 
about 1833, and located in Columbia Co., Pa., 
where Mrs. Peak was born April 4, 1834. 



\ 



:1^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



615 



From there they moved to Marion Co., O., 
where Mrs. P. received a common school edu- 
cation. Mr. and Mrs. Peak have twelve 
children, all of whom are now living, and the 
four oldest are married; they are as follows: 
George J., born Aug. 17, 1852; Mary, July 1, 
1854; Annie, March 30, 1856; Lorinda, Dec. 
31, 1858; Ellenore, Aug. 6, ]8G0; Luella, 
March 24, 18G2; James, March 18, 1864 
Flora, March 5, 1866, Ziba, March 26, 1868 
Hawley, April 8, 1870; Elmer, Aug. 17, 1872 
Otto, Oct. 1, 1874. Mr. Peak has a farm of 
about 130 acres of good land, with good stock 
water, and gives special attention to the rear- 
ing of cattle. The buildings on his farm are 
good, and his residence commands a fine view. 
Mr. Peak is a member of the Methodist 
Church, in which his parents lived and died 
consistent members. 

JOHN RUGGLES, farmer; P. O., West- 
field; was born in this township, Aug. 8, 1834; 
his father, Alfred Ruggles, was born in Penn- 
sylvania, and came here when there were very 
few settlers; his mother, Eliza Ruggles, is a 
daughter of Elisha Barry, who was a Captain 
in the war of 1812, and came with her parents 
to Ohio from Ann Arundel Co., Maryland, 
about 1830. Mr. Ruggles began his educa- 
tion in an old log school house, but being 
compelled to assist his father in clearing up 
the farm, his advantages were limited; he en- 
listed in the 121st O. V. I., in Co. D, under 
Captain Sharp, in Aug., 1862, and served 
twenty-eight months; he was in the battle of 
Perryville, and the skirmishes in and abont 
Triune, Tennessee; in the battle of Chicka- 
mauga, he received a Minie ball wound just 
below the shoulder, on account of which he 
was eventually discharged; his brother, Almon 
L., who enlisted in the same company, died 
in the hospital at Perryville, in Oct., 1862; 
on his return home he engaged in farming 
with his father, and in 1867, he married Mise 
Laura A. Hare, a native of Ohio; they have 
a family of three children. Mr. Ruggles is a 
generous, public-spirited citizen, highly re- 
spected by all who know him. He is a Re- 
publican, and a member of the Westfield 
Lodge I. O. O. F., No. 269. 

OLIVER E. RICHARDSON, merchant; 
Westfield; was born Aug. 10, 1828, at 
Caledonia, Marion Co. His parents. Manning 
and Lucina (Eno) Richardson, were natives 



of Connecticut, and moved to Ohio about 
1820. Mr. Richardson received a good com- 
mon school education, and attended the Ohio 
Wesleyan University one year, after which 
he taught school for four years. He engag- 
ed in business in Waldo, O., in 1853, as a 
member of the firm of French & Richardson. 
Having disposed of their business there, 
they opened a store in the Goodhue room in 
Westfield, in 1857; Mr. Richardson's father 
bought out Mr. French's interest in 1859, and 
the firm became O. E. Richardson & Co. In 
1862, Mr. Richardson, Sr., dying, the firm 
became O. E. Richardson, which was changed 
to Richardson Bro. in 1864, by the admission 
of J. B. Richardson. About this time the 
firm suffered a loss of $700 by robbery. In 
1872 he and L. W. Cook bought out the in- 
terest of his brother, and the firm continued 
to be Richardson and Cook for about two 
years, when he bought out Mr. Cook's inter- 
est, since which time the firm has been O. E. 
Richardson. In December, 1877, in connec- 
tion with Daniel Waddell, he opened a 
hardware and clothing store in Westfield, 
under the firm name of Daniel Waddell & 
Co. He also has a farm of fifty acres south 
of Westfield. Mr. Richardson gives his 
principal attention to his first named busi- 
ness, which consists chiefly of dry goods and 
groceries, which he has yearly increased, un- 
til there are few if any merchants in this line 
who do a business in excess of his. Hand* 
ling the large quantity of goods that he does, 
he is enabled to buy direct from manufac- 
turers and importers, at the very best rates, 
an advantage he has had the far-sightedness 
to give his customers, which is one of the 
secrets of his success. In connection with 
Charles Millikan, he is largely engaged in 
shipping butter and eggs, doing a business 
that yearly aggregates about 87000. He has 
been Postmaster over twenty years, and 
served the township as Treasurer for many 
years. He has at all times been foremost in 
every thing that pertains to the public inter- 
ests, and is willing at all times to lend a 
helping hand to any enterprise that tends to 
build up the business of the community, 
showing a remarkable degree of unselfishness 
in these matters. 

In 1853 Mr. Richardson married Miss 
Evaline Drake, a grand- daughter of Captain 






040 



WESTFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



Drake, of the war of 1812. Mrs. Richardson 
was born Aug. 9, 1834. They have eight 
children, one of whom, Clermont, resides in 
California. Mr. Richardson is a member of 
the Westfield Lodge 369, I. O. O. F. 

EZEKIEL B. SLACK, farmer; P. O. 
Westfield; Avas born Feb. 5, 1832. His 
father, William Slack, was born in Franklin 
Co., Ohio, in 1804, and at the age of 4 years, 
moved to Delaware Co., where his younger 
brother was born, the first male child born in 
Delaware Co. At the age of 24, he married 
llhoda Smith, a daughter of Simeon Smith, a 
HovolutioHary soldier, and a native of New 
York State. They moved to Oxford Tp., Del- 
aware Co., where were born five children. 
After receiving his education, Ezekiel mar- 
ried Miss Sarah J. Smith, Sept. 6, 1857, who 
was born June 5, 1838. He engaged in farm- 
ing until the breaking out of the war, when 
he joined the 121st O.' V. I. Co. D. His regi- 
ment within a few months went into the bat- 
tle of Perryville, and then Chickamauga, in 
the latter losing severely. He went with 
Sherman on his " march to the sea;" he 
was under fire almost every day. At the bat- 
tle of Bentonville, he received a severe gun- 
shot wound which passed through his face 
destroying the sight of his right eye and hear- 
ing of his right ear, notwithstanding which 
he remained with his regiment until the close 
of the war. His comrades speak of him as a 
brave soldier and a generous man, and he now 
enjoys the esteem of all who know him. He 
had a nice home, with delightful surroundings, 
and has had four children — Lois (deceased), 
Lester L., Minnie E. and Rhoda L. He is of 
very patriotic stock, his grandfather being a 
soldier of 1812, and his great grandfather of 
the Revolution. 

JESSE SHAW, farmer and stock-raiser; 
P. O. Cardington ; was born at Shaw Town, 
March 30, 1823; his father, Joseph Shaw, was 
one of the pioneers of this county, and was 
born in Berks Co., Penn., Aug. 18, 1792, and 
married Hannah De Witt, who was born in 
PcMinsylvania, in 1800; she came to Waldo, 
Ohio, with relatives, when a small girl. From 
this union there were eleven children. Joseph 
Shaw died (where he had settled sixty-eight 
years before). May 4, 1876. Jesse went to 
learn the cabinet-maker's trade when 20 
years of age, at which he worked for seventeen 



years. He married Miss Phoebe Pringle, April 
5, 1844, who died June 16, 1859; from this 
union there were three children — Francis C, 
born July 16, 1845, and now a practicing phy- 
sician of South Woodbury, Ohio; James L., 
born Jan. 17, 1847, who studied law, but is 
now engaged in teaching, and Simeon J., 
born June 19, 1850, now practicing medicine 
at Marengo, Ohio. Mr. Shaw married, Jan. 
26, 1860, Chloe Jane Pringle, born Aug. 27, 
1828, daughter of John and Pamelia (Messen- 
ger) Shaw, and widow of John Pringle, by 
whom she had but one son, John H. Pringle, 
now a resident of Cardington Tp. To them have 
been born — Emma Minerva, Jan. 10, 1861, 
now married to Martin Heil; Harrison Orlando, 
Aug. 27, 1862; Joel Grant, Aug. 19, 1868, de- 
ceased, and Rosa Belle, May 25, 1870. In 
1862, he enlisted in the service, and his com- 
pany, with others, was consolidated with the 
8Sth O. V. I., and employed in doing garrison 
duty; his time was chiefly taken up in guard- 
ing prisoners, at Camp Chase, and conveying 
them to Cincinnati, Chicago and other points. 
His eldest son, Francis C. enlisted in the 66th 
O. V. I., and took part in the battle of Port 
Republic, and other engagements; and al- 
though discharged, because of injuries of the 
severest kind, he enlisted three times after- 
wards and served in three different regiments, 
remaining until the close of the war. James 
L., the second son, enlisted in the 147th O. 
V. I., and was transferred to the 88th, and 
also remained until the close of the war. Mr. 
Shaw purchased the farm where he now re- 
sides, in 1871, where he gives especial atten- 
tion to stock-raising, particularly fine wool 
sheep; his farm consists of 158 acres of great 
fertility, with good buildings and good fruit. 
He has always taken an active interest in 
educational matters. His second and third 
sons have been students in the Otterbein Uni- 
versity. He has served as Justice of the 
Peace and Township Trustee, and is a Trustee 
. in the United Brethren Church, of which he 
has been a member for about thirty-six years. 
He is uniformly respected by all who know 
him. 

HENRY STUTZ, grocer; Westfield; 
among the German citizens of Westfield Tp., 
none are more highly esteemed than Henry 
Stutz; he was born in Bavaria, Aug. 27, 1838, 
and at the age of 16, emigrated to the United 



\ 



ik 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



647 



States; he had, previous to this, received a 
good German education, attending day school 
eight years, and Sunday school two years; his 
lather dying, left his mother with the care of 
four children — Emma, Adam, Henry and 
Frank. When Mr. Stutz landed at Castle 
Garden, he found himself the possessor of two 
French sous (about two cents), and after bor- 
rowing from a friend $1 .50, he went to Albany, 
N. Y., where he remained three years, in the 
meantime learning the turners' trade; at the 
end of this time he went to Upper Sandusky, 
Ohio, where, their being little demand for his 
trade, he learned the shoemakers' trade, at 
which he worked about twenty years; he 
married Mary Sieger, Jan. 26, 1863; of their 
nine children, only four are now living — 
George, born Nov. 14, 1865; Charles F., May 
9th, 1867; William, Aug. 30, 1870; Delia, 
Jan. 8, 1878, and Ida May, Jan. 2, 1880. After 
spending nine years at Upper Sandusk}^, four 
of which he was in business for himself, he 
then came to Westfield in the fall of 1866, 
and bought the property known as the West- 
field Hotel, which he carried on in connection 
with his shoe-shop for five years, after which 
he opened a grocery in the hotel; in the 
spring of 1880, he purchased his brother 
Frank's stock of goods, and moved into the 
building formerly occupied by him. By per- 
severing industry and good management, he 
has accumulated a good deal of property, and 
is one of th^ influential men in this commu- 
nity. 

, CHARLES HENRY SHAW, farmer and 
schoolteacher; P. O. Cardington; was born 
Sept. 29, 1854. His parents are Henry John 
and Caroline (Lewis) Shaw; he is descended 
from the very best stock, both the Shaws and 
Lewis families are prominently knowin His 
great grandfather, Lewis, was a Revolutionary 
soldier. His grandfather, John Shaw, was 
one of the first families who settled in West- 
field Tp., and his great grandfather the first 
proprietor of land in Morrow Co. His grand- 
father was for many years the leading man in 
this township, and his father is now a promi- 
nent citizen of Cardington Tp. Mr. Shaw's 
youth was spent in the locality of this, the 
first settlement in the county, and at the age 
of 17 he went to Cardington to school; he 
also spent one term at Mt. Gilead, under 
Phil. Roetinger, now a prominent lawyer of 



Cincinnati. Since this time he has been 
teaching during the winter and farming in 
the summer. In 1876 he married Miss Mary 
Brennan, born Oct. 5, 1854, in this county, 
whose parents were natives of Ireland, but 
emigrated to America in their youth. They 
have one child, Mervin B., born Oct. 23, 1877. 
Although a young man, Mr. Shaw has the 
elements which will make him respected in 
any community. He has sold his farm and 
contemplates removing to Iowa; wherever 
he goes he will make his mark. 

JONATHAN SHAW, farmer and stockrais- 
er; P. O. Cardington; was born Sept. 11, 1821, 
on his father's farm, the first one settled in this 
county, where his youth was spent until the age 
of 17, when he married Mary Ann Barry, born 
in Ann Arundel Co., Md., Sept. 7, 1822, whose 
family history is found in the sketch of Y. P. 
Barry. One week after this event they moved 
into the wo3ds, two miles north, on forty acres 
of land, given him by his father. His father, 
Jonathan Shaw, Sr., who is particularly men- 
tioned in the general history of this township, 
was born in Bucks Co., Pa., Jan. 24, 1787, 
and soon after moved, with his parents, to 
Chester Co., Pa., and in 1804 to a settle- 
ment in Liberty Tp., Delaware Co., where 
he married Miss Ruth Welch, who was born 
Aug. 12, 1786, and whose parents were 
among the earliest settlers of Liberty Tp. 
After the birth of their oldest child, Susan- 
nah, they moved to this township, and were 
the first white settlers in Morrow Co. To them 
were subsequently born John L., the first 
white child in the county, Elizabeth, Content, 
Aaron, Melissa, Jonathan, Jr., Luther and 
Sylvester. After his father's death, which 
occurred at the age of 65, Jonathan moved to 
the home farm, to care for his mother; who 
six weeks later followed the father. He had, 
however, after three years' residence in the 
first-named place, moved farther West, on six- 
ty acres, and from thence to his present resi- 
dence, occupying nearly the same spot where 
he was born, a few rods from where the first 
cabin in the county was built. Here he has 
raised a family of nine children — three sons 
and six daughters. The oldest son, Jonathan 
Waters Shaw, is engaged in the book and 
drug business, in Cardington, and is also a 
member of the firm of Lamprecht & Shaw, 
hardware dealers. The second son, James 



;f^ 



048 



WESTFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



S., is also engaged in the book and drug busi- 
ness. His youngest son, Lincoln, and young- 
est daugter, only remain with their parents. 
He has in all about 300 acres of choice land, 
](;5 of which is a part of the original tract 
belonging to his grandfather; this is well 
watered by numerous springs, and by Shaw 
Creek, which flows through it; it has good 
building, and most excellent fruit, and for ob- 
vious reasons is known by the name of " Old 
Homestead Farm;" in addition this he has a 
line residence, and five and one-half acres of 
land, and two business rooms in Cardington. 
Mr. Shaw has borne a conspicuous part 
in the township, serving it as Justice of the 
Peace for fifteen years, and holding other of- 
fices, among tliem Land Appraiser in 1880. He 
is a member of the Friends, and his wife of 
the United Brethren Church. In politics he 
is a Republican. Few men take as much in- 
terest as he does in pioneer history. And he 
has a very large collection of family portraits. 
JOHN SCHORR, farmer; P. O. Carding- 
ton; deserves especial recognition in our work 
as an example of what German industry and 
thrift has done in this township. Beginning 
without a dollar, he has, by his own labor and 
prudent management, worked his way to the 
foremost rank among the farmers in this lo- 
cality, and, in fact, his farm is excelled by 
none in point of fertility and improvement, 
brought out by the skillful hand of Mr. Schorr; 
he was born in Bavaria, Germany, May 14, 
1813, of Fredrich and Elizabeth Schorr, and 
was brought up at farming; he came to 
America in 1841, landing in Nev? York, from 
whence he went to Columbus, O., where he 
worked as a laborer for twelve years; in 1843 
he married Anna Mary Schertzer, also a native 
of Bavaria, who came here with her parents 
in 1838. In 1853 he moved to this county, 
buying fifty-five acres of land at Shaw Town, 
which he subsequently traded for a farm of 
the same amount, embracing a part of the 
tract he now owns, and to which he has since 
added, at one time, forty-five acres, and 
another sixty acres; in addition to this he 
owns a house and lot in Cardington; his farm 
is well ditched, and has superior buildings, 
and he is engaged in general stock raising. 
He has a family of five chiWren — John, Eliz- 
abeth, married to Fred Heimlich, and Mary 
Ann, married to Daniel Beckel, are settled in 



Richland Tp., Marion Co., on good farms. His 
oldest daughter, Barbara, is married to Jacob 
Young, one of the business men of Delaware, 
O. His youngest son, Lewis Fredrick, is 
engaged in farming with his father. Mr. 
Schorr is a member of the Lutheran Church, 
and in politics a Democrat. 

L. D. SMITH, farmer and stock-raiser; 
P. O., Cardington; was born in Westficld 
Tp., Nov. 22, 1851. His parents, Selah 
Smith and Esther Smith, were also natives 
of this township. His father, owing 
to the condition of the country, received 
only a meager education in the schools, 
yet in after life picked up a great deal good 
practical knowledge. The mother was Esther, 
daughter of Abram Foust, who figured 
prominently among the first settlers, and 
served in the war of 1812, as mentioned else- 
where. These parents both passed through 
the experience of frontier life; they ground 
their meal with hand-mills, and when all 
kinds of game, such as wild turkey, deer, bear 
and hare were abundant, Mr. Smith's youth 
was spent here, attending school and assisting 
his father until 1875, when he took charge of 
the farm. Two years later he married Miss 
Lydia McConaughy, whose parents were from 
the West. They have one child. Mr. Smith 
possesses a farm of 200 acres of most excellent 
land and about the best buildings in the town- 
ship. His house, a two story building, con- 
sisting of ten rooms, was built in 1876, and his 
barn a year later. In the rear of his Jiouse is 
a large brick structure, the lower part of 
which is used as a cellar, the upper as a 
granary. He has a good orchard of grafted 
fruit. Mr. Smith confines his attention in 
stock, entirely to raising sheep, having in his 
flock 200 fine ewes, shearing from six to eight 
pounds of wool each. His farm is known as 
the "Oak Grove Farm," deriving its name 
from the fact, that there is located on it a 40 
acre lot of the best oak timber in the town- 
ship. He is a member of the Ashley Lodge 
of Free Masons. 

JAMES B. TRINDLE, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O. Westfield; was born Nov. 29, 
1831, on the farm where he now resides. His 
father, James Trindle, of whom mention is 
particularly made in the township history, was 
a native of Pennsylvania, and settled first 
near Norton, Delaware Co., Ohio, about 1806. 






-^ l> 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



649 



He was a soldier of the war of 1812, and served 
in the Light Horse, under Gen. McArthur, 
and besides this, served in some volunteer 
campaigns against the Indians, who, as allies 
of the British, engaged in frequent maraud- 
ing expeditions against the whites. His 
mother, Annie (Brundage), was a native of 
New York State, but emigrated first to Virginia 
with her parents, and subsequently to Ohio, in 
1806, and settled near Norton also. His 
father settled in Oxford Tp., Delaware Co., 
in the part that is now Westfield Tp., Morrow 
Co., about 1817, where he was prominently 
identified with its history, and where he died 
in 1837, leaving eleven children, of whom 
James was the eighth, then six years old. 
His father, although in possession of quite a 
large tract of land at the time of his death, 
his estate was found to be considerably in- 
volved, and as the family consisted chiefly of 
girls, the care of it and the management of 
the farm devolved on his older brother, who 
survived his father but a few years, when this 
lot fell to Mr. Trindle, consequently his ad- 
vantages for school, meager at the best in 
those days, were circumscribed. With a 
stout heart, he set about the work of paying 
off the unexpected indebtedness of the estate, 
and with the aid of the younger members of 
the family of carrying on and improving the 
farm, in doing which he laid the foundation 
of a successful business career. Jan. 19, 1860, 
he married Miss Hannah Goodhue, who also 
was born Oct. 8, 1835, in this township, the his- 
tory of whose family appears under the name of 
Albert Goodhue. From this union nine chil- 
dren were born, of whom six — three boys 
and three girls — are now living. Mr. 
T. has in the tract where he now 
lives 290 acres, a farm of 80 acres in 
Kansas, and city property in Atchison of 
that State. He occasionally buys and ships 
wool, and gives particular attention to the 
breeding of fine wool sheep, thoroughbred 
cattle and French horses. He is a member 
af the Masonic Lodge, No\ 384, of Carding- 
ton, Ohio. In politics he is a Republican, and 
one of the recognized leaders of that party in 
this township, but commands the respect and 
good will of all parties. 

DANIEL WADDELL, merchant; West- 
field; was born in Marion Co., Feb. 6, 1823; 
his father, John Waddell, was born in Wheel- 



ing, in 1797, and the day he was of age, he 
married Margaret Giffin, born there also, in 
1799. His father was well educated, and 
taught school several years. After the birth 
^of their two older children, Nancy and Wil- 
liam, in 1821, they moved to Marion Co., Ohio, 
into an unbroken wilderness, having to cut 
their way through to their cabin. Here they 
resided during their lives, and raised a family 
often children, of whom Daniel is the third; 
he gained his education chiefly under the in- 
structidn of his father, who, dying when he 
was eighteen, left the care of the farm, which 
was only partly cleared, and the care of the 
family, to Daniel and his older brother, a by 
no means light burden. Having remained 
with the family until the members could care 
for themselves, he married Miss Celia Rich- 
ardson, Aug. 19, 1847; from this union there 
were Lucina, born April 1, 1849; and Mary 
E., April 13, 1857, now married to Scott Clark, 
of Caledonia, Ohio. He lived three years in 
Delaware Co., and then moved to Westfield 
Tp., where his wife died June 2, 1874. Mr. 
Waddell soon after took an extended trip 
through the West, and while at Olathe, Kan., 
met Mrs. Elizabeth Kirkpatrick, whom he mar- 
ried Sept. 1, 1875. Mrs. Waddell is a cultured 
lady, and a fine artist, and has a choice collec- 
tion of paintings of her own work. She excels 
especially on portraits. Mr. Waddell, with O. 
E. Richardson, founded the hardware and 
clothing store of Daniel Waddell & Co., of 
Westfield, in 1878. He has a beautiful home 
to which is attached ten acres of land lying 
just outside of the village. Mr. and Mre. 
Waddell are strong supporters of the temper- 
ance cause, and are members of the M. E. 
Church, in which Mr. Waddell has been a 
class-leader for twenty-eight years. 

JAMES R. WEST, farmer and wool 
grower; P. O., Westfield; was born in Carlisle, 
Cumberland Co., England, Oct. 9, 1809. His 
father, William West, was a silk manufac- 
turer, and his mother, whose maiden name 
was Dorothea Rennison, was a milliner. They 
emigrated to America when James was 9 
years of age, settling first in Hartford Co., 
and subsequently in Baltimore Co., Md. 
Young West had attended school in England, 
which, with the exception of one quarter and 
an occasional night-school, provided for the 
operatives in the factories where he worked 






lla^ 



G50 



WESTFIP]LD TOWNSHIP. 



wns all the education he ever received; he 
l(!ariiod woavinfi:, working first in the Union 
Mills, in which his father was manager of the 
weaving department, and subsequently in the 
Franklin, in which his father was entire man- 
ager. In 1830 his father, wishing to improve 
tlie condition of his family, thinking it could 
best be done by going w^est, emigrated to 
Ohio, and settled in Muskingum Co., where 
.James remained with him five years, when, on 
.June 4, 1835, he was married to Miss Rebecca 
Hedges. Mrs. West was born in \*irginia 
Feb. 4, 1816, and came to Ohio with her 
parents when a small child. After two years 
Mr. West moved to West Rushville, Fairfield 
Co., where he can-ied on coverlet- weaving till 
1847, when he purchased and moved on the 
farm where he now resides, and soon after 
discontinued his trade. His farm consists of 
135 acres, under a good state of cultivation, 
and well adapted to grazing, which Mr. West 
turns to good account in raising sheep, in 
which he is largely interested. He has raised 
a family of six children — Dorothy Jane, born 
March 28, 1838, died May 1 1876; Nancy 
Ellen, Dec. 3, 1839; William E., Dec. 3, 1841, 
died Oct. 6, 1862; Elizabeth Ann, Oct. 9, 
1843, died Dec. 20, 1877; James Taylor, Aug. 
8, 1848; Maria Emily, July 23, 1853, died July 
11, 1877. Few men have made greater sacrifi- 
ces to their country than has Mr. West; his son, 
William, the first man to enlist in the town- 
ship, joining the 26th O. V. I., was permitted 
to serve his country but about eighteen 
months, when, «n a severe march he con- 
tracted an incurable disease. When Mr. and 
Mrs. West learned that their son must die, 
with parental affection they desired that he 
miglit close his eyes in his dear old home 
which he loved so well, and for which he of- 
fered his life. Mr. West went to the front 
and succeeded in getting him on the last train 
for the north — an hour's delay would have 
been too late. There, among loving friends, 
after six weeks of suffering, he went to join 
the great army above. The spirit of patriot- 
ism stirred the soul of the youngest son, 
James, and accordingly, at the age of 16, he 
ran away and joined the 187th O. V. I., re- 
maining until the close of the war; he mar- 



ried Miss Jenny McDonald, a native of Penn- 
sylvania, May 8, 1870, and is now engaged in 
farming with his father. Mr. West has taken 
an active interest in all things that pertain to 
the welfare of Westfield Tp., and the people 
have shown their appreciation of liis worth by 
electing him to various offices, among which 
is that of Justice of Peace, which he held for 
many years. He was one of the charter mem- 
bers of Westfield Lodge No. 269, 1. O. O. F., 
and was one of the charter members of the 
first Lod(>e in Morrow Co. 

JOSEPH WISEMAN, miller, Westfield; 
was born in Pennsylvania, May 2, 1821; his 
father was a shoemaker, which calling he fol- 
fowed as well as farming, in Pennsylvania 
and Ohio; his parents originaUy settled in eas- 
tern Ohio, and after several removals, they 
came from Crawford Co. to Lincoln Tp., Mor- 
row Co., where his father died in 1859. His 
time was spent in Ohio in attending school 
and in assisting his father on the farm; at the 
age of 23 he married Miss Christianna Aurand, 
from which marriage there were five children, 
three of whom are now living; two are mar- 
ried and one yet at home. Mr. Wiseman 
came to Westfield in 1849, and bought the 
mill which he now owns, and in which he be- 
gan business, learning it as he went along; by 
an unfortunate partnership, he found at the 
end of two years the 1500 he had invested 
was entirely gone, and hence he had to begin 
anew; since that time he has been successful, 
and has accumulated property; besides own- 
ing one of the best mills in the country, he 
has sixty-seven acres of land in the vicinity. 
The present structure of his mill property was 
built in 1856; it has two run of buhrs, and 
does the very best of work, having a large 
custom trade; Mr. Wiseman has in connec- 
tion with his flouring mill, also run by water, 
a saw mill, running an old-fashioned sash-saw 
which does a superior class of work to the 
modern and more rapid kinds. Mr. Wiseman 
has held various positions of trust in the. town- 
ship, and was for fifteen years Justice of the 
Peace, which attests his popularity among the 
people of Westfield Tp. Politically, he mus- 
ters with the Republican party. He is a mem- 
ber of the Masonic Lodge No. 407, at Ashley. 



;#* 



lyL 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, 



651 



PERU TOWNSHIP. 



AARON BENEDICT, farmer; P. O. Ben- 
nington, is the second son of William Benedict, 
who came from Peru Tp., Essex Co., New York, 
and settled in Peru Tp., (then Delaware Co.) 
in 1813. Aaron was born in the year 1817, 
and was one of the first persons born in Peru 
Tp. He has twice been married, his first wife 
being Caroline Dague, his second, Louisa M. 
Meeker. The children by the first marriage, 
are as folio wsj Adessa, Linton, Margaret 
Jane, (Wyman deceased), Direxa, Lester P., 
William, Frederick, and Addison, deceased. 
By the last marriage there is but one child 
— Preston Benedict. By occupation Mr. Ben- 
edict is a farmer, wniting many and varied 
characteristics. For fifteen years he has ap- 
plied himself assiduously to the propagation 
of bees, especially the Italian bee, queens of 
which variety he has sent to all parts of the 
Union, and was the first party who was able 
to send ^an Italian queen to the Sandwich 
Islands alive and in good condition. He has a 
particular penchant for the breeding and rear- 
ing of wild animals and fowls, especially the 
American wild turkey, and at the date of this 
writing, there is in his hands an order from 
California for a pair of these fowls, to be 
shipped thence. As a woodsman, Aaron has 
always been considered in the foremost rank, 
and recognized by his associates as the most 
expert of hunters, possessing in an eminent 
degree, even from boyhood, a knowledge of 
the habits of the game which he sought to 
capture. He is a member of the Society of 
Friends, the oldest church organization in the 
township. 

THEODORE K. BENEDICT, farmer; P. 
O. Bennington. Theodore, as were his an- 
cestors, is a member of the Society of Friends; 
a man of modern ideas and notions of re- 
form; a farmer by preference, and strongly 
attached to his business; he is sparing neither 
pains nor expense in rendering his home 
pleasant and attractive; he is a cattle dealer 
and breeder, and enjoys the business more 
than any other branch of stock raising; he 



cultivates music in his household, discourses 
on the questions of pul)lic policy, and allows 
himself a wider range for reflection than has 
hitherto usually been accorded to, or by, the 
society of which he is a member. He is a 
good, reliable, intelligent, and hospitable citi- 
zen — a business man and useful citizen who 
lives in the enjoyment of his family. His 
parents were Ezra Benedict, born in the State 
of New York, June 31, 1803, and Miss Ruth 
Gridley, born in Saratoga, Saratoga Co., New 
York, July 3, 1807, and were married Oct. 4, 
1837, in Peru Tp, Theodore was born June 
6, 1835, in Lincoln Tp., Morrow Co. His 
wife, Susan H. King, was born in Franklin 
Co., Ohio, June 37, 1837, and on the 18th day 
of November, 1856, they became man and 
wife. Mrs, Benedict's parents were the Rev. 
Wm. King, and Mary Ann Eastwood, of Co- 
lumbus, Mr. King being a resident of Frank- 
linton. Theodore's family is as follows: Ruth 
Millicent, born Auof, 35, 1858; George Dylwin, 
Aug, 1, 1860, and died Aug. 30, 1865; Will- 
iam H,, born March 38, 1863; Mary Lillian, 
Nov. 3, 1866; Reuben G., Sept, 39, 1870. 

W. W. COOMER, farmer; P. O. Ashley. 
In the State of Rhode Island, Benjamin Coo- 
mer took his first peep at the light of day, in 
the year 1747; passed through the revolution- 
ary war, and having attained his three score 
and ten, died Oct. 36, 1817, in Niagara Co., 
N. Y. Benjamin Coomer, Jr., was born 
in the State of Mass, on the 33d day 
of March, 1783. His wife was Annie 
Wood, born in Bennington Co., Vt., May 11, 
1789. They were joined in wedlock, Jan. 13, 
1805, and for two-thirds of a century they met 
and battled with the cares and woes incident 
to life. Their family, like many of the pioneer 
families, was large, as will be seen b}' the 
following record : Ira W., born Nov. 3, 1805, 
died March 1, 1865; J. G., born May 8. 1808; 
Anson H., born June 36, 1810, died Sept. 18, 
1819; Seymour C, born July 4, 1813; M. M., 
Jan. 13, 1814; Julia, April 34, 1817; Rachel, 
Dec. 14, 1830; Cynthia, born Nov. 18, 1833, 



:^ 



u- 



r,o2 



PERU TOWNSHIP. 



died Nov. -^8, 18:24; Charles B., born xAipril, 29, 
1825; Wilson W., June 25, 1827; Stephen L., 
Jan. 29, 1831, died Dec. G, 1834; the sub- 
ject of this biography, who is Wilson W. 
(Joomer, the proprietor of Hickory Grove Farm, 
born in Niagara Co., N. Y., June 25, 1827, 
was one year old when his parents came to 
Ohio in 1828. His wife, Lucinda McClish, 
was born in Carroll Co., Ohio, on the 24th 
day of December, 1829, and their marriage 
occurred March 13, 1850. Their first-born, 
Benjamin Third, dates April 4, 1853, died 
Feb. 2, 1875; Amy, born Oct. 18, 1856; Alex- 
ander, July 5, 1858; George S., March 31, 
18G3. Although, by occupation, Mr. Coomer 
is a farmer, yet he is a man possessed of rare 
mechanical genius, and might have played the 
role of master mechanic. He enters upon this 
part of farm economy with zeal and a constant 
hope of reward, and has devoted some atten- 
tion to the mysteries of Spiritualism. He has 
paid much attention to relics of the past ages, 
and his cabinet now contains a stone hammer, 
a hatchet, a stone pestle; shuttles, one of 
which bears the appearance of petrified wood, 
the grains of wood being distinctly visible; 
darts and such like of more than ordinary in- 
terest. 

WILLIAM COOMER, farmer and car- 
penter ; P.O. Ashley. Benjamin Coomer was 
born in the State of New York and came to 
Ohio in 1820. His son Ira was born in the 
year 1806, in Onondaga Co., N. Y. In the 
year 1829, he led to the altar Mary Ann 
Houston, daughter of one Thomas Houston, 
a pioneer emigrant from the State of Dela- 
ware, and who settled near the present site of 
the village of Ashley. The subject of this 
sketch, Mr. William Coomer, son of Ira 
and Mary Ann Coomer, was born Sept. 13, 
1830 ; his wife, Barbara Place, was born 
Jan. 15, 1838. They were married the 21st 
day of May, 1853, the Rev. Mr. Nickey offic- 
iating. Sept. 28, 1855, Elmore, their first 
son, was born ; Ira, their second son, was 
born April 19, 1858 ; Lenora, born Feb. 21, 
1860 ; Irena, born May 16, 1862 ; Emma J., 
born April 5, 1865 ; Frederick, May 5, 1867, 
and Wellington, April 10, 1874. Mr. Willi- 
am Coomer is a carpenter and joiner, practical 
and competent. At present, however, he has 
turned his attention to farming, and is rapid- 
ly developing the productive qualities of the 



rich, alluvial deposit, of which his farm is 
composed. Like most intelligent farmers, he 
has learned that the raising of stock is most 
compensating to the husbandman. 

DAILEY BROTHERS, carpenters; P. O., 
Ashley. The father of Eel ward PVancis and 
.John Dailey his brother, was born in County 
Tyrone, Ireland, in 1824, and came to 
America in 1842; in 1852, he married Susan 
Rountry, of the city of Taunton, Mass.; she 
was born in 1832. Edward Francis Dailey 
was born Sept. 6, 1854; his brother, John 
Dailey, Dec. 11, 1855. 

The history of the Dailey brothers is nearly 
identical. By handicraft they are mechanics 
of a high order, and this seems almost wholly 
the sport of nature, as neither ever learned 
a trade or served an apprenticeship, but were 
naturally possessed of that genius that en- 
abled them to calculate correctly, and handle 
tools with precision and certainty. 

REUBEN B. GARDNER, farmer; P. 
O. Bennington; grand-son of John Gard- 
ner, who was born Aug. 5, 1759, in Scotland, 
was a soldier under Lord Cornwallis, and sur- 
rendered by him Oct. 19, 1781. Settled in 
the District of Columbia; in 1800 came to 
Zanesville, Ohio, thence to Delaware in 1812, 
or what is now Morrow Co., Ohio, purchasing 
the lands of one Munson, one of the very 
earliest settlers in Peru. His son, Robert 
Gardner, who was born Nov. 20, 1792, in the 
city of Washington, D. C, emigrated with 
his father to the Buckeye State, and in 1816, 
July 1st, married Polly Benedict, who was 
born in the State of New York, June 11, 798. 
They had the following children: Nelson, 
born Aug. 9th, 1817; Sarah, Feb. 23, 1819; 
Reuben, June 18, 1820; Anna, March 23, 
1822; Rebecca, Sept. 4, 1823; Phebe J., 
March 22, 1825; James, born Nov. 23, 1826, 
and died same year. Hannah C, born Nov. 
15, 1833. December 8th, 1853, the nuptials of 
Reuben Gardner and Hannah O. Wilson were 
celebrated by the Rev. Wm. King. Hannah's 
birthday occurred Sept. 3, 1831; she was 
therefore over 10 years his junior. Their 
family names are — Alice Eugenia, born Aug. 
3, 1854, and died Oct. 24, 1878; Albert Nel- 
son, born Feb. 4, 1859; Eva Bell, May 10, 
1863; Nevada Alaska, Oct. 4, 1870. Cora 
Alaska, his grand-child, and whose home is 
with her grand-father Reuben, was born 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



G53 



May 8, 1875. On the 18th day of Fel)., 1800, 
Eva Bell died, making two deaths, that have 
occurred in Reuben's family. By occupation 
Reuben Gardner is a farmer, but largely en- 
gaged in stock-raising, the buying and selling 
of stock, etc. He has held the office 
of Township Trustee for 12 years. Trustee 
of Church and Parsonage, School Director 
for 20 years, Treasurer of the Odd Fel- 
lows Society for 3 years, with numerous 
other trusts. In religious opinions he is of 
the Methodist Episcopal caste. A member 
of that church. In his agricultural purposes, 
sheep husbandry forms his strongest bias, and 
that of cattle his next, and one thing must 
always be observable with regard to him, and 
that is his remarkable power to remember 
names and dates. 

SAMUEL HEVERLO, farmer; P. O. 
Ashley; was a Marylander, born April 8, 
1785; came to Pickaway Co. in 1799, and to 
Delaware Co. in 1805, where he married Mar^^ 
Smith in 1817. He was a soldier in the war 
of 1812, and located land by the warrant 
which he obtained from the government. His 
death occurred Nov. 30, 1836. Samuel, his 
first child, was born Sept. 25, 1818; Ann was 
born Dec. 6, 1820; Almira, July 8, 1824; Har- 
riet, June 22, 1829; Smith, June 20, 1832; 
William, July 1, 1834. When Samuel Hev- 
erlo was born in Berlin Tp., Delaware Co., 
Sept. 25, 1818, it was the blockhouse era, 
and when the Byxbes, of Berkshire, and the 
Cellars, of Liberty, were the nearest neigh- 
bors, the red man excepted. W^hen six years 
old his parents settled in Peru Tp., whore now 
is the village of West Liberty. Aug. 29, 1848, 
he married Roxanna R. Grant, who was born 
June 22, 1831; commencing operations as a 
farm laborer, he applied his earnings to the 
purchase of land, and after some changes of 
real estate, settled down on what is now 
Longview Farm, selected for the many facili- 
ties which it afforded for the management of 
cattle and sheep. The principles of finance 
have been correctly shown in transforming the 
forest to a field, and pasture to gold. He has 
patiently and unremittingly labored, and sold 
stock and laid by for the evil day, should it 
ever come. In sheep raising he has overtaken 
and passed many who had considered them- 
selves established in the business; in conjunc- 
tion with his own efforts, he is nobly seconded 



by his son Clarance Heverlo and Isaac Hein- 
len, who have brought sheep raising to a high 
standard, both in size and quality, and made 
Longview Farm one of Peru's business cen- 
ters. He has but two children, Clarance F., 
born Feb. 28, 1852, and Cora G., Oct. 28, 
1861. 

GEORGE S. HARRISON, farmer; P. O. 
Pagetown; born Oct. 2, 1825, in the State of 
New Jersey, and is the son of Aaron R. and 
Mary (Condit) Harrison. George's wife was 
Eiza Ann Hunt, born June 26, 1826, in Oliio; 
she was the daughter of a Presbyterian cler- 
gyman, who received his education at the old- 
est college in the State, and after graduating, 
became a Professor in the same college. 
George's family consists of five children, as 
follows: Mary Sophia, Emma Dell, George 
Elwood, Zenas Albert, deceased, and Luella. 
His two oldest daughters both married the 
same day, one marrying Dr. Ballard, the other 
Mr. I. N. Cox, a merchant. The children 
were born as follows: Mary Sophia, born 
Sept. 25, 1849; Emma Dell, Oct. 25, 1851; 
George Elwood, Oct. 18, 1857; Zenas Albert, 
May 23, 1860, and died Sept. 3, 1801; Luella, 
born Oct. 24, 1862. Long prior to the for- 
mation of Morrow Co., the Harrison family 
were settled where the sons now reside, own- 
ing nearly eleven hundred acres of land. The 
family history on Mr.Harrison's side is connect- 
ed with the early settlement of the State, near 
Athens, Ohio, whilst Mrs. Harrison traces down 
through the lapse of time, connecting with 
Miles Standish and the Mayflower. In edu- 
cation George has patronized the Lebanon 
school, and has at this time a son in attendance 
there. The family library and cabinet are of 
an order seldom met with among farmers; in 
the cabinet are specimens of the stone age 
and aboriginal ingenuity rarely met with in 
more pretentious collections; specimens evinc- 
ing a much higher attainment in the use of 
tools than is usually accorded to the age in 
which they are supposed to have b(?en made; 
rare stones from different states and countries, 
mosses, lichens, petrified specimens, and 
among the many things, a cross made of 
olive-wood taken from a tree which grew on 
Mt. Olivet, near Jerusalem, the name of the 
historic city being on it; also a rare specimen 
from Lookout Mountain. In George's family 
resides the relict of the Rev. Mr. Hunt, de- 



\ 



ik 



654 



PERU TOWNSHIP. 



coased, her mother beiiii^ a sister of Presiileiit 
Whelock. 13y occupation George S. Harrison 
is a farmer, but associates many of the com- 
forts of city life with this mode of living. The 
family are members of the Wesleyan Metho- 
dist Church, and live up to the privileges and 
Christian duties which that respectable de- 
nomination permits and enjoins. As a farmer, 
Mr. Harrison directs his energies and efforts 
more especially to sheep-husbandry, although, 
like the practical farmer, he includes all de- 
partments of stock usually embraced within 
the range of farming. Since his marriage, 
which occurred Oct. ;^5, 1848, Mr. Harrison 
has resided in Morrow Co. 

JESSE S. HARKNESS, teacher, Benning- 
ton was born in Cheshire Co., N. H., July 27, 
1813, and Sept. 21, 1841, married Cynthia H. 
Tabor, of Bedford, Canada East, who on the 
14th day of Jan., 1818, was born in Addison Co., 
Vermont. In the fall of 1842 they arrived in 
that part of Marion Co., now included in Mor- 
row, and for six ensuing months taught school 
together in the house of Samuel Peasley. In 
the spring of 1842 moved to Aden Benedict's 
house, teaching meanwhile iu the old brick 
church belonging to the Society of Friends, 
which stood near by. In 1844 they began 
the erection of the present college building, 
which was not completed and occupied until 
in 1845, when it was dedicated under the 
name of Hespermount Seminary. The school 
hrst opened in connection with the district 
school, and under the most favorable auspices, 
the scholars from the district attend- 
ing, and the funds from the state beitig ap- 
plied therefor, and one week was the longest 
vacation which occurred for twenty years, 
making an average of four terms per annum. 
In consequence of ill health, Mr. Harkness 
was forced to discontinue the school for five 
years, since which but three terms per annum 
have been held. For many years the average 
attendance was from 40 to 75 scholars, and 
the real maximum was an attendance of 109 
scholars. It has been of inestimable value to 
the citizens in the immediate vicinity and 
surrounding country. The school will be 
treated in its appropriate place in the history 
of the township. It has been a source of profit 
to the originators. Being from New Hamp- 
shire, Mr. Harkness of course would have his 
marked New England proclivities, and very 



naturally turned his attention to the importa- 
tion of the so-called Vermont fine sheep, and 
their introduction into Morrow Co., and to 
him is mainly due much of the improvement 
seen in the country in sheep husbandry. He 
was the first to introduce steam as a motor in- 
to Peru Tp., and which he for three years em- 
ployed in the manufacture of spokes and 
hubs, for wagons and carriages. He also 
completed wagons and carriages for sale. 
Jesse S. Harkness has never had any chil- 
dren of his own, yet with true magnanimity, 
he has reared and educated many poor and 
indigent children, and in many cases has ad- 
mitted such to the privileges of the seminary, 
free. The children thus cared for embrace all 
ages, from twenty months to thirteen years of 
age. And thus the advantages of home, par- 
ents. Christian training and education, have 
inured to these unfortunates through this in- 
dividual instrumentality. He is a member of 
the Quaker Society, and a man of advanced 
ideas, but in educational matters, or matters 
of finance and sound political economy, he is 
somewhat radical. Hespermount Seminary 
lies about one mile south of the village of 
South Woodburg, and the Ashley and Maren- 
go Road. 

JONATHAN JENKENS, farmer and stock- 
dealer, P. O., Ashley. Jonathan's father was 
Martin Jenkens, born in CulpeperCo., Va., in 
1796." His wife, Mary M. Brown, was a na- 
tive of the same countv, and born March 4, 
1800. They were married in 1835. Their 
son Jonathan was born Oct. 19, 1842, in Del- 
aware Co., Ohio. His wife, Josephine Salome 
G-rant, was born Feb. 13, 1852, in Delaware 
Co., Ohio. They have but one child — Horace 
Montfort Jenkens, born Sept. 8, 1874. By 
occupation Jonathan Jenkens is a farmer, 
stockdealer and shipper of the different stocks 
in the market — the oidy recognized dealer in 
the township who ships stock, and by his in- 
defatigable energ}'-, and constant application to 
this business, he is known to all as an unselfish 
and accommodating business man. Mrs. Jen- 
kens' parents were Horace Grant, Iiorn Aug. 
25, 1820, and his wife, Delilah Dunham, a 
few years his junior. 

SAMUEL LEVERING, farmer; P. O. 
Ashley; the grandfather of Samuel Levering 
was Griffith Levering, a ship carpenter in 
Philadelphia; his grandmother was Hannah 



w 



>> 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



655 



Griscom. His son, Thomas Levering, was 
born in Philadrlphia in 1781, and Thomas' 
wife, Rachel Ann iSchofield, was born in North 
Corolina, in 1798; their marriage occurred 
in December, 1814, after which they resided 
in Wasliington City, D. C, engaged in the 
grocery business. In 1833 Thomas came to 
Ohio, and located on lands purchased from 
Jacob Van Deventer (a still earlier pioneer), 
near the site of West Liberty. The same 
year Thomas purchased five quarter sections, 
whose titles bore the signature of General 
Andrew Jackson. In 1839 he again went 
east, locating in Cecil Co., Md., until 1847, 
when 1 e again came to Ohio. Thomas Lev- 
ering had two sons, Griffith and Samuel. 
Griffith born Aug. 10, 1818; Samuel born Sept. 
22, 1828, in the City of Brotherly Love. 
Samuel, the subject of this sketch, settled on 
what was known as the Joseph Keane farm, 
in 1850, and the next year made additional 
purchases. On the 20th of Nov., 1852, 
he married Miss Ada R. Hathaway, born Jan. 
13, 1830, near Milan, Erie Co., Ohio. Samuel 
has the following children — Rachel Ella, 
Thomas Henry, a teacher in the Industrial 
Boarding School, Wyandotte Mission, Indian 
Territory; Mary Alice, Clara Maria, Laura 
Letitia, Susanna Matilda, Jennie Eva, Fanny 
Esther, Ralph Griffith and George Canby. 
Rachel Ella is the Principal in Alum Creek 
Academy. In 185G Samuel erected the stately 
family mansion he now occupies, he himself 
being a carpenter by trade. He is an exten- 
sive farmer and stock breeder, especially of fine 
Durham cattle and fine wooled sheep, the 
latter of which he handles in laige quantities. 
He has paid unusual attention to family edu- 
cation, several members of his family being 
graduates. He also, in connection with Dr. 
Townsend, has erected and put into successful 
operation Alum Creek Academy, which, how- 
ever, will be treated of in the history of the 
township at large. He has bestowed great 
care and expense in beautifying his grounds 
and surroundings, rendering Sunny Slope, 
(the name of his home) one of the most attrac- 
tive in the country. He is a devoted member 
of the Society of Friends, a church organiza- 
tion which has existed in his locality from the 
earliest settlement. 

HARRY EATON LONGWELL, farmer; 
P. O., Ashley; represents the Long well, the 



Eaton and Potter families. Ralph Longwell, 
his grandfather, a soldier of the war of 1812, 
emigrated from Kentucky shortly after the 
war. His grandfather, Joseph Eaton, (who 
was son of Isaac Eaton, who was son of Da- 
vid Eaton, who was son of John Eaton, who 
was son of Joseph Eaton, who was son of John 
Eaton, who came from Wales in 1686), was 
born in Newark, Delaware, Oct. 20, 1798; 
came to Ohio in the earlier settlement, and 
finally to Delaware Co., and on the 20th day 
of June 1824, was married to Ursula Potter, 
daughter of Asahel Potter, who came from 
Connecticut to Lancaster, Ohio, thence to 
Franklin Co., Ohio, and finally to Delaware 
Co., in 1821, dying at Leonardsburg, March 

10, 1869, at the ripe old age of 93 years. His 
wile, Anne Benton, was a native of Litchfield, 
Conn. Doctor Albert Longwell was the son 
of Ralph Longwell; his wife, Cordelia G. 
Eaton, daughter of Joseph Eaton, was born 
June 12, 1836. Fernando (Jortez Eaton, bro- 
ther of Mrs. Longwell, who was born April 

11, 1830, was drowned at Stratford, in Dela- 
ware Co., June 17, 1851. Dr. Albert Long- 
well was a practicing physician in the city of 
Delaware, and during the civil war was ap- 
pointed surgeon of the 88th Regt. O. V. I., 
and Post Surgeon at Camp Chase; he died 
after a very brief illness, on the 19th day of 
March, 1865, and in four days was followed 
by his devoted wife. Their marriage occurred 
Feb. 22, 1859. They had two children, viz : 
Charlie Eaton Longwell, born Nov. 23, 1860, 
and Harry Eaton Longwell, born April 3, 
1862, who is the landlord of Fairview farm. 
Deprived of his cultured and intelligent pa- 
rents, almost ere he had learned to lisp their 
names, he was doomed to meetjife's cares and 
responsibilities almost unaided and alone. 
He enters into the breeding and handling of 
horses and fine sheep, with an ability betoken- 
ing a more advanced age. His attention is 
being directed to the handling of sheep as a 
farm stock, and to this every energy is being 
directed. 

McDonald brothers, farmers; P. 
O., Ashley; the brothers, John F. and Charles 
S., are the sons of Lawrence McDonald, whose 
birth occurred Oct. 3, 1825, in County Carlo, 
Ireland; he was two years of age when he ar- 
rived in America, and for six years was a res- 
ident of New York State, and the remainder 



-^: 



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.t. 



(556 



PERU TOWNSHIP. 



of liis life a resident of Ohio, locating where 
he now resides, in 18-i5. The 13th day of 
Oct., 1850, Phoebe A. Morehouse, who was 
born in Peru Tp., and whose birthday was 
Nov. 3, 1830, united her fortunes with Law- 
rence McDonald in marriage. In addition to 
these (the parents) the family consists of the 
followiug members, viz.: the brothers, John 
F., born July 7th, 1851, and Charles S., May 
7th, 1853; Emma C, Feb. 1, 1855; Alice M., 
March 11, 1857; Clara T., Jan. 1, 1859; Rosa 
E., March 2"8, 18G1. The brothers, whose in- 
terests are thus identified, are farmers by pur- 
suit, practical and energetic, and of that class 
who, by close and constant ajipiication to their 
profession, can confidently expect to thrive. 
Family education has been well maintained, 
and Clara T. and RosaE. are teachers of more 
than ordinary reputation and qualifications; 
the brothers naturally incline to the rearing 
of sheep and fine horses, and enjoy a location 
affording fine facilities for both departments 
of business, situated at the junction of two 
roads, on high, commanding grounds. Avon- 
dale (the name of his home) naturally blends 
with many pleasant surroundings. 

MOREHOUSE BROTHERS, farmers; P. 
O., Asliley. In 1830, Stephen Morehouse, M'ho 
was born in Essex Co., N. J., left the scenes 
of the Revolutionary past, and came to Ohio. 
He had seven sons, and four daughters. The 
sons were — James, Caleb, Daniel, and Stephen 
Jr., Charles, William and Abraham. The 
daughters were — Maria, Eliza, Aliigail and 
Julia. Elizabeth Steinbeck joined hands with 
Stephen for better or worse, and was the 
mother of the eleven children above named. 
Ste;)hen's birth occurred in 1771, and his 
death in 1855. His wife, E^lizabeth, was born 
in 1775, and died in 18G8, being nearly nine- 
ty-four years old. Daniel Morehouse was born 
Sept. 2, 1799, in Essex Co., N. J., and 
came to Ohio in 1830. July 1, 1820, in the 
city of New York, he married Mary Force, 
who is the mother of the following children 
to wit: Albert, born July 10, 1821, died 
March 27, 1828. Sylvester F., born March 
27, 1825. Catharine E., July 12, 1827. Isa- 
l)ella R., Aug. 23, 1829. Susan C, Dec. 3, 
1S34. Alfred, Nov. 1, 1838. William F., 
Nov. 14, 1841. On the 18th day of February, 
Mary, the wife of Daniel Morehouse died, m 
her seventy-sixth year. Alfred Morehouse, 



born Nov. 1, 1838, married Margaret Chad- 
wick, whose birth occurred June 23, 1836, 
and their marriage Aug. 6, 1858. The chil- 
dren are Estelle, born June 19, 1859, Daniel 
S., born March 1, 1801, and died Oct. 20, 18G5; 
Albert S., born Feb. 17, 18G9. Alfred More- 
house is a carpenter, but by present occupa- 
tion is a farmer, and, like most farmers of east- 
ern antecedents, strongly and devotedly at- 
tached to the rearing and management of 
horses, but deals in all the usual appointments 
of farm stock. Alfred Morehouse served two 
years in the war of the Rebellion. On the 
13th day of August, 1862, was in the battle of 
Perryville, Ky., and was wounded Sept. 20, 
1863, in the celebrated battle of Chickamauga, 
was disabled thereby, and discharged in con- 
sequence. The other brother, WUliam Fran- 
cis Morehouse, was born Nov. 14, 1841, in 
Delaware Co., Ohio (now Morrow Co.,), and 
on the 16th day of April, 1863, married Mary 
Jane Riley, who was born Aug. 16, 1837. 
Their nuptials were celebrated by the Rev. 
Mr. Frye. William Francis has but one child, 
a son, Francis E., born ,Iune 1, 1876. Wil- 
liam F. Morehouse is also a farmer, and gen- 
eral stock-raiser, with horses as a specialty. 
The brothers move much together in a busi- 
ness way, and both reside in the immediate 
vicinity, and contiguous to each other; they 
are the representatives of a once numerous, 
but now nearly extinct, family, as regards 
name. 

MARCUS PHILLIPS, farmer; P. O. Page- 
town. The parents of Marcus Phillips were 
Asa Phillips and Rhoda Hazleton, both of 
Essex Co., Mass. Marcus Phillips, Esq. was 
born in Windham Co., Vt., January 16, 1806; 
in 1817 Marcus' parents settled in Erie Co., 
N. y. Marcus is one of a family of nine 
children, consisting of four sons and five 
daughters. In 1832, the 11th day of Octo- 
ber, Marcus married Asenath Herrick, of 
Ontario Co., N. Y.; and in April, 1834, re- 
moved to Medina Co., Ohio. The following 
children were born: Alvan C. Phillips, born 
February 14, 1836; Joseph H., Nov. 30, 1837; 
Mary Emma and Mary Etta (twins) Jan. 4, 
1842. Sept. 26, 1846, Mrs. Asenath Phillips 
died; and on the 29th day of Dec. 1847, 
Marcus again married. His wife (Miss Fide- 
lia Potter) was descended from one of the 
earliest pioneer families and was born May 



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B lOGR APHICAL SKETCHES . 



657 



12, 1818, in Franklin Co., Ohio. By the 
second marriage there were born Francis 
Preston Phillips, March 18, 1850; and Charles 
Sumner Phillips, April 15, 185G. In 1837, 
Squire Phillips settled in Peru Tp.; al- 
though a farmer by profession, he has held 
the office of Commissioner for three terms, of 
Magisti'ate for twelve years, and Notary Pub- 
lic for nearly nine years; has been a member 
of the M. E. Church for four years and of 
the Wesleyan Metliodist Church for thirty- 
two years, and Recording Steward of the same 
for thirty years. As early as 1828, Marcus 
came to Columbus, and remained for some 
time, with Doctor Horton Howard of that 
place, after which he returned to the State of 
New York. Now in his 75th year he is again 
removing and purposes locating in Bennmg- 
ton Tp., in the same county. 

STEPHEN F. RANDOLPH, farmer; P. 
O., Ashley. James F. Randolph, Stephen's 
father, was born at Rahway, N. J., and mar- 
ried Catharine Baker, in 1794, and in 1818 
came to Ohio. He had a family of nine 
children; six sons and three daughters. 
Cornelius, the eldest son, was born in New 
Jersey, Susan, Rebecca, Nathan; Mahala, the 
third daughter, died at the age of 33 years; a 
lady of unusual attainments; Stephen F., 
born 1809; James F., a prominent physician, 
having practiced in the same locality for 
forty years, is still hale and vigorous; John 
F., now of Missouri; Gen. Hiram F., now of 
Iowa. He was a Major of militia prior to 
the Rebellion, and^a Brigadier-General in the 
civil war. 

In 1841 Stephen F. married Charity Brown, 
by whom he has one daughter living, viz.: 
Mary Catharine. In 1848, Charity, his first 
wife died. In 1851 Stephen F. again mar- 
ried, his wife being Elizabeth Freeman; four 
sons are the result of this marriage, viz.: 
William, Dayton, Dwight and Clarke. In 
many enterprises Stephen has taken an un- 
selfish and prominent stand. As early as 
1836 he purchased a fine thorough-bred of 
the bovine race, in the city of New York 
and brought him to Ohio; and to him is due 
the first attempt at the improvement of the 
stock of the country. In 1839 and 1840 
he, in company with his brothers ^ohn F., 
Hiram F. and Geo. Taylor, erected a fin*^ 
merchant and custom flouring-mill in P-jru 



Tp. The whole business soon passed into 
the hands of Stephen F., and so remained 
until the destruction of the proj^erty by in- 
cendiaries, the night of Sept. 17, 1874. The 
mill, with 11000 worth of grain, fell a prey to 
the devouring element. Mr. Randolph is by 
nature a public man, and always has been 
since the days of his youth, when, as a stone- 
cutter he was known for ten years as a close 
and attentive mechanic and business man. 
He figures in the Township History, which 
will be noted in its proper connection. His 
farm is called the Sulphur Spring Farm. 

JOSEPH D. RILEY, farmer; P. O., Ash- 
ley. This gentleman's genealogy runs thus: 
Dr. Joseph Riley (the first) was born in Ly- 
coming Co., Penn., Jan. 30, 1782; and his 
wife, Mary Smith, was born in the same 
county and state, May 20, 1782. Their nup- 
tials were celebrated Oct. 18, 1806, and, in 
1814, they emigrated to Ohio. The family 
was one of those hardy pioneer families, and 
consisted of, besides parents, Elizabeth, born 
Sept. 24, 1807; Mary Jane, Jan. 26, 1810; 
William Smith, May 28, 3814. The forego- 
ing were born in Pennsylvania: Ezra, born 
Sept. 22, 1816; Henry, June 1, 1819; Joseph 
D., (second) Jan. 5, 1822; Alexander, the 
youngest son, deceased. Again, on the 3d 
day of October, 1833, William Smith Riley 
married Eleanor Welch, daughter of Dr. 
David Welch, and his family chronology 
stands thus: Mary Jane, born Aug. 16, 1837; 
Elizabeth, Aug. 23, 1840; Louisa, Nov. 7, 
1842; William" A., May 16, 1845; Joseph D., 
(third) June 23, 1848; Mattie E., Feb. 9, 1851; 
Rose T., June 16, 1854; again,on the 28th day 
of May, 1872, Joseph D. Riley (third) married 
Almaretta Welch, whose birthday occurred 
May 28, 1854. He is the third who bears the 
name in a tribal history commencing long 
prior to the adoption of the Constitution of 
the United States; yet he has none of his own 
to bear his name; he does have the attributes 
of his race which will still hand his name on 
down through the unborn ages. Like a true- 
born Cincinnatus, he stepped between the 
handles of the plow and dubbed himself a 
farmer; he has also taken upon himself the 
role of a stock raiser, and stands, high 
above the average in raising good horses and 
sheep of a fine quality. He occupies the 
ancient homestead of Joseph (first), and from 



^[v?; 



(>.3S 



PERU TOWNSHIP. 



his doorstep reins the stately Percheron, in 
strange contrast with the sorrels of his fore- 
lathers. Honest in his intentions, modern in 
his views, unexcited by outside issues, he 
takes steady and constant steps on the higli- 
way to progress, hard by the stream, where, 
in childhood years (like Webster), he was wont 
to play. 

JOSEPH RILEY, Jr., farmer; P. O., Ashley ; 
is the son of Dr. Joseph Riley, who was born 
in Bucks Co., Penn., Jan. 30, 1873, and Oct. 
18, 180(J, married Mary Smith, who was born 
in Northumberland Co., in the town of Mil- 
ton, May 30, 1782. In 1814 Dr. Riley re- 
moved to Ohio. Joseph Riley Jr., was born Jan . 
5, 1822, in Marion Co., Ohio, and Sept, 1, 
1853, married Lucy L. Slawson, who was 
born in Delaware Co., N. Y., in 1834. The 
children by this marriage are — George H., 
born Oct. 1, 1854; Mary A., March 28, 185G; 
Arthur, Dec. 13, 1857; March 2G, 1859. Mrs. 
Lucy L. Riley died, and Oct. 4, 18(33, Mr. 
Riley married Eveline C. Johnson, who was 
born Aug. 4, 1833, in Highland Co., Va, Her 
father was Adam Johnson; her mother's 
maiden name was Sarah Haslett. Both were 
natives of Highland Co., Va., and came to 
Porter Tp., Delaware Co., Ohio, in the fall of 
1833. The children by the last marriage are 
— Elva S., born Aug. 14, 1864; Elmer Edson, 
Sept. 21, 1866; Lulie Josephine, Dec. 22, 
1872; Joseph Riley, the landlord of Hillsdale 
farm, is a farmer by pursuit; a carpenter by 
trade. Upon settling upon Hillsdale he en- 
tered largely into sheep husbandry, and in the 
management of sheep and swine. He dis- 
plays both skill and energy. Sometime 
since he turned his attention vigorously to- 
ward fruit culture, and is pushing this depart- 
ment with a determination sure to bring 
success. Hillsdale is one of the pioneer 
farms, and was occupied by Asahel Potter in 
1821, being one of the first settled on the 
Eaton Section. Hillsdale is 4 miles from 
Ashley, on the Worthington and New Haven 
road. 

LEWIS D. SHERWOOD, farmer; P. O., 
Ashley; is the son of David and Margaret 
Sherwood. David was born October 27, 
1802, in Smyth Co., Va., and died Jan., 1873, 
and his wife, died July, 1876, in Delaware Co., 
Ohio. Oct. 22, 1828, Lewis D. Sherwood 
was born, and in the following year (1829) 



his parents removed to Ohio. In 1851, June 
5, Lewis married Laura J. Ashbrook, born 
Octol)er 23, 1832. August 18th, 1857, his 
daughter, Lucy A. Sherwood, now the wife 
of Wellington M. Shoemaker, was born; she 
alone being the only representative of Mr. Sher- 
wood's family union. By occupation Lewis 
D. Slierwood is a farmer, tidy and economicual 
in all his operations, and consequently gives 
evidence of thrift in all his surroundings; 
naturally of a high social order, he of course 
is one of that class that ever constitutes the 
basis of good society. 

FRANCIS E. WHIPPLE, farmer; P. O., 
Ashley; has this line of descent: commencing 
with Reuben Whipple, who was born Nov. 5, 
1774, and Sallie Cooper, his wife, born Aug. 
12, 1777, both of Providence Co., R. I. The 
former died June 15, 1854, and the latter 
Dec. 5, 1862; their son Noah, of same nativ- 
ity, born July 7, 1811, and Margaret Ann 
(Elliott) Whipple, born Jan. 19, 1813, are the 
parents of Francis E. They were married 
Feb. 21, 1833, and had the following children, 
viz: Edwin A., born Dec. 19, 1833, who mar- 
ried Mary Chadwick in Oct., 1856; Rachel 
A., born Oct. 6, 1838, and married George 
W. White, Dec. 3, 1856; she died Oct. 11, 
1874; PhffibeS., born April 29, 1841, and 
married Charles Kohler, Dec. 20, 1866; Mary 
E., born Feb. 22, 1845, and married John B. 
Wallace, Nov. 15, 1866; Albert Reuben, born 
Nov. 12, 1847, and died March 20,1851; 
James C, born Jan. 28, 1850, and married 
Jennette Dodge, Sept. 25, 1873; Francis E., 
born Nov. 6, 1853, and Flora J., who was 
born Jan. 6, 1858. The father of these chil- 
dren settled with his people on Alum Creek, 
in 1818; his wife's parents, Archibald and 
Phoebe (Jameson) Elliott, were natives of Vir- 
ginia; the former was born in Greenbrier Co., 
Nov. 27, 1771, and the latter in Rockbridge 
Co., Feb. 27, 1782, and were married March 
11, 1802; they came to Franklin Co., Ohio, 
and in 1826 to Delaware Co. The father died 
May 14, 1843, and the mother. May 14, 1858. 
The home of the Whipple family is appropri- 
ately called the "Alum Creek Farm." Francis, 
like his ancestry, is an agriculturalist, and 
deals largely in stock, cattle taking the lead; 
at present, however, sheep, and especially 
those of a finer quality, receives a great share 
of bis attention. He, like his forefathers, is of 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



G59 



eastern proclivities, and attached to their ways 
in habits and business. 

WILLIAM WESTBROOK, farmer; P. 
O., Bennintrton; born June 12, 1831, in 
Bloomfield Tp.,Knox Co., Ohio; is oneof those 
fanners and stock-dealers whose energy and 
industry have placed him in easy and com- 
fortable circumstances. The 4th day of July, 
1852, he married Miss Emeline Wiseman, who 
was born Oct. 8, 1833. The children of this 
marriage are — Vanda, born July 6, 1854; 
Frank, Dec. 23, 1855; Albert, Jan. 13, 1858; 
William H., Jan. 28, 18G0; James C, born 
Jan. 17, 1863, and died March 13, 1868; 
Laura D., born Sept. 27, 1865, the same year 
in which James C died. Mrs. Emeline West- 
brook died July 27, 1868. Dec. 19, 1873, 
William Westbrook married Rosa Besse for 
his second wife, and 1874 their first child, 
Berton Westbrook, was born. He is earnestly 
devoted to stock-raising, more especially 
horses and sheep; William Westbrook has 
made marked improvement in stock, more 
especially sheep, and like his brother Lafay- 
ette, though some may outrival him in num- 
bers, few will excel him in quality. It is now 
twenty- four years since Mr. Westbrook came 
to the farm where he now resides. He having 
in the meantime purchased, and now owns 
the farm on which that remarkable prodigy, 
the double babes were born, whose history, 
though brief, was world-wide. 

SAMUEL WAUGH, farmer; P. O., Ashley; 
Samuel Waugh was born in Scotland, but 
came to America about 1800. His wife, Nan- 
cy Douglass, daughter of Lord Douglass, was 
born in Scotland, joined Samuel in America, 
and they were married shortly after her ar- 
rival. Samuel took his nativity in Cumberland 
Co., Pa. Sarah Davidson, his wife, was a na- 
tive of the same county. They were married 
in 1827. His son, Samuel, is the subject of 
this biography; born August 28, 1828, in 
Cumberland Co., Pa. His wife, Elizabeth 
Laughrey, was born in Knox Co., Ohio, Sept. 
9, 1840. Their marriage took place Feb. 11, 
1858. Samuel's parents died as follows: His 
father, Saturday, May 21, 1836; his mother, 
May 15, 1840. Mr. Waugh has had the fol- 
lowing children, to-wit: Sarah Ann, born 
Nov. 6, 1858, and died Nov. 2, 1863; Mary 
Avonia, also deceased; William Erastus, born 
Jan. 9, 1862; Samuel Charles, March 27, 1866; 



Elizabeth Viola, Dec. 24, 1868; Nancy Rosel- 
la, Jan. 27, 1875. By occupation Samuel 
Waugh is a farmer — is engaged in horticul- 
ture and sheep husbandry, with thirty acres 
in an orchard. He has taxed every region for 
varieties, and qualities of fruit, determined to 
make this department complete in its way, 
and profitable in its results; he has left noth- 
ing undone, and can, to-day, boast of having 
the leading orchard in the township, if not in 
the county. In sheep husbandry he is care- 
ful, attentive, and eminently successful. He 
is truly a Pennsylvanian — hospitable, and of 
proverbial integrity. 

LAFAYETTE WESTBROOK, farmer; 
P. O., Ashley ; son of Solomon and Mar then a 
(Crawford) . Westbrook. The former was 
born in the State of New York Feb. 3, 1798, 
and died June 11, 1872. His wife was born 
in the Empire State, March 20, 1792, and died 
Jan. 1, 1879. In Johnstown, Licking Co., O., 
April 17, 1822, they were married. He became 
a citizen of Peru Tp. in 1840. His family was 
Mary Ann, Anne, Lafayette, William, Jane, 
and Dr. Albert E. Westbrook, now of Ashley. 
Lafayette Westbrook was born July 28, 1829, 
in Johnstown, Licking Co., Ohio; he moved 
to Morrow Co. in 1840; in 1849, he married 
Miss Harriet Hubbell, a sister of the Hon. 
J. R. Hubbell, who was born Oct. 29, 1829, 
and who met an untimely death May 1, 1868. 
His children are — Rosedell, born Oct. 24, 
1849, now dead; Kate, born Dec. 17, 1851; 
Orville, March 10, 1854; Mary R., July 14, 
1857; Flora E., March 3, 1860; Shadrach, 
Nov. 22, 1862, and Pruda, Dec. 17, 1867. 
Nov. the 26th, 1868, Lafayette was again 
married to Phebe Randolph, born Oct. 2, 
1839, the daughter of Nathan and Sarah Ann 
Randolph. From this union, he has one 
child, Minnie E., born June 27, 1870. The 
vicissitudes of his life have been varied; at 
14 years of age, he was apprenticed to a 
tailor and served 3 years; and then learned the 
wagon-making business. He has played 
the role of hotel keeper, also, and at last 
settled down as a farmer, delighting in good 
horses and fine-wooled sheep, occupying one 
of the oldest establishments in the township, 
the Randolph Farm. With him life has had 
many fitful changes, but withal he has made 
it a success. 



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l)()0 



SOUTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSTTIP. 



SOUTH BLOOMF3ELD TOWNSHIP. 



JOHN D. AUSTEN, farmer; P. O., Bloom- 
field; was born in Kent Co., England, Oct. 
^7, 1815; he came to the United States in 
1S2S, and worked twelve years in a mill, thus 
thoroughly learning the trade. In 18-11 he 
was united in marriage to Martha Cooper, 
and by her had a family of three children — 
Elizabeth, horn March, 1842; William, Nov., 
1843, and Marsha A., born Aug., 1845. His 
first wife died in 184G, and in Jan.,1847, he was 
married to Lucretia Glaze, who lived but about 
six weeks, dying Feb., 1847; Jan. 7, 1849, he 
married Mary Jane Thompson, and has by 
her a family of three children — Martha L., 
born Aug., 1850; Amanda A., Sept. 1853, and 
Ben Dean, Aug., 185G. Mr. Austen's daughter, 
Elizabeth, married J. C. White; she has a 
family of two boys, and lives in Bennington 
Tp.; William married Elizabeth Dunkinson, 
and has two children, and lives in South 
Bloomfield Tp. ; Martha is unmarried and 
lives at home; Ben Dean is unmarried, and 
at present is assistant agent of the B. & O. 
K. R. at Frederickton. Mr. Austen and 
family own fifty acres of land, all well im- 
proved. He is a Democrat, but was formerly 
a Whig; he is a member of the Disciple 
Church, at Mt. Liberty. His father and 
mother are William A. and Charlotte (Dean) 
Austen, who had a family of three boys and 
three girls — John Dean, Sarah, Sophia, Eliza- 
beth, William and Henry. Sophia and Henry 
are married; the former lives in Illinois, and 
the latter in Kansas. Mr. Austen, though a 
miller by trade, is at present a farmer. 

JOHN BLINN, farmer; P. O., Sparta; was 
born in South Bloomfield Tp., Dec. 10, 1820; 
his parents, Roger and Polly (Beard) Blinn, 
were among the first settlers in the township, 
locating there in 1817; the father died in 1827, 
aged 45, and the mother in 1878, aged 78. 
The Blinn's are of French descent. Mr. Blinn's 
grandmother on his mother's side was a Por- 
ter, and was a relative of Commodore Porter, 
of national reputation. Roger Blinn was a 
sailor until he came to Ohio, when he began 



to farm. He suggested the name of Bloom- 
field when the township was organized and 
named. John Blinn spent his youth on his 
father's farm; he was the first professional 
cabinet-maker in Sparta, having learned that 
trade when a young man. He was married 
to Mary Chase, Oct. 28, 1848, and has a fam- 
ily of six children, all of whom are living — 
Elmer P., born Jan. 12, 1850; Wclford' C, 
Feb. 2, 1852; Robert C, Nov. 18, 1853; John 
C, Oct. 7, 1855; Anna M., Oct. 24, 18G5, and 
Ray S., June 23, 1870. Elmer is a homoe- 
pathic physician, and practices in Marysville, 
Ohio; Welford C. is at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 
and is one of the best grainers and sign wri- 
ters in the state; Robert C. is a prominent 
wool grower in Texas. The other children of 
this family are at home. Roger Blinn had a 
family of five children — John, Henry, Clarissa, 
Elizabeth and Roger; all are living, except 
Henry, who died in California. Mr. Blinn is 
a Prohibitionist; is also one of the covenant 
members of the Advent Church at Sparta. 
He is one of the most prominent and influen- 
tial men in the township. 

WILBUR F. BARR, stock-raiser; P. O., 
Bloomfield. John S. and Eliza (Clark) Barr 
were united in marriage in 1821, to whom 
was born four childien — Wesley C, Philena 
M., Wilber F. and Sylvia S. The oldest son 
is a farmer and married; the two daughters 
are single and living at home with their 
parents. Wilbur F. was born in South 
Bloomfield Tp., Sept. 12, 1840, his youth was 
spent attending the district schools and 
assisting in clearing up the place; afterward 
he worked for his father until he was 27 years 
old; he was then married to Mary A., daugh- 
ter of George and Susannah (Tucker) Wolfe. 
Roswell Clark, the grandfather of Wilber, 
deeded him forty acres of land with the un- 
derstanding that Wilber was to pay three 
per cent, interest on its valuation (S1200) as 
long as Roswell lived. In 1871 as Ros- 
well thought he would not live long he was 
asked what he would take for a receipt in 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



601 



full for the land; he said |200, which was 
aa;reed to; but the other heirs of Roswell not 
liking the bargain, it was afterward annulled. 
After the death of Roswell's wife, this prop- 
erty fell to Wilber's mother, and she finally 
gave it to him. Thus it was he got his first 
land. He has added 140 acres to this by 
purchase, and his wife at her marriage 
received from her father 100 acres more; thus 
the family own about 300 acres of land. 
Wilber Barr is a Republican, and a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Bloom- 
field. In 1862 he enlisted in Company "C," 
96th Regiment O. V. I., and was with it 
until he was mustered out of service. At 
diiferent times he served in the capacity of 
fifer and bugler. He took the typhoid fever, 
and as he was recovering was taken with a 
relapse and became very low; through the 
kindness and sympathy of Dr. Newlin he 
recovered; he was sent north by Dr. N., and 
by help of alcholic stimulants reached home 
alive, and with the care of his friends there 
recovered; he was mustered out of service in 
1864. Mr. Barr's present occupation is 
stock-raising, dealing in sheep, cattle and 
hogs almost exclusively; he has a family of 
three children — George A., born Oct. 15, 
1868, Orie Clio, Aug. 29, 1870 and John A., 
July 21, 1874. During the war Mr. Barr 
went west to Missouri to see his brother, 
Wesley; when the train he was on reached 
St. Charles he took a lay off, which act saved 
his life; for when the train loaded with passen- 
gers reached Centralia it was attacked by 
Anderson's guerrillas and every soul butch- 
ered. 

WILLIAM BUTLER, farmer; P. O., 
Sparta; was born in Washington Co., Md., 
Jan. 27, 1819; his parents, Eleazar and Mary 
(Easterday) Butler, had five children — Wil- 
liam, Sarah A., Samuel, and two that died in 
infancy. William lived with his mother until 
he was 26 years old; his father died in 1825; 
but his mother was afterward married to 
Abraham C. Harris. When in his 26th year 
he was united in marriage to Elizabeth Burk- 
holder; they have three sons and one daughter 
— John E., Mary E., George W. and Henry 
E. John was born in July, 1846, and in 
March, 1868, was married to Mary Evarts; 
Mary way born May, 1850, and in November, 
1879, married Alfred Scarborough; George 



was born October, 1853, and in Febuary, 1880, 
married Augusta V., daughter of William 
Speck; Henry E. was born September, 1855, 
he is yet single. Mr. Butler came to South 
Bloomfield Tp. in 1833, and although not 
among the earliest settlers, he can recall the 
merry times at the old-fashioned " log-roll- 
ings" and " corn huskings." He remembers 
vividly that the woods were filled with deer, 
wolves, and wild turkey, when he came into 
this township in 1833. His life has been one 
of hard labor; he has sixty-three acres of good 
land, near Sparta, upon which he resides. He 
is a Democrat; his wife is a member of the 
M. E. Church. Himself and family are highly 
respected in the neighborhood. 

COL. ALBERT H. BROWN, farmer, P. O. 
Bloomfield; a native of New Hampshire, and 
was born in 1825. His parents, John and 
May (Wood) Brown, had a family of seven 
children — John H., Mary, Harriet, Abigail, 
Albert, James and Charles W. The father 
was born in 1796, and was a soldier in the 
war of 1812; he served as a substitute for a 
Tory during a portion of the war; he came 
to Worthington, Ohio, in 1840, and died at 
Fox Lake, Ind., 1853. When Albert was 9 
years old, he secured a situation as bobbin 
boy in Plunkett's cotton factory in Mass.; for 
six years he worked in diiferent factories in 
that State and New York; raising to the 
position of head spinner. In 1840 he came 
with his father to Ohio, and immediately went 
to Columbus, where he remained three years, 
learning the carpenter and joiner's trade. In 
1852 he was appointed post master at Marion 
by Franklin Pierce; in 1848 he married Ann, 
daughter of John Elder, and by her had four 
children: Harriet, born in 1849, Jennett, 1851, 
Edwin, 1855, and Jennie in 1858. His first 
wife having died during the war, he was 
married in 1866 to Sally Jane Lyon, and by 
her has three children; Elva, born in Nov. 
1868, Annie, June, 1870, and Alice H., Aug., 
1872. Col. Brown served in the Mexican 
War in the 3rd Ohio Reg., and commanded 
by Col. S. R. Curtis. In May, 1847, he was 
mustered out, when he came home and 
worked at his trade until he was married; 
when the Civil War broke out he raised a 
company of 74 men and on the 22d of April, 
1861, was ordered to report at Camp Chase 
and was then assigned to the 4th Ohio Reg., 






^ 



6G2 



SOUTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



commanded by Col. Andrews. During the 
early part of the war he served as Provost 
Marshal for Generals Kelley, Lander, and 
Shields. He resigned and came home on ac- 
count of the sickness of his wife, but soon 
after her death he re-enlisted and was mus- 
tered in as Lieut-Colonel of the OOth Ohio 
Regiment. At the death of Col. Vance, he 
took command of the Regiment and led it in 
every engagement. At the close of the war 
he was mustered out, and has since farmed in 
South Bloomfield Tp.; he has served two 
terms in the Lower House of the Ohio State 
Legislature. Col. Brown is a Republican, 
and himself and family are members of 
Methodist Church in Bloomfield. 

BUSHROD D. BUXTON, M. D.; Sparta; 
was born May 19, 1849; his father, dur- 
ing life, had three wives, the first being 
Betsey R., who bore him eight children, six 
boys and two girls — Harry S., born in 1819; 
Major H., in 1821; Blancher R., in 1824; 
Victoria, in 1826; Oscar, in 1828; Daniel S., 
in 1831; Betsey, in 1834; Rufus B., in 1837. 
The fathers' first wife dying, he was married 
to Margaret Cambridge, March 27, 1846, and 
by her liad a family of four children — the first 
child died in infancy; Bushrod D., Charles 
B., born Nov. 6, 1850; Harry J., Jan. 13, 
1856. His second wife died April 4, 1856; 
he was married the third time to Catharine 
Wisman, and by her had one child — Rufus, 
born July 21, 1864. Of this family of thirteen 
children, four are dead — Blancher, Harry, 
Rufus, who, in the night, Avas struck by 
lightning, while in camp at Vicksburg, Miss., 
and one that died in infancy. Dr. Buxton 
passed his early years on his fathers' farm; 
when he became 16, he attended Dennison 
University at Granville, Ohio, two years, after 
which he returned to Alexandria and read 
medicine under Doctor Stimpson and Wil- 
liams one year and a half; he also read with 
Doctor Samson, of Newark, a year and a half. 
Having read steadily for three years, he at- 
tended several courses of lectures at the 
Eclectic Medical Institute at Cincinnati, and 
in October, 1871, located at Sparta. He 
practiced for a short time at Pataskala, and 
also at Olive Green, but has since been at 
Sparta. July 24, 1872, he was married to 
Clara E. Chase, and has one child — Floy, 
born May 5, 1873. Dr. Buxton is a Repub- 



lican, and is a member of the Methodist 
Church; he is well posted in his profession 
and has a comfortable practice. 

WESLEY CLARK BARR, A. M. B. L., 
Bloomfield; was born in South Bloomfield 
Tp., in 1834; his early years were passed on 
his father's farm; he attended district school 
until 17, and then, having obtained a certifi- 
cate, taught his first term at "Rich Hill;" he 
received $50 for the term of three months; in 

1852, he attended the Ohio Weslevan Uni- 
versity, at Delaware, and the following winter, 
1852—3, taught school on Clark street, near 
home; while teaching he kept up his studies, 
and returned to College in the summer of 

1853, passing up the winter's studies, and 
in the fall was taken sick with lung feA'er atid 
had to be taken home; he continued to teach 
during the winter, having one of the most sys- 
tematic schools in the county. In the autumn 
of 1857, he again returned to Delaware, and 
contiued there until he graduated, in 1861; he 
would teach during summer vacations, to get 
means to support him the following year, 
year. These schools were select, and at one 
time Mr. Barr had for pupils twenty teachers. 
This was an excellent school. In the fall of 
1861, he went to Ann Arbor, Mich., and en- 
tered the law department of the Michigan Uni- 
versity, and at the expiration of two years 
received the degree of B. L.; in July, 1863, 
he journeyed west to Missouri, stopping at 
Macon; Missouri at that time was wild with 
war and secession, but the intrepid Wesley 
"hung out his shingle" and began the practice 
of law. Not proving a very lucrative business 
at that time, in the spring of 1864 he began 
teaching a select school in the M. E. Church 
at Macon; at this time he was also connected 
with a paper as associate editor, the paper be- 
ing called " The Macon Argus;" Thomas Proc- 
tor, of Iron ton, Ohio, was editor-in-chiel; 
his wife was his assistant in the school, and 
both had 125 scholars, and received ^1.50 
from each for the term; he taught two 
terms and was then made one of the 
militia - men raised to prevent Price 
from coming north to Macon with his army. 
In the fall of 1864 he was elected Prosecuting 
Attorney for the Eighth Judicial Circuit, and 
served in that capacity four years. He had 
an extensive business, sending eighty-nine 
men to the penitentiary — one for murder. He 



^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



663 



was the first man to introduce colored testi- 
mony in the courts. After reaching Missouri, 
ho organized the first Union League, in 
Northern Missouri. He began as Circuit 
Attorney, January, 1865. He was appointed 
District Clerk in 1869, and served for one 
year; after this he served two years as Road 
Commissioner, and Deputy Surveyor of Ma- 
con Co. In the spring of 1873 he moved 
with his family to Unionville, Putnam Co., 
Mo.; here he became one of the proprietors 
and owners of a newspaper, entitled the 
" Putnam Ledger." In July, 1874:, he re- 
turned to Ohio, and ever since has been farm- 
ing his father's place. He teaches his home 
school every winter, and receives higher 
wages than any other country teacher in the 
county. On the 11th of June, 1863, Mr. 
Barr married the daughter of "William and 
Cordelia (Maley) Harris, and by her has the 
following children: Ella Lena, born Sept. 9, 
1865; Mary Cordelia, born July 13, 1868; 
Roy Walter, born Dec. 1, 1875; John, who 
died in his infancy, and Wesley Clay, born 
Aug. 3, 1878. Mrs. .Barr was with her hus- 
band in the West; she taught five years at 
Macon, taking the same" class each successive 
year, and graduating them at last. Mrs. 
Barr received her education at the Utica 
Union School. It is needless to say that Mr. 
Barr is one of the most influential men in the 
township. 

WILLIAM RILEY COILE, P. O. Sparta; 
Reuben Coile and Margaret Prosser were 
married Feb. 13, 1845. The former is a son 
of Abraham and Mary (Filchmyer) Coile, and 
was born in Shenandoah Co., Va., April 15, 
1823; the latter is the daughter of William 
and Ann (Jones) Prosser, and was born Oct. 
4, 1832; to this union w^as born the follow- 
ing family : Alonzo B., born March 8, 1846; 
Alfred S., Dec. 25, 1848; Thomas M., Jan. 
28, 1850; Leroy, Oct. 17, 1851; Lycurgus 
D., May 21, 1853; Mary A., Oct. 1, 1855; 
William Riley, June 13, 1858; Lucelia R. 
Jan. 11, 1860; Joanna A., Feb. 5, 1862; 
Daniel E., April 1, 1864, and Reuben E., 
March 28, 1867. The oldest three are dead; 
Alfred was killed by a boiler explosion in a 
steam sawmill in Marion Co., in 1869; Leroy 
married Emma R. Emmerson; Lycurgus, An- 
na James; Lucelia, Thomas James, and Mary, 
Judson Smothers, the former three living in 



South Bloomfield Tp., and the latter in 
Bennington Tp. Reuben Coile, Sr., now 
owns 40 acres of good land, near what is 
known as "Red Hill." The Codes are old 
and prominent citizens, having lived in the 
township for thirty-five years; they are mem- 
bers of the United Brethren Church. 
Their son William, or Riley as he is more 
familiarly known, is an enterprising young 
man, full of push and pluck, and will make 
life a fine success. He is at present working 
for W. C. Barr, near Bloomfield village. 

MRS. ELIZABETH COE, farmer; P. O., 
Sparta; was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., 
April 2, 1826; her parents were John E. and 
Mary Ann (Johnson) Ebersol, the former being 
born June 10, 1785, and the latter, Sept. 23, 
1803. To these parents was born a family of 
three children — Elizabeth, Matilda E. and 
Rebecca. Matilda married Wm. Ebersol, but 
had no family; Rebecca married David Btu- 
der, and had a family of five children, three 
of whom are yet living; the parents are both 
dead, the father dying in 1874, the mother 
in 1834. The family came into Knox Co., 
Ohio, in 1826, when Elizabeth was but a few 
months old; she passed her early years at 
school, but as her mother died when Elizabeth 
was but 8 years old, and as her father never 
married again-, all the cares and duties of the 
household fell upon the shoulders of this 
small girl. She was united in marriage Sept. 
7, 1854, to Edward J. Coe, a native of Eng- 
land, and by him had a family of three chil- 
dren — Edward, born July 21, 1855; Albert, 
Feb. 3, 1857, and Elbridge, Sept. 4, 1861. 
Edward married Viola Roberts, but has no 
family; he is a farmer and lives in South Bloom- 
field Tp. The other boys are with their 
mother on the farm. Mrs. Coe's father was mar- 
ried twice, the first wife being Lavina Dutcher, 
by whom he had five children. When her 
mother died Elizabeth had to keep house for 
all this large family. When her husband 
died from the effects of apoplectic strokes, the 
care of her own family devolved upon her; 
her life has been one unceasing round of care 
and toil. She is a Methodist, while her sons 
are Universalists. Herself and sons own 85 
acres of land. 

WESLEY CHIRPS, merchant and Post 
Master; Sparta; was born in Delaware Co., 
O., Oct. 13, 1847. He is the son of W. and 



(m 



SOUTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



Cindrella (Struble) Chipps, who came to Ohio 
from New Jersey in December, 1838. Wesley 
remained with his parents on the farm until 
he was IS years old, when he began business 
for himself; he worked two sunnners on a 
farm, going to school during the fall and 
winter, until the winters of 1866 and 1867, 
when he taught his first term of school. The 
following summer he canvassed for a map in 
Delaware Co.; he then went to school in the 
fall, and during the succeediag winter taught 
again. In 1868 he was employed as clerk in 
a drug store at Lima, Ohio, but taught the 
following winter. He worked on the farm at 
home during the years of 1869 and 1870; 
shortly after this he went to Mt. Vernon and 
clerked in a drug store, and on the 5th of 
March, 1872, started a drug store in Sparta, 
where he remained until March 31, 1875. On 
the 18th of March, 1872, he was united in 
marriage to Estella Newcomb, a daughter of 
Stephen L. and Meradah (Ink) Newcomb, and 
by her had one daughter — Oral M., born, 
Aug. 3, 1873. On the 16th of December, 
1879, his wife died from spinal disease. His 
daughter. Oral, lives Avith her grandfather 
Newcomb, near Chesterville. In March, 
1875, Mr. Chipps moved to Pulaskiville, 
where he clerked until October of the same 
year; he then began a partnership business 
at Sparta with Henry Hulse, under the firm 
name of Chipps & Hulse, and has continued 
there ever since. Chipps & Hulse purchased 
the store of W. C. Harris, which consisted of 
a general stock of dry goods, hats, caps, gro- 
ceries, hardware, etc., invoicing between 
§3,000 and $4,000. The stock at present con- 
sists of dry goods, notions, hats, caps, boots 
and shoes, queensware, groceries, etc. They 
keep constantly on hand a stock of from 
§4,000 to 86,000 worth, and during the year 
their sales amount to $12,000; they do the 
largest business of any house in Sparta. They 
are centrally situated, and Mr. Chipps is the 
present Post Master at Sparta. Mr. Chipps, 
though a young man, is universally known 
and respected by the citizens in the southern 
part of the county; he started with scarcely a 
dollar, but by industry, economy and sterling 
honesty, has acquired considerable property, 
and, what is better still, a name without stain 
or blemish. 

BEVERLY W. CHASE, farmer and stock- 



raiser; P. O., Sjiarta; was born in South Bloom- 
field Tp., Nov. 21, 1830; his father, Benjamin, 
and his mother, Elvira (McCloud) Chase,were 
married in 1821, and to them was born a 
family of nine children — Cynthia, William, 
.John, Beverly W., Huldah L., Daniel W., 
Hannah, Reuben F. and Henrietta, all of 
whom are living, except John and Daniel. 
The father was killed at a house-raising near 
Sparta, in 1845; he was a carpenter, and, 
while at work below, a heavy beam was dis- 
placed by the workmen above, which in fall- 
ing, struck him with great force on the head, 
causing his death. It is claimed that all the 
Chases in this country are the descendents of 
two Puritans of that name who came from 
Europe to escape religious persecution; the 
lineage of the Chase family in this township 
has been traced to these persons. Beverly 
W. spent his youth on his father's farm, and 
during his early manhood taught thirteen 
terms of school in and near Sparta. He mar- 
ried Martha, a daughter of Elias and Mary 
(Evans) Howard, April 14, 1855, and has two 
children — Plimpton B., born April 1, 1860, 
and Ora Blanche, Dec. 16, 1865. Mr, Chase 
and family are Methodists; he was formerly a 
Republican, but at present supports the Pro- 
hibition party. He owns 152 acres of land, 
upon which is an excellent dwelling house 
and other good buildings; there are more than 
two miles of tileing on his farm. His son 
Plimpton has been three years in the classical 
department of Oberlin College; has chosen 
the profession of law, and has been a disciple 
of Blackstone six months. Ora B. is attend- 
ing the public school in Sparta. 

JOSEPH CONWAY, farmer; P. O., Bloom- 
field; was box'n in Virginia, Sept. 15, 1816, 
and lived there until he was 11 3'^ears old; he 
then came, with his oldest brother, to Ohio. 
In about a year after reaching the State, this 
brother died, and he then lived with his 
brother-in-law, James Shumate. When he 
became 16 years old, he hired out by the 
year, for $8 per month. At the expiration of 
a year, his employer raised his wages to $10 
per month, by the year; but this hard work 
did not suit Joseph, who pined after the pro- 
fession of medicine. He was too poor to at- 
tend college, though he bought some medi- 
cal text books, and began to read; he taught 
school, and tried other sources to raise money. 



}^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



665 



but his health failed him, and he became dis- 
couraged. He finally gave up the idea of 
ever being a physician, and, in bitter disap- 
pointment, took consolation in getting married 
to Melvina Sanford, daughter of William and 
Melvina (Hubbell) Sanford. To this union 
were born the following children — Benson A., 
Melville, Eva, William O., Olin and Wesley. 
Benson enlisted in the Avell-known 9Gth Regt., 
O. V. I. While quite sick, he was brave and 
spunky enough to push ahead of his regiment, 
and engage in the battle of Chickasaw Bayou, 
but the exposure and fatigue were too much 
for him; he took the measles, which, with 
other diseases, and the bad cold he caught, 
caused his death. Melville married Phcebe 
Evans; Eva married Thomas Hicks; William 
married Elsie Jackson; Olin married Emma 
Thatcher; Wesley is single, and at home. All 
live in South Bloomfield Tp. Joseph's father 
died in 1823, and his mother in 1855. His 
parents' family consisted of Thomas, Jane, 
Mary, John L., Ann, William, Joseph, James 
and Charlotte. Joseph is a Republican, and 
was formerly a Whig; he is also a member 
of the M. E. Church. He owns two or three 
hundred acres of land, and is one of the most 
intelligent and influential men in the town- 
ship. 

WILLIAM CHASE; P. O., Sparta; was 
born in South Bloomfield Tp., in 1825; he 
passed his early youth on the farm, but when 
16 years old, went into a wool-carding and 
cloth-dressing mill, owned by his father, at 
Sparta. At the age of 20 he married Eliza- 
beth, daughter of Roger Blinn, and by her 
had a family of four children — Mary E., who 
married J. P. Vail, and lives in Sparta; Ben- 
jamin L., who married Rosalba Yocum, and 
lives in Hayesville, Ohio; Clara E., who mar- 
ried Doctor Buxton, and lives in Sparta; and 
William R., who is completing his education 
in the college at Westerville, Ohio. In 1846, 
Mr. Chase went to Galena, Ohio, where he 
remained about three years, clerking part of 
the time in B. C. Brown's dry goods store; in 
1850, he came back and became a traveling 
salesman for C. Cooper & Co., of Mt, Vernon ; 
about 2 years afterward, he was employed 
to clerk in Dr. A. W. Shetland's dry goods 
store, at Sparta; he bought Dr. S wetland out 
in 1854, and began a partnership business, 
with a general assortment of goods, with his 



brother John ; eight years afterward, another 
brother was taken into the partnership, which 
then became W. J. & R. Chase, but in 1866 
this company was dissolved, the brothers 
dividing the stock; William Chase continued 
the business with his son-in-law, Mr. Vail, 
and shortly afterward, Benjamin, son of 
the senior member, was admitted into the 
partnership; in about 1871, the entire business 
was sold to Vail & Bliss, and Mr. Chase then 
purchased 174 acres of land near Sparta, but 
immediately rented it, going into a general 
business of buying and selling lumber and 
wool, in which last pursuit he is still engaged; 
since then he has bought two small farms, of 
48 and 54 acres respectively, near Sparta; he 
also owns one-third interest in the grist-mill 
at Sparta, together with two or three acres of 
lots, upon one of which is an elegant house, 
which cost $2,600 ; Mr. Chase is one of 
the heaviest property holders in the town- 
ship; he has perhaps done as much to im- 
prove and build up the business interests of 
Sparta as any other man. He is a Repub- 
lican, and is also a member of the Methodist 
Church ; he has shown sufficient business sagac- 
it};- throughout his diversified business career 
to accumulate much property, and place it in 
permanent shape. 

FRANK COTTON, blacksmith; Sparta; 
was born in Knox Co., Ohio, July 31, 1852; 
he is the only son of Omer and Sarah (King) 
Cotton; the grandson of Emmett W. Cotton, 
and .great-grandson of Harrison Cotton, 
one of the early pioneers of South Bloomfield 
Tp. The father of Frank is at present in 
Mobile, Alabama, a speculator in cotton; the 
mother lives in Illinois. Frank's youth, until 
he was 14 years old, was passed at home, go- 
ing to school; when he arrived at that age, he 
started out in life for himself, working on a 
farm by the month; in 1870 he commenced 
learning the blacksmiths' trade at Green Val- 
ley, Knox Co., O. In the spring of 1874, he 
engaged to work at his trade with Abraham 
Herron, at Sparta, with whom he remained 
until 1877; he then erected a shop of his own, 
where he has remained until the present. Mr. 
Cotton's marriage with Melissa, daughter of 
Boyd and Ann (McKee) Qlark, was celebra- 
ted Jan. 1, 1874; his wife's death occurred 
July 17, 1875; his second wife was Mary, 
daughter of William and Lavina (Keller) Helt, 



-J is 



.k 



«C() 



SOUTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



to whom he was married Oct. 1, 1876; to the 
second niarriaj^e was born one daus^hter, Hal- 
lie O., born June 9, 1879. Mr. C\)tton is a 
Democrat in politics, and a Univcrsalist in re- 
ligion; besides doing a general blacksniithing 
business, he makes a specialty of horse-shoe- 
ing, and rej^airing mowing atid reaping ma- 
chines. Mr. Cotton is said to be one of the 
best blacksmiths in southern Morrow Co. 

ANN DUFFY, tailoress; Mount Liberty 
was born in New York, in 1799. Her father, 
Jacob Vosseller, was a soldier in the war of 
1812, and served his country with distinction; 
her mother was Sarah Castner, daughter of a 
farmer in southern New York. These parents 
had a large family of children, and all are now 
dead except Peter, George and Ann. These 
children are Jacob, Katie, Mary, Lanah, John, 
Sarah, Phoebe, Daniel, Ann, Peter and George. 
Ann passed her early years in New Jersey. 
She received but a limited education, her life 
having been too busy to permit extensive 
schooling. On the 21st of January, 1831, she 
was united in marriage to James Duffy, and 
to this union was born the following family — 
Mary, born April 18, 1833. Sarah, born June 
14, 1835; Jane, born March 31, 1838, Martha, 
born Oct. 21, 18-40, and Margarette, born June 
18, 1843. Sarah and Mary are both dead, the 
former dying March, 1847, and the latter April, 
1867. Jane and Margarette are unmarried, and 
are still living with their mother. On the 8th 
of July, 1869, Martha married John Barr, Son 
of Allen and Rebecca Barr, and has two chil- 
dren — Robert Duffy, born March 1, 1873, and 
Eugene Delano, born Aug. 26, 1876. James 
Duffy died June 2, 1852. He was a tailor by 
trade, and came to Ohio in 1848, when the 
country was yet quite a wilderness. He pur- 
chased the farm upon which his widow now 
lives, but as he knew nothing about farming, he 
rented the land and worked at his trade. His 
widow, since his death, with the help of her 
daughters, has managed the farm, usually rent- 
ing it, and receiving a share of the proceeds. 
The farm consists of 100 acres of good land. 
John Barr was in the 121st Reg. O. V. I., and 
during the war was twice wounded — once in 
the neck, the ball still remaining in his shoul- 
der, and again in the knee, by the fragment of 
a shell. His occupation is that of farming. 
Though Ann Duffy is 81 years of age, she is yet 
quite strong, and bids fair to live many years to 



come. The oldest daughter of her family, 
married J. W. Dewitt, Feb. 2, 1854. She 
has the following family — Alfarata, born 
Nov. 29, 1854, Frank Leslie, May 11, 1856, 
George Burns, June 18, 1859, and Anna 
Laura, Dec. 27, 1861. March 4, 1855, Alfar- 
ata was married to Z. T. Thomas, and has by 
him, Fred, born April 26, 1876, Mary Maud, 
Oct. 11, 1877, and Clarence Dewitt, Feb. 22, 
1879. Jane and Margarette Duffy are still at 
home. They are bright and intelligent 
women. 

LOUI GAYNES, barber and confectioner; 
Sparta; was born in Arkansas in July, 
1850. His father was a Frenchman, named 
Alexander Gaynes, who owned a plantation 
in Arkansas; his mother was an Indian of the 
Blackfoot tribe, a remnant of which remained 
in Arkansas after the main tribe had gone 
Westward. The father died in 1854. Loui, 
when 9 years old, was taken by his mother to 
Paw Paw, Mich.; while here she was married 
again, and Loui being misused by his step- 
father, started out into the world to do for 
himself. After many hardships, he arrived at 
Detroit; and while standing in the depot cry- 
ing with hunger, and being so young, he at- 
tracted the attention of some Christian lady, 
who, after learning his destitute condition, 
gave him $5.00. Some kind gentleman started 
a subscription for him, which soon amounted to 
$15.00; he \vent to Canada, but soon returned 
and engaged as servant on board a steamboat; 
at the end of six months he secured a situa- 
tion as valet to a gentleman of sporting pro- 
clivities, with whom he remained three years, 
learning to read and write in the meantime; 
he served in the late war as bugler and part 
of the time as cavalryman; in 1879 he was 
married to Alice Hamptlon, a former slave 
of Wade Hampton, and moved to Sparta, 
where he now resides. He is the only barbtsr 
in Sparta, and in connection with his shop 
has a confectionery store. 

NATHAN HARRIS, farmer and carpenter; 
P. O., Sparta; was born in Chester Tp., 
then Knox Co., Ohio, in 1824; the son of 
Isaac M. and Mary (Barrow) Harris, who were 
married in Jan., 1813, and moved from New 
Haven, Conn., to Knox Co., Ohio, in 1817. 
The father, though a farmer, was licensed to 
exhort in 1824, to preach in 1827, and was 
ordained in 1831. lu this family were ten 






>> 




children — James M., Charles, Robert, Susan, 
Nathan, Nancy, John C, Nelson, and Polly 
A. and Rachel J., twins; all are dead, except 
James M., Robert, and Nathan; the former is 
married, and has a family of two children, and 
lives in Illinois. Robert is married, and has 
a family of ten children, and lives near Card- 
ington, Ohio. In 1839, Nathan apprenticed 
himself to a carpenter, with whom he re- 
mained for three years. His marriage with 
Ann Jackson was celebrated in Sept., 1848. 
The wife died Feb., 1852; they had no child- 
ren. By his second wife, Jane Severe, to 
whom he was married Sept. 21, 1854, he has 
a family of four children — Francis M., Edward 
C, Charles C, and Adie M. Francis M. was 
born Aug., 1855, and died when 18 years old; 
Edward was born Dec, 1856, and is at Mt. 
Vernon, Ohio, clerking in a dry goods store; 
Charles, born Oct., 1858, and died when ten 
months old; and Adie, born Sept., 18G0, and 
married to C. W. Barre in March, 1878. They 
have a family of two children — Carlton C, 
and Luther A. Mr. Harris is a member of 
the M. E. Church, and belongs to the 
Democratic party. 

ABRAHAM HERRON, farmer and black- 
smith; P. O. Sparta; was born in Richland 
Co., Ohio, in 1830, and is the son of Samuel 
and Elizabeth (Householder) Herron, who had 
a family of thirteen children — John, Samuel, 
Henry, Jacob, Mary, Elizabeth, Nancy, George, 
Margaret, James, Abraham, Sarah and one 
that died in infancy; Abraham's father was a 
farmer. When 18, he started learning the 
blacksmith trade, a business in which he is 
yet engaged. He was united in marriage 
March 20, 1854, to Hai'riet L., daughter of 
Reuben and Eliza (Loveland) Beard, by whom 
he has a family of three sons and one daughter — 
Emma A., Manly M., Burton D. and Warren 
S., all of whom are yet living. Emma is the 
wife of S. W. Lyon; the rest are living with 
their parents. Mrs. Herron was one in a 
family of six children, their names respectively 
are — Philander H., Almond, Louisa, Samantha, 
Randall and Harriet L. Mr. Herron, on his 
father's side, is of Irish descent, and on his 
mother's, Grerman; he owns fifty acres of land 
adjoining the village of Sparta, which he 
works in connection with his Ijade, He is a 
Prohibitionist, but was formerly a Republican. 
Himself and wife are members of the M. S. 



Church. Mr. Herron commenced his life 
without any pecuniary assistance whatever 
from any one, but by industry and frugality, 
he has acquired the nice home and property 
he now owns. 

JOHN HOLT, Sparta; son of James and 
Elizabeth (Rees) Holt; was born Sept. 8, 1826. 
The father came to Chester Tp., then in Knox 
Co., in about 1806, and was thus among its 
earliest pioneers. John received a common 
school education, and remained at home help- 
ing his parents until he was 22 years of age. 
By his first wife, Susan Howard, daughter of 
Elias and Mary Howard, he has one davighter 
and one son — Jerusha and James H. The 
former was born in 1849, and the latter in 1855; 
Jerusha is the wife of O. C. Chase, of Dela- 
ware, O., and by him has a family. James for 
a while was a student in the school of Oberlin, 
but at present is attending the schools of Del- 
aware. Mrs. Holt died in 1855, and Mr. Holt 
re- married March 14, 1858, to Abigail Barr, 
daughter of Hugh and Nancy (Lyon) Barr, 
with whom he is at present living. Mr. and 
Mrs. Holt are members of the M. E. Church 
at Sparta. Mr. Holt is a staunch Republican, 
a straight forward and honest man in all his 
dealings. They are highly esteemed by their 
friends and neighbors. 

WILLIAM HENRY HULSE, merchant; 
Sparta. Jabez Hulse was born in Tompkins 
Co., N. Y., Dec, 25, 1807, and is the son of 
Thomas and Leah (Weatherby) Hulse. Jabez's 
family consisted of his wife, Maria (Slack) 
Hulse, daughter of Theophilus and Mercy 
Slack, and seven children as follows — Francis 
G. Albert S., William H., Jesse, Cornelia, 
James K. P. and Maria, all of whom are 
married, except Jesse, who lives with his 
father. Jabez was married Jan. 1, 1832, and 
came to Ohio in the fall of 1835, locating in 
South Bloomfield Tp., Morrow Co. His wife 
died March 10, 1870. Feb. 28, 1872, he was 
again married, his second wife being Maria 
Henry, daughter of Benjamin and Sarah 
Henry, with whom he is yet living. His son 
William Henry, or " Hank," as he is more fam- 
iliarly known, was born in Morrow Co., Ohio, 
Nov. 7, 1837; he lived with his parents until 
he was 15 years old, and was then apprenticed 
to learn the carpenters' trade. During his 
youth he obtained a thorough knowledge of 
the chair making business, which trade was 



V 



0C8 



SOUTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



followed, more or less, after he became a man ; 
he learned the carriage makers' trade and 
worked at that in connection with his other 
trades. When about 33 years old, he beo-an 
clerkias; for S. L. Newcomb, in Sparta, who 
was in the c;eneral mercantile business; was 
also at Pulaskiville in the same business for a 
few months. On the 13th of October, 1875, 
he formed a partnership with Wesley Chipps, 
at Sparta, to be known as Chipps & Hulse, 
dealers in general merchandise. The partners 
advanced equal amounts of capital, and bought 
the stock of W. C. Harris, wliicli invoiced at 
^31.25. These young men have been in the 
business ever since, and have the liveliest 
business in their lively town. Mr. Hulse was 
married June 13, 18G9, to Miss Ellen Bliss, 
daughter of Caroline and Mason Bliss. 
The wife is one of a family of six children, 
and was born Dec, 4, 1846. Henry Huise is 
Deputy Postmaster at Sparta. He is a Uni- 
versalist in his religious belief, and is one of 
the most enterprising and successful business 
men of Sparta. 

DANIEL S. HOPKINS, farmer; P. O. 
Bloom field; was born in Greene Co., Pa., Aug. 
13, 1845; his father Levi Hopkins, was born 
in 1813, and his mother, Elizabeth (Patterson) 
Hopkins, was born in 1814, and they were 
married in 1838; they had a family of seven 
children — John, twins (one of them being Es- 
ther Ann, the other dying in infancy), Mary 
Jane, Daniel, Thomas P. and Elizabeth. John 
is in Centerburg, Knox Co., engaged in the 
mercantile business; he marrieu Lucinda 
Swart,and has two children — Ida D. and Emma 
E.; Esth(!r is also in Centerburg; her husband, 
William Smith, is a warehouseman; she has 
five children — James H,. Arie Alice, Frank, 
Homer and Stanley. Thomas P. is practicing 
the profession of medicine in San Francisco, 
Cal.; he is unmarried; Elizabeth is at home. 
Daniel passed his youth on his father's farm 
in Pennsylvania; in 1804 he enlisted in the 
140th Reg. Pennsylvania Volunteers, and 
served until he was mustered out of service 
in July, 1865; he was in the bloody battle of 
the Wilderness; was at Sj)Ottsylvaniaand Cold 
Harbor, and was in the battle before Peters- 
burg, and in numerous other engagements of 
less note; after being mustered out of service, 
he worked upon his father's farm on shares 
until he was married, Aug. 13, 1870, to Kate 



H., daughter of James and Mary (Harvey) 
Throckmorton, who had the following family: 
Joseph, Maria, Kate, Elizabeth, William, Mar- 
garet, Sarah, Clara and Emma; all this family 
are living except Maria. Daniel S. has two 
children — James L., born Sept. 16, 1871, and 
Charles S., born Aug. 20, 1875. The father 
moved to South Bloomfield Tp. in 1867. Mr. 
Hopkins is a Republican, and is a member of 
the M. E. Church; he owns one-half interest 
in the grist mill at. Centerburg, together with 
four lots, upon which is a dwelling; he is at 
present working on his father's farm, on 
shares. 

F. G. HULSE, carpenter and joiner and 
farmer; P. O. Sparta; was born in New York, 
Aug. 13, 1833; his parents Jabez and Maria 
(Slack) Ilulse, had a family of five sons, and 
two daughter — Francis G., Albert S., William 
H., Jesse B., Cornelia, James K., and Mar- 
garet M. All of these are living and all mar- 
ried except Jesse. Francis G. passed his 
youth and early manhood with his parents; 
when but two years old, his parents moved 
to Ohio; he received a limited education; 
when he was 20, he started out in life for 
himself. His marriage with Miss Rebecca 
Shaw was celebrated Dec. 28, 1860, and by 
her he has the following children — Almina, 
born Sept. 28, 1861; Mary E., born July 10, 
1864; Jabez, born Aug. 8, 1868; Martha D., 
born Dec. 10, 1870; Edward, born Jan. 20, 
1872; Frederick, born Aug. 2, 1874, and 
Samuel L., born March 15, 1877. All these 
are living at home, with their parents, who 
live on a w^ell improved farm of 100 acres, 
about a mile and a half north-east of Sparta; 
he moved on the farm ho now owns in 1865, 
and has lived there ever since. Mr. Hulse's 
wife is a member of the M. E. (Church, while 
he is a Universalist, and an adherent to the 
principles laid down in the platform of the 
Democratic party. 

WILLIAM H. HARPER, wagon and car- 
riage maker; Bloomfield; was born in Licking 
Co., Ohio, May 15, 1834. His parents, Linton 
and Susan, (Galer) Harper, were married Aug. 
24, 1831. The father was born Dec. 24, 1800, 
and the mother, June 25, 1812. These parents 
had six children — Harriet Jane, William H., 
I^ydia C, Th(^nas A., Abel M., and Aaron. 
Harriet married David Harrigle; has quite a 
family, and lives in Hardin Co.; Lydia married 



.\±. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



669 



George Shackelford, and lives in Marion Co.; 
Thomas married Maria Easterday, and has 
a small family, and lives in Union Co.; Abel 
married Bell Loutzenhiser, and has a small 
family, and lives in Tama Co., Iowa; Aaron 
is dead; William lived with his father until 
he was 18 years old, when he went to Gran- 
ville for three years, to learn the wagon and 
carriage making trade; he has worked at his 
trade almost all the time since, although at 
present he does much carpenter work. He 
worked one year at Mt. Liberty, about five 
years at Lock, and then about twelve years 
at Bloomfield. In 1857, he bought the build- 
ing he now owns in Bloomfield, into which he 
put a general assortment of goods, worth about 
§1,100; he shortly afterward added $400 to 
the stock. The goods have been sold out, 
and the store is now closed. On the 1st of 
March, 1857, he married Ann V. Cooper, and 
by her had one son, George I., born March 
24, 1858. This wife died Nov. 18, 1858, and 
on the 10th of May ,1859, he married Mary J. 
Boner, by whom he had three children — John 
E., born May 1, 1860; Delia A., born Jan. 
16, 1865, and Charles B., born May 22, 1874. 
On the 5th of February, 1876 Charles was so 
terribly scalded, that he died, after several 
hours of suffering. Mr. Harper's son, George, 
married ^.0% J?oy\xlL J^'j '^^^ 1879. They 
live in Illinois; the other two children are at 
home. Linton Harper died in 1875 and his 
wife in 1876. Linton, the father, came to 
Muskinghum Co., O., in 1816. William Har- 
per in 1876 patented a door check which 
proves very useful and valuable. The inven- 
tion consists of a bell cone having ears from 
its base by which it may be fastened by 
screws to the floor or door-casing; through 
the top of this cone passes a screw upon 
which is pivoted a catch which holds the door 
open. At right angles to the catch and fas- 
tened to the cone is a lug to which a spiral 
spring is attached, the other end being fas- 
tened to the pivoted catch. When the door 
is pushed back it strikes the catch which 
yields until the notch is reached, when it 
springs back, catches the door and holds it. 
Mr. Harper has territory to sell on easy terms 
to responsible agents. 

JOHN INSCHO, undertaker, cabinet- 
maker, carpenter and joiner; Sparta; is 
the son of John and Susanna (Schrack) In- 



scho, and was born in Licking Co., Ohio, Jan., 
31, 1811. The father was a native of New 
Jersey, and the mother of Penn., and they 
were among the first settlers in Licking Co., 
coming in, in 1806. They had a family of 
twelve children, nine of whom reached their 
majority. Their father was a soldier in the 
war of 1812. He moved to Huron Co., in 1815, 
thence to Richland Co., and afterward to 
Knox Co., where he remained until hi? death, 
Oct. 17, 1848. The mother followed him Oct. 
19, 1850. When the father moved into Knox 
Co., John was 10 years old; he remained on 
his father's farm until 18 years of age, when 
he served an apprenticeship at the carpenter 
and joiner's trade. He was married to Eliza- 
beth Rilea, April 28, 1836. They have a fam- 
ily of seven children, four of whom are yet 
living, as follows: Lucy V., Royal D., Wesley 
A. and Adelphine. Both before and after his 
marriage, he worked industriously at his trade, 
starting with scarcely a penny, and with but 
one suit of clothes; after his marriage, he lived 
for many years at Mt. Liberty, Knox Co., but 
in 1864 he moved to Sparta, and began in the 
general business of making and selling furni- 
ture, repairing or building houses, and under- 
taking; he keeps on hand an excellent stock of 
furniture, at all times, and sells as low as the 
lowest. His children are all married and set- 
tled in life. Mr. Inscho owns his shop, and a 
nice little home in Sparta. He is a Democrat, 
and is also an enthusiastic Universalist. He 
has been Township Treasurer for many years; 
has been Justice of the Peace, and in years 
past, was Captain of a company of State mili- 
tia. He is industrious and honest, and is a 
good citizen and neighbor. 

EUGENE KENT, fruit-grower; P. O., 
Sparta; was born in Williams Co., Ohio, Sept. 
19, 1853; his father, Ashford, and his mother, 
Eleanor (Evans) Kent, were married in 1849, 
and had a family of six children — Sylvester, 
Eugene, Frank, Victorine, and twins, who 
died in infancy; Sylvester died when one 
year oid; Frank and Victorine are both at 
home, and are yet unmarried. AVhen Eugene 
was about 2 years old, his father came from 
Williams Co., and settled in South Bloom- 
field Tp. After living for short periods on 
various farms, in the northwestern part of the 
township, the father finally settled on the farm 
he now owns; this was about the year 1870. 



3n: 



\ 



070 



SOUTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



Eugene received but a cominon school edu- 
cation, and when old enough, assisted his 
father on his farm; at the age of 21 he began 
to accumulate property for himself. In 18?4, 
lie was united in marriage to Ella E. Sackett, 
daughter of James Sackett, of Porter Tp., 
Delaware Co., Ohio. There was born one 
child — Myrtle O., Nov. 22, 1875. Eugene, 
after his marriage, lived with his father two 
years; he then moved to Henry Co., Ohio, and 
at the expiration of about four weeks, left 
that county and went to Marengo, Bennington 
Tp., where he remained nearly two years, 
after which he returned to South Bloomfield 
Tp., and lived for a short time in the house 
just opposite his father's residence. He then 
bought the place upon which he now lives, 
and moved there in 1879. While in Henry 
Co., he ran a saw-mill, one-half interest of 
which he owned; he did the same while at 
Marengo. At present he owns one-third in- 
terest in a steam cider-mill; he cultivates and 
sells about 250 bushels of apples per year; 
also about 200 bushels of grapes, 75 bushels 
of raspberries, 20 bushels of peaches, and 
other berries and fruits. He is a Republican, 
and is a Universalist in belief, though a mem- 
ber of no church. His wife, Ella (Sackett) 
Kent, can trace her lineage back to 1620. It 
is said that three Sacketts came over in the 
Mayflower. The descendants of one of them 
settled in northern New York, and gave rise 
to the name Sackett's Harbor; the descen- 
dants of one of them came to Columbus, Ohio, 
one of them being the surve3'or who platted 
the original town; this man was Elijah, Mrs. 
Kent's grandfather. Elijah had three differ- 
ent wives. By the first, Mary Cunningham, 
he had one child, James Sackett, the father of 
Mrs. Kent. Mr. Kent's grandfather, Kent, 
was in the war of 1812, and at his death a 
military salute was fired over his grave in 
honor of his crallant services for his countrv. 

SYLVENt:S KILE, farmer; P. O., Sparta; 
was born March 6, 1823; Jacob and Elizabeth 
(Towser) Kile, his father and mother, had a 
family of ten children — Sylvenus, William, 
one that died unnamed, John, Jesse, David, 
Mary, Nicholas, Nancy and Washington. The 
father came from Virginia to Ohio, in 1823, 
stopping at Rushville for about eight months, 
alter wliich he moved and settled in South 
Bloomfield Tp., Morrow Co., Ohio, just east 



of the place now owned by his son Jesse; like 
all the boys and young men of those times, 
Sylvenus passed his youth in improving his 
father's place, getting once in a while a 
glimpse at his books; he remained thus until 
of age, and then liegan to farm his father's 
place on shares, and soon afterward to rent 
the land of neighbors — living in the meantime 
at his father's; in September, 1856, he mar- 
ried Naomi, daughter of Solomon and Sarah 
Dehaven, and has a family of four children — 
Caroline, born in 1857; George D., 1859; 
Sarah E., 1862, and Flora V., 1866. Flora 
died while an infant; the others are yet liv- 
ing. Solomon Dehaven was a soldier in the 
war of 1812, and by the special act of Con- 
gress, drew a pension of §96 per annum until 
his death. Mr. Kile owns 103 acres of land, 
is a Democrat, and his family is well-known 
in the southern part of the township. Mrs. 
Naomi Kilo is a member of the Methodist 
Church. 

JESSE KTLE, farmer and stock-dealer; P. 
O., Mt. Liberty, is the brother of Sylvenus 
Kile, whose biography is found elsewhere in 
this work. Jesso was born in this township, 
Jan. 17, 1829. His early years were spent 
like those of other boys of that early day in 
going to school in winter and in cleaning up 
and farming his father's place in summer. 
He worked on the old place until his father 
died, all the proceeds of his labor going into 
the general family fund. In 1863 he began 
buying and selling stock, and being a shrewd 
financier, he managed to lay up considerable 
money during the seven years he was en- 
gaged in that business. Since 1870 he has 
been farming almost exclusively, though still 
dealing in stock to a limited extent. When 
his father died, the old place was divided 
among the different heirs; but Jesse has since 
bought all the claims, and he now owns the 
old homestead, and has it all paid for. 
There are' 115 acres, and all the land is well 
improved. On the 14th of February, 1866, 
he was united in marriage to Martilla (Cotton) 
Barrick, the widow of Daniel Barrick, who 
died while in the service of his country. 
Mrs. Kile had by hei- first husband one 
child — Flavia, born in 1861, who is now mar- 
ried to Charles Brokaw, and lives east of 
Sparta. Mr. and Mrs. Kile have a family of 
four children — Bertram C, born June 2, 



W 



>^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



671 



1867, I.everetta, March 7, 1871; Stanley B., 
March 11, 1875, and William L., May 31, 
1879. Mr. Kile is a Republican; his wife is 
a Methodist. He is a good citizen and a 
kind neig-libor; he is well known in the 
southern part of the county, and his word is 
as good as his note, and both are as good as 
gold. 

MARVIN B. LYON, shoemaker. The 
present Postmaster at Bloomfield, is Mar- 
vin B. Lyon, who was horn in Tomp- 
kins Co., N. Y., Nov. 24, 1830. His father came 
to Ohio in 183-1, and located in Hilliar Tp., 
Knox Co., where Edwin Lyon now lives. Mr. 
Lyon's early years were passed on his father's 
farm; he received a good common school ed- 
ucation, and at the age of 31 was united in 
marriage to Selina, daugjiter of Daniel Chad- 
wick, and by her has the following family — 
Orlin M., born Dec. 24, 1852, and Ernest W., 
born Feb. 26, 1857; his marriage was cele- 
brated Jan. 1, 1852; in Aug., 1875, his son 
Orlin, married Hena, daughter of Robert 
Gray, of Delaware Co.; Orlin has one son, 
Clarence, born in Feb. 1877. Mr. Lyon's 
parents are David S. Lyon and Ivah, daugh- 
ter of Elmer Chase, Esq.; and in his father's 
family were the following children — Sherwood, 
who died in infancy; Marvin B., Cornelia, 
Edwin L. and Daniel E.; Cornelia is dead; 
Edwin L. married Fannie, daughter of Isaac 
Brokaw; has three children, and lives in Hil- 
liar Tp., Knox Co.; Daniel E. married lone, 
daughter of Wesley Clark, and has one child. 
After Mr. Lyon married he lived with his 
father about lour years, and then moved to 
Johnson Co., Iowa, where he remained almost 
a year, and then came back to Ohio. He set- 
tled in Bloomfield and worked at his trade — 
shoemaking; in 1873 he bought 80 acres of 
land, adjoining the town. In 1878 he started 
a store in Bloomfield, with an assortment of 
groceries, notions, boots and shoes; he has 
quite a lively trade, with a stock worth about 
$1,000. He is at present justice of the peace. 
Is a Republican and Prohibitionist, and a 
member of the Advent Christian Church at 
Sparta. He is one of the most prominent 
men in the township. 

SMITH LYON, farmer; P. O., Bloomfield; 
was born in Connecticut in 1811,^ and lived 
there until he was nearly 7 years old; his 
father and mother, Walker and Mary Ann 



(Tuttle) Lyon, came to South Bloomfield Tp. 
in 1817, and tims were among the earliest 
st;ttlers. The father was born in April, 1779, 
and was married in Aug., 1808; he had a 
family of three children — Smith, born as 
above; Jennet, born July, 1817, and Harriet, 
born Sept., 1823; all three are yet living. 
When Smith was 21 he married Sally Jane 
Marvin, and by her has one child — Newton T., 
born in January, 1833. After his first wife 
died he married Deborah J. Lounsbury, and 
by her has one child — Sally Jane — who is the 
wife of Col. A. H. Brown. Mr. Lyon is a Re- 
publican; he owns 475 acres of land, and is 
one of the few oldest settlors in the township. 
His father came here late in the fall of 1817 
— so late that cold weather set in before lie 
could finish his log cabin; he could not make 
mortar, and had to fill up the chinks with 
moss and sod; he taught school at an early 
day, and was among the first teachers in the 
township. He was a Justice of the Peace, 
and performed many marriage ceremonies, 
receiving for his services some sort of pro- 
duce, such as potatoes. Smith Lyon received 
but a meagre education in youth, as his ser- 
vices on his father's farm were indispensaljle, 
and he was kept at home chopping and clear- 
ing. He is well known and universally re- 
spected. 

JOHN McGUIRE, plasterer; Sparta; is 
the son of John McGuire, a wheelwright, and 
was born in New Jersey, April 27, 1835; 
when he was 2 years old his mother died; his 
father then bound him out 'o John McGrady, 
who in 1840 moved to Ohio, bringing young 
McGuire with him; he remained with McGrady 
until he was 22 years old. In 1858 he mar- 
ried Emeline, daughter of Franklin and Har- 
riet Way, and by her has a family of four 
children — i\.da, F. M. E., Charles and Mary. 
Ada married James Work. Mr. McGuire is 
a mechanic and builder, as well as a plasterer. 
He owns seven lots in Sparta, and is one of 
the nine men who own the Sears Cemetery. 
He served in the 30th regiment O. V. I., dur- 
ing the late war; he is an active politician, 
and in 1878 was candidate for County Re- 
corder on the Democratic ticket. His wife 
died in Feb., 1877. 

GEORGE B. MINARD, carriage-maker 
and blacksmith; Sparta; was born in 
Townsend Tp., Huron Co., Ohio, July 27, 



, V 



-^ 



•t> 



G7: 



SOUTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSIIir. 



1846. He is the son of Lucius L., and Eliza- 
beth Jones (Mabbett) Minard, who had a fam- 
ily of five children — John M., George B., 
Seth A., Anna M. and Lenard L. The young- 
est child died when but an infant; the bal- 
ance of the family are all living, and all mar- 
ried, except Anna who is living at home with 
her parents, in Milan. John is married, and 
has a famiyl; he is a machinest, and lives in 
Xorwalk, Huron Co., Ohio. Seth is a car- 
riage-maker, is married, and lives in Milan, 
Erie Co., Ohio. George B. passed his youth 
with his parents, and going to school. He was 
united in marriage Oct. 4, 18G7, to Ida C, 
daughter of Henry and Florinda Ruggles, and 
by her has one son and one daughter — Mag- 
gie L., born Aug. 15, 1868, and Newton L, born 
Oct., 1870. The wife was born Oct. 28, 1848. 
Mr. Minard came to Sparta in the fall of 1876, 
and entered into a partnership with Robert 
Mullenger, to be known as Minard & Mullen- 
ger. This firm does a general blacksmithing 
business — exept horse-shoeing — in connection 
with carriage-making. They do quite an ex- 
tensive business, and keep from three to four 
men busily engaged all the time. They also 
own in partnership 80 acres of land in Chris- 
tian Co., Mo. Mr. Minard owns a house and 
lot in Sparta, and also the carriage shop in 
which they do business. He is a Universal- 
ist, and a Democrat in politics. 

LEWIS MITCHELL, farmer and stock 
raiser; P. O., Mt. Liberty; his father and moth- 
er were married in Knox Co., O., in 1836, 
and to them was born a family of fifteen 
children; Harris, Emer, Lewis, Alice, Betsey, 
Albert, Welthy, Torrence, Maria, William, 
Laura, Dana, Mary, and two that died while 
inlaiits. Out of this large family, twelve 
lived to reach their majcnity. Lewis spent 
his youth in arduous labor improving the farm. 
He attended the district schools until 15, 
and then his father needing his services, kept 
him at home. When 19 years of age he began 
in business for himself; he was married to 
Lcnora Orsborn, and by her has a family of 
four sons and two daughters — Charles M., 
born July 17, 1861, Mvrtle E., Nov. 24, 1863, 
Lulu M., May 12, 1866, W. Delano, May 7, 
1871, Edwin W., July 9, 1873, and Emer C, 
July 15, 1875; all of these survive and live 
with their parents in South Bloomfield Tp. 
In 1862 Mr. Mitchell enlisted in Co. F., 



121st Reg., O. V. I., and was with this Reg't 
until after the battle of Perry ville — then owing 
to sickness was discharged; after recruiting 
his health for one j-ear at homo, he enlisted in 
the 100 days' service and was appointed Sec- 
ond Corporal. His grandfather was an offi- 
cer in the war of 1812. Mr. Mitchell is a Re- 
j)ublican, and himself and famdy are members 
of the Disciple Church. 

WILLIAM McKINSTRY, farmer; P. O., 
Sparta; Matthias McKinstry was born in Hun- 
terdon Co., New Jei-sey, Fob. 12, 1T96. Elfio 
Young was born in Sussex Co., New Jersey, 
in 1799; they were married and had 
a family of five sons and one daughter — 
John, William, Pliillip, Matthew, Samuel and 
Mary M.; John and Alatthew are dead; Phillip 
married Julia A. De^xter; he is a carpenter, 
and lives in Michigan; Samuel is married, and 
lives in Michigan, and is a tavern-keeper; 
Mary married William Miller, and lives in 
Michigan. William McKinstry was born June 
16, 1821; his parents moved to Ohio in 1831 ; 
after stopping three years in Knox Co., they 
moved to South Bloomfield Tp., and located 
where William now lives; when William was 
20 years old ho hired out to clear land, at $9.50 
per month; Sept. 2, 1841, he married Maria, 
a daughter of James Fletcher, and by her has 
nine children, seven of whom are yet living — 
Matthias, born July, 1842, married Jane Keys, 
and has three children; he is in the mercantile 
business in Hardin Co.; Rebecca, born 
March, 1844, married N. A. Yocum, and 
has twin boys; her husband is a farmer; 
William, born Oct. 10, 1846, was married 
to Jane White, and has a family, and lives in 
Knox Co.; David, born Oct. 24, 1848, and 
died Sept. 5, 1877; he was the husband 
of Lora Rinehart; Isaac, born Sept. 25, 
1850, and died Feb. 22, 1871; Jeff'erson, born 
.Jan. 7, 1853, was married to Sarah White, by 
whom he has a family; John J., born July 21, 
1855; James, May 24, 1858; Anna M., Sept. 
3, 1861. Mr. McKinstry is a I3emocrat, and 
he and wife are membersof the M. E. Church. 
He owns 196 acres erf nicely-improved land, all 
of which he has made by hard labor and close 
economy. When married, he had but §5.00, 
and after the expense attending such an oc- 
casion, had but fifty cents left; he then start- 
ed out in life to make a home lor himself and 
wife; after two years hard work, at $9.50 per 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



month, he bought his first team of horses; his 
mother then re-married, and the estate Avas 
divided among tlie heirs, each receiving about 
|>2oO. Mr. McKiustry immediately invested 
his share in real estate, and has continued to 
add thereto until he now has one of the best 
farms in the township. 

NATHAN MOORE, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O. Sjjarta; was born in Orange Co., 
N. Y., inl813; liis parents, Isaac and Clarissa 
(Wilcox) Moore, had the following family: 
Charlotte, Mary A., Isaac, Nathan, Lytic, Sam- 
uel and Elizabeth. Charlotte is dead; Mary 
Ann is married, and lives in Delaware Co., 
Ohio; her husband was George Manville, who 
is now dead, she being a widow with four 
children living; Isaac died in Kansas, and 
Lytic in Missouri; Samuel married Miss 
Williamson, and has a family of six children, 
and lives in Fremont Co., Iowa; Elizabeth 
married .lohn Gore; she lives in Bennington 
Tp., and has two children living. Nathan 
passed his early years on his father's farm. 
The father came to Ohio in 1815, first set- 
tlino- at Lancaster. After livine: in several 
counties at different times, he at last settled 
in Delaware Co. When Nathan was 19 he 
came to South Bloomfield Tp., and rented 
twelve acres, where his son now lives; he had 
one yoke of steers and an old horse, all of 
which he had got by trades and by hard 
labor; finally he traded a horse and wagon 
for thirty-six acres of tax land; he was then 20 
years old. At this time he was married to 
to Sarah, daughter of James and Methena 
(Edmunds) Crawford, and by her had ten sons 
and one daughter — Clarissa, Andrew, Nor- 
ton, Royal, Lytic, Lafayette, Lorenzo, Burr, 
Jerome and two that died in infancy; Clarissa 
married Joseph Lewis; she has four children 
and lives in Harmony Tp.; Andrew is dead; 
Norton married Elizabeth Evans; has four 
children and lives in Bennington Tp.; Royal 
married Rachel Evans and has a family of four 
or five children, and lives in Bennington Tp.; 
Lytle married Susan Potts and lives in South 
Bloomfield Tp.; Lafayette married Lydia 
Manville, and has one child and lives near Mt. 
Vernon; Burr married a Miss Titus; has one 
child, and lives in Beiuiingtc^n Tp.; Jerome is 
single, and is yet living at home with his fa- 
ther. Mr. ]\Ioore is a Republican, and is also a 
Universalist in belief. He owns about eighty 



acres of excellent land, upon which is a fine 
spring of pure water. He is decidedly a 
self-made man beginning life with scarcely 
any education; with nothing but his hands 
and native wit to keep him afloat. His wife 
and himself are yet quite strong, and have 
always been good noighi)ors and citizens. 

WM. N. ORSBORN, fanner; P. O., 
Sparta; was l)orn in this township, June 21, 
1824. His father, Thomas Orsborn, was 
captain of a merchant vessel, plying between 
New London, Connecticut, and the East 
Indias. On one of his return trips from the 
Indias, in 1812, his vessel was attacked by a 
British man-of-war, but by the bravery of the 
officers and men, they escaped, and landed 
their goods safely in New London. xVfter 
his arrival, he enlisted in his country's service, 
but soon resigned. Then owing to a request 
of his wife, Olive (Manning) Oi'sborn, he quit 
the sea and emigrated to South Bloomfield Tp., 
and engaged in the then new occupation (to 
him) of farming. This was in 1817, when the 
country was an unbroken wilderness, full of 
wild beasts. Having never been accustomed 
to wood-craft, the following is related as an 
incident connected with his early career in 
Ohio: The first tree he chopped down, not 
knowing in which direction to make it fall, 
he chopped it so that it fell directly on the 
cabin he had just erected. By hard labor he 
in time acquired some 300 acres of land, 
which, at his death, was divided among the 
children-^Abigail, Ainanda, John H., .James 
M., Arrilla J., Sarah, George R., and William 
N. The latter remained at home during his 
youthful days and improved his opportunities 
for an education. Nov. 5, 1845, he was mar- 
ried to Harriet Dustin, by whom he had a 
family of six children — Emeline, Melinda, 
Lucy J., Eliza A., William F., and Harriet 
D.; his wife died Jan. 23, 1804. Mr. Ors- 
born's second wife was Sarah Miller, to whom 
he was married Jan. 25, 18GG, and by her has 
three sons and one daughter — Nelson D., 
David G., Mary A., and Claud. Mr. Orsborn 
is independent in politics, in every case voting 
for the man, instead of the party. He is a 
Universalist in belief, but a member of no 
church. He owns 253 acres of nicely im- 
proved land in Morrow Co., but does very 
little towards farming, owing to a stroke of 
paralysis received in 1875. 



G74 



SOUTH BLOOIMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



THOMAS E. ORSBORN; Sparta; is the 
son of John H. and Nancy (Severe) Orsborn, 
and grandson and namesake of Thomas Ors- 
born, the South IMoomficld pioneer. His 
great g-randfatlier Osborii was captain of a 
merchantman on the Athintic Ocean. On one 
of the voyages tlie saihirs arose in mutiny, 
killed the captain and maimed the vessel for 
piracy and plunder. His grandfather was 
reared upon the sea, and being a man of great 
resolution and vitality, became captain, but 
becoming tired of the sea he moved his family 
into the wilderness of Ohio in 1815. Thomas 
E. was born in Knox Co., O., Nov. 28, 1841, 
and was one in a family of seven — Thomas 
E., L. Ellen, Byron H., one that died in in- 
fancy, Mary J., Roslinda and Clarinda M. 
Clarinda is dead, but the others are Hying in 
South Bloomtield Tp. Byron married Emma 
Brokaw; Roslinda married Thomas Scott; 
Ellen is the widow of Orange Hollister, and 
Mary is unmarried. Thomas' youth Avas 
passed on the old place; when the war broke 
out he enlisted in the l^lst Reg. O. V. 
I., Co. E., and in 18G3 was discharged for dis- 
abilities. In early years he served an ap- 
prenticeship at house-painting, which busi- 
ness he followed until his marriage to Maria, 
daughter of Solomon and Mary (Coleman) 
Roberts Nov. 1, 18G0; he has by her the fol- 
lowino; family: Mina Adell, born April 9, 
18G1 ;' Wilbur B.,. Jan. 29, 1863 (deceased); 
Frank L., Aug. 1, 1804; Kate M., Oct. 24, 
18G5; William B., May 5, 18G7; Nellie M., 
Dec. 2, 18G9; Brice ()., .Ian. 15, 1872; John 
H., Feb. 28, 1874; Lillie E., April 31, 1876; 
and a daughter, as yet unmarried, born Feb. 
14, 1880. After his marriage, Mr. Osborn 
farmed and dealt in stock until April, 1879, 
when he opened a butcher-shop in Sparta, on 
the corner of Main and Church streets; he 
is doing the princij>al business in his line in 
the town. His residence is half a mile south- 
west of Sparta. 

HARVEY L. PARKS, carpenter and 
joiner; Sparta. Is the son of Alexander 
and Mary (Clinton) Parks, who were mar- 
ried in New Jersey, Feb. IG, 1839; in this 
family there were seven children — Martin, 
Robert, Clarkson, Lydi;i, Harvey, Malinda, 
and Warren; Warren is a blacksmith in 
Sparta, and he and his sister Lyiha are living 
with their mother at that place; these two and 



Harvey are the only children in the family 
living. Harvey L. was born in South 
Bloomfield Tp. March 11, 1851; he attended 
the public schools in Sparta until he was 13 
years old, when his father's death occurred, 
which left him and his brother to provide for 
the family; he continued living at home un- 
til his raarriage with Miss Maria Hulse, 
daughter of Jabez Hulse, which event was 
celebrated April 30, 1874. To them was 
born one daughter, Mary Maud, Sept. 29, 
1877; the wife was born May 28, 1846. Mr. 
Parks can trace his relationship with Gov. 
Clinton, who was at one time p^overnor of 
New York. His family has also quite a fam- 
ily war history, which shows they took part 
in the Revolutionary war, the war of 1812, 
and the late civil war between the North and 
the South. Mr. Park's father and brother, 
Clarkson enlisted in Co. K, 174 Reg. O. V. I., 
in 1874, and both died from disease, contract- 
ed while in the service of their country; the 
father died at Washington, D. C, and the 
brother at Murphreesboro, Tenn. Harvey 
owns eight acres of land northeast of Sparta, 
upon which he now resides. He is a Dem- 
ocrat, and is a Universalist, although a mem- 
ber of no church. 

THOMAS J. PIERCE, fruit grower and 
farmer; P. O. Sparta; was born in this town- 
ship, Dec. 2(), 1820; he spent his youth upon 
the farm, and also attended schools near his 
old home; he remained with his father until 
he was 21 years of age, and then began doing 
for himself. His life has been given to a va- 
riety of pursuits; shortly after he was of ago 
he sold medicines, traveling throughout the 
country, at this business, for about ten years; 
he has sold books, and has also fiirmed more 
or less; at present he is engaged in selling 
fruit trees. He owns one-half interest in the 
fifty-six acres of land upo.i which his brother, 
Columbus, now lives. This place is made his 
headquarters, and for the last twelve years, 
he, with his brother, Columbus, has traveled 
more or less, over five or six counties, engaged 
in selling fruit trees on commission. Himself 
and brother deal quite largely in raspberry, 
blackberry, strawberry, grape and other plants 
and vines; they keep constantly on hand a 
general nursery stock, but with the exception 
of the smaller fruits and berries, sell almost 
entirely on commission. The Pierce Brothers 




are men of decided ability. All the Pierces 
are intellig'ent and wide-awake men. 

COLUMBUS D. PIERCE, fanning and 
fruit-growing; P. O. Sparta; was born in 
South Bloonifield Tp., Nov. 1, 1839. His 
father, B. C, and mother, Nancy (Wildman) 
Pierce, were married May 1, ISIO, and had a 
family of seven children — Thomas J., May E., 
Nathan W., Perry N., Betsey J., Daniel H. 
and Columbus D. May, Nathan and Betsey 
are dead; Columbus D. passed his youth on 
the farm, and when he became 18 years old, 
began to do for himself ; he taught school 
a year or two, and Avhen the war of the Rebel- 
lion broke out, enlisted in the 121st Regt., O. 
V. I., and served three years; was in thirty 
engagements and skirmishes; was with Sher- 
man on his march to the sea, and in all the 
perilous movements of that noted campaign ; 
was at Lookout and Kenesaw mountains; was 
at Perrysville, Dalton and Mission Ridge and 
many other noted battles; he was married 
Nov. 1, 18G7, to Hortense, daughter of 
Elizur and Maria (Manville) Price, and by 
her has a family of three children — Frank L., 
born April 22, 1870; Bertha W., March 16, 
1872, and Florence May, May 22, 1875. Mr. 
Pierce owns 88 acres of land and his principal 
business is fruit-growing; he has 41 acres in 
orchard, which is now eight years old; in it 
are all the best varieties adapted to this cli- 
mate. Mr. Pierce is a Republican, and is a 
member of the Christian Advent Church at 
Sparta, as is also his wife. 

ANDREW JACKSON ROBERTS, car- 
penter and joiner; Sparta; was born in 1822; 
he is one of the best carpenters in South 
Bloomfield Tp., and nearly all the buildings 
for nn'les around were planned and built by 
him; his father, Solomon Roberts, settled near 
Sparta, in 1830; Andrew had but little school- 
ing, and was subjected to hard work on his 
father's farm; at the age of 22 he learned his 
trade, and while thus engaged worked for |5 
per month; his mother's maiden name was 
Mary Coleman, who bore her husband a fam- 
ily of ten children — Almira, born 181 G; x\nn 
Eliza, 1818; Adaline, 1821; Andrew, 1822; 
Curtis G., 1824; one that died in in- 
fancy; Mary, born 1828; William, 1831; 
Perilla, 1833, and Maria, 1835. Almira 
married Abraham McNair, and lives in 
Iowa; she is a widow, and has four chil- 



dren; Ann Eliza married William Roberts, 
had four children, one of whom is living; Ad- 
aline married Thomas Hughes; she has five 
children, and lives in Missouri ;'Curtis mar- 
ried Arminda Beebe; he has a large family, 
and lives in Iowa; Mary married J. C. Cook, 
lives in Sparta, has one child living; Wil- 
liam, married Lydia Ann Swetland; he lives 
near Sparta, and has four children, three of 
whom are living; Perilla married George Ors- 
born, and lives southeast of Sparta, and has 
five children; Maria married Thomas Orsborn, 
lives near Sparta, and has nine children. In 
1846, Andrew married Alvira, daughter of 
Jacob S. Thompson; the next year he moved 
to Michigan, stopping four years at the capi- 
tal (Lansing), then containing but two or 
three houses. While in Michigan, his wife 
died, leaving an infant daughter, who is now 
the wife of Alexander Tims, and lives near 
Sparta. Mr. Roberts came back to Ohio in 
1851; he remained a widower until 1879, 
when he married Mrs. S. J. Bradfield, widow 
of Daniel Bradfield: his father and mother 
had poor health, and during the long years 
before their death, were dependent upon their 
son Andrew for support and protection. Mr. 
Roberts is a Demo-Prohibitionist; is not a 
member of any church; he takes pride in op- 
posing the inconsistencies of church dogma; 
he has been .Justice of the Peace, Township 
Trustee, Notary Public, etc.; he owns 14 acres 
of land. His father died aged 72, and mother 
died aged 82. Mr. Roberts is a member of 
the Masonic Lodge at Sparta, and is one of 
the prominent men in the township. 

ALONZO RAMEY. farmer; P. O. Mt. Lib- 
erty; the grand-son of Peter Kile, one of the 
oldest settlers in the Tp., was born in South 
Bloomfield Tp. in 1842; his father is T. A. 
Ramey and his mother Melinda (Kile) Ramey, 
daughter of Peter Kile. There were ten 
children in Peter Kile's family: John, born 
in Oct., 1815; Reason, Aug., 1817; Melinda, 
Nov., 1819; Simon, Dec, 1821; Washing- 
ton, March, 1824; Ransom, Sept., 1826; 
Harvey, March, 1829; Catharine, Feb., 1832; 
Mary E., Oct., 1835; atid William W., April, 
1839. In T. A. Ramey's family were 
four boys and two girls — Alonzo, Arminda, 
Washington, Brown, Emmett and Orpha. 
Alonzo passed his youth at Mt. Liberty, going 
to school; at the age of 15 he went on a farm. 



t. 



G7G 



SOUTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



wliero he remainod until he w.is 20 years old; 
in 18()2 he enlisted in the 9Gth Reg.', O. V. I., 
and served ten months, but at the e;id of that 
time he wa* so reduced by disease that he 
was discharcred; after his discharge he re- 
mained with his father until his marriage with 
Sarah A. Mortley, Oct. 4, 1804-. Pie has two 
children — Delma, born July 9, 18G5, and Bur- 
ton, Jan. 4, 18G7. Mr. Ramey owns 100 
acres of land, it being the same fractional 
([iiarter section upon which Peter Kile lived, 
when he first settled in the Tp. He is a Re- 
publican. 

WILLIAM L. SWETLANl), farmer and 
stock raiser; P. O., Sparta; is the son of Giles 
and Sarah (Lewis) Swetland, and was born in 
South Bloomfield Tp., Aug. 31, 1838. He 
spent his youth on his father's farm, where he 
remained until he was 24 years old; but began 
to accumulate property for himself at the age 
of 21. On the 25th of Dec, 1861, he was 
united in marriage to Cornelia E., daughter 
of .labez and Mariah (Slack) Hulse, and has 
by her a family of five children — C. Duane, 
born Aug. 1, 18G3; Minnie R., Aug. 1, 18G7; 
Silenda L., An<r. 28, 18G9; Manning L., April 
1, 1872, and Burton V. E., Aug. 31, 1874. 
Mr. Swetland own 235 acres of land, all well 
improved; he has in his possession a watch 
which belonged to his great-grandfather, 
Luke Swetland; he also has an old wooden 
moleboard ]ilow, used by his father in early 
times, which he values highly as a keepsake. 

WARREN SWETLAND, farmer and 
stock-raiser; P. O., Sparta. The Swetland 
families, living in or near Sparta, are the de- 
scendants of Artemas and Lydia (Abbott) 
Swetland, who enn'grated from Pennsylvania 
to Ohio, in 1810, first locating in Delaware 
Co., in 1818; they moved to South Bloomfield 
Tp., and remained there until their deaths, 
leaving a family of four sons and one daugh- 
ter — Augustus W., Giles, Fuller, Seth and 
Marilla. Wari-en Swetland is the son of 
Giles and Sarah (Lewis) Swetland, who were 
the parents of five sons and one daugliter. 
Warren was born in South Bloomfield Tp., 
in April, 1834, and, until about 185G, he re- 
mained with his father, clearing and improv- 
ing the ])lace. He farmed, with his brother, 
one year in Chester Tp., and was then united 
in marriage with Magaret A., daughter of 
Daniel and Mary (Davis) Thomas. They have 



no children, but have raised and educated an 
orj)han girl, named Arrilla Lewis, who was 
married to Daniel Potts, in 18G9. Mr. Swet- 
land owns 129 acres of well-improved land, 
near Sparta, and is one of the nine men who 
own and have charge of the fine cemetery north 
of Bloomfield. He was formerly a Democrat, 
but at present supports the Prohibition party. 
His wife and himself are members of the M. 
E. Church, at Sparta. Artemas Swetland, 
the grandfather of AVarren, when a boy, was 
in the fort at the Wyoming masacre, and es- 
caped death only by remaining with his 
father, Luke, who was on picket duty inside. 
Warren's great-grandfather, Abbott, was nmr- 
dered shortly after this, by the savages. 
When the Indian scare was over, the settlers 
began to return to their farms. One day, 
while at work in the field, with another pio- 
neer, Mr. Abbott saw the Indians coming, 
and started to run, but was shot, crippled, 
and overtaken by them, and dispatched with 
the tomahawk. Artemas was in the war of 
1812, enlisting while in Delaware Co., Ohio. 
He was one of the first settlers in South 
Bloomfield Tp., and his sons, Augustus, 
Giles and Seth, vividly remember the hard- 
ships through which they paSsed, in their 
new home in the wilderness. This family is 
noted for longevity, and, although some of 
them are nearly four score and ten, yet they 
are full of vigor and strength. The family is 
well known, and universally respected. 

IRA SALISBURY, retired farmer; P. O. 
Sparta; is a native of New York, and was 
born in 1811; his parents were old settlers in 
the State of Ohio, and were closely identified 
with its history. When the father came to 
Ohio, in 1815, having considerable money, 
and not thinking it wise to carry it with him, 
he placed it in a trunk, which was sent by 
rail, but in its passage to Ohio it was broken 
open and rified of all this hard earned money. 
This loss baffled his calculations, and he had 
many hardships to undergo before he had a 
home he could call his own. Upon his arrival 
in Ohio he sto])ped for four months in the old 
fort at Delaware, and at the expiration of that 
time, moved to a farm that he had rented, 
five miles north of the town; he remained 
there about twelve years, working, economiz- 
ing and saving, and then purchased a farm 
of l50 acres, in Harmony Tp., where he moved 



h^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



677 



in about 1828, first stopping for a short time 
near Mt. Gilead; both the father and mother 
were born in 1780, and were married in Sept., 
1805. These parents, Ephraim and Lydia 
(Windsor) Salisbury had a family of seven 
children — Celinda, Ennis, Ganza, Ira, Eph- 
riam. Amy and Rebecca, all of whom are mar- 
ried and have families of their own. Ira's 
education was limited because of demand for 
his services on the farm. At the age of 21 
the proceeds of his labor went to himseif, yet 
he continued to live with his father. He was 
united in marriage Dec. 12, 1833, to Han- 
nah, a daughter of Rev. David James, 
and by her had a family of eight children — 
David, Ephriam, Elizabeth, Dinah, Ennis, 
Adin, Minerva and Brunson. Mr. Salisbury 
lived with his father until he died; svipporting 
him, but vising the proceeds for himself. In 
June, 1847, the father gave Ira a deed to the 
130 acres, purchased when he first came to 
Harmony Tp. At different times this was 
added to, until, he owned 380 acres; but since 
tliat time he has disposed of it all. Mr. Salis- 
bury at present owns some lots, and a few 
acres of land in and near Sparta, His wife, 
Hannah, died Dec. 13, 18G5; and on the 26th 
day of Nov., 1868, he married Diana (Hamill) 
Manville, the widow of John Manville. Mr. 
Salisbury's sons Ephriam, Ennis and Adin, 
were in the late war. Adin lost an eye at 
Chattanooga. Ennis was in sixteen battles, 
going on the march to the sea with Sherman. 
Ephriam and Ennis are both married, and live 
in Missouri, and have families; Diana is mar- 
ried and lives in New York. Mr. Salisbury is 
a member of the Baptist Church; he became 
a member in 1824. He is also one of the most 
radical and influential Republicans in the 
southern part of the county. 

WM. B. SPECK, miller; Sparta; was 
born in Guernsey Co., Ohio, in 1822; son 
of Augustus and Sarah (Reed) Speck; he is 
a miller, as was also his father, and is said to 
be one of the finest sawyers in the southwest- 
ern part of the county; his grand-father was 
a Saxon, and, Avhile passing through Germany, 
was seized and pressed into the army, and his 
regiment was employed by the British, to 
assist in qvielling the rebellious colonies in 
America, but while the troops were coming to 
this country, he succeeded in making his 
escape. Mr. Speck's grand- father Reed 



claims to have built the first log cabin where 
Steubenville now stands. His grand-mother 
Reed had three brothers, Avho were present 
at Crawford's defeat. Mr. Speck was married 
in 1858 to Elizabeth Lewis, and has by her a 
family of three children— Clinton B., Flora 
A., and Augusta V, Clinton is in the drain- 
tile business in South Bloomfield Tp; Augusta 
is married to George W. Butler, and lives in 
the same township; Flora A. lives at home 
with her father, and is the possessor of unusual 
musical talent. Mr. Speck owns the present 
saw mill at Sparta, which is said to be one of 
the handiest in the county. There were 
eleven children in Mr. Speck's father's family, 
and when the father died, there had not been 
a death before in the family for forty- five 
years. 

FLOYD SEARS, farmer; P. O. Bloom- 
field; is the son of Enoch Sears and Laura 
(Marvin) Sears, and was born in New York, 
Jan. 7, 1817. The father was a farmer, and of 
English decent. The parents were married 
in 1816, and came to Ohio in 1834; there was 
born a family of eight children, three of whom 
died in infancy — Floyd, Lewis, George, 
Harriett, Aaron Burr, Rufus, and tAVO that 
died in infancy. George W. married Rebecca 
Love, and lives in South Bloomfield Tp.; 
Aaron B. married Cathariiie Struble, lives in 
South Bloomfield Tp.; Lewis died; Harriet 
married Dr. L. T. Dewitt; Rufus married 
Mary Struble, and lives in Richland Co., Floyd 
spent his youth at home, receiving a limited 
education. In March, 1839, he married 
Victorine P., daughter of Sheldon Clark, and 
to them there were born three sons — Clark G., 
born July 13, 1840; Smith, born Feb., 1843; 
the third son died in infancy. In 1863, Clark 
married Deborah J. Cavert, daughter of John 
and Rebecca Cavert; they have one son, 
Charley A., born Dec. 6, 1871. Smith married 
Susan Vail in 1864, and lives in the village of 
Bloomfield; as does Clark and family, also. 
Enoch Sears died in 1876, and his wife in 
1871. Mrs. Sears' grand-parents, on her 
father's side, were Daniel Clark and Phedima 
(Curtis) Clark, who had a family of four child- 
ren — Roswell, Marshall, Ransom and Sheldon. 
Sheldon's wife Avas Selina McEAven, daughter 
of Ephraim McEavcu. In Sheldon's family 
were tAVo girls — Victorine P., born 1822, and 
Rebecca J., born 1828. Rebecca married 






\ 



>> 



67S 



SOUTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



Charles Jac-kson; he died, and she aftcrAvard 
married Allen S. Moffett. Sheldon Clark 
came Avith his family to South Bloomfield Tp., 
in 18'^G. Floyd is a Republican, and himself 
and family are members of the M. E. Church. 
Mr. Sears has held various township oirices of 
trust; he owns ^10 acres of Avell improved 
laiul; he is one of the trustees of the Bloom- 
field Cemetery. His father sowed in wheat 
the Hrst summer-falloAV ever sowed in the 
township, and raised quite a j^ood crop. Mr. 
Scars is one of the most prominent men in the 
township, and is universally honored and re- 
spected. 

WILLIAM TAYLOR, miller; Sparta; was 
born in Steubenville, Jefferson Co,, Ohio, in 
December, 1827; he is the son of Robert and 
Rachel (Scott) Taylor; the father was a na- 
tive of Lancaster Co., Pa., and was born in 
1798; the mother was born in 1808, and these 
parents were married in 182G; to this union 
was born a family of twelve children, all of 
whom are living, and are grown men and wo- 
men; their names respectively are — William, 
Susan, Jane, Alexander, Robert, Joseph, Jo- 
siah, Samuel, Mary, Rachel, John and Scott. 
Jane is the widow of Mr. Manville, and lives in 
Knox Co.; Alexander married Harriet Bab- 
cock, and lives in South Bloomfield Tp.; Jo- 
siah married Betsy A. Bradfield, and lives in 
the same township; John married Caroline 
Peeler, and lives in same township; the other 
members of the family, except William, are 
living with their mother in Bennington Tp. 
The father was a miller of forty years' expe- 
rience; in 1849 he discontinued the milling 
business at Steubenville, and moved to Mor- 
row Co., where he engaged in farming; he 
lived there until his death, which occurred 
March 26, 187'3; William assisted his lather 
in the mill at »Steubenville until he was 2'Z 
years of age, and then came with his father to 
Morrow Co.; in April, 18G1, he enlisted for 
three months in Company G., 20th Regiment; 
at the expiration of that time he re-enlisted 
for three years in Compatiy A, 20th Regiment 
O. V. I., and was nuistered out of service Feb. 
IG, ISGo; he was at the battles of Shiloh and 
Fort Donelson, and numerous other engage- 
ments of lesser note; since the war, he has 
been engaged in the milling business at Spar- 
ta. Mr. Taylor is a Rejjuljlican, but in local 
politics votes for the man and not for the 



party. He is a Universalist in belief, though 
a member of no church; for five consecutive 
years he was the Assessor of Bennington Tp.; 
Mr. Taylor has the reputation of being one of 
the best millers in Morrow Co. 

JOHN THOMPSON, farmer; P. O. Mt. 
Liberty; was born in South Bloomfield Tp. 
in 1820; his parents, James and Nancy 
(Cotton) Thompson, had a family of nine 
cliildren — William, Harris, Elizabeth, John, 
Mary, O'Connell who died in infancy; Serena, 
Margaret A., and Berthena; all are living 
except Harris and O'Connell. Mr. Thomp- 
son's early life was passed upon the home- 
stead. When IG, he went to Milford, where 
he remained eight years, but then came 
back to the old place; after staying there six 
years, he went to Mt. Liberty, and at the end 
of 21 years returned to South Bloomfield Tp., 
where he has remained ever since, engaged 
in farming; Mr. Thompson's father came to 
South Bloomfield Tp. in 1819; he was a 
blacksmith, and made for the early settlers 
iron cow-bells, buttons, bridle-bits, reaping- 
sickles, stirrups, etc.; he also made domestic 
articles — such as spoons — out of pewter, yet 
not very extensively; he and Aaron Jackson 
at an early day owned a small distillery, 
where whisky and brandy were made from 
corn and rye; he also owned a small grist- 
mill where corn could be ground; he was a 
Justice of the Peace in early times, and often 
had quite a full docket of assault and theft 
cases; he-lost $500 in Owl Creek money de- 
preciation. John Thompson was married in 
1843, to Matilda Cornell, and has four chil- 
dren — Frances, born Feb., 1844; Almeda, 
Dec, 1845; W^illiam A., Jan., 1847, and Mary 
A., Dec, 1853. Frances married Josephus 
Sanders, and has two children; Almeda mar- 
ried Lewis Crumpston, ar.d has two children; 
William married Angeline Robertson, and has 
two chidren; Mary A. married Amza Robert- 
son, and has one child. Mr. Thompson owns 
105 acres of land; is a Democrat; also a mem- 
ber of the Disciple Church, at Mt. Liberty. 
His family is well known in the township. 

JOHN'TAYLOR, farmer and stock-raiser; 
P. O. Sparta; was born in Virginia, Dec 22, 
1843. He made his home with his parents, 
Robert and Rachel (Scott) Taylor, until he 
was married; this event was celebrated Dec. 
16, 1876, his wife being Nancy Peeler, 



-Y ► 



^< 



.k 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



G79 



widow of the late Elijah Peeler, and daugh- 
ter of Robert M. and Nancy (Ely) Marsliall. 
By her first husband Mrs. Taylor had two 
daughters — Hattie, born Aug. 1, 1808, and 
Norah Oct. 27. 1870. She has one daughter 
by her present husband — Katie, born Dec. 
31 1878. Mrs. Taylor was born Feb. 38, 
1847; and she was married to her first hus- 
band July 3, 1867. Mr. Taylor is an excellent 
farmer living half way between the villages of 
Sparta and Bloomfield; his political views 
coincide with those of the Republican party, 
and his religious views with those of the Uni- 
versalists; his wife is a Lutheran; she owns 
one house and lot on East Chestnut street in 
Mt. Vernon, Ohio. 

W. SCOTT VAN SICKLE, hotel-keeper; 
Sparta; was born in Porter Tp., Delaware Co., 
Ohio, Dec. 30, 1848. His parents were Peter 
and Alma (Price) Van Sickle, who had the 
following family — Drusilla, Winfield Scott, 
John C. and Addison. The first three are 
now living, Mr. Van Sickle's life has been 
interspersed with a variety of pursuits, among 
which may be mentioned that of farmer and 
stock raiser, clerk in a drug and grocery store, 
and hotel-keeper; he was married Aug. 23, 
1868, to Orpha E., davighter of John and 
Salona (Hayden) Manville, by whom he had 
two sons — Harry B., born Aug. 29, 1872, 
and Monford C, born May 18, 1876; his wife 
was born May 14, 1847. In Dec, 1877, he 
purchased the Sparta House, in Sparta, Ohio, 
but soon exchanged that for the Hulse House, 
in which he now lives, engaged in keeping- 
hotel. Mr. Van Sickle owns one of the best 
hotels in Sparta, and has the principal hotel 
trade at that place. 

JAMES P. VAIL, merchant; Sparta; was 
born in Bennington Tp., Morrow Co., Ohio, 
in 1845; his father, B. T. Vail, a native of 
Connecticut, came to Bennington Tp. in 1830, 
and settled at what was afterwards called 
" Vail's Cross-Roads." He purchased 85 acres 
of land there, and beg-an farmingr. His wife 
was Mary A. (Crane) Vail, by whom he had 
a family of twelve children — Elizabeth, Amza, 
William P., Jane, Ira, Mary, James P., John, 
Frank, William, Malvina and Ella, all of 
whom are living, except Elizabeth, William 
P. and Amza. The father died in 1864, but 
the mother is yet living at Bloomfield. James 
P. was married Jan. 22, 1865, to Mary, daugh- 



ter of William Chase; he has a family of two 
children — C. Clifton, born Dec. 11, 1870, and 
B. Clyde, born July 31, 1873. Mr. Vail re- 
mained on his father's farm until he was 17 
years old, when he began clerking in a gen- 
eral store at Sparta, owned by William Chase, 
who afterwards became his father-in-law; he 
continued here for three years, and then went 
into business with J. P. Wriglit, at Bloomfield, 
under the firm name of Wriglit & Vail, keep- 
ing a general assortment of goods. At the 
end of a year this partnership was dissolved, 
and Mr. Vail returned to Sparta, and entered 
into business with his father-in-law, under 
the firm name of William Chase & Co. Three 
years after, this partnership was dissolved, 
and Dr. D. P. Bliss bought Mr. Chase's in- 
terest in the store and became Mr., Vail's part- 
ner, with the business name of Vail & Bliss. 
Two years afterwards Dr. Bliss sold his inter- 
est in the store to the senior partner, Mr. 
Vail, who has continvied the business at Sparta 
ever since. Mr. Vail carries a stock of from 
16,000 to $9,000 worth of goods, and is doing 
a good business; he has a wagon on the road 
all the year round, and has run it for eight 
years. His books will show a business of 
about $30,000 per year. Mr. Vail owns a farm 
of 85 acres of well-improved land, adjoining 
Sparta. He is a member of the Methodist 
Church, and is a radical Republican in poli- 
tics. 

JOHN Q. WORLEY, farmer; P. O., 
Centerburg; is a native of Licking Co., Ohio. 
In his parents' family were five children — 
William, Joseph, Andrew, Vianna, and John, 
all of whom are living, except Vianna. 
AVhen John Q. was 2 years old, his mother 
died, and he was given to a Mr. Saucer to 
raise; he remained with this man until 19 
years of age. In Sept., 1854, when he was 21, 
he married Margaret Baughman, and by her 
has a family of twelve children — George, 
born Sept., 1855; Orel, April, 1857; Abbey, 
Jan., 1859; Elmer, who died in 1861; Rose 
May, who died in infancy; John, born Dec, 
1863; Olive, March, 1866; Hugh, Mav, 1868; 
Virgil, Dec, 1871; Cara, April, 1875; Ida, 
March 1877; and Maud, Dec, 1879. Elmer, 
Rose, John, George and Ida are dead. Mr. 
Worley enlisted in 1861, in the 76th Reg. O. 
V. I., and served sixteen months, but was then 
discharged on account of kidney and heart 



w - 
^ (i 



i> "V 



>> 



(180 



SOUTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



diseases; eigliteeii months after his dis- 
chiirjre, he enlisted in the 178th O. V. L, and 
served lor one year; he was in many prom- 
inent enjia<Tements, such as Fort Donelson, 
Sliiloh, i'ittsl)ur<r Landing, Pea Ridge, Mur- 
iVcesboro, Goldsl)oro, Kingston, etc. Mr. 
Worley is a Democrat, and his wife is a 
member of the Methodist Church. His son 
Cieorge was killed in 1873, while excavating 
under an embankment of earth on the rail- 
road near Granville, Ohio. It was estimated 
that one hundred tons of earth and stone fell 
upon him. He had made an effort to escape, 
and when found was bent double backward. 
Orel married INIary Davis in 1879, and lives 
in Centerburg, Ohio. Abbey married Charles 
Tivenai) Sept. 24, 1878; she lives at Utica, 
Ohio, and has one child. Bertha. In Mrs. 
AVorley's fatlier's family were seven chil- 
dren — William, Rebecca, Jane, Elizabeth, 
Catharine, Mary Ann, and Sarah. William 
was killed at Ringgold, Georgia; he was shot 
through the head in battle. Joseph was 
ninth color-bearer in the 82nd O. V. I,, and 
was with Sherman on his march to the sea. 
Eight color bearers were shot down before 
him in the same battle, yet he bravely took 
the stars and stripes, when his turn came, but 
was shot and instantly killed. Mrs.Worley's 
father and mother are both dead. 

S. F. WAY, Sparta; was born in Summit 
Co., Ohio, July 22, 1843; he is the son of 
Franklin and ilarriet (Beebe) Way, who had 
a family of two sons and four daughters — P. F. 
Beverly, Harriet E., Lydia A., S. F., and sister 



Clarissa, and Merrilla D. The latter is the 
eldest, and died in childhood. P. F. Beverly 
is a graduate of the medical schools of Ann 
Harbor and St. Louis; he is now a practicing 
])hysician of Columbus, Ohio. Harriet E., was 
the wife of John McGuire, whose biography 
appears in this work. The father of this fam- 
ily was born Feb. 28, 1812, and died Aug. 23, 
1847. The mother was born Oct. 20, 180i); 
she is yet living, her home being with her son 
in S})arta. S. F. Way, made his home with his 
mother, assisting her and going to school un- 
til he was about 16 years old. The winter after 
he was 17, he taught district school, and after- 
ward alternately taught school and attended 
the college at Oberlin, for three years. His 
health then failed, and he was compelled to 
relinquish his studies for the time. When he 
was 20 years old, he was employed as in- 
structor in commercial studies of the business 
college at Oberlin, for one year. After this 
he was employed as teacher of penmanship in 
the college at Delaware, Ohio. Here his 
health again failed him, and he was obliged to 
give up active life altogether. He is now a 
licensed preacher of the M. E. Church, and is 
engaged in evangelistical work. He was mar- 
ried Dec. 5, 1872, to M. E. Harris, daughter 
of G. N. and Christina (Tussing) Harris, and 
by her had one daughter — Hattie E., born 
April 12, 1874, and died Aug. 25, 1875. He is 
now living in Sparta, where he has made his 
home for the past twenty-eight years. He is 
a prohibitionist. 







K 



CONGRESS TOWNSHIP. 



MICHAEL ALSHOUSE, farmer; P. O., 
Whetstone; is a native of Northumberland 
Co., Penn.; was born Nov. 2'd, 1822; tliere 
were twelve children in the family, he being 
the second; his father, Henry Alshouse, died 
Sept. 11, 1876, being 76 years and 9 months 
old, in same county, and was married to Cath- 
arine Blottener, both of same county; she died 
Jan. 3, 1848, and was 53 years and 2 months 
old. Michael was but 2 years of age, when 
his parents moved to Starr Co., this State. 
His father was a blacksmith by trade, but 
Michael, not satisfied to follow in his father's 
footsteps, left the sledge behind, and sought 
employment better suited to his tastes and in- 
clinations; he did not leave his father until 
he was 23 years of age. At the age of 26, 
March 22, 1849, he was married to Sevilla 
Reed, who was born in Richland Co.; she 
lived until Jan. 6, 1855. He was married to 
his present wife, Nov. 4, 1858; her name was 
Sarah Caldwell; she was born Dec. 4. 1841, in 
Richland Co.; she was the daughter of Fran- 
cis and Catharine (Erb) Caldwell, who was 
from Maryland; Mr. Caldwell was born in 
Richland Co. After his first marriage, he 
moved to Ci-awford Co., where he had pur- 
chased land; here he remained until 1863, 
when he moved to the north part of the town- 
ship, and purchased 120 acres of land; here 
he has remained ever since, and will, in all 
probability, spend his remaining days. They 
have two children — Charles Elmer, born May 
21, 1862; Sarah Etta, born Aug. 5, 1873. Mr. 
Alshouse had few school advantages, and 
has made his property through the medium of 
hard labor and frugal management. 
• WILLIAM BPXK, farmer; P. O., Whet- 
stone; is the third child of the family, and was 
bornin North Bloomheld Tp., April 17, 1836, 
and whose parents were Frederick and Catha- 
rineBeck; at the age of 17, he went out to 
work by the month; two years later, himself and 
two brothers bought the home pla,ce. Dec. 
13, 1857, he was united in marriage to Anna 
Heiash, who was born Jan. 16, 1834, in Wash- 



ington Co., Pa., the daughter of Peter and 
Elizabeth Heiash, Avho were natives of Hesse 
Darmstadt, and were eighty-four days cross- 
ing the ocean, coming out the same time with 
J. M. Snyder; Mrs. Heiash's uncles were in 
the war under Napoleon; Mr. Beck's uncles 
were also engaged in those contests, and were 
killed; Frederick was the only one left of the 
family to bear the name; Frederick Beck 
the father of William was born in Sept., 1800; 
his mother, Catharine, was born in Aug., 
1809. Mr. Beck has always been a hard 
worker; he began life poor, but was determin- 
ed to make his way in the world, and in the 
course of time have a good farm of his own ; 
he began work at fifty cents per day, and he 
is now in possession of an excellent farm of 
227 acres, and a first-class farm-house there- 
on, built of brick, which compares favorably 
with any in the township. They have five 
children — Edward E., born Oct. 21, 1859; 
Catharine, Feb. 15, 1861; Elizabeth A., 
March 13, 1863; Mary A., Julv 21, 1868; 
Ella May, Dec. 25, 1873. Edward and Cath- 
arina are teachers of promise. Mr. Beck has 
been identified with Democracy; he has held 
the office of Township Trustee for several 
t p r Til s 

PETER BECK, farmer; P. O., Whetstone; 
was born .Ian. 13, 1843, in Bloonifield Tp., 
and Avas among the youngest of a family of 
twelve children, born to Frederic and Catha- 
rine (Smith) Beck, who were natives of Ger- 
many. At the age of 10 years Peter's father 
died, and he was placed under the guardian- 
ship of Michael Snyder, ar»d remained under 
his care until the age of 20; he then purchased 
fifty-five acres of land in section 17, where he 
now resides, and has since added to the same, 
having now ninety acres. Feb. 25, 1862, he 
was married to Mary Ann Scolds, who was 
born April 26, 1845, in Pike Tp., Knox Co., 
the daughter of Andrew and Sarah (Shiria) 
Scolds. The Shirias are of Dutch, and the 
Scolds are of Irish extraction. In 1862 Mr. 
Beck was out for three months in the 87th O. 






>?•, 



1)82 



CONGRESS TOWNSHIP. 



V. I., Co. I, and was taken prisoner at 
Harper's Ferry, but released shortly after- 
ward. In May, 1804, he was out in the one- 
hundred-day service, in Co. C, 13Gth O. 
N. G. They have seven children — Bartlett 
C, born Nov. 10, ISGl; Craig, Dec. 30, 18GG; 
Sarah, July 9, 18G!); Ida Dell, Feb. 13, 187-*; 
Ilattie, May 13, 1874; Martha, March 4, 187(); 
James M., June 25, 1878. Mr. Beck had $300 
left to him in the settlement of his father's 
estate, Avhich was all the assistance he has 
had, pecuniarily; he has a good farm, and is 
making a success of his business, being ener- 
getic, and attending to his farming operations 
with zealous care. 

DENTON BREWER, farmer; P. O., An- 
drews; was born Oct. T-i, 1833, in Bedford 
Co.; is a son of William and Mary (Peck) 
Brewer; there were eight children in the 
family — Denton being the third. He came to 
this county with his parents when but 2 
years of age, whei'e they located on the farm 
now owned by John Synder, where his father 
took a lease for sevi^ral years. At the age of 
13 he began to do for himself, and worked 
one year for $3 per month, and the next sum- 
mer received an addition of 50 cents per 
month. He continued working out until he 
was 20 years of age, when he and his brothei- 
bought a saw-mill, which he was engaged in 
running for about five years. April 7, 1859, 
he was married to Sarah E. Fish, who Avas 
born in this township, July 19, 1842, a daugh- 
ter of Henry and Mary Ann Fish; after mar- 
riage, he located on the farm he now owns, 
consisting of 80 acres, which is located one 
and a half miles north of Williamspoit; they 
put on all the substantial im})rovements that 
now appear on the place; they have had five 
children— Mary V., who died Ai)ril 12, 1870; 
.foanna, born June 15, 18G1; Albert Frank- 
lin, April 1, 18G3; Henry Loyd, Nov. 15, 
18G4; Ada May, Jan. 25, 18G7. 

CRISTLEY BECK, farmer; P. O., Whet- 
stone; was born in Richland Co., Jan. 28, 
1833; the second child of Frederic and 
Catharine Beck. Having no assistance pecu- 
niarily, except his apportionment of his father's 
estate, which amounted to $300 in all, he 
struck out boldly for himself, and made 
the best of his time and talents. In his 25th 
year, April 7, he was married to Lizzie Sny- 
der, who was born in 183G, in Mansfield, Rich- 



land Co., daughter of J. M. Snyder of this 
township. Soon after their marriage they 
settled on Section 8, where he bought sixty- 
two acres of land, paying $25 per acre, which 
he farmed five years, and then moved to a 
plat of land consisting of ninety acres, pur- 
chased of J. B. Cook, which he occupied for 
eleven years, and in 1875 moved to his present 
place of residence, where he now has, in all, 127 
acres, and considers himself permanently 
located. They have four children — Webb, 
Lulu, Anna C. and Frederic; he and his 
wife are identified with the Lutheran Church; 
he, like his brother, is true to the jiolitical 
sentiments entertained by his paternal ances- 
tors. 

DANIEL BIDDLE, farmer, P. 0., An- 
drews; was born July 24, 1812, in Bedford 
Co., Penn., the seventh of a family of twelve 
children, who were born to Jacob Biddle and 
wife. Jacob was born 1771 in Pa.; his wife, 
Rachel (Todd) Biddle, was born in the same 
state, Dec. 25, 1773; when Daniel was three 
years of age his parents moved to Beaver Co., 
Pa., where they lived eighteen years; Daniel's 
schoolino- was obtained in a log; school house, 
sitting on a slab seat, his feet resting on a 
puncheon floor; his writing-desk was a board 
fastened up against the wall by the aid of 
pegs; what light they had was admitted 
through greased paper, which answered the 
purpose of window-glass; during his minor 
years, he attended school some, and assisted 
his father in clearing up his land, and thus 
early in life learned the lesson of patience 
and economy, which understood, was to "la- 
bor and tt) wait." January 1, 1836, he was 
married to Susannah Todd, who was born in 
Beaver Co., Penn., Aug. 17, 1811; she is a 
daughter of Samuel and Lucy (Shivers) Todd; 
they were born in Baltimore Co., Md.; his 
date of birth was in 179G, his wife one year 
later. They were of English and Welch de- 
scent. The Biddle family are of Dutch ex- 
traction. Mrs. Daniel Biddle was the young- 
est of a family of fourteen children, thirteen 
of whom grew to maturity, and their marria- 
ges were all witnessed by their mother. 
Samuel and Lucy Todd were converted under 
the ministrations of John Wesley, of Metho- 
dist fame. Samuel was an overseer on a 
plantation, and was first awakened by listen- 
ing to his preaching to the slaves; from the 



-^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



682 



time of his conversion to his death, which was 
fifty-nine years, he was a zealous worker in 
the church; his home was ever the resort of 
tlie ministers; Mrs. Biddle can remember see- 
ing as many as ten at a time. From Beaver 
Co. the Biddle family came to Wayne Co., 
Ohio, remaining- two years, when Daniel went 
back to Beaver Co., Pa., and married; they 
were raised together in that county; return- 
ing, they located in Wayne, where they lived 
fourteen years — the two families living to- 
gether — after fourteen years residence in 
Wayne, they moved to Perry Tp., (what is now 
Morrow Co.) living at Johnsvide, where they 
purchased 144 acres; Mrs. Biddle (the elder) 
died Aug. 7, 1842; Mr. Biddle, Jan. 24, 1851. 
In 1806 our subject moved to the place where 
they now live, where they have a good home 
and a competence for their old age, after di- 
viding among his children a liberal amount; 
they are both members of the United Breth- 
ren Church; his father was one of the first 
members of that order in the county, and had 
three sons who were ministers of the same 
body; Mrs. Biddle has been a member of a 
church for 43 years. 

G. W. BROWN, farmer and stock-raiser; 
P. O., Shaucks; is among the young men 
of enterprise in the township; was born July 
13, 1842; is the seventh of a family of twelve 
children, born to Payne G. and Elizabeth 
Brown, who were among the early arrivals in 
this township. Payne Brown was born in 
York State, Jan. 4, 1803, and came to this 
township about the year 1827, and was mar- 
ried April 29, 1830, to Elizabeth Vanator, 
who was born in Tuscarawas Co., Dec. 
25, 1808; he entered 80 acres of land in 1830, 
built a cabin, which with its contents, burned 
down a few months afterwards; the second 
cabin was built and the first winter was spent 
in it without doors or windows; blankets 
were hung up instead; he raised no crop the 
first year; Mr. Brown having to go to Utica 
for corn to live on during the winter, at a 
cash of $1 per bushel; Airs. Brown yet re- 
mains on the farm of IGO acres; Mr. Brown 
died Aug. 31, 1871. At the age of 21 George W. 
launched out upon his own responsibility; in 
Aug., 1864, he enlisted in Company F, 179th 
O. V. I., and remained until the expiration of 
the war; in Feb., 1867, he was married to 
Elizabeth C. Kelker, after which he moved to 



Van Wert Co., where he and his brother Ben- 
jamin bought 230 acres of land; his wife died 
here Nov, 18, 1869; he subsequently sold his 
interests and returned to this township; in 
Dec, 1874, was married to his present wife, 
Mary E. Maxwell, born April 24, 1849, in this 
township, a daughter of James and Susana 
Maxwell. They have two children — Martin, 
born Nov. 12, '76; Orrie May, born July 13, 
1878. Since 1864 Mr. Brown has been en- 
gaged in the breeding and growing of thor- 
oughbred cattle, and has established quite a 
reputation in that line, as his stock is strictlv 
first-class; his bull, Royal Duke, coming 
from imported Royal Duchess Second, is too 
well known by lovers of "Short Horns "to be 
mentioned here; he keeps full blooded Berk- 
shire hogs, also, and for sale. 

FREDERICK BECK, farmer; P. O., Whet- 
stone; is second of a family, of which there 
were eight in number; he was born Dec. 28, 
1831, in Washington Co., Penn.; son of 
Frederick and Catharine (Smith) Beck, who 
were born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, 
and emigrated to the United States in the 
spring of 1831, stopping at Washington Co., 
Pa., where our subject was born; after two 
years' residence in that county the family 
came to this county in 1833, and located on 
eighty acres of land in the Hickory Bottom, 
which he had entered while at Wooster, in 
Wayne Co.; here he remained until 1847; 
having sold out, he moved to Congress Tp., 
in the spring of 1848, and bought 110 acres 
in Section 8, and died five years after- 
wards, Sept. 3, 1853; Jan. 19, 1853, Freder- 
ick was married to Eliza Hipnar, who was 
born July 13, 1833, in Hesse Darmstadt, and 
is a daughter of John Adaui and Mary M. 
(Smith) Hipnar. After their marriage they 
lived on the home farm a short time and car- 
ried on farming; the first purchase of land he 
made was ten acres, and went in debt for it, 
yet soon paid for it; he then purchased forty 
acres and moved to his present residence in 
the year 1866, where he has since lived; he 
has now 160 acres of land; they have had 
eleven children, five of them living — Maggie 
Flore tta, now Mrs. Wm. Batcheler, of Rich- 
land Co.; Alice J., Sarah A., Melville F., and 
Anna M. E.; he and wife are both members 
of the Reformed Church. 

JOHN T. BIDDLE, farmer; P. O., Mt. 



:Rr 



l^ 



(584 



CONGRESS TOWNSHIP. 



Gilead; was born Jan. 6, 184G, in Wayne 
Co., t)hio, and is the youngest of a family of 
three cliihlren, born to Daniel and Susan 
(Todd) liiddle; both were natives of Pennsyl- 
vania, and emigrated to this State in 1848, 
locating in Perry Tp., and rem.aining there 
until the year 1865, when they removed to 
Congress Tp., where they located permanent- 
ly. John spent his minority at home and at 
school, and at the age of 17 he vventto Galion, 
where he engaged as clerk, in which capacity 
he served one year and a half. At the age of 
21 he was united in matrimony to Margaret 
J. Fish, daughter of Henry Fish, June 27, 
1867. She was born May 5, 1850, in this 
township, and located in the southwest corner 
of the township in 1874, and bought eighty-six 
acres of land, where lie now resides, and has a 
good, snug farm, well improved. Mr. Biddle 
is a good manager, and will in time become 
one of the affluent farmers in the township. 
They have one child — Judson A., born March 
6, 1873. 

J. W. CRAWFORD, farmer; P. 0., Mt. 
Gilead. Among the descendants of the early 
settlers in this county, and who were among 
the brave defenders of our nation, is the aliove, 
who was born Jan. 17, 1839, in North Bloom- 
field Tp.; son of John and Margaret (Braden) 
Crawford, who was born in Washington Co., 
Penn., 1808, and emigrated to this State, 
Columbiana Co., with his parents in 1812, re- 
maining there until 1832, when he moved to 
North Bloomfield Tp., where he entered land, 
and remained on the same till his death, 
which occurred April 23, 1877; he was a man 
ver}' highly respected, and whose intelligence 
and good judgment always won for him the 
confidence and esteem of all who knew him; 
he filled every office of trust in the township; 
he served as Justice of the Peace for twelve 
years, and was one of the most useful and in- 
fluential men in the township. Mr. Crawford 
was raised to farming pursuits, and has had 
several years experience in teaching the young 
"idea"; he remained at home until he was 
24 3^ears of age. In 1862 he enlisted in 
Company I, 87th O. V. I.; he served also in 
the 136th O. N. G., wearing the blue for 
three years; upon his return home he went to 
Powesheik Co., Iowa, remaining three years; 
and in 1868 he was married to Mary Harriman; 
born in this township in 1841; the daughter 



of John and Edith (Busby) Harriman. He 
was a soldier in the war of 1812, and helped 
to build Fort Meigs, and was corner man when, 
laying up the logs. He entered 320 acres of 
land in Perry Tp., and subsequently moved to 
Congress Tp., where he remained until his 
death; he was born June 10, 1701, and died 
Sept. 4, 1871; his wife was born Jan. 24, 1804, 
and died Feb. 13, 1867. After Mr. Crawford 
was married, he spent ten years in Gilead Tp. 
In 1871 he bought 1014- acres of land in Con- 
gress Tp., where he now resides; and has two 
children — John H., born Nov. 21, 1870; R. 
Harriman, Nov. 24, 1874. Mrs. Crawl'ord is a 
member of the M. E. ('hurch. Mr. Crawford 
is a member of the Repvdjlican party. 

MARK COOK, merchant; Aijdrews. The 
rising young merchant of Williamsport, Mr. 
Mark Cook, was born March 14, 1851, in Peru 
Tp.; is a son of Mc Arthur and Nancy Cook, 
whose maiden name was Mitchell. Mark be- 
gan business for himself at the age of 16 years, 
making his father's house his home; bought 
and sold lumber in logs and growing timber, 
and farmed; he wielded the birch as "ye 
schoolmaster " one term, which vocation he 
abandoned, and continued farming and trad- 
ing up to November, 1870, when he bought 
out J. E. Reynolds, of Williamsport, and has 
since been engaged in merchandising; he 
keeps a good stock of dry goods, groceries, 
queensware, notions, etc., etc., and sells 
strictly ioY cash ^ call and see him, and you will 
get bottom, prices, and more for your money 
than at any other store in the town. Ho is 
also agent for bugij-ies and harness, which ho 
has made to order, and sells them under his 
guarantee, and at prices that will command 
patronage. 

CHRISTOPHER H. CHAMBERLIN, re- 
tired; Andrews. Mr. Chamberlin was born 
April 19, 1811, in Hunterdon, Co., N. J., anil is 
a son of Gideon and Catharine (Hulsigcr) 
Chamberlin. His father immigrated to Fraid<lin 
Tp. (now in this county), in 1828, and lived 
there until his death. The demands of a new 
country, and the limited educational privi- 
leges to be found here at that time, gave but 
few opportunities lor the children of the pio- 
neers to gain even the rudiments of an edu- 
cation. Mr. Chamberlin attended the frontier 
schools but five weeks, and with this limited 
time, spent on his books, he was obliged to 






'\±^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



685 



be content, and labored on his father's 
place until 22 years of ai^o, when he set up for 
himself; with his bare hands as his sole capi- 
tal, he secured a farm for himself, and married 
Miss Sarah Lyon, a native of Ohio; he set- 
tled down to build his fortune; tired of the 
slow profrress of this pursuit, he five years 
later took up the carpenters' trade, serving at 
first for 50 cents a day; he continued in this 
occupation for thirteen years, investino- his 
earnings in the meanwhile in land, purchasing 
an interest in his father's estate; this proper- 
ty, a few years later, he traded for sixty acres, 
situated in Harmony Tp., upon which he 
moved and went to work to cut out a farm 
from the wilderness; he stayed here but a 
short time, when an opportunity for engaging 
in mercantile pursuits presented itself, and 
he moved to Mt. Gilead, setting up in trade 
about 1853; three years later he sold out his 
business, and went to Butler Co., Iowa, where 
he remained a little over three years, return- 
ing at that time to Mt. Gilead, and engaging 
in traffic at his old place of business; in the 
spring of 18GG he again retired from the store, 
and went to farming in the southeastern part 
of Gilead Tp., staying there, however, but a 
year, when he removed to Williamsport; not 
content to remain idle, he soon engaged in 
mercantile pursuits, which he continued until 
1877, when he retired from active life. Mr. 
Chamberlin has been twice married, losing 
his first wife in 1862, and afterward married 
Mrs. Mary Truax, a native of Marengo Co., 
Ohio. Four children were born by his first 
wife — Catharine, Phoebe A., Lucietia and 
John M., the latter deceased. The daughters 
are all married to men of prominence at the 
county seat — Catharine, to Dr. Shaw; Phoebe, 
to Judge Gardner, and Lucretia to R. P. Hal- 
liday. Cashier of the First National Bank. Mr. 
Cha-mlierlin has always borne a prominent 
part in the A'arious communities in which he 
has lived, his sound judgment and ripe expe- 
rience gaining for him the confidence and 
suflFrages of the people; he has affiliated with 
the Democratic party, has served as Justice of 
the Peace in Harmony and Congress, a com- 
bin(!d term of nearly nine years, and now, 
after serving three years as Township Treas- 
urer, is still discharging the duties of that 
office, to which he was re-elected in the spring 
of 1880. 



JOHN W. EDWARDS, farmer; P. O.', 
Andrews; was born in Belmont Co., Ohio, 
Sept. 24, 1830; is the third of a family of five 
children, born to William and Mary Ann 
(Bell) Edwards. His father was a native of 
this State, and his mother of Maryland. John's 
boyhood was employed at school, and in as- 
sisting his father in the duties of the farm; he 
drove his father's team and followed thresh- 
ing for several yea7s. At the age of 21 he 
launched out for himself, farming pursuits be- 
ing the business he seemed to take to most 
naturally. Jan. 13, 1853, he was united in 
marriage to Sarah J. Foy, who was born in 
1828 in Pennsylvania. After marriage he 
located on the farm his father had purchased 
after leaving Belmont Co. (being the winter 
of 1833), when his father located in what is 
now called Gilead Tp. ; here Mr. Edwards re- 
mained until the summer of 1853, when he 
removed to Harmony Tp., and, after a sojourn 
of three years, sold out, and bought a piece of 
land in Franklin Co., and resided there four 
years; in the fall of 1864 he moved to Wil- 
liamsport, where he now resides. Mr. Ed- 
wards has been successful, though not having 
any financial start in the commencement of 
his business career, yet he has accumulated a 
good home, and 125 acres of land; he has three 
children — Mary J., George W. and Andrew. 
Mr. Edwards is a memoer of the order of Odd 
Fellows, No. 469, Johnsville Lodge; also a 
member of the Grange, and a good Demo- 

MRS. SARAH E. FINLEY, Mt. Gilead; 
was born in Gilead Tp., April 28, 1834; the 
daughter of James and Elizabeth (Truax) 
Nellans. The Nellans are from the Emerald 
Isle, and her father being one of the number 
who settled in this county at an early time, 
and lived one season in the woods, until he 
could build a cabin; the Indians and the 
wolves were their companions. His place of 
settlement was in Gilead Tp., where Newton 
Wino-et resides; here he remained until his 
death, which occurred June 18, 1860. Mrs. 
Finley is the ninth of a family of ten children; 
but three of them are now living. Her mother 
died April 17, 1879. Mrs. Finley was mar- 
ried March 14, 1858, to Lewis Finley, who 
was born Sept. 11, 1827, in Pennsylvania, and 
came West when small. After their marriage 
they located where she now resides; the farm 



68('. 



CONGRESS TOWNSHIP. 



lies ill l)otli townships, and consists of 150 
acres. Mr. Fin ley died of consumption, Feb. 
17, 1874; during his life he was engaired in 
stock trading;, as well as farniinf>;, which he 
carried on successfully; he was a consistent 
member of the Baptist Church, and was ever 
ready to do his duty. Mr. FinK>y was twice 
married, first to Orinda Luce, by whom he luid 
one child, Alice V., now Mrs. Howard Gal- 
leher; by his last marriage two children were 
born to them — Orinda Delpliine, born Aug. 
22, 18G1, and Fred. Rishtine, June 9, 18GG. 
The family are members of the Baptist 
Church. 

HENRY FISH, farmer; P. O., Andrews; 
is among the early arrivals in this township, 
and was born in Loudoun Co., Va., March 0, 
1801 ; he is a son of Robert and Betsey Fish, 
both born in Maryland, and after marriage 
they moved to Virginia, where Henry was 
born; at the age of 26 he was still with his 
father, afterwards he learned the miller's vo- 
cation, serving four years in that business; at 
30 years of age, in September, he was mar- 
ried to Mary Ann Burson, of Loudoun Co., 
Va.; the same fall, they moved to this State, 
and stopped two years in Knox Co., Middle- 
bury Tp.; they made the trip in a one-horse 
vehicle; about the spring of 1834 they moved 
to this township, and bought fifty acres of 
land, upon which he now resides; not a stick 
Avas cut upon the premises, and he was in 
debt $150 for the land, and not the sign of 
a horse to work with; but went to work with 
a resolution to "do or die," and built a small 
cabin; he cut the under-brush out of a small 
patch of ground near the cabin, and stuck in 
a little corn, and thus he toiled on, and from 
this small beginning finally acquired his pres- 
ent home and 173 acres of land; they have 
had nine children; eight are living; they rais- 
ed the entire family, and never paid out five 
dollars for doctor's bill; the order of the family 
as born, are as follows — Robert H., William, 
Albert (in Knox Co.), Abner, deceased, Sarah, 
now Mrs. D. Brewer, Amos, and Catharine at 
home, .John in Perry Tp., the youngest being 
Margaret, now Mrs. .John Biddie. Mr. Fish is 
a member of the United ]3rethren denomi- 
nation; Mr. Fish is one of the few old land- 
marks now remaining in the township, having 
now nearly served his fourscore years; over 
half of the time has been spent in this town- 



ship, and he is one of its time-honored citizens. 

ROBERT FULTON, farmer; P. O., Mt. 
Gilead; was born May 2, 1841, on the farm 
he now owns, located in the southwest corner 
of the townshi]); isth(» youngest of the family, 
composed of seven childrcMi — five living; his 
father, James, married Margaret Stogdale, 
who Avas a native of Washington Co., Pa., he 
being a native of Green Co., same state; they 
were married in the Iveystone state, and em- 
igrated to Richland Co. (now Morrow) about 
the year 1825, and entered 160 acres of land, 
now owned by Stephen and Samuel Fulton, of 
Gilead Tp.; here he settled and cleared up 
the farm, and afterwards moved one mile cast 
and purchased the land now owned by Rob- 
ert; here he remained until his death, which 
occurred the Centennial year; his wife died 
in 1861. Robert was raised a farmer; at the 
age of 21 he was married to Hannah E. Fox, 
May 28, 1862; she was born in September, 
1841, in Northumberland Co., Pa., and came 
west about the year 1858; she was a daugh- 
ter of William and Hannah (Campbell) Fox. 
Since their marriage they have remained on 
the homestead; they have six children — 
Ida B., Mary Z., x\ustin M., Charles C, Wil- 
liam J. and John R. Himself and lady are 
members of the Baptist Church; his father 
was a member of the Presbyterian Church. 
He has 153 acres of land, which he is now 
farming with success. 

S. t. GALLEHER, farmer; P. O. Mt. 
Gilead; is an enterprising farmerof the town- 
ship, and a native of Loudoun Co., Va., where 
he was born Dec. 15, 1822; is the tenth of a 
family of twelve children born to Samuel N. 
and Phebe (Owsley) Galleher; the latter was 
born April 14, 1787, in the same county and 
state as the son — S. T. Galleher. The father 
was born Dec. 1, 1783, and came West with 
his parents, about the year 1834, stopping in 
Knox Co. the first winter. The following 
spring he came to Franklin Tp., now of this 
county, where he settled and remained until 
his death, Nov. 6 1860; Mrs. Galleher died 
March 19, 1863. The father was of Irish 
and the mother of Welsh descent. S. T. 
(Jalleher began in life for himself at the age 
of 23; about which time — April 17, 1845 — he 
was married to Dinah Cook, who was born 
in Franklin Tp., Oct. 2, 1828; a daughter of 
Wm. P. and Louisa (Mann) Cook. The 



:r^ 



•k. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



687 



Cook family were from Maryland, and the 
Manns from Bedford Co., Pa. After the 
marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Galleher they lived 
twelve years on the Cook farm, and in the 
spiing of 1858, moved to this township, and 
located on the farm where he now lives — then 
a tract of unbroken land consisting- of eighty 
acres, which he has brought under a good 
state of improvement. Two children have 
been born to them — Melville P., now a min- 
ister of the Church of Christ, with his home 
at Three Locusts, Marion Co.; he was born 
Oct. 12, 184G; and Howard Leroy, who was 
born .June 13, 1849, now residing in Gilead Tp. 
Mr. Galleher and family are members of the 
Disciple, or what is better known as the 
Cluirch of Christ. 

JOHN R.GARVERICK, merchant; Whet- 
stone; has been identified with this county 
since its erection, being the third of a family 
of nine children, and was born here Feb. 26, 
1838. His parents, John F. and Rachel (Ruhi) 
Garverick were born and raised in York Co., 
Pennsylvania. John R. began for himself, 
when 23 years of age, and farmed for three 
years, with good success; he then relinquished 
this and went into mercantile business at 
West Point, where he has since remained, 
doing business iinder the firm name of J. R. 
Garverick & Co. His first partner was his 
father, who died in 1872; the vacancy was 
filled l)y his youngest brother, and the busi- 
ness has been continued under the same name. 
Their trade has always been of a satisfactory 
nature, and so continues; they keep a general 
stock of dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, 
queensware, notions, etc.; in connection with 
their store, they have the Post Office, Mr. 
Garverick having officiated as Post Master 
since 1874. The success of the firm is due to 
their business tact. Mr. Garverick was mar- 
ried Jan. 13, ISO I, to Catharine, daughter 
of Jacob and Catharine Snyder, who was 
born June 7, 1838, in what is now Morrow 
Co. By this union eleven children have been 
born, seven of Avhom are living — Mary E., 
iMla, Webster, Chester, Emma M., Ira W. and 
•John W. Himself and wife are members of 
the German Reformed Church, 

JOSHUA GARVERICK, farmer; P. O. 
Whetstone; is the eldest of the children born 
to .lohn and Rachel (Ruhl) Garverick; the 
former was born in York Co., Pa., March 24 



1805, and was married Dec. 20, 1832. Mrs. 
Garverick was born April ]1, 1812. They 
emigrated to the West in 1833, and lived in 
Johnsville one year, when they located in the 
north part of Congress Tp., where he had 
previously entered 160 acres of land, which 
he cleared, it being covered with timber; he 
then had only one horse to work with, but 
exchanged with a neighbor, who had an ox 
team, and thus they managed to get along. 
Their cows died, and they had many difficul- 
ties to encounter, such as are only experienced 
by pioneers. Although having but little to 
begin with, yet he succeeded in obtaining 400 
acres of land; he died Jan. 27, 1872, having 
raised a family of six children, who are among 
the substantial citizens of this county. Joshua 
was 22 years of age when he began upon his 
own responsibility; Jan. 20, 1856, he was mar- 
ried to Margaret Bordner, who was born in 
Perry Tp., and a daughter of Henry and Mar- 
garet (Haws) Bordner, of York Co., Pa. After 
Mr. Garverick was married he lived several 
years in Bloomfield Tp., renting land; in 
1866 he purchased eighty acres of the home- 
stead farm, to which he has since added by 
purchase, until he now has 120 acres. They 
have eight children — Ellen, Mary A., Jason, 
Milton, Melrow, Bertha, Homer and Loyd. 
Mr. Garverick is a member of the Reformed 
Church, and was born Nov. 4, 1833. 

MRS. SxARAH HATHAWAY, farmer; P. 
O., Andrews; was born Aug. 8, 1806, in 
Washington Co., Penn., a daughter of Robert 
and Sarah (Harper) Stockdale. Robert Stock- 
dale was born in Ireland and emigrated to 
Pennsylvania about the year 1800, and was 
married to his wife Sarah, who was a native 
of Virginia. Mrs. Hathaway was 22 years of 
age when she came West, remaining one year 
in Knox Co. ; her parents made no purchase 
there; the following year they came to this 
county and entered forty acres, where Isaac 
Hull now resides, npon which tliey remained 
until their death; Mrs. Hathaway was mar- 
ried in 1829, at the age of 23, to Joseph Hath- 
away, who was born in Washington Co., Pa., 
and emigrated to this locality some years prior 
to the coming of the Stockdale family; after 
the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway, they 
settled near Pulaskiville, Franklin Tp.; later 
they entered 160 acres of land, where they 
lived several years a pioneer life, their cabin 



^ 



k 



688 



CONGRESS TOWNSHIP. 



floored with puncheons, and after their day's 
labor was done they rested their weary forms 
on stools and liome-made beds; yet rude as 
they were, tliey enjoyed their use, and Avere 
happy. After several years of sojourn in 
Franklin Tp., they came to the jilace where 
she now resides, locating uj)On land her father 
had entered, situated in the south part of the 
township, where she has since resided. Mr. 
Hathaway died in 18-tG; the children born un- 
to them are as follows: — Phebe, at home; 
Tiiomas J., in Kansas; Ilulda, deceased; John 
S., at home; Andrew J., in Fraidvlin; Cyrena, 
Sophrona, and Daniel — these three deceased. 
Mrs. Hathaway has for many years been a 
member of the Baptist Church. John S. was 
was born on the place he now lives, Sept. 6, 
183.5, and runs the farm, and is Democratic. 

W. S. HOY, Jr., farmer; P. O., Shaucks; 
was born July IG, 1851, in this town- 
ship; his father was born in the Empire 
State, Sept. 25, 1805, and came to Ohio when 
a lad; Feb. 12, 1835, he was married to Cyn- 
thia Wallace, who was born July 4, 1816, in 
Madison Tp., Richland Co.; her father's was 
the third family that made a settlement in 
Manstield; in Aug., 1839, was the date of the 
arrival of William Hoy, Sr., and wife, to this 
township, where he bought IGO acres of land. 
There was a small cabin on the place, and ten 
acres cleared at the time of the })urchase; the 
family have since remained on the farm; Mr. 
Hoy, Sr., died March 22, 1851, leaving eight 
children — John, Richard, Cyrus, Edwin, Dor- 
othy j\I., .James, Jane E. and William S. Five 
of the boys were in the late war, two of whom 
lost their lives — Richard and Edwin; Rich- 
ard in the hospital, and Edwin was brought 
home in ill health, and died seven days after, 
Sept. 7, 18G4. John was a member of Co. E, 
9th O. V. I., and was wounded at Pittsburg 
Landing. Richard was in Co. G, 102nd O. 
V. I.; Cyrus was in Co. E, 3d Ohio Cavalry. 
Cyrus and James, both of Co. I, 13Gth O. N. 
G. John was at one time taken prisoner, and 
the confederates thinking him a dangerous 
man (to them), sentenced him to be shot. 
John, by eating a quantity of tobacco, made 
himself deathly sick, and they thinking he 
would soon die, sent him to Andersonville. 
Mr. Hoy, the. father of the subject, was a 
mendjer of the Associate Reformed Church, 
and was chorister of that body; Mrs. Hoy and 



W. S. are members of the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church; W. S. and Dorothy remain 
with their mother on the homestead. Wm. S. 
is a local writer of considerable merit, and his 
articles are acceptably received and read with 
interest by the ])atrons of the /Sentinel. 

CURTlS HIGGINS, farmer; P. O., Pul- 
askiville. There were ten children in the 
Higgins family, of whom Curtis was the third; 
all of them are living, born of Elias and Mary 
(Halt) Iliggins, both of whom were natives of 
Pennsylvania — Mrs. Higgins came out with 
her parents prior to the war of 1812, and set- 
tled in what is now Perry Tp. Elias, the 
father of Curtis, came out shortly after the 
war, and was married about the year 1820, 
and settled in Franklin Tp.; made one move, 
being absent five years, but returning, io 
cated on the farm adjoining his first pur- 
chase, where he lived until his death, which 
occurred Jan., 1880, in his 85th year, being 
the first death which has occurred in the Hig- 
gins family. Curtis made his father's house 
his home, until he reached his majority; 
March 27, 1849, was married to Mary Mc- 
Cracken, born in Harmony Tp. in 1827; she 
was a daughter of Charles McCracken; she 
died March, 18G6, leaving five children; seve^n 
were born — Mary J. died in infancy; Sarah 
E., now Mrs. A. J. Hathaway, of Franklin 
Tp.; Charles died when 20 years of age; 
Enoch, now living in Franklin; George 
died when a babe; Ida and Frank at home. 
Mr. Higgins was married the second time to 
Mary Nuuox; born in Pennsylvania the year 

1827, and came West when she was 10 years 
of age. After his marriage, located on the 
farm he now owns. His early life was not 
surrounded with advantages of a literary or 
financial character, and he has succeeded with- 
out these. He and wife are members of the 
M. E. Church. He was born near Frederick- 
ton, Knox Co., March 4, 1825. 

ISAAC HULL, farmer; P. O., Mt. Gilead; 
was born in Northumberland Co., Pa., April 
5, 1819; he was the second of a family of ten 
children born to Charles and Rebecca (Slack) 
Hull. Isaac's father was a soldier in the war 
of 1812, and came West with his parents in 

1828, locating on the farm now owned liy 
William Hull; he bought IGO acres, and lived 
there until his death, which occurred in 18G9, 
in his 78th year. Isaac began for himself at 



,4^^-^ 



k. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



689 



the age of 15, and learned the carpenters' 
trade, which he worked at for some time, when 
in October, 1840, he was married to Mary 
Finley; after which he located on ten acres of 
land which he had purchased in Sec. 23, and 
has since been a constant resident of the town- 
ship, where his wife died July 30, 1872, leav- 
ing six children — Elmira, Eleanor J,, Zoe, 
John, Clara and Charles. Elmira is now Mrs. 
Cristy, of Kansas. Mr. Hull's second mar- 
riage was to Louisa Fox, who was born in 
Northumberland Co., Pa.; she died Jan. 19, 
1880, leaving one child, Mary B. Mr. Hull, 
beginning with no resources, has become one 
of the most prominent farmers in the county, 
having over 1300 acres of excellent land, all 
acquired by his own industry and skillful 
financiering. 

MRS. AMY HARTPENCE, farmer; P. 
O., Mt. Gilead; is a native of New Jersey, and 
was born in Hunterdon Co., Kingwood Tp., 
Nov. 16, 1805, and is a daughter of Richard 
Slack, who was born March 1, 1773, and mar- 
ried Rhoda Moore, May 16, 1796; who was 
born Feb. 13, 1774; the former died Aug. 22, 
1822; the latter, March 4, 1847; all of whom 
were natives of New Jersey, and were con- 
temporaneous with Revolutionary times. Amy 
Slack was married Dec. 18, 1828, to Elijah 
Hartpence, a native of New Jersey, who was 
born Dec. 14, 1805, and who, early in life, 
learned the blacksmiths' trade, but in after 
life turned his attention to agricultural pur- 
suits. In the spring of 1838, in comp my with 
six families, he and his wife turned their faces 
westward. At Pittsburgh the party separated, 
taking different directions; three pursuing 
their journey westward, arriving at Mansfield, 
Richland Co.; here Mr. and Mrs. Hartpence 
s[)ent one summer east of Mansfield, and one 
winter in Mansfield; the}' then moved south 
some distance, residing eight years. In 1847 
they came to this county, locating on the 
land she now owns — 80 acres, being the 
amount purchased, costing 1800.50; here they 
settled and improved the same; here he re- 
mained permanently until removed by death, 
which occurred Nov. 8, 1877 — having lived a 
life of usefulness; he was a man of sterling 
qualities, just and upright in all his dealings 
with his fellow man; being actuated and 
prompted l)y the teachings of Holy Writ, and 
the example of his Master; serving in all the 



official capacities as layman in the M. E. 
Church, of which he was a worthy member. 
They have had six children — Joseph, Amelia 
(deceased), Cyrenius A., George B., Mary E. 
and Leonard G. (deceased). Cyrenius, Jo- 
seph and George B. were out in the 136th 
Regiment during the late civil war. The lin- 
eage of the family can be traced from the 
birth of our countr}^, through incidents con- 
temporaneous with three wars, viz.: The 
Revolutionary war, and that of 1812, and the 
late " unpleasantness." Mrs. Hartpence, since 
the death of her husband, has remained on the 
farm, her daughter, Mary, residing with her, 
who is a teacher of experience. They are 
both members of the M. E. Church. 

C. B. HART, farmer; P. O. Whetstone; 
born on the homestead; in this township, Oct. 
16, 1837, and is the fifth child of Enoch and 
Elsie Hart,who were among the early residents 
and pioneer families in the township. Mr. 
Hart was married Nov. 3, 1864, to Mary E. 
Wolford, daughter of M. C. and Elizabeth 
Wolford; since his marriage he has been 
residing on his farm, which is located a short 
distance east of the homestead, where he has 
ninety-six acres of land, which is very favora- 
bly situated. They have two children — Izora 
May, born Aug. 20, 1865, Cora Otta, born Nov. 
26, 1872. Mrs. Hart was born in Richland Co., 
Feb. 15, 1844; she is a member of the Disci- 
ple Church. Mr. Hart is a Democrat, a warm 
advocate of temperance, and strenuously 
opposed to the use of intoxicants. 

MRS. MARY HAMS, farmer; P. 0.,Whet- 
stone; was born in this State, in Belmont Co., 
in Dec, 1806; the daughter of Obed Hardesty, 
of English parentage; her mother's maiden 
name was Ma^y Paris, who was born in 
France; Mrs. liams was married in her six- 
teenth year to Tliomas liams, who was born 
in Washington Co., Penn., about the year 
1790; their marriage took place Aug. 6, 1822, 
and after a residence of six years they came 
to this county in 1835, locating in the place 
where they now reside, consisting of 280 
acres; here he spent the remainder of his days, 
his death occurring Feb. 14, 1862; having 
been a liberal-hearted man, whose hand was 
ever open to the calls of the needy. He was 
a consistent Christian; his creed was that 
which is taught in Holy Writ, and not those 
of man's origin. The Church of Christ was 



^; 



■FT 



(J!H) 



CONGRESS TOWNSHIP. 



his denominational choice, of which church 
he was always a liberal supporter. His laniily, 
who survive him, are (several of them) mem- 
bers of that order. They had thirteen child- 
ren, ten of them survive: Elizabeth, now in 
Indiana; Matilda and Rebecca, at home; 
Nancy, in Kansas; Mary, in Michio-an; Vio- 
let, teacher in the county; Lydia, in Michi- 
j>-an; Franklin, in Wyandot Co.; Thomas, in 
Williams Co.; Samuel in Kansas. Mrs. liaius 
has 1-iO acres of land. 

DANIEL JAMES, farmer; P. O., Andrews. 
The .James family are natives of Wales, of 
whom James is a near relative; liis father, 
Henry, his mother also, whose maiden name 
was Hannah Jones, emigrated from that 
country to Pennsylvania many years ago, and 
after several years residence there, drifted to 
the West, locating in this county, where they 
remained until their death, l^aniel was born 
in this township, April 25, 1830; is the young- 
est of a family of twelve; he did not leave 
home until he attained near his 2Gth year; 
about this time he formed a matrimonial alli- 
ance with Marlnda Fiddler, of this county, 
daughter of Thomas Fiddler, their marriage 
occurring Oct., 1855. When he married he 
had nothing; his stock in store was a willing- 
ness to work, and to adapt himself to circum- 
stances, hoping by this course to some time 
j)lace himself in better condition; he began 
first by renting, which he continued for some 
time; afterwards purchased some land, mak- 
ing several changes and removals, finally lo- 
cating permanently on the land he now 
owns, having IGO acres in all. He has six 
children — Louis R., Marcus N., Hannah J., 
Clarke W., Clinton E., and Barton W. 

W.E. LOGAN, farmer; P. 0., Andrews; is 
among the descendants of the early settlers 
in this country, and was born in Wayne Tp., 
Knox Co., Nov. 7, 183G, the eldest of a faniMy 
of six children, whose parents were Thomas 
.J. and Catharine (Iden) Logan; the former 
born May 13, LSll, in New Jersey, and emi- 
grated to this State in 1812, locating in Knox 
Co., and was among the first settlers. Mrs. 
Logan was born in Loudoun Co., Va., and came 
to Knox Co., with her parents, where she was 
Muirried to Mr. Logan ; they subsequently mov- 
ed to this township in 1803. Aug. 15, 18GG, in 
his 5Gth y(;ar, Mr.Logan departed this life; 
he was a kind husband, an indulgent father. 



and exemplary citizen. Young Logan had 
but the advantages aiforded by the common 
district school; he was raised on the farm and 
inured to agricultural pvnsuits. March 1, 
18GG, he was joined in wedlock to Maria Tay- 
lor, born Feb. 11, 1845, daughter of Lewis 
and Elizabeth (Shade) Taylor. Since his mar- 
riage he has been employed on his farm, which 
is composed of 1G7 acres, under excellent im- 
provement, and ranks among the best in the 
township. He has three children — Leonard, 
Katie and Faith. Mr. Logan, like his father, 
has been identified with the interests of 
Democracy. 

NELSON LEVERING, farmer; P. O., An- 
drews; is a descendant of one of the early pi- 
oneers; Nelson was born April 21st, 1813, in 
Bedford Co., Pa., and is the fifth child of Wil- 
liam and Ruth (Bryson) Levering, who emi- 
grated to what is now Franklin Tp., Morrow 
Co., where they remained until their death — 
his occurring Sept. 4, 18G4, in his 84th year, 
and his wife died in 1856. Nelson began 
business for himself at the age of 21, by rent- 
ing land of his father (on the farm where he 
now lives); he formed a union with Hester 
Mettler, July 21, 1839, who was born in 
Northumberland Co., Pa., Dec. 3, 1815, daugh- 
ter of Levi and Elizabeth (Campbell) Mettler, 
who came to this county in 1827, and had 
thirteen children, Mrs. Levering being the 
third; eleven are living. Her father died 
June 20, 1862; her mother died June 8, 1854; 
the former was born March 7, 1788; the latter, 
Jan. 23, 1794, and were married Aug. 15, 
1811. After several years of hard labor, he 
succeeded in saving enough means to enable 
him to buy the farm of his father, and since 
his first occupancy has been a constant resi- 
dent thereon; he has an excellent farm of 
151 acres; they have lived to themselves, and 
no children to disturb their quiet. Few peo- 
ple have lived a more quiet life than Mr. and 
Mrs. Levering — attending to their own per- 
sonal affairs, rarely ever leaving the farm un- 
less upon the most urgent business; they were 
never in Mt. Vernon but once, and that was 
to get his license, and looking askant towards 
his wife, remarked, " and that was under pro- 
test!" 

MRS. RACHEL C. McCLENATHAN, 
Whetstone; born Feb. 25, 181 1, in Washington 
Co., Penn.; her father's name was .James Dal- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



691 



rymple who married Esther Locia, natives 
of New Jersey, and of English and Irish 
descent. At the age of twenty she was mar- 
ried to Samuel McClenathan, born January 
15, 1803; the son of William and Mary 
(Coalson) McClenathan, of Washington Co., 
Pa. Their marriage took place Feb. 24, 
1831; in Sept., 1833, they landed in this 
county, located on an eighty-acre tract he 
had purchased for $500 of Richard liams, 
in Washington Tp., adjoining her present res- 
idence. Subsequently he entered 160 acres 
in the northeast corner of the township, af- 
terwards he sold eighty acres to Mr. liams for 
the piece of land purchasad of him, leaving 
him IGO acres, upon which he settled and 
cleared away the forest growth, and was from 
that time forward up to the time of his death, 
which occurred Feb. 12, 1873, a constant 
resident, and was one of the county's esteem- 
ed citizens. Since his death his worthy wife 
has remained upon the farm, consisting of 
185 acres, and is spending the eve of her 
life in peace and quietness. She has four 
children— Mary, born Feb, 16, 1832; William 
Allen, born Aug. 2, 1837; Sarah Ellen, Dec. 
17, 1848; John, May 5, 1851, who married 
a Mary Brewer, born April 25, 1852. They 
have three children — Retta J., Martha E. and 
Margaret Edna. Mrs. McClenathan is a mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian Church. 

MRS. NANCY MIRACLE, farmer; P. O., 
Andrews; was born in Bedford Co., Penn., 
July 12, 1817, daughter of Jacob and Susan 
(Byres) Baker; Nancy was 6 years of age 
when she came to Richland Co. with her 
parents, and was raised near Bellair; in Feb., 
1838, she was married to Isaac Miracle, who 
was born in Virginia and came West when 
young; when they were married they had 
nothing, and were thrown upon their own ex- 
ertions entirely; her parents were not in 
sympathy with her choice, and refused to as- 
sist her in any manner; they began house- 
keeping in a very primitive manner; their 
home was a rude cabin ; their bed was sup- 
ported at the corner by pegs in the wall; she 
made a quilt, and with the proceeds she 
bought an iron kettle, and worked three 
months for a blanket, and sheared sheep at 
twenty-five cents per day, while her husband 
found employment at whatever labor he could 
obtain, working for three shillings a day, to 



obtain the actual necessaries of life. They 
began their married life with a resolve to 
make the best of their surroundings. As 
time passed their circumstances were bettered 
by hard work and strict economy, until they 
came in possession of a home. In the fall of 
1867, Mr. Miracle was taken from her by the 
hand of death, since when she has remained 
on the farm. Eleven children were born to 
them; but six are living. 

JOHN D. MAXWELL, farmer; P. O., 
Andrews; was born June 1, 1845, in this town- 
ship, being the eldest of a family of five chil- 
dren, born to James and Susannah (Swallum) 
Maxwell — James was born Jan. 2, 1818, in 
Cumberland Co., Penn., and emigrated West 
in 1839. John D. received good common 
school advantages, and began teaching, which 
he continued to 1870, having accumulated 
enough means in this time to carry him through 
college, graduating in 1874. May 2, 1864, he 
enlisted in Company C, 136th O. N. G., serv- 
ing out his term of enlistment. March 2, 
1876, he was married to Miss Clara A. Linn, 
who was born in this township, Jan. 17, 1856; 
the daughter of Isaac and Mary (Mitchell) 
Linn. After their marriage they moved to 
the farm he now owns, consisting of 80 acres, 
which he farms, and teaches school during the 
winter. He and his wife are members of the 
Disciple Church. Millison J., his brother, 
being a minister of that order, and graduate 
of Bethany College. 

CHARLES M. MILLER, teacher; An- 
drews; is the only son of Elijah and Frances 
(Cook) Miller. Elijah was born Nov. 16, 
1833, in Pennsylvania, and emigrated to this 
State with his parents about the year 1848, 
and several years afterward was married to 
Frances Cook, who was born in Branch Co., 
Mich., in Sept. 1836. The Cook family are of 
Yankee extraction, and the Millers of German 
descent. Since the arrival of Elijah, the 
father of Charles M., he has been a constant 
resident of this township and county. Charles 
received the advantages afforded by the com- 
mon school, and also attended school at Gil- 
ead and the Normal, at Ada, and began teach- 
ing at the age of 18, and since that time has 
l»een engaged in his chosen vocation, and is 
classed among the successful ones; he is now 
teaching his third term at Williamsport. He 
was born Dec. 25, 1856, in Congress Tp., and 



\ 



iiL^ 



W»-' 



CONGRESS TOWNSHIP. 



has since been a resident of the same. June 
•^G, 187'J, ho was married to Mamie Parson, 
who was l)orn in Knox Co., Nov. 12, 1858, a 
(laughter of S. V. R. and Elizabeth (Mc- 
Cutchen) Parson, who resided in Pauldinjr, 
where Mamie was born; Mr. Miller and wile 
are members of the M. E. Church. 

JACOB MILLER, Jr., farmer; P. O. 
Shaueks; born in Cumberland Co., Pa., Sept. 
2, 18"^"), and is a son of .lacob Miller, who was 
born March 17, 1702, in Lancaster Co., Pa., 
whose wife was Catharine Cassel, born in 
Daujjhin Co., Pa., in 1792, and died April 30, 
1878. The family emigrated to Richland 
Co. when .Jacob, .fr. was 5 years of age, where 
they remained until 1841, when they moved 
to Congress Tp., and became permanent resi- 
dents. At the age of 23 Jacob was married 
to Mary J. Wright, who was born in Rich- 
land Co. Jacob's father was a wagon-maker 
by trade, which business he followed for 
eight years; after this he engaged in farming. 
.Jacob has now a good farm, consisting of 168 
acres. Their children's names are Jason, Asa, 
Mary A., Virda and Zenis. His wife and 
Mary A. are members of the Disciple Church. 

NELSON METTLER, farmer, P. O. An- 
drews; is a native of the I'l^mpire State, and 
was born in Tompkins Co., N. Y., Dec. 25, 
1820; he is the fourth of a family of nine 
children, who were born to George and Grace 
(Haughvoit) Mettler, natives of Sussex Co., 
N. J., who settled in Tompkins Co. where 
Nelson was born; the family emigrated to 
this State at an early day; the father bought 
270 acres of land, and engaged in farming; 
and was prominently identified with the in- 
terests of the county until October, 1845, 
when he moved to Iowa, where he lived un- 
til the close of the late war. Nelson worked 
for his father until he was 28 years of age, 
when he was united in marriage with Eliza- 
beth Graham, a native of Franklin Co., and 
daughter of Joseph and Margaret (Mann) 
Graham, whose marriage was celebrated 
April 15, 1847; soon after, they located on 
the farm he now owns, which is situated in 
the southeast corner of the township, and 
consists of 100 acres. In the year 1870, he 
lost all his buildings by fire; the burning of 
the house occurred February 9th, and of the 
barn. May 3rd. They have had two child- 
ren — Martin, born Feb. 19, 1848, and died 



March 29, 1867, in his 19th year, with typhoid 
fever; Mary E., now Mrs. W. G. Thompson. 
Mr. Mettler's wife was born Jan. 14, 1824; 
is a member of the United Brethren Church. 
Mr. Mettler has always been identified with 
Jetfersonian principles. 

SAMUEL MOFFET; Mt. Gilead; is a 
descendant of one of the pioneer families, in 
the township, that of .James and Rel)ecca 
Moffet. .James was born April 7, 1787, in 
Westmorland Co., Pa.; the Moftet's are of 
Scotch descent; his father's name was Robert; 
he came from Scotland; .James Moft'et was 
married to Rebecca K^lley, Oct. 12, 1813; 
she was born Feb. 10, 1787, in Franklin Co., 
Pa.; her father's name was James, who was a 
native of Belfast, Ireland, whose wife was 
Ann McCamus. Mrs. Moffet crossed the 
mountains with her parents in 1802, and came 
to Harrison Co., in 1803; here her father en- 
tered a section of land; Mrs. Moffet was mar- 
ried in Jefferson Co., and resided several 
years at Salem, where her husband worked at 
the shoemaker's trade; he afterwards lived 
eight years at Bacon Ridge. Dec, 1831, 
they moved to this township, where he had 
entered 160 acres of land; here they built a 
cabin, 12x16 feet, and lived in the same un- 
til circumstances afforded them something 
better; it was " all woods," not a stick had 
been cut; Mrs. Moffet is now 93 years of age, 
and is remarkably well preserved, for one of 
her years; she has the first bedstead she ever 
owned, and the patent bearing Andrew Jack- 
son's signature upon it, which they received 
when they located their laiid; Mr. Moffet 
died Sept 6, 1847, and was a Jackson Demo- 
crat during his life, and a member of the 
Associate Reformed Church since his mar- 
riage — Mrs. Moffet being now identified with 
a church nearly three-score years and ten. 
Samuel was born July 13, 1836, being the 
youngest child of the family, the following 
being the names of those living — Mary, now 
Mrs. John Dunlap, of Iberia; Elizabeth, now 
Mrs. Samuel Devore of North Bloomfield; 
Sarah J., now Mrs. J. Fulton of Iowa; James 
K. in Marion Co.; William T., abroad; Rob- 
ert T., in this township; Ann and Rebecca, 
and Samuel at home. 

ANDREW MITCHELL, saw-mill; An- 
drews; was born in this township, Sept. 29, 
1836, and is the seventh of a family of eight 



k. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



693 



children, born to Daniel and Margaret (How-, 
den) Mitchell; the former born Feb. 16, 1793; 
the latter April 1, 1801; both in Washington 
Co., Pa., where they were married Jan. 1, 
1818, and emigrated to this region at an early 
period of its history. Daniel Mitchell died 
Jan. 14, 1879, at the homestead, one mile east 
of Williamsport; Andrew was raised upon the 
farm, where he remained until his 24th 
year, when he married Maria Wilson, born 
April 25, 1838, daughter of James Wilson, of 
Knox Co.; after marriage he located one-half 
mile north of Williamsport, where he engaged 
in the saw-mill business, where he continued 
a short time, then engaged in the grocery 
business at Williamsport for two years; he then 
engaged in farming four years, near the 
town of Williamsport; hethen located perma- 
nently a short distance north of Williamsport, 
where he has since been engaged in running 
a saw-mill, to Avhich enterprise he gives his 
entire attention; has five children — Fred- 
erick, William, Clyde, Florence and Herbert. 

Z. H. MITCHELL, farmer; P. O., Andrews; 
is the eldest of the Mitchell brothers, which 
family has been identified with the interests 
of the county since 1823; he was born Jan. 5, 
1820, in Washington Co., Penn., and emigra- 
ted to this State with the family, in the spring 
of 1824; his father's name was Dan, who came 
out in the fall of 1823, and prepared the way 
for the family, who came out the following- 
spring, locating in Peru Tp., where they had 
entered 80 acres of land; after a residence of 
four years, moved to the eastern portion of 
Congress Tp., where they located permanently. 
Zephaniah received his first schooling in a 
log caVnn, the first built in the township, 
where greased paper admitted feeble rays of 
light, his seat being the soft side of a split 
slab. Attended subsequently a few terms at 
Mt. Gilead, and one at Mansfield, which quali- 
fied him for the position of "schoolmaster," 
in which capacity he officiated several winter 
terms. Sept. 15, 1850, he was married to 
Martha A. Lindsay; born in this county; she 
died Jan, 17, 1852, leaving one child — Clacke, 
nine days old; he was married Aug. 30, 
1855, to Sarah A. Carrothers, born Dec. 19, 
1829, in Guernsey Co. They have five chil- 
dren — Margaret Ann, now Mrs. W. H. Snyder; 
Susaimah, wife of Calvin Hull; Eliza E., born 
April 19, 1862; James C, May 22, 1864, and 



Dan H., April 2, 1866. After marriage with 
first wife, he moved to the northern part of 
the township, where his wife died; he subse- 
quently changed his residence to his present 
abode, one half-mile west of Williamsport, 
where he has since remained. The early por- 
tion of his life (being of a mechanical turn of 
mind) he employed his time in part, as carpen- 
ter, harness and shoe-making, which he took 
up naturally without serving the usual appren- 
ticeship, his time being thus occupied when not 
engaged in his farm duties; is Republican in 
sentiment, and though not a member of any 
church, or secret society, yet has lived a moral 
and upright life; has served as Township 
Clerk for several years, and is among the 
worthy citizens of the township. His farm, 
composed of 194 acres — with his saw-mill, 
employs the greater portion of his time. 

JACKSON McCAMMAN, farmer; P. O., 
Andrews; was born Sept. 22, 1823, in 
Mercer Co., Penn,; there were nine of the 
family, he being the sixth in order; but 
three are now living; one sister in Beaver 
Co., Pa., and one brother in Montana; these 
with himself are all that survive of that large 
family. At the age of 13 he emigrated to 
Ashland Co. with his parents, where his father 
bought a piece of land of one Charles 
Wheeler. Here Jackson was raised to farm- 
ing; having good school advantages, he was 
fitted to undertake any common business 
vocation. At the age of 22 he was married 
to Jane Doty, born June 19, 1827, in Ash- 
land Co., daughter of Abraham and Mary 
(Barr) Doty. At this time he was in poor 
health and devoid of means, yet he had 
"grit," and a determination to accomplish 
something in this world; he began by renting 
land, which he continued until he acquired 
means to buy a piece of land in Wyandot 
Co. About the year 1850, he came to 
the township, where he bought 115 acres 
of land, upon which he now lives. Has 
since added to it, until he has about 200 
acres, and he has brought it to such a state of 
improvement, that he received the first pre- 
mium on the same in 1879, at the Agricul- 
tural Association, In 1876 he built a barn, 
which is the best in the county— but few, if any, 
better in the State, and has set an example for 
the farmers in this direction, that is worthy of 
their emulation, Mr, McCamman now ranks 






-^ >> 



(>!I4 



CONGRESS TOWNSHIP. 



ainoni? the successful farmers of this county. 
Ho has always been a Democrat and a 
staunch advocate of the Prohibition cause, 
and is ready, at any time, to denounce by his 
example and precept, every form of intoxica- 
cants, and deems their une the worst curse of 
humanity. They have had ten children; 
eight are living — Hiram J., John W., Clara 
R., now Mrs. F. Walker; Ida V., now Mrs. 
James L. Lee, of Mt. Gilead; and Doty, 
Frank, Mary and Adda. 

AMOS MELLOTT, farmer; P. O., Andrews. 
Among the early arrivals in this township 
was Mr. Mellott, who was born Nov. 30, 1808, 
in Belmont Co., O.; son of John and Mary 
(Workman) Mellott; he came to this state in 
ISOO, and stopped for a while in Belmont Co., 
but was driven out by the Indians; he went 
back to Bedford Co., Pa., but returned the 
following year. Amos was married Dec. 28, 
1830, to Sarah Truax, who was born July 31, 
1810, in Bedford, Pa. In March, 1831, he 
located on the farm he now owns, and has 
made this his constant residence since that 
date. He built a cabin 10 by 18 feet, which 
had a puncheon floor, and no chairs or table; 
when he moved in he made his entry by way 
of the fire-place, as the door was obstruct- 
ed by a brush heap. He remembers one 
night visiting a neighbor's house in company 
with his wife, and on returning home got lost; 
after wandering about for some time, locking 
in vain for some familiar object, he came 
across a burning stump, and the direction of 
a fallen tree assisted him in iinding his cabin. 
He says those days were his happiest ones, 
although devoid of the advantages that civi- 
lization affords, yet liis wants were few. His 
wife died Feb. 10, 1870; they had eleven 
children, eight of whom are now living — 
Samuel, in Kansas; Isaac in Franklin Tp.; 
iiVdia, now Mrs. K. Fox, of Indiana; Joseph, 
Kli/a])eth, now Mrs. Rush Crawford, on an 
adjoining farm; Mary atid Rachel J., at home. 
Mr. Mellott is a member of the regular Bap- 
tist Church; he is about the only survivor of 
the original members who belonjxed to it on 
its hrst organization. 

WM. MILLER, brick-maker; Shaucks; 
was born in Cumberland Co., .Jan. 20, 1830, the 
youngest child of a family of six, born to 
George J. and Catharine Miller; he came to 
this county with his parents from Richland 



Co., where they located after coming from 
Pennsylvania. William, at the age of 21, 
turned his attention to mechanical pursuits; 
the use of tools seemed natural to him, and he 
was able to use them in most of the common 
trades, but was most interested in working in 
wood. In 1857, he began the manufacture of 
brick, and from that time he manufactured 
them every season. He was married to Mary 
D. Lyon, who was born Jan. 1, 1834, in this 
township, and has two children — Benjamin 
L., born June 19, 1802, and Sarah E., born 
July 29, 1859. April 1, 1801, he bought the 
place he now owns; he has never been iden- 
tified with any church, but has religious views 
pecvdiarly his own. He is a Democrat. 

JASON MILLER, teacher; Shaucks; is 
among the successful teachers of the "young 
idea" in this township, who was born here, 
June 4, 1849, and is the eldest child of Jacob 
Miller, Jr. Jason was reared to farming pur- 
suits, but this not being agreeable to his 
tastes, he entered the field as an educator, 
and at the age of 20 began teaching, and has 
labored in that capacity up to the spring of 
1880, seventeen terms; twelve of them were 
taught in the home district were he was raised. 
At the age of 24 he was married to Esther J. 
Burtnett, born in 1857, in North Bloomfield, 
a daughter of Adam and Caroline Burtnett, 
whose maiden name was Fringer, and who 
was from Maryland; her husband, Adam, was 
from York Co. They have one child — C^lay, 
born in Feb. 1880. He has forty acres of land. 

WILLIAM PAUL, farmer; P. O. Schauks; 
was born in Mifflin Co., Pa., March 15, 1827. 
There were ten children in the family, of 
which he was the third, born to Philip and 
Elizabeth (Mosher) Paul, who were natives of 
the Keystone State; William's father was a 
tailor by trade, and emigrated to Richland 
Co., this State, in the year 1833, when Wil- 
liam was about years of age. At the age of 
18, he bought his time of his father, and 
launched out for himself; at the age of 19, he 
was married to Julia A. Zigler, daughter of 
Cluistian Zigler; after his marriage, he worked 
out as a farm laborer for one year; subse- 
quently he learned the cooper's trade, and 
then worked on shares for his brother-in-law, 
he furnishing the materia!, and received one- 
half the manufactured material. After this, 
Mr. Paul took a lease of eighty acres of land 



^ 



:\^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



695 



for five years, when, after the expiration of 
this he "cropped" two years, and then 
worked two years on the Eversole farm; he 
then went to Pahnyra, where he staid three 
years; then spent two years on the Milton 
Moore farm. In April, 1860, he came to the 
place where he now lives; he bought eighty 
acres, which were in a very delapidated con- 
dition; the improvements were very inferior; 
he was to pay -$2,000 for the land; five hun- 
dred was all he was worth, and that he had 
not at hand. The tide of opinion was against 
him, that he would never succeed, but time 
has proved the contrary ; he has now 110 acres 
of land, in good order, and an excellent brick 
house on the same, with a good orchard. They 
have the following children — Lavina, now 
Mrs. Byron Lewis, George W., Emiline, 
Angeline, Jacob, James Allen and Franklin. 

JAMES PITT, farmer; P. O., Andrews; 
was born in March, 1803, in Indiana Co., Pa.; 
is the fourth of a family of seven children, 
born to Joseph and Esther Pitt, who were na- 
tives of Pennsylvania; James moved to this 
State with his parents when he was 16 years 
of age, locating in Richland Co., and remain- 
ing there until the year 1831, when he located 
in this township, on the place where he now 
lives, having entered 160 acres of land. His 
first work upon his arrival was to provide a 
house, which, with the assistance of another 
man, he put up in one day; its dimensions 
were 12x14 feet; on his arrival here, his funds 
were low, having only one dollar; his wants 
Avere few, and encouraged by the hope of bet- 
ter days, he began clearing up his land. He 
was married at the age of 25, to Sarah Arter, 
born June 19, 1808, in Cumberland Co., Pa.; 
they have had seven children, five boys and 
two girls; but two of the children are now 
living — Elizabeth, now Mrs. Struble, and La- 
vina, now Mrs. Thomas CaiT, of Crestline. 
Mr. and Mrs. Pitt are members of the M. E. 
Church, and have been associated with that 
body for over fifty years; they have been con- 
stant residents of this township about half a 
century. Mr. Pitt has l)een loyal to the po- 
litical principles of Andrew Jackson, for 
whom he cast his first vote. 

JACKSON PARKS, farmer; P. O., An- 
drews; was born in Ashland Co., Nov. 8, 1827, 
son of David and Elizabeth (Lance) Parks, 
who were natives of Pennsylvania. Jackson 



was six years of age when he came here with 
his parents, who settled on the same place; he 
lived there until his death. Jackson was mar- 
ried to Julia Ann Snyder, who was born in 
this township in 1832, a daughter of Jacob 
Snyder. After marriage he located on the 
place where he now lives, and has since re- 
mained there; he has been engaged in farm- 
ing pursuits. They had thirteen children, 
eleven now living. Mr. Parks is a hard work- 
ing man, and has a small farm, which em- 
ploys the greater portion of his time; he 
does outside jobs and burns coal pits, in the 
management of which he is well versed. 

CHESTER M. RHODEBECK, farmer; 
P. O., Whetstone; is a son of John Rhode- 
beck, and was born in this township March 
22, 1847, remaining with his parents until 22 
years of age, he embarked on the matrimonial 
sea, choosing for his mate, Sarah Ellen Mc- 
Clenathan, who was born in this township, and 
is a daughter of Mrs. Rachel McC^lenathan; 
after their marriage, they lived four years in 
Washington Tp., then came to this township, 
where they have since resided, and are en- 
gaged in farming; he has a love for fine horses, 
and is now dealing in the Clydesdale stock, 
and is breeding the same for the market. 
They are strictly pure, of all of which he can 
give a pedigree; his stock having taken the 
first prize at several stock exhibitions in this 
State and Canada. They have two children — 
Samuel, born May 7, 1873, and Anna, June 
12 1875 

CAPf. ADAMSON B. RICHARDSON, 
farmer; P. O., Andrews; was born in Wash- 
ington Co., Penn., Avig. 30, 1837, and is the 
eldest child of Sesh Bazzar Richardson, whose 
wife, before marriage, was Hester Colvan, 
both natives of the same state and county. 
Adamson's father was engaged in com- 
mercial pursuits, as well as farming and stock- 
raising, and ample opportunities were afforded 
to familiarize himself with the details of active 
business life; his time was thus employed until 
the war-cloud burst in its fury over our land, 
when he was among the first to respond to 
the call for volunteers, and the week follow- 
ing the bombardment of Fort Sumter his 
services were accepted; he served three 
months in the Ringgold Cavalry, an indepen- 
dent company, and upon his return he re-en- 
listed in the 22nd Penn. Cavalry, for three 



3n: 






^w 



mi 



CONGRESS TOWNSHIP. 



years, but was mustered out in 1803, on ac- 
count of disability, caused by a wound re- 
ceived in the shoulder; he was under fire dur- 
ino- thirty-four engagements, and for meritori- 
ous conduct received a Captain's commission. 
Upon his return home he resumed farming 
ami stock-trading. He was married (3ct. 14, 
18G3, to ElUi Cotton, born Oct. 9, 1843, 
daughter of Dr. William Cotton, whose ances- 
try can be traced to the Mayflower Cotton, 
a prominent physician, since retired, but now 
a banker. In the spring of 1SG8, Mr. Rich- 
ardson moved to his present farm, which his 
father liad purchased in '49, of Mr. Andrews, 
who entered it. The farm consists of IGO 
acres which was badly run down, but Mr. 
Richardson has brought it to a choice state of 
cidtivation, having erected an excellent barn 
and made general and substantial repairs on 
the farm; Sept. 12, 1879, his wife, an amiable 
and cultivated lady, was stricken by death, 
leaving seven children to mourn her depar- 
ture — Annetta B., Mary C, William, Clyde 
N., Lulu B., Eldora and Adelaide — the two 
eldest having charge of the family. Mrs. 
Richardson was a Christian lady, and member 
of the M. K. Church at Mt. Tabor. 

B. F, RULE, ])hysician; Whetstone; is a 
rising young physician, who was born and ed- 
ucated in this county; he was born in Perry 
Tp., Jan. 27; 185(3, son of Dr. Amos Rule; his 
mother's name was Caroline Buchner before 
marriage. He received his elementary edu- 
cation at the district school, beginning the 
study of medicine in his Itith year, which he 
pursued until he graduated, taking three 
courses of lectures, and graduated at the age 
of 22, at the Starling Medical College, Feb. 
23, 1877; June 18, 1877, he set u]) in practice 
in West Point, and has been successful, and 
has a lucrativ<' juactice. 

W. AV. RUSSELL, farm(;r; P. O., Wood- 
view; was born in Muskingum Co., April 13, 
1837. There were fourteen childr«»n in the 
family, of which he was the eighth; his father, 
James, was born in Donegal Co., Ireland, 
Nov. 8, 1780, emigrating to Pennsylvania 
with his parents at the age of 21. Aug. 20, 
1822, he married Miss Lydia Burkybile, who 
was born Nov. 10, 1805. They settled in this 
township in the spring of 1843; he died in 
September, 1849; his wife still survives him, 
and is happy in the hope of the future. Wil- 



liam W^. enlisted in August, 18G2, in Co. D, 
90th O. V. L, and served until the close of 
the war, participating in all the battles in 
which the regiment was engaged, with the 
exception of two, one of them occuring while 
he was sick, and the other while he was a 
prisoner in the hands of the enemy, having 
been captured at Grand Coteau, and was con- 
fined seven months in their ])rison; when upon 
his return home, he resumed his labors on the 
farm. In October of the same year he was 
married to Elizabeth Smith, who was born 
July 5, 1844, in Perry Tp., and who is the 
daughter of John N. and Mary (Baker) Smith. 
After their marriage they moved to the Russell 
homestead, where they still live. Six children 
have been born to them — Orrie O., Ulysses S. 
L., Melvin Guy, Wastella G., Arta J. and 
Orley O., who is the eldest. Himself, wife 
and mother are members of the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church, and his father was a mem- 
ber of the Established Church. 

JOHN RHODEBECK, Whetstone; prom- 
inent among the self-made men and success- 
ful farmers in this township, is Mr. Rhode- 
beck, who was born in Chester Co., Penn., 
April 13, 1814, the son of Peter and Hannah 
(Smith) Rhodebeck, both natives of the same 
county. John began to learn the wagon- 
maker's trade before he was of age, which he 
followed for four years; in 1834 he came to 
Licking Co., remaining two years, when he 
came West; he had an old blind horse, which 
cost him 120; this was all his earthly posses- 
sions, but he had perseverance and a deter- 
mination to make himself a home; he began 
first by working out by the day, during the 
first year, receiving 50 cents per day; he then 
worked upon his aunt's farm for two years, 
and then went to Troy, in Delaware Co.,where 
he purchased eighty acres of land; having 
made 1^300, and borrowing that amount from 
his avnit, he was enabbni to pay for his laud; 
after two years, he sold it for 11,000 in gold, 
and in 1841 came to this township, purchas- 
ing 130 acres for ¥l,000; the year following, 
Sept. 27, 1842, he was married to Margaret 
Mann, boru in Cumberland Co., Pa., and came 
West when three years of age; her father's 
name was John, and her mother's maiden 
name was Christina Haugher. Mr. and .Mrs. 
Rhodebeck have had ten children: Sylves- 
ter, Chester, Clinton, William (deceased), Jen- 



^ 



■^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



697 



nie, Webb, Addie, Mary, and two died in in- 
fancy. Mr. Rhodebeck has now 483 acres of 
land; he has never been afraid to risk his 
judgment, and in all his business schemes has 
been successful. 

JOHN L. RILEY, farmer; R. O., Andrews; 
was born in Berkshire Tp., Delaware Co., Apr. 
17, 1819; son of Henry Riley, of Washington 
Co., Pa., who emigrated to Delaware Co. 
prior to the war of 1812, in which he was a 
participant. John L. was married May 6, 
1841, to Matilda A. Buck, daughter of "^An- 
drew and Olive (Horr)Buck, who were natives 
of the Eastern States, and of Yankee descent. 
Early in life Mr. Riley learned the carpenter 
and cabinet-makers' trade, following the bus- 
iness for fourteen years; he came to this coun- 
ty in 1859, and lived in Lincoln Tp. until 
1866, when he came to Congress, and has 
since remained; they have had four children, 
three of them now living — Levonia, now Mrs. 
Wm. Stiner; Levi P. in Kansas; Esther O., 
now Mrs. T. J. Grub, of Richland Co. Mr. 
Riley has 177 acres of land, which, on account 
of his iinpaired health, he has rented out 
for several years; it is now occupied by his 
son-in-law, Wm. Stiner, who was born July 
28, 1839, in Lincoltj Tp., son of Henry Stiner, 
whose wife was Drusilla Hyde, of Yankee de- 
scent; the Stiners are from Germany;in April, 
1861, Mr. Stiner enlisted in Company I, 3d 
O. V. I., and served three years and two 
months in the army of the Cumberland; July 
24, 1864, he was married to Levonia Riley, 
born March 15, 1847; they have one child — 
Clarence M., born Feb. 2, 1869. Mr. Stiner 
is a member of the Evangelical Church, also 
of Johnsville Lodge, L O. O. F., No. 469. 

HENRY S. RUHL, farmer; P. O., An- 
drews; is among the successful farmers in this 
township; he was born in Sodorus Tp., York 
Co., Pa., May 13, 1822, and was the third of 
a family of nine children, born to Henry and 
Barbara (Steffey) Ruhl, both of York Co.; 
the Rulils are of German descent; the father 
was a farmer, and Henry naturally turned to 
this occupation; he remained at the family 
home until after he was 28 years of age; 
June 15, 1850, he was married to Lydia Win- 
ter, and soon after bought a part of his father's 
farm, on which he lived until 1856, when he 
sold out, and bouglit eighty acres- where he 
now lives; soon after his arrival his wife died; 



she left one child — Amos W., born in Aug., 
1851; he subsequently married Ellen Snyder, 
who was born Aug. 31, 1835, and is a daugh- 
ter of Jacob Snyder; they have had twelve 
children, of whom nine are living — Enos S., 
Edgar W., Martha, Barbara C, Jacob F., Bar- 
ton H., Mary E., Ida W., and Charles R.; Mr. 
Ruhl has now 250 acres of land, and is still 
extending his boundaries; he is among the 
best farmers in the township, and does not 
trade or speculate, but confines his attention 
to the means which will bring him the surest 
returns; while he is alive to his temporal in- 
terests, he is not insensible to the duty he 
owes to the " Giver of all good," and to Him 
ever ascribes the praise for the blessings he 
has received. 

SYLVESTER T. RHODEBECK, farmer; 
P. O., Whetstone; is among the enterprising 
young men of the township; born July 17, 
1844, and is the eldest of a family of eight 
children, born to John and Margaret Rhode- 
beck. Sylvester was raised to farming pur- 
suits, and was 27 years of age when he left 
his father. Nov. 22, 1871, he was married to 
Margaret A. Thomas, who was born Sept. 22, 
1848, in Grant Co., Ind.; she is a daughter of 
Timothy Thomas, of this township; after their 
marriage they located on the farm now owned 
by them, consisting of seventy acres, which is 
situated in the northwest side of the town- 
ship; since his occupancy it has undergone a 
thorough renovation, and its present condi- 
tion gives proof of his good management and 
industry. During the fall and winter he runs 
a thresher. They have two children^ — Wdliam 
W., born Jan. 3, 1873, and Laura J., born 
Dec. 22, 1874. 

ABIGxlIL RUSH, retired; Andrews; is 
among the hardy few who braved the hard- 
ships incident to the settlement of this town- 
ship; she was born in Washington Co., Pa., 
Jan. 20, 1806, and is a daughter of John 
Brewer, whose wife was Mary Levering. 
John Brewer was born Feb. 28, 1765; his 
wife, Mary, June 15, 1771; Abigail is the 
youngest of a family of ten children, she be- 
ing the sole survivor of the family; she was 
married to William Rush, June 2, 1821. He 
was born May 13, 1794, in Washington Co., 
Pa. After their marriage they emigrated to 
this township, and settled where she now 
lives, Dec. 15, 1821, when it was "all woods." 



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()!)S 



CONGRESS TOWNSHIP. 



The " rod men " were encamped near them; 
there were but five families in the town- 
ship at the time. John LeverinjT, Samuel 
Graham, Jonathan Brewer, Mr. Bailey and 
Tim Gardiner, she states, were tlie num- 
ber who united together and put up a cabin 
for Mr. Rush, who subsp(jU('ntly entered 
rig^hty acres of land, by borr(nving a hundred 
dollars of a friend; he then bought two colts 
and paid for them by clearing up timber 
for others, doing his own work by night; 
these colts he kept for three years, and 
sold them for $118, which liquidated the 
debt, interest and all. Mrs. Rush had three 
knives and forks, they sat on stools, and their 
table was a box; they bored holes in the 
wall and improvised a bod, having no door or 
windows, except greased paper, spread over 
apertures in the side of the cabin to admit the 
light, yet, notwithstanding all this, they were 
happy; their next house was made of hewed 
logs? their third was a frame, now standing in 
her yard, near her present residence, which is 
the fourth since her settlement here. Mr. 
Rush was in the war of 1812; he died Dec. 
2o, 1871. Thirteen children have been born 
to them; eight are living — John, Enoch, Wil- 
liam, Mary A., Elizal)etn, Morgan, Benjamin 
and Ruth. 

W. H. SNYDER, farmer; P. 0., Andrews; 
was born in Johnsville, Perry Tp., Jan. 28, 
lS4r9, and is a son of John G. and Mary (Clay) 
Snyder, who were natives of the Keystone 
State, and emigrated to this country before 
young Snyder was born. Our subject did not 
leave the parental homo until he was 24 years 
of age; his father was a farmer, and schooled 
his son to follow the same vocation. William 
taught school one term, but having a desire 
to settle in life, he married Margaret A. 
Mitchell, who was born in August, 1856, and 
is a daughter of Z. H. Mitchell; their marriage 
was co:isummatod Sept. 25, 1873. Since their 
marriage they have resided in the southeast 
part of the township, where he has forty acres 
of land. They have two children — Ray, born 
Dec. 21, 1874, and Clay, born Oct. 9, 1876. 
Himself and lady are members of the M. E. 
Church. 

JACOB SNYDER, deceased; was born 
Feb. 15, 1808, in York Co., Pa.; is a son of 
John and Magdalene (Hostler) Snyder, all from 
York Co.; Feb. 2, 1832, he was married to 



Catharine Wilhclin, who was born Oct. 18, 
1810, and the daughter of Peter and Catharine 
Knose; after their marriage they came West, 
landing here the same year; when he arrived 
in this township he had f>100, with which he 
entered eighty acres of land and settled on it, 
and was a constant resident there as long as 
He lived; his death occurred March 25, 1880; 
he was a good and successful farmer, and had 
322 acres of land and excellent Ituildings on 
it, which he had erected. His wife survives 
him. 

JOHN M. SNYDER, farmer; P. O., Whet- 
stone; was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Ger- 
many, Feb, 19, 1808; is the son of Frederick 
Snyder, who was a soldier under Napoleon, 
and whose memory and character Mr. Snvdor 
always venerated. Early in life Mr. Snyder 
learned the shoemaker's trade and emigrated 
to the United States at the age of 23, and 
was eight-four days crossing the ocean; was 
at one time driven backward 200 miles; he 
landed at Baltimore, and proceeded to Fred- 
erick by wagon, and when he reached the 
place and paid the teamster he had one shil- 
ing left; hunger soon seized him and his 
money was spent for bread; without money 
or friends, and in a new countr}^ his future 
prospects seemed to him an\^thing but en- 
couraging, when, just then a stranger arriving, 
asked of the party if there was any shoe- 
maker in the crowd, to which Frederick re- 
sponded, and soon obtained work, and in the 
spring went to Washington Co., Pa., where 
he lived four years; he then came to Mans- 
field, where he worked at his trade for nine- 
teen years, and in the time accumulate<l 
means enough to buy over 600 acres of land; 
320, in Wentworth Co., 286 where he now 
resides. After settling on his farm, he resum- 
ed his trade, and carried on his farm, but see- 
ing things sToing wrong, and sometimes a 
scarcity of help, he dashed his hammer 
through the window, and never has taken a 
stitch since, and confined his attention to 
farming pursuits. In Jan., 1832, he was mar- 
ried to Anna Heaist, who was born in Hesse, 
Darmstadt, in the year 1811; she came over 
in the same vessel that Mr. Snyder came in. 
They (Mr. Snyder and wife) were married in 
Maryland. They have eight children, all living 
— Peter, in Wentworth Co.; George, in Gabon; 
Elizabeth, Anna, Margaret, John, Michael and 



;r^ 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



()!)9 



Louisa. Peter was out in the late war, in 
the 81st O. V. 1., three years. In 1862, Mr. 
Snyder was severel}^ injured in the leg, being 
caught in a mowing machine; the physician 
decided to amputate it, but Mr. Snyder would 
not consent to have the operation performed, 
and now has good use of it, but is lame. Mr. 
Snyder has always been identified with the 
Republican party, and is a member of the 
Reformed Church. 

AMOS SIPES, farmer; P. O., Andrews; 
born Oct. 26, 1825, in Bedford Co., Pa.; there 
were ten children in the family, he being the 
fifth child; nine are now living, born to Henry 
M. and Margaret (Outkelt) Sipes; she was 
born in New Jersey, and her husband in 
Pennsylvania. Amos came to Perry Co. 
with his parents when but 1 year old, where 
they lived four years, then moved to this 
county, locating near Armstrong's Mills, in 
Washington Tp. Before attaining his ma- 
jority, Amos had learned the blacksmith's 
trade. His advantages, educationally, were 
limited, but such as they were, he improved 
them. Feb. 4, 1847, he was married to Eliza- 
beth J. Dickerson, born May 28, 1825, in 
Washington Co., Pa., and was a daughter of 
Leonard and Susanna(Wolf)Dickerson, natives 
of Pennsylvania. The Dickersons are a family 
of marked intelligence, her uncle having rep- 
resented his county in the Legislature for a 
number of years. Mr. Sipes, when beginning 
life was poor, and worked the first year by 
the day and month at farm labor; the next 
year he set up in business for himself, at 
West Point, where he plied his trade for two 
years, and at his father's solicitation, he re- 
turned to the farm, where he stayed two years, 
and then bought forty acres in North Bloom- 
field, and lived there fourteen years. April 
10, 1866, he moved to his present home, one 
mile northeast of Williamsport, and considers 
himself settled for life; he has now 113 acres 
of land. They have five children — Vialetta, 
now Mrs. D. Armstrong, Susanna (Mrs. Rien- 
hart), Henry D., Sarah E., Mrs. P. Riley, of 
Cofi"ee Co., Kansas, and Dubois, at home. He, 
his wife and three of the children, are identi- 
fied with the United Brethren Church 

JOHN SWALLUM, retired; Andrews. 
Among the old-time representatives and early 
settlers, who have been associated wath the 
events and changes pertaining to this county 



for about fifty years, is Mr. Swallum, who was 
born Sept. 11, 1796, in the "Old Dominion," 
Frederick Co.; his father, Joseph, was one of 
the 1000 Hessians, who were sent over to this 
country in R(nolutionary times, and was taken 
prisoner by Gen. Washington. Mr. Swallum's 
mother's name was Christina; there were ten 
children in the family, James was the fifth in 
order. Mr. Swallum emigrated to Jefferson 
Co., this State, in 1817, and after one year's 
residence moved to Belmont Co., where he 
was married to Margaret Defard, a native of 
this State; after a residence of three years 
they moved to Ashland, Richland Co., where 
they lived nine years, and in the fall of 1830, 
moved to this county, and settled on the land 
he had entered and where he now resides; 
here he built a cabin, and began improve- 
ments; he has had seven children — Betsey, 
Susan, Katie; Malinda, Margaret, Levi and 
Sarah. Betsy is now Mrs. S. Myres; Margaret 
is dead; Susan, now Mrs. James Maxwell; 
Katie, now in Michigan; Levi, in Clarke Co.; 
Sarah, now Mrs. Robert Fish; Malinda, at 
home, and taking care of her father in his de- 
clining years, he being about 84 years of age. 
He has been a member of the Christian 
Church over forty-two years. His wife died 
June 14, 1864, her death was caused by her 
horse running away wnth her, and injuring her 
to such an extent, that she died in a few hours 
afterwards, being 66 years 2 months and 20 
days old. 

HENRY SHADE, farmer; P. O., Pulaski- 
ville; was born in Perry Tp., in Nov., 1829, 
and is the fifth child of a family of six, born 
to Henry and Nancy (Parker) Shade; both 
were natives of Baltimore Co., Md., and emi- 
grated to this region at an early period of its 
settlement; the father was a soldier in the war 
of 1812, and moved into this township in 1845, 
locating on the farm now owned by Mr. Ax- 
tell; here he lived until his death in 1847; he 
was born in 1782; Henry lived at his paternal 
home until his marriage with Hannah Cyphers, 
who was born in New Jersey, Oct. 24, 1835, 
the daughter of James and Keziah (Bang- 
hart) Cyphers; they were married May 12, 
1856, and located on the farm which he now 
owns, consisting of eighty acres; the buildings 
upon it are improvements made by him; they 
have had eleven children, nine of whom are 
living; the record in the family Bible gives 



:f^ 



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CONGRESS TOWNSHIP. 



the order of births as follows — Christina, born 
March 15, 1857; Lucina, Sept. 5, 1858; Rose, 
Sept. 4, 180U; Frank, Oct. 17, ISOG; John, 
Sept. 11, 18G5; James H., July r^4, 18G7; 
Charles, Nov. 29, 18G9; Fred, Dec. 18, 1871; 
Burr, May 10, 1873; Ossie and Voicy, twins, 
Sept. 20, 1878. The latter died Oct. 29, 
1878, and the former April 9, 1879; Mr. 
Shade's mother still lives and resides with 
him, having been in an almost helpless condi- 
tion for two years. 

AVILLIA5I SECHRIST, farmer; P. O. 
Shaucks; was born in York Co., Penn., Feb. 
2;3, 1834, and is the oldest son of Henry and 
Mary (Clinefelter) Sechrist, who are both of 
York Co., Pa. At the age of 23, William 
came West and lived two years in Marion Co., 
and in Clark Co. one year, when he returned to 
York Co., Pa., and after one year's stay, re- 
turned to this county and worked one year in 
Johnsville, where he was married to Caroline 
Henry, who was born Feb. 12, 1842 (in this 
township), who is a daughter of Martin Henry; 
her mother's maiden name was Julia Ann 
Wilhelm. After raan-iage, they moved to 
Marion Co., where he had twenty acres of 
land, and lived two years on the place, which 
proved to be so sickly that he Bold it and re- 
turned to Morrow Co., and lived eight years 
on the Ridy place, in Perry Tp.; he after- 
wards moved to Mr. Henry's farm, which he 
worked one year, and then made a purchase of 
the land he now owns, which consists of forty- 
four acres, all of which he acquired by his 
own industry; begiiniing life poor, he has 
fought his way through, and has worked hard 
for what he earned, and saved his means un- 
til he was able to purchase his home. He is 
a good farmer, and his farm is well kept. 
They have had five children, whose names and 
ages are as follows: Mary, born March 19, 
1863; Eli, October 13, 1805; Ida, September 
26, 1868; Alice, December 13, 1872; Sarah A., 
December 15, 1874. He is a member of the 
I^ntheran Church. 

JAMES SHTPMAN, farmer; P. O., An- 
drews; Dec. 13, 1824, was the most important 
event in the history of James Shipman, who 
was then ushered into the world, in North- 
umberland Co., Penn., from where his parents, 
Harmon and Mary (Hub) Shipman, emigrated 
and settled in this county, in Franklin Tp., 
where he entered a piece of land, and re- 



mained on it until his death, which occurred 
in 1853; his wife died Aug. 20, 1859. James 
remained at home until he was 24 years of 
age; he then started out for himself, empty- 
handed. May 22, 1849, he was married to 
p]lizabeth Eniick, born ^lay 20, 1827, in Knox 
Co., near Mt. Vernon, who is a daughter of 
Henry and Elizabeth (Sawyer) Emick, both 
of Rockingham Co., Va. After James' mar- 
riage, he began renting land, which he con- 
tinued four 3'ears, then bought fifty acres in 
the woods; not a stick had been cut on it; 
here he built him a cabin 24x18, and lived in 
the same until 1863, when he sold his inter 
est in Franklin Tp., and moved to Con- 
gress Tp., three-quarters of a mile south of 
Williamsport; there he bought 80 acres of 
land, and has since been an occupant and 
owner of the same, having the same clear of 
debt or incumbrance. They have two chil- 
dren — George W., born April 2, 1850, who is 
married, and in business for himself; John V., 
born Feb. 17, 1857, at home. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Shipman are members of the Baptist 
Church, having been connected with that 
denomination for twenty-five years. 

GEORGE B. THOMPSON, attorney; ML 
Gilead; was born on his father's farm, in 
Congress Tp., Richland (now Morrow) Co., 
Ohio, Dec. 23, 1840, and has always made his 
home on the same; he assisted on the farm, 
and attended district school until he was about 
16 years of age; he then attended school near- 
ly two years to E. G. Phillips, Esq., of AYill- 
iamsport, after which he taught for two win- 
ters in Congress Tp., and attended the Union 
School, of Chesterville, dining summers, fin- 
ishing with one full year at the latter place; 
he then began reading law with T. H. Dal- 
rymple, Esq., of Mt. Gilead, and on the Pith 
of Auo-ust following:, he enlisted in Co. E. of 
the 121st Regt., O. V. 1., serving as 4th Sar- 
geant; he was in the battle of Perrysville, Ky., 
and with the regiment until Dec. 1, 1862, at 
which time he was setit to the hospital at 
Columbia, Ky., with typhoid fever, and while 
there, Jan. 1, 1863, the rebel. Gen. Morgan, 
with 3,500 men, took tlie place, our subject fall- 
ing into his hands; he was j)aroled on honor not 
to bear arms against the Confederacy until 
properly exchanged. Mr. Tln)mpson has a 
copy of this document ([)arole), written on 
rebel paper. Upon his recovery he reported 






it^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



rOI 



to Camp Chase, at Columbus, Ohio, and was 
discharged March 26, 1863, owing to disabili- 
ties; he returned home, and renewed reading 
law, also teaching during winters until 1874; 
in June of that year he was admitted to the 
bar, and began the practice of law in Mt. 
Gilead, and has followed the profession since, 
residing on his farm in Congress Tp. April 
10, 1864, he married Miss Sarah J., daughter 
of Daniel and Hannah (Ramsey) Wilson. She 
was also born in Congress Tp., her folks being 
early settlers in that locality. 

TIMOTHY THOMAS, farmer; P.O., Whet- 
stone; was born March 1, 1817, in Westmore- 
land Co., Penn.; is a son of Samuel and Eliza- 
beth (Larue) Thomas; the former was born in 
New Jersey, while the latter was from Penn- 
sylvania. In 1817 Timothy came to Guern- 
sey Co. with his parents, who located in the 
eastern part,upon land which Timothy's grand- 
father had entered. When young Thomas 
was 10 years of age, he returned to Pennsyl- 
vania and lived with an uncle until 17 years 
of age, when he came to Guernsey Co., re- 
maining a short time, and subsequently made 
several changes. Dec. 3, 1845, he was mar- 
ried to Eliza Carothers, born March 13, 1825, 
in Guernsey Co., the daughter of James and 
Ann (Blakely) Carothers, who were natives of 
Ireland. After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. 
Thomas, they settled on sixty acres of unim- 
proved land, selling the same eight years af- 
terwards for $775; they then moved to Wa- 
bash Co., Ind., where they bought 160 acres 
for 11050, which he sold after two years' pos- 
session for #2000; he then engaged in the 
mercantile business, and lost all he had; in 
1855 he came to this county, landing in Con- 
gress Tp., having a wife, three children, and 
$27.50; this was rather discouraging, yet he 
plodded on, resolved to rise again; he began 
at the bottom by renting, which he continued 
for several j^ears; in 1863, he purchased eighty 
acres, afterward seventy more, and in 1872, ad- 
ded 160 acres ; since then he has sold off, un- 
til he has but eighty acres. They had seven 
children, five of whom survive — James C, 
Margaret N., now Mrs. Sylvester, Rhodebeck, 
William L., Robert B. and Sarah J. (twins), and 
Edward W, Mr. Thomas has been identified 
with the Republican party and, has served 
three years as Justice of the peace, and filled 
several township offices of minor note. 



JAMES THOMPSON, farmer; P. O., An- 
drews; was born in Doun Co., Ireland, May 
24, 1815, and emigrated to this country with 
his parents when a lad of 4 years, and settled 
in Washington Co., Penn. They came to 
this State in the fall of 1830, and settled in 
the south-west part of the township, near 
Brynzion Church, purchasing the land of one 
Crawford; there was a cabin on the place and 
one acre cleared; here his father remained 
until his death, which occurred May 27, 1859; 
his mother died May 13, 1846. James was 
the eldest of a family of six children — having 
one brother and four sisters, and was 23 years 
of age when he left home. Jan. 31, 1837, he 
was married to Ijydia Findley, who was born 
March 5, 1820, in what is now Mt. Gilead 
Tp.; she is daughter of Barcley and Eleanor 
(Eckley) Findley, who was born in Ashland 
Co., the former in Penn. .lames located on 
40 acres of the homestead, upon which he 
lived for sixteen years; he then moved north 
of Williamsport, where he lived four years 
and a half, and in 1858 moved to Franklin 
Tp., where he bought a farm of 100 acres; 
after one year's residence there, he moved to 
the southeast part of Congress Tp., where he 
now resides, having 100 acres of land. They 
have had five children — George B., William 
G., Mary E. died in Aug., 1869, was the wife 
of Asher Reynolds; John L., of Ringgold Co., 
Iowa; Smith Irwin died April 1, 1879; was 
born Nov. 1, 1850. Mr. Thompson has now 
been identified with the county's history for 
over fifty years, which long acquaintance has 
proven him to be a true man, consistent 
Christian, and accommodating neighbor. He 
and wife are members of the Presbyterian 
Church. The Democratic platform being the 
most consistent with his views, he has adhered 
to that. 

M. C. WOLFORD, farmer; P. O., Andrews; 
is a native of Dauphin Co., Pa., and was born 
Aug. 24, 1820; is the eldest of a family of 
eight children, born to George and Esther 
(Cassel) Wolford, both of Pennsylvania. 
Michael Cassel, came west with his parents 
when he was but 10 years of age, they locat- 
ing in Franklin Tp., Richland Co. Here he 
was raised and stayed until he was 23 years of 
age. Jan. 23, 1843, he was united in wed- 
lock to Elizabeth Kohler, who was born April 
15, 1822, in Adams Co., Pa.; her father's 



^: 



:F* 



HARMONY TOWNSHIP. 



iijiini' was Jacob, whose wife was Elizabeth 
Miller. After the marriage Mr. Wolford 
moved to Bloomin<r Grove Tp., where he bought 
eighty acres in "the woods,' which he cleared 
lip, and upon which he lived nine years, 
^larch S."), 1852, he moved to this township 
and bought IGO acres of land, situated 2k 
miles north of Williamsport, on the "angling " 
road, leading to Mt. Gilead; he has a splendid 
location, one of the finest in the townsliip; he 
has since added to his original purchase, having 
now 240 acres. They have five children — 
Mary E., now Mrs. C. B. Hart, John G., 
Uriah E., Leah M., now Mrs. Allen Peoples, 
and Jacob C. March 29, 1880, Mr. Wolford 
bid a sad farewell to the companion of his 
wedded life; an amiable lady, a kind mother, 
and atlectionate wife, as well as a truly 
Christian woman. Mr. Wolford is a member 
of the Disciple Church, of which his wife was 
a constant member. 

JOSEPH ZEGER, farmer; P. O., Shauck's; 
is at present building a house on the plat of 
ground u])on which he was born, Sept. 29, 
184(3; he is the third of a family of ten chil- 
dren; his father's name was Jacob, who was a 



native of Franklin Co., Pa., where his wife, 
Elizabeth Ritter, was born; in 1841 they 
moved to this county, fixing their place of 
abode in this township, and bought eighty 
acres of land for ^375,00, and j)aid the tax on 
same, which cost them, in all, 1^380,00; here 
thev made their home until their death; his 
death occurred May 2, 1872, hers in Jan., 
18G5; at the age of 15, Joseph enlisted in the 
l3Gth Reg., O. V. I., Co. I, and upon his re- 
turn home worked two years at the house- 
carpenter's trade; he subsequently made two 
trips to Missouri — the first time remaining 
there six months, and the second time sixteen 
months; but the country not suiting him as 
well as the " Buckeye State," he returned to 
remain for life in Congress Tp.; in Sept., 
1871, he was joined in wedlock to Elizabeth 
Emig, who was born in November, 1848, the 
daughter of Charles and Margaret (Miller) 
Emig; they have one child — Loreno, who 
was born Oct. 8, 187G; Mr. Zeger located on 
the place he now owns, during the Centen- 
nial year; he is a Republican, and a member of 
the Grange at Johnsville. Mrs. Zeger is a mem- 
ber of the United Brethren denomination. 



HARMONY TOWNSHIP. 



AMOS ALT.WORTH, farmer and smith; P. 
O. Chesterville; was born Nov. 26,1830, in New 
Jersey, and was married in 1855 to Maria Pow- 
ell, sister of Thomas Powell; she was born Sept. 
11, 1825; they settled after marriage in Ches- 
ter Tp., and farmed there for four years, and 
then lived with his mother for three years, 
afterwards, buying 35 acres, where they now 
reside, obtained by their labors, except $550, 
which she inherited; they have improved the 
land, and now possess one of the finest little 
farms in the township; he also works some at 
smithing; he has run a threshing machine for 
many years. They had two children, Loella 
and Angeline — deceased Aug. 5, 18G6. She 
is a member of the Baptist Clnnch; he votes 
the Democratic ticket. His father Samuel, 
and mother Elizabeth (Bockoven) Allworth, 
were born in New Jersey, and came to Ohio 
in 1831, settling in Delaware Co., and soon 



after came to Chester Tp. Here the father 
died, Jan. 1, 18G4; the mother is still living 
in this township, with her children, whose 
names are Margaret, Martha, Sarah, Amos, 
Samantha, Eliza, Eii, Delilah and .lohn. 

THOMAS R. BROWN, farmer; P. O., 
Cardington; was born May 22, 1826, in Knox 
Co. ; his father, Jonathan, was born May 22, 
1800, in New Jersey, and his mother, Mary 
(Larison) Brown, Jan. 3, 1803, in the same 
State. They emigrated to Knox Co. in 1816, 
and were married subsequently, and were 
blessed with — Thomas R., Joel F., James S., 
Ann E., Jonathan H., Mary J., Phoibe S., 
Washington (deceased), Clarissa (deceased); 
the father died Nov. 16, 1879, and the mother, 
1867. They were New School Baptists. 
Thomas R. obtained a limited education; his 
father being a tiller of the soil, it was quite 
natural that his son should follow the same 



"2) V 



k* 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



ro3 



pursuit. He was married in the fall of 1847, 
to Jane, daughter of Thomas and Mary Stiers 
Clark; her parents had eleven children — 
Aaron, Jane, Mary, Jacob, John, Berryhill, 
Thomas, Hannah, Moses, Martha and George. 
Mrs. Brown was born June, 25, J 826. They 
farmed on his father's faruT for four years, and 
then settled on 50 acres of his present farm, 
and has im])roved the same, and now possesses 
113 acres of well-improved land. They have 
four children — Clarissa L., married Charles E. 
Lewis; Charles, Jacob and Jonathan. Mr. 
Brown enlisted in the 88th 0. V. I., and was 
mostly on guard duty, serving about three 
years. He and his wife are members of the 
Baptist Church, in which he has taken deep 
interest, and has served as Deacon for eighteen 
years. He voted the Democratic ticket until 
the breaking-out of the war, and then joined 
the Republican party, and has since been an 
active worker. The farm that he now pos- 
sesses was purchased from Judge T. W. 
Powell and Buck. 

THOMAS J. BEAM, farmer; P. O., Card- 
ington; was born March 15, 1821, in Knox 
Co. His father, John, was born in Virginia, 
They had nine children — William, Merit, 
Eliza, Isaac, Thomas J., John, Sarah J., 
Phoebe A. and James A. His father served 
in township offices, and took a deep interest 
in the county; Thomas attended school in the 
old log college, and early engaged in the 
labors of the farm; he was married about 
1844, to Rebecca Lafever, and was blessed 
with two children — ITpton and James W. ; 
His wife died about 1849, and he was again 
married to Phoebe E. Burns, by whom he was 
blessed with Jennie and Mary B. He settled 
for one year in Knox Co., after his first mar- 
riage, and then came to this county, and set- 
tled on the land now owned by Joseph Sellers, 
buying at that time 84 acres of B. Warner, 
and sold the same in 1880. He bought 42 
acres where he now resides, in 1870, of Mr. 
Burns, and has improved the same and made 
it worth $00 per acre; he has been Township 
Trustee, and has held other offices. He has 
always been an active Democrat, and never 
voted for a man not of that political party. 
He takes interest in modern improvements, 
and always helps in any county enterprise 
that is of value to himself or to his neighbors. 

WILLIAM R. BURNS, farmer; P. O., 



Chesterville; is a son of John and Eliza- 
beth (Smith) Burns; his father was born 
in Pennsylvania, and his mother in the 
same state; they emigrated to Columbi- 
ana Co., Ohio, at an early day, and settled in 
the green woods; there they raised George, 
Daniel, Hugh, Benjamin, Mary, John, Heze- 
kiah, Anderson, William R. and Peter R. 
The father was Justice of the Peace for 
twenty years. William was born Dec. 25, 
1812, in Columbiana Co.; his mother died when 
he was quite young, and he helped his sisters 
to keep house for their father; he became 
quite an adept, and was considered very ex- 
pert at cooking, patching and washing; he at- 
tended school in a log school-house, and there 
obtained the rudiments of a primary educa- 
tion, which formed a taste for literature, in 
which he takes much interest; he began work- 
ing by the month after the death of his father, 
getting 17.00; was married Feb. 20, 1838, to 
Sarah, daughter of John and Mary (Peart) 
Howell; her father was born near Philadel- 
phia, and came to Ohio about 1814; her 
mother was also born near the same place; 
they settled in Columbiana Co., and had the 
following children — Abner, Benjamin, Mary, 
Sarah, Lewis, Jesse and Maria; her father was 
a farmer and shoemaker. Mrs. Burns was 
born Sept. 19, 1813,. in Pennsylvania; they 
settled, after marriage, in Columbiana Co. for 
two years, and then came to their present 
farm of 103 acres, buying the same of his 
brother Hugh; it was entered by David Shaw. 
They have improved the same, and now enjoy 
a fine farm, the fruit of their own labors. 
They had the following children — John, de- 
ceased; Ross, born March 3, 1841, married 
Ann Shaw; Mary E., Feb. 17, 1844, deceased; 
Jane, born Nov. 22, 1847; Anderson, Jan. 27, 
1846; Ruth, Nov. 30, 1850; Dorcas A., Mar. 
22, 1853; Elizabeth, Oct. 15, 1854; Alfred, 
Jan. 19, 1857. He has been Township Trus- 
tee, School Director and Supervisor; was 
once a member of the Patrons of Husbandry. 
Perhaps but few have witnessed the scenes 
that have made up the life of Mr. Burns. 

D. M. BEBOUT, farmer; P. O. Marengo. 
This enterprising farmer was born July 19, 
1839, in Licking Co. His father, Solomon, was 
born in 1811, in Pennsylvania, and his 
mother, Mary Arbuckle, in Knox Co., in 1815. 
They were married in Knox Co., and soon 



■f^ 



^1^ 



"04 



HARMONY TOWNSHIP. 



afterward moved to Licking Co., wliere they 
now reside and have eight ehlhlren — W. A., 
Sarah, Nancy E., D. M., Charlotte, Mary J., 
Elizabeth and Li/./ie. His parents were mem- 
bers of the Disciples' Church,- D. M. attend- 
ed school some in his younger days, and re- 
mained with his father on the farm until past 
24, and in May 4, 1804, was married to Julia, 
daughter of Levi and Ann (Maqueen) Har- 
rod. Both of her parents are natives of Ohio, 
and settled where the subject now resides. 
They had nine children; seven grew up — Mi- 
nor, Perrah, Delilah, William, Julia A., Lewis 
and Sarah; Jesse B. deceased and an infant de- 
ceased. Her mother died, and her father was 
subsequently twice married; first to Urenah 
Main, and afterward to Sarah Burt, and had 
no children by either. Mr. and Mrs. Bebout 
have had seven children — Laura, born March 
15, 1805, died Nov. 15, 1874; Rosella, born 
Nov. 10, 18G7; two (tvvins) died unnamed, 
})orn Nov. 17, 1870; William A., born Aug. 3, 
1871; an infant, born Sept. 2, 1877, deceased; 
and Moy Z., born Jan. 20, 1877. They rent- 
ed for one year in Licking Co., and then 
bought ninety-three acres of John Wright, 
and sold the same in 1870, and bought ninety- 
two acres, which is the present farm of Lewis 
Harrod, and they have since made this their 
home; it is well adapted to stock-raising, be- 
ing well watered by springs. He is making 
some specialty in stock-raising, principally in 
Spanish Merino sheep; he paid off a portion 
to clear the township draft, and Avas after- 
ward drafted, but hired a substitute; he has 
been a member of the Patrons of Husbandry; 
has been Township Trustee one term, and 
served serveral terms in other offices. He and 
his wife are active members of the Disciples' 
Church, in which he has been Superintendent 
of the Sunday-school; he has been prominent- 
ly identified with the Democratic party. 

JOHN W. COOK, farmer; P. O., Mt. Gil- 
ead; was born April 8, 1835, in England. 
His father, Peter, was born in 1797, and his 
mother, Charlotte (Preedy) Cook, in 1805, 
both natives of England. His father was a 
confecti<jner and malter; he had fifteen chil- 
dren, by his union with Cliarlotte, three of 
whom survive. John W. is the only one in 
this county. Our subject attended school 
until he was eight years old, at which time 
he was compelled to nurse his younger sister; 



at the age of eleven he began to learn the 
baker's trade, at which he continued for 
twenty-one years. Jn 1854, he came to Mor- 
row County and engaged in farming for Rich- 
ard Hammond, and continued in his employ 
for some time, and then engaged with James 
Auld, and was next employed by Joseph 
Guage, in Union Co. Li the fall of 1857, 
he was married to Harriet, daughter of Ro- 
bert and Mary May; she was born in Eng- 
land. Mr. Cook sent for her to come over 
when he felt that his means would justify him 
in taking unto himself a help-mate; this cele- 
bration was witnessed by Rev. George Gor- 
don, of Iberia, this county; this companion 
soon died, in 1859. He was again married 
in 1802 to Matilda J. Waters; she was born in 
1832. They had five children— Mary A., 
Harriet M,. Charlotte PI, James M. and John 
W. He then rented in AVashington Tp., until 
1804, when he enlisted for 100 days in Co. 
A, 13th O. N. G. In 1800 he settled on 40 acres 
in Gilead Tp., buying the same of Lee Rus- 
sell, and in 1875 sold the same to James 
Brown, and bought the present farm of 73 
acres. He has been energetic, and has very 
much improved the farm. He is making a 
specialty of grain and stock. This is more 
than likely the best watered farm in the 
county; he has filled some township offices. 
He and his wife are members of the Presby- 
terian Church; they were married by Rev. 
Mr. Shedd. Mr. Cook is the only member 
of the Prohibitionist party in this township. 

SAMUEL W. CHIPPS, farmer; P. O., 
Chesterville; was born Nov. 18, 1813, in New 
Jersey. His father, Joseph, was born in 1795, 
and his mother, Elizabeth (Woodruff) 
Chipps, in 1787, in the same state. They had 
four children — S. W., John, Cynthia and Har- 
riet. The father was drafted in the war of 
1812, but hired a substitute. Samuel W. had 
but poor opportunities for an education, and 
at the age of 25. he came to Ohio by way of 
Ann Arbor, Mich., from which place he 
walked; he made his settlement at Chester- 
ville, and worked for a while for Dr. Lord, at 
that place; while there, in 1840, he married 
Cinderella Struble; he enlisted in the 3()th 
O. V, I., and died in Keokuk, Iowa, in the hos- 
pital; John N., Sarah, Wesley, Melville, 
Peter, Daniel, Sophronia, George and Joshua, 
they rented in Ciiester Tp., for four years, 






:|^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



705 



and in 1845 they settled where they now re- 
side, buying 103 acres. He has now 145 acres 
of well-improved land, attained mostly by 
their own labor. He has taken a deep inter- 
est in township enterprises, especially in the 
schools; Wesly, Daniel, Joshua and George 
are all teachers. His wife died Sept. 23, 1877, 
and was an active and faithfiU member of the 
Methodist Church. He was again married to 
Mrs. Ruth Woodruff, who had by her former 
husband (Theodore Woodruff) two children 
— Kate and George. Himself and wife are 
members of the Methodist Church. He has 
always been identified with the Republican 
party; he cast his first vote for the Whig 
party. He paid his portion of the township 
draft. 

JOSEPH DOTY, farmer, P. O., Cardington; 
was born July 4, 1816, in Newark, N. J.; at the 
age of sixteen he began carpentering, at which 
he continued the most of his life; he came on 
foot to Pa., and then to Ohio in 1836, settling 
at Chesterville, joining his father's family at 
that place; he soon after returned to Pa., and 
subsequently came again to this county, and 
thence back to Pa., where he was married in 
1837 to Cecelia, daughter of James and Jane 
Green; she was born April 25, 1814, in But- 
ler Co., Pa.; by her he had nine children — 
Joanna married Daniel Beach; Sarah mar- 
ried Jacob Miller, W. D., Joseph S., deceas- 
ed; James I., deceased; Catharine, deceased; 
Agnes, married D. R. Hilliard; Mary E., D. 
G. married Mary McDonald. The family 
settled on the present farm of 98 acres in 
1865; it is owned by the subject and his son, 
W. D.; it is finely improved and watered by 
spring, and has orchard and buildings. There 
are perhaps but few who have experienced 
the trials of life encountered by Mr. Doty and 
wife. W. D. was seriously crippled by cut- 
ting his knees while raising a building, which 
has disabled him for life; he is successfully 
breeding the English Punch horses, being 
scarcely able to do anything else; he gives his 
entire attention to this business, and, of 
course, is very successful; he was engaged in 
the coal oil business for ten years in Pa, 
Joseph's wife can remember when her parents 
were compelled to bar the doors of their house 
to keep the wolves from entering. Joseph's 
father was once very wealthy, and once own- 



ed 200 acres of land, where now stands the 
present city of Newark, N. J. 

SAMUEL DITWlLER, farmer; P. O., 
Chesterville; was born Sept. 7, 1821, in 
Franklin Co., Penn., and was married in Dec, 
1841, to JanCj-^daughter of James and Mar- 
garet Riddle. Her parents emigrated from 
Richland Co., this State at an early day, and 
were the parents of Joseph, Ibbie, Samuel, Pol- 
ly, Margaret, I.ettie, John, Jane, William. Mr. 
Ditwiler by his second marriage has the 
following children — Wilson, Margaret, Jam?s, 
Fannie, Ella, Lettie and Edgar; Mrs. Dit- 
wiler died Oct. 17, 1870; she was a member 
of the Methodist Church; he was again mar- 
ried in 1876 to Mrs. Mary George, whose 
maiden name was Pierce; she had nine chil- 
dren, three of whom survive — Curtis E., Lilly 
A. and Abbie L. Her first husband died 
May 13, 1868. Mr. Ditwiler owns 66 acres of 
well improved land, all of which has been at- 
tained by his own labors. He is now located 
on 97 acres, which belong to William George's 
heirs. He paid out a portion of the township 
draft; has served in township offices. He 
and wife are Methodists; he votes the Re- 
publican ticket. His father, Jacob, was born 
in Washington Co., Penn., May 9, 1792; his 
mother, April 9, 1793; the father died there, 
and the mother and her sons, Samuel and 
John, came to Richland Co. and began anew 
in the green woods. The sons were young, 
but helped their industrious mother to im- 
prove it and now have a nice little farm. The 
mother died in 1879; she and her husband 
were Lutherans. 

G. M. ELLIOTT, farmer; P. O., Carding- 
ton; was born Dec. 28, 1815, in Pennsylvania. 
His father, James, and his mother, Jane 
Elliott, were born in Ireland, and came to 
Ohio when quite young. They came to Knox 
Co. in 1830, where they died — the father, Oct. 
16, 1840, and the mother, 1865. They had 
seven children — Hugh, Nancy, James, G. M., 
John, Samuel and Patrick; his parents were 
Presbyterians. While on their way to this 
country, they became scarce of water to drink, 
on the ocean, and had to hold out sheets while 
it was raining, and would then wring them, 
and would drink the water thus extracted. 
Mr. Elliott took advantage of the limited 
opportunities for getting an education, by 



r 



_2> 



^ 



70G 



HARMONY TOWNSHIP. 



(liliirent work at the fireside. He was married 
in iS4!), to Mary Harrrd, born Sept. 4, 1819, 
by \vlu>m he had five children — James M., de- 
ceased; Judson, deceased; Jane E., married 
(Jeorire Nuterman, Wayne Co., Ind.; Samuel, 
deceased. In 1850 they came to their present 
farm of eig'hty-nine acres, and have improved 
the same. He has been Townsliip Treasurer 
for twelve years, and Trustee a number of 
years. He makes a specialty of Spanish 
sheep. They attend the l)isciple Church; he 
takes a deep interest in any worthy county 
enterprise. 

HENRY FRITS, farmer; P. O., Chester- 
ville; was born March 7, 1820, in Franklin 
Co., Ohio; son of John and Elizabeth Frits; 
his younjrer days were spent in school, and 
(•hearing the forests; his life has been one of 
usefulness. He was married in 1853, to 
Rhoda, daughter of Nicodemus and Anna 
Chilcoat; she was born in 1833. They settled 
after marriage, on the land now owned by 
.Fohn Cook and Charles Jaggers. In 1854 he 
bought his present farm of 51 acres, of his 
brother George; they have improved the same, 
and now enjoy 130 acres of fine; land, attained 
entirely by their own labors. They had three 
cliildren — Lavina, born Nov. 30, 1853; mar- 
ried Clinton Acker; Charles, born May 31, 
1858, married Alice Fogle; William. He 
paid out about $500 for this township, to clear 
a draft, made during the civil war; he has 
been identified with the Democratic party 
since he became a voter. Takes interest in 
all enterprises, is an industrious and accom- 
modatiufj farmer. 

JAC()B FOGLE, former; P. O., Chester- 
vijle; was born Aug. 3, 1833, on the farm 
where he now lives; his father, George, was 
Ixirn in Kentucky, and mother, Mary Sellers, 
in Maryland; they were married in Musking- 
um Co., Ohio, and came to Harmony Tp. in 
1833, and made their settlement on the farm 
where the subject now lives, and improved 
133 acres; they had two children — John and 
Jacob. The mother died Jan. 36, 1877, and 
the father in October, 18G8. Jacob attended 
school some, and worked on his father's farm, 
early learning the principles of farm labor; he 
was married .Ian. 5, 1853, by Rev. Zachariah 
Thomas, to Mary, daughter, of Joseph and 
Matilda (Burns) Morris; her father was born 
in Wales, and came to Chester Tp., this county, 



when a mere boy; her mother was a native of 
Columbiana Co., and also emigrated here 
when young. Mr. and Mrs. Morris had three 
children that grew up — Mary A., Zelpha and 
David (deceased). Mrs. Fogle was born Aug. 
15, 1835, in this county; they settled at their 
marriage on the old homestead of his father, 
where he has since remained; his wife inheri- 
ted 70 acres, and he 133 acres, all well im- 
])roved, on which he makes a specialty of 
stock-raising, in which he is successful. His 
marriage blessed him with seven children — 
William, born June 39, 1855, and married 
Ettie Powell; Alice, born Sept. 10, 1857, mar- 
ried Charles E. Frits; Charles P., born April 
13, 1859; Fred. L., born Nov. 6, 18G1; Mor- 
ris, born June 13,18(55; infant, Aug. 13, 1863, 
died Nov. 38, 1863; George A., born Jan. 4, 
1870. Mr. Fogle hired a substitute volunteer 
for the war, and also paid a portion of the 
amount to clear the township draft; he is now 
serving his fourth term as Township Trustee, 
and is a member of the Patrons of Husbandry; 
he has been identified with the Democratic 
party, aiul has represented that body as Dele- 
gate to County and State Conventions; he 
takes deep interest in any township or county 
enterprise. 

ISRAEL GORDON, farmer; P. O., Ches- 
terville; this well-to-do farmer was born Sept. 
10, 1818, in Greene Co., Pa.; his father, 
George, was born in Maryland, and his mother 
Nellie (White) Gordon, born in the same 
state; the father died Aug. 10, 1830, and the 
mother in 1850; they had eleven children 
that grew up — William, John, James, Israel, 
George, Basil, Isaac B., Mary, Rachel, Sarah 
and Ellen; Israel attended school in the old 
pioneer school house until the age of 14, at 
which time he came to Ohio, settling in Perry 
Co., and engaged in farming at $6.35 per 
month, for eight months, amounting to $50; 
this he invested in forty acres of land in 
Saltlick Tp., in said county; in one 3'ear this 
industrious boy had increased his means, and 
added ten acres more; he soon afterward sold 
this and bought eighty acres; Feb. 13, 1843, 
he celebrated a happy wedding with Susan, 
a daughter of Andrew and Margaret (McCol- 
lum) Irvin; her father was a native of Rock- 
ingham Co., and her mother of Washington 
Co., this State, and she had fourteen children, 
nine of Avhom survive — William, Alexander, 



^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



707 



Harriet, Susan, Jackson, Robert, Frank, Thom- 
as, and John; her father died in 1853, and 
her mother iji 1840; the former was a Baptist 
and the latter a Methodist. Mr. Gordon and 
his bride settled in Perry Co., in a log cabin, 
and had for a bedstead, poles fastened to the 
walls; they journeyed along and every mo- 
ment was used to the best advantage, and 
they began at once to increase their little 
means, and within four years he sold his 
eighty acres, and bought 400 acres in Salt- 
lick Tp., on which they labored for twenty- 
six years, and then sold the same to William 
Maholm, and bought 246 acres, where he now 
Ih'es — of Jeremiah Smith — who was the first 
settler; on this farm stand two large willows, 
which sprang from two walking canes stuck 
there by Smith about 1820; Mr. Gordon has 
still continued to increase his means, and has 
now 516 acres of finely improved land, on 
which he deals in fine hogs, sheep, cattle, and 
horses; he and his wife inherited together 
$248.38; their children were — Andrew J. 
married Rachel A. Lerow; George W. mar- 
ried Minerva McDonnell; Margaret mar- 
ried James Turner; Thomas; Samuel married 
May Evans; Charles W. ; he is a member of 
the Patrons of Husbandry, and also of the 
Methodist Church, to which his wife also be- 
longs; he votes the Republican ticket, and has 
represented that party in county conventions; 
encourages all modern improvements. 

HUGH GREEN, farmer; P. O. Chesterville; 
is a son of William and Elizabeth (Morris) 
Green. His father was born Jan. 15, 1789, 
and died Sept. 8, 1855, and his mother was 
born Oct. 11, 1792, and died Nov. 7, 1861. 
The father came to Licking Co. when 15 
years old, and the mother came the same 
year. They had John, Sarah, Wesley, Daniel, 
Hugh, Mary, Nancy and Morris. His parents 
were Methodists. The subject was born 
April 24, 1820, in Knox Co.; he early engaged 
in clearing, and has during life cleared about- 
200 acres; he was married Nov. 12, 1840, to 
Lucinda, a daughter of Stephen and Jane 
Ulery; by her he has Mary A., Norman H., 
Elizabeth, Nancy E., Joseph A., Harriet, 
Franklin E. and Lafayette. They remained 
in Knox Co. until 1844, when they came to 
the present farm of 100 acres, buying the 
same of Baldwin Johnson; he has in all 130 
acres of well-improved land — the fruit of their 



own labors; he takes great interest in any en- 
terprise belonging to the township; he paid a 
portion of the township draft. His son, Nor- 
man, was in Co. F, 136th O. N. G. He has 
always been a temperance man, is an active 
Republican, is active aTid hearty, and 60 years 
of age; he is dealing in fine sheep, in which he 
is successful. 

WILLIAM T. GEORGE, farmer; P. O., 
Cardington; was born Nov. 1, 1823, in Ches- 
ter Tp., then Knox Co.; he is a brother of the 
wife of James Meredith, whose sketch appears 
elsewhere; his youth was occupied with such 
duties as he was capable of performing upon 
the farm, beside attending the district school. 
He enlisted in the Mexican war, and was in 
the battles of Contreras, Churubusco, Chapul- 
tepec, and helped to take Mexico. He was 
married June 3, 1849, to Elizabeth Mcttler. 
They settled for awhile in Chester Tp., and in 
1859 came to the present finely-improved 
farm of 175 acres, where he has since remained; 
he erected a dwelb'ng at a costof $2,800, and has 
other improvements to correspond. They have 
had five children — Rachel, deceased; Miles 
M., deceased ; Mary E., deceased ; Armenia mar- 
ried George, a son of Peter and Permelia (Kim- 
ball) Hammond; Eva, deceased. Mr. George 
has been chosen Township Treasurer for twelve 
years in succession, and has been Township 
Trustee. He and his wife are members of the 
Old School Baptist Church, having united in 
1854. He votes the Democratic ticket, and has 
represented that body in county and congres- 
sional conventions; was once a member of the 
central committee. He assisted in clearing this 
township of the draft in the civil rebellion. 

R. E. GEORGE, farmer; P. O., xMt. Gilead; 
was born Aug. 13, 1835, in Chester Tp. Feb. 
2, 1837, came with his* parents to Harn)ony, 
and was married March 12, 1857, to Delilah 
Burnes; she was born June 14, 1839; they 
settled after marriage, on his present farm of 
105 acres, a portion of which was obtained by 
his own labors, and the rest by inheritance; 
his union with Miss Burnes blessed them with 
five children — Hezekiah, Enoch A., Emma, 
Charles and one unnamed, deceased; he has 
been Township Trustee, and is a member of the 
Old School Baptists, and votes the Democratic 
ticket; he was also Constable; his father, 
Edward, was born Jan. 1, 1799, in Bricknock- 
shire, Wales, and came to Penn. in 1804; 



>y 



:^k* 



708 



HARMONY TOWNSHIP. 



liis mother, Jane (Evaus) was born in 170G, 
and tame to the same county in Penn, in 
1 7'Jr. Tliey were married in 182G, in Chester 
Tp., and had nine children — all died but II. 
E. Edward has been a church member since 
his ITth year, and the mother since 18158. The 
parents started lile in the wilderness and did 
their part I'or the improvement of the coun- 
try to what it is. The mother is dead; the 
father is still living, and is hale and hearty at 
81 years of age; during the spring of 1880, he 
built over 400 rods of fence. Mr. George 
})aid out %110 to clear the township draft. 

JOHN HAYDEN, farmer; P. O. Chester- 
ville; one of the pioneers of this county, Avas 
born June 11, 1810, in Licking Co., Ohio. 
His father, William, was born in New York 
City, and was raised in Sussex Co., N. J. His 
mother, Esther (Hoover) Hayden, was born 
in Fayette Co., Pa. They were married in 
Pennsylvania, and there the father engaged 
in buring charcoal until 1808, when they set- 
tled near Granville, Ijicking Co., this State, 
in 1823, and came to Chester Tp., and there 
the father died in 1842, and the mother in 
1859. Their union gave them eleven chil- 
dren — Satnuel, Stephen, Wahala, John, Salo- 
ma,Mary, Hannah, Hosea, Ruth, Washington 
and Ezra. Our subject attended school one 
term in a barn, and in a log house, in all six 
months; he engaged in farming early, and has 
been a hard worker; he has reaped wheat and 
mowed grass at 50 cents per acre; has gone 
to mill sixteen miles, once per week, on horse- 
back; he was married Aug. 29, 1833, to Ra- 
chel, daughter of William W. and Mary 
(Rees) Evans, by whom he had seven children 
(two died when ytmng) — Elias, William, 
Mary, Hannah and Catharine. His wife died 
May 7, 1857, and he was again married, June 
8, 1858, to Elizabeth Salisbury, a sister of his 
first wife. Her parents were born in Wales, 
married in Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio in 
1810, settling in Licking Co. The following 
are the children — Mary, Thomas, Elizabeth, 
Rachel, Aim, Catharine, Julia A., Benjamin 
and Jemima. His last wife was born Aug. 
27. 1812. He settled on the present farm in 
1835, buying eighty acres of his brother, 
Stephen, and has since added to it, making in 
all 190 acres of arable land, which has been 
mostly obtained by their own labor; he paid 
S!l.t52 per acre for the first. eighty acres; he has 



made a specialty of horses; he once raised a 
horse that was trained to run, and was bought 
by the government of Massachusetts for !i!?10,- 
000, was once Captain and Lieutenant of a 
militia company. He and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Chester Baptist Church. He has 
always been an active Republican, and was a 
firm man wh(in there were but three votes for 
this party cast in the township. 

AQUILLA JARVIS, farmer; P. O., Ches- 
terville; is the son of Eli and Rosannah 
(Faris) Jarvis; his father was born in Balti- 
more, Md., in 1787, and his mother in Freder- 
ick Co., Penn., in 1789; they came to Knox 
Co. in 1833, and settled in Chester Tp., and 
has the follwing children — AVilliam, Aquilla, 
John, Eliza, Sarah, Rosannah, Margaret, in- 
fant (deceased.) Aquilla was born Sept. 20, 
1813, in Pennsylvania, and attended school at 
what was known as the "bull-frog " school- 
house. He was married about 1852, to Sarah 
Slack. He was married a second time in 
1803, and was blessed with two children — 
Flora (deceased), ■ Sarah E., born Aug. 21, 
1806. He worked at teaming for many years 
after marriage, and in 1872 he settled on his 
pleasant little farm of 50 acres, which is the 
fruit of his own labors, it is finely improved. 
He votes the Republican ticket, and is a 
member of the Presbyterian Church and his 
wife of the Baptist. He has served in some 
township offices, where it is all labor and no 
pay. 

WILLIAM JONES, farmer, Mt. Gilead; 
was born Nov. 21, 1831, in South Wales, and 
is a son of John and Eliza (Watkins) .Jones; 
both were born in Wales and came to Knox 
Co. in 1837. They have had 12 children, six 
of whom are living: William, John F., 
Aliram, Henr^' G., Catharine J. and James M. 
His parents were Baptists. Mr. Jones was 
married March 9, 1850, to Mary, daughter of 
Benjamin and Lavina (Richey) Kelly, both of 
whom were born in Pa. and came to Ohio in 
1845, and finally settling on the farm now 
owned by William. They have eight child- 
ren: Rebecca, Ann, Moses, Mary, Sarah, 
Lavina, Hannah, and Susannah. Mr. Jones 
has had seven children by this marriage: 
Catharine J., Benjamin, Mary E., Levina R., 
Charles W., Eleanor and Cora E. The 
father was justice of the peace twelve years 
in succession, and he held office in church. 






^1 



^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, 



709 



He is a member of Chester Lodge No. 28, A. 
F. & A. M.; has always been a strong tem- 
perance man; takes an active part in paying 
off the township drafts for the last civil rebel- 
lion; he votes the Deniocratic ticket; he rep- 
resented said party to comity and state con- 
ventions; he and wife are members of the Bap- 
tist Church at Brimzion. 

E. R. JONES, farmer; P. O., Marengo; 
was born Aug. 3, 183.3, in Wales; his father, 
Thomas, and his mother, Mary (Rees) Jones, 
were born in Carmarthenshire, South Wales; 
the former in 1799, and the latter in 1810; 
they emigrated to Ohio in 1843, with a 
family of seven children — E. R., Ann, Mar- 
garet, Rachel, Martha, Mary and Rettie; four 
of the children died within one week, of 
scarlet fever. His parents settled for a while 
in Chester Tp., and in 1854 they bought 104 
acres where the subject now lives, and after- 
ward added twenty acres; here the father died, 
Oct. 8, 1872; the mother is still living. Mr. 
Jones was married Oct. 18, 1857, to Julia, 
daughter of John and Agnes (Huddleston) Sel- 
lers; her father was born in Bedford Co., Pa., 
and her mother in Muskingum Co., this State; 
they settled in Harmony Tp., in 1837, and 
had nine children — Randall, Julia A., Eva, 
Wesley, Ellen, John, Mary, Sarda and Martin 
I. Mrs. Jones was born July 24, 1838, in 
Morrow Co., and has these children — Mary E., 
born July 4, 1858, died March 22, 1873; 
Albert, born Sept. 12, 18G0; Thomas M., Jan. 
28, 18G5; Judson, June 31, 1867; John, Oct. 
3, 1870; Addie A., Aug. 15, 1872; infant died 
Nov. 5, 1874; Margaret, Feb. 5, 1878. They 
now possess ninety acres of well improved 
land, being watered by fine springs; thirty- 
three acres of this amount was inherited. He 
makes a specialty of fine sheep. He and his 
wife are Baptists; he votes the Democratic 
ticket; takes a deep interest in educating his 
children. 

THOMAS KEYS, farmer; P. O., Marengo; 
was born Aug. 7, 1826; his father, James, was 
born in IhOO, and mother, Jane (Thompson) 
Keys, in 1805, and were natives of Ireland; 
the parents are still living there, and have six 
children — Matilda, married James Eccles, liv- 
ing in Canada; Thomas, Samuel, now in Aus- 
tralia; Henry, in Ireland; Margaret, Sarah E. 
M., in Ireland. Thomas attended school some 
in his youth, and in 1851 came to New York, 



and engaged on a farm at a compensation of 
$13 to $16 per month, and after paying his 
board and wash bills he had $5 left per month; 
in eighteen months he came to Knox Co., this 
State, and farmed for Robert Ewart, for $120 
per year; at the expiration of one and one- 
half years, he entered the employ of a noted 
sheep dealer in Mai ion Co., and had charge 
of 1100 head for eighteen months; he then 
rented of Charles Steinfield for one year, and 
in 1856 was married to Rebecca, daughter of 
Archie and Jane Ewart, and about that time 
bought 58 acres of land in Lincoln Tp.; in 
ten years they sold the same and bought the 
present farm, settling at that time, March 4, 
1806, and have since remained. This posses- 
sion is 1044^ acres of fine, arable land, being 
well watered by springs, and is perhaps one 
of the best stock farms in the county. — the 
product of his exertions; he makes a specialty 
of horses and sheep, and always gets the pre- 
mium on his horses at the count}^ fairs; he is 
a member of the Patrons of Husbandry, and 
votes the Democratic ticket. 

GIDEON KAUFMAN, farmer; P. O., 
Marengo; is the son of Christian and Chris- 
tina (Groves) Kaufman; his father was born in 
Virginia, in 1780, and his mother was born in 
1786, in the same State. They came to Ohio 
in 1807, having married prior to their emi- 
gration. They settled in Fairfield Co., wheie 
his father engaged in farming and the minis- 
try; the latter he followed for over sixty years 
in the service of the Old School Baptist de- 
nomination. They moved to what is now 
Morrow Co. in 1834, and settled on the farm 
now owned by Gideon; here the mother died. 
They had nine children — Anna, Esther, Joel, 
Rebecca, Gideon, Rachel, Frances, Joshua, 
infant deceased. The father was again mar- 
ried, to Sarah A. Biggs, then moved to Ox- 
ford Tp., Delaware Co., and there died Nov. 
14, 1874; the step-mother died April 3, 1875, 
Mr. Kaufman was born Sept. 17, 1818, in 
Fairfield Co; his younger days were spent in 
attending; school and working- on a farm. 
He was married Dec. 9, 1845, to Margaret, 
daughter of Jacob and Mary (Edget) Walter- 
mire. Her father was a native of Pennsylva- 
nia, and her mother of Delaware, and he 
moved into Muskingum Co., this State, and 
came to what is now Franklin Tp., in 1826, 
and finally made their permanent home in 



^ 



;rr 



'.[£ 



71(t 



HARMONY TOWNSHIP. 



Harmony ; the motlier died in 1834; by her 
inairiage with Mr. Waltennire there were six 
cliildreii, but throe survive— Margaret, Michael 
and Franklin. The father was subse(|iiently 
married to Catharine Lono^, and with her 
moved to Hanooek Co., where he died about 
the year 1855, leaving to her seven children, 
live of whom survive, Mary, Elizabeth, Mar- 
tha, William and .John. Tlie father and last 
wife were Old School Baptists, and the first 
wife was a Methodist. Mrs. Kaufman was born 
Feb. 18, 1828, in what is now Morrow Co. 
She and her husband settled in a log cabin 
on his father's farm. By strict economy 
they have increased their means, and now 
rank among the well-to-do farmers of the 
county. They have obtained what they pos- 
sess by their own exertions except $1,000. 
He has served with credit in the town>hip 
olHces. He votes the Democratic ticket, and 
has represented that party in Senatorial con- 
ventions. His wife is a member of the Bap- 
tist^Church; she has blessed him with the fol- 
lowing children — Mary E., married; John, 
Layman, Francis L., Lucinda A., married; 
Freeman Ulery, Wilbert, teacher; Albert N. 
James B., deceased; Clement L. V. deceased; 
infant, deceased. 

JOSEPH LEWIS, farmer; P. O., Marengo; 
was born July 2, 1833, on Lake Erie, while 
his parents were on their way to this county. 
His father, John, and mother, Ann (Evans) 
Lewis, were born in Wales, and came at the 
time mentioned to Chester Tp., and bought 
100 acres, now owned bv J. C. Crowl and our 
subject; here the parents had their children, 
who were — Ann, Mary, John C., Joseph and 
Valentine. The parents were Baptists; Joseph 
attended school some in his younger days, and 
worked at farming and clearing; he thus 
early learned to make the.best use of his time; 
he was married in December, 1854, to Clarissa, 
daughter of Nathan and Sarah (Crawford) 
Moore; her parents were from New York, and 
had seven children — Clarissa, Norton, Royal, 
Little, La Fayette, Burr and Jerome. Mrs. 
I^ewis was born Apr. 27, 1835, and had by her 
union with Mr. Lewis — Norton, born Sept. 
18, 1850, died Oct. 31, 1877; Sarah A., born 
Sept. 21, 1854, died March 8, 18()1; Albert, 
born May 17, J 801 ; Vanda, born May 24, 18CG. 
They settled after marriage on a part of the 
present farm, and began clearing, and made 



the first rail ever made on the same; he has 
added until now he is the possessor of 400 
acres of fine land, and is dealing largely in 
stock; he began shipping stock at an early 
day, and has continued the same; he is also 
breeding fine Clydesdale and Punch horses; 
he has now one fine dapple-bay stallion, six- 
teen hands high; he is, perhaps, one of the 
most successful stock-dealers in the county. 
Himself and wife are members of tlie Baptist 
Church. He has always been a prominent 
member of the Democratic party. He is the 
builder of his own fortune, having started 
life's journey with but little means, save fifty 
acres of land in the woods, which was given 
him by his father. 

WILLIAM LLOYD, farmer; P. 0.,Chester- 
ville; was born March 31, 1828, in Wales; his 
father, James, was born in 1798, and his 
mother, Margaret (.Tones) Lloyd, in 1800, both 
in BrAckenshire, Wales; the former was of 
English descent; they came to this county in 
1828, bringing with them four children; six 
more were born in this country; their names 
were — Ann, James, Thomas, William, David, 
Mary, Margaret, Jane, Benjamin, Catharine, 
and George; both parents were Baptists; 
William early displayed an interest in educa- 
tion, and his parents gave him the advantages 
of a good school; he attended Mt. Hesper 
College for one year, and at Chesterville high 
school, and became very proficient in his 
studies, and at the age of fifteen he was 
awarded a certificate, or teachers' license; at 
the age of sixteen he began in his future pro- 
fession, and followed the same with success 
and to the satisfaction of his employers, for 
ten winters; he early embarked in shipping 
stock, which he continued for many years, in 
which he was successful; he formed a matri- 
monial alliance Dec. 30, 1852, with Eliza, a 
daughter of Moses and Sarah (.Tones) Powell, 
natives of Wales; she was born Sept. 20, 
1832; they have nine children — George, Sarah 
E., Margaret A., Moses I\, Benjamin, Han- 
nah, John, Clarence, and Ellis- — all living; his 
wife died Jan. 31, 1877, and he was again 
married Jan. 22, 1880, to Mrs. M. A. Moore- 
house, a daughter of William Olmstt^ad; she 
had one child — Ella, by first marriage; our 
subject, soon after his marriage in 1852, 
bought and settled a portion of land now 
owned by Joseph Ulrey, and remained there 



W 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



711 



one year, and then bought 130 acres of wild 
land, a part of the present farm of 347 acres, 
and has improved the same, and now enjoys 
the benefit of a fine arable farm, the result of 
his early industry; the people have called him 
to serve them as Justice of the Peace, for 
twenty-one years, in which capacity he still 
serves; has also been Township Assessor, 
Trustee and Clerk, member of Chester Lodge, 
No. 238, A. F. and A. M.; he is member of 
the Baptist Church, and his amiable wife is a 
member of the Methodist; he votes the Demo- 
cratic ticket, and has often represented that 
party in county and State conventions; he 
paid out 1800 to clear the township draft. 

MRS. SARAH LYON, widow; Mt. Gilead; 
was born April 15, 1819; she attended school 
in the old pioneer school-house, and worked on 
the farm in her younger days; she was married 
in Feb., 1839, to Cyrus Lyon, born in 1810. 
They settled soon after marriage on the pres- 
ent farm of fifty acres; he died in 1868; 
they had fourteen children, six of whom 
grew up — Elizabeth, Belle, Margaret, Sarah, 
Charlotte and Phrebe. The former married 
C. C. Barber; Sarah married William 
Roberts, farmer, Knox 
ried William Watkins. 
been an active member 
Baptist Church. Her 
born in Pennsylvania, and her mother in Virgi- 
nia; they came to Ohio about 1810, and made 
their final settlement in Knox Co.; the father 
died in Delaware Co., in 1867, and the mother 
in 1861; they had nine children, seven of 
whom survive — Ruth, Eliza, William, Sarah, 
Mary A., Lewis and Elizabeth. Her father 
was an Old-School Baptist. Mrs. Lyon is 
pleasantly located on fifty acres of well im- 
proved land, the result of her own and hus- 
band's labors; in her early days she shared 
the hardships of the old pioneers. 

J. C. LEWIS, farmer; P. O., Marengo; 
was born Jan. 15, 1830, in Wales. He at- 
tended school in his younger days, and quali- 
fied himself to teach, which avocation he suc- 
cessfully followed for eleven years. He be- 
gan at the age of nineteen. During this time 
he has saved from his small earnings $1,100, 
which he applied to the best advantage; he 
was married Dec. 29, 1859, to Harriet, a 
daughter of William and Philura (Smith) 
Brundige. Her father was a native of Ohio, 



Co.; Charlotte mar- 
Mrs. Lyon has 
of the Old School 
father, John, was 



and her mother of Pennsylvania; she was born 
Jan. 10, 1842, and was one of four children — 
Almira, infant, deceased; Bennett and Harriet. 
Mr. J. C. Lewis settled on the present farm in 
the winter of 1800, buying first 128 acres; 
he has by frugality and careful management, 
added until he has 595 acres of finely im- 
proved land, obtained by his own exertions, 
except 11,200 given him by his father, John 
Lewis. He has never sought office, but has 
been chosen by the people to serve as Town- 
ship Trustee on the Board of Education; he 
was once a member of the Patrons of Hus- 
bandry. He and his wife are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church at Marengo, in 
which he has held the office of Steward; he 
votes the Democratic ticket; paid off" a por- 
tion of the township draft. They had four 
children — Bryant B., Victoria P., William, 
died Aug., 4, 1866; Mary, Dec. 29, 1871. 

JAMES MEREDITH, was born Aug. 12, 
1811, in Licking Co., Ohio; his school advan- 
tao;es were limited to those of the log-cabin 
school house; during his early life his time 
was occupied at home, assisting in clearing 
and other duties pertaining to the frontier set- 
tler's home. He took to himself a wife Nov. 

13, 1833; she was Rachel, the daughter of 
Henry and Mary (Thomas) George, who were 
natives of Wales, and found a home in Penn- 
sylvania when young. After marriage they 
emigrated to Ohio, he on foot and she on 
horse- back, bringing a feather bed the whole 
distance. They had nine children; the mother 
died in 1829. Mrs. Meredith was born iVJay 

14, 1814, in Chester Tp. After marriage, Mr. 
an(i Mrs. Meredith settled on their present 
farm, containing now about 124 acres, passing 
through the hardships that only those of pio- 
neer days comprehend. Mr. Meredith cast 
his first vote for Jackson, with a view to sup- 
porting Jacksonian principles, still belongs to 
the Democratic party. He has been Township 
Trustee, and both he and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Baptist church. Three children 
have been born to them: William, Aug. 13, 
1834; Henry G., June 1, 1837, and Mary, 
March 13, 1843. Henry G. was married 
March 7, 1867, to IVfinerva Ralston, who was 
born in June, 1849; they had five children, as 
follows: Addie, born May 30, 1808; Bryant, 
Aug. 25, 1870; Charley, May 25, 18 ?2; Laura, 
Feb. 24, 1874, and Emma, Jan. 5, 1878. The 






:|V* 



^ 



712 



HARMONY TOWNSHIP. 



mother died Jan. 29, 1878. H. G. Meredith 
enlisted in Co. G., 20 O. V. I., and re-enlist- 
ed in Co. C, 15 O. V. I.; he passed through 
many campaigns and hard-fought battles; was 
taken ]>risoner at Stone River, and confined 
ill Castle Lightning and Libby'Prison; in the 
latter place he was wounded by a piece of 
timber falling on him and breaking both hips 
while asleep, rendering him unable to move 
for two months; his term of service lasted for 
four years and thirteen days. Mrs. Jennett 
Layton, a sister of Mrs. James Meredith, 
makes her home with the latter. She was 
married in 1835 to Thomas Maxwell, and had 
seven ciiildren; he died Sept. 3,1852; she was 
again married to Joseph Layton; he died in 
1857; bv him she had one child. 

THO'MAS MEREDITH, farmer; P. O., 
Cardington; is a brother of .Tohn Meredith, of 
Chester Tp., and was born Nov. 30, 1813, in 
Licking Co., Ohio; his younger da3's were 
spent partly in the old log cabin, and ])artly on 
the farin. He was married in 1835, to Hannah, 
daughter of William and Mary Evans; her 
parents were born in Wales, and came to 
Chester Tp., this county, at an early day, and 
while there had quite a family of children; 
Eliza, May and Hannah only survive. Mrs. 
Meredith was born in 1816, in Knox Co.; 
they settled, after marriage, on his father's 
farm, and remained there five years, and then 
bought 100 acres, which is a part of the pres- 
ent farm, and built a log cabin thereon, and 
began clearing away the forest; he was pros- 
perous, and has added to his purchase until 
he is in possession of 680 acres of well-im- 
proved land, which is the results of their own 
labors; he began early to deal in stock, and 
by this means he has obtained his fortune; 
he bought stock on connnission for several 
years for Dr.iSylvester, Jacob Gurl}' and Smith 
Thomas; he afterwards purchased and sold 
for himself; he has been Township Trustee, 
at;d is now serving in the same capacity. His 
amiable wife is a member of the New School 
Baptist Church. Their union has given them 
nine children, six of whom are living — May 
A., married Minor Herrod, living in Logan Co. 
this State; Louisa, married L.Kelly; Priscilla, 
married Marcus Griffith, now in Moberly, Mo. 
and is rail-roading; Benjnmii), merchant in 
Marengo; James, married Ketha Brown, and 
lives with his father; Emma, married John 



Vroom, artist at Moberly, Mo.; three deceased, 
Elizabeth, William M. and an infant unnamed. 
He has always been identified with the Demo- 
cratic party. 

R. C. METTLER, farmer; P. O., Marengo; 
is a brother of Reuben Mettler, whose sketch 
appears in Chester Tp., and was born Feb. 
26, 1823, in Northumberland Co., Penn; he 
came to Knox Co. with his parents and sev- 
eral children, walking most of the way, with 
his head and feet bare. His school days were 
limited on account of poverty, and he early 
engaged in the rustic duties of the farm, and 
became very expert in grubbing and chopping. 
He was married April 15, 18-47 to Lucy M. 
Bruce, a sister of Joel Bruce of Chester Tp.; 
she died July 8, 1850, leaving two children — 
William W., married to Samantha A. Hill, 
now living in Iowa; Mary E., deceased. Mr. 
Mettler was again married Feb. 6, 1851, to 
Martha, a daughter of Japheth and Charlotte 
West. She was born Feb. 28, 1830; they had 
the following children — two died while 
young; those living are — Zilpha J., Lucy A., 
Isaac N., David A., Ellis M. and Burton AV. 
At the death of his first wife, he commenced 
carpentering, and has continued the same 
mostly since, and with good success. He 
bought 50 acres of the present farm of Lewis 
George, and 12 of Japheth West, and 50 
50 of Wm. Bartlett, making in all, 112 acres 
of well-improved land, the fruit of their 
industr3^ He has been Assessor and Trustee, 
each one term, and served in other offices. 
He and his wife ore members of the Disciples 
Church; he, since about about 1848, and she 
since 1850. He cast his first vote as a Dem- 
ocrat, and still belongs to the party. 

McWlLLlAMS AND GUY, farmers; P. 
O., Cardington. Mr. McWilliams was born 
May 5, 1857; his fath(;r, Hugh, was born 
.Ian. 6, 1824, and his mother, Mary (Denney) 
McWilliams, was born May 27, 1829, both in 
Knox Co. They had four children — Charles, 
born May 4, 1848; enlisted in Co. I, 142nd O. 
N. G., and died Jan, 15, 1861, at Bermuda 
Hundred, Virginia; Martha was born Nov. 
12, 1851; Sarah L. was born Dec. 3, 1849, 
and died March 7, 1851. They were both 
Presbyterians. The McWilliams family were 
among the })ioneers of Knox Co., the grand- 
father having settled there while the wild 
deer ran through the forest, and the howls of 



[^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



713 



the wolf could be heard. Our subject, G. G. 
Mc Williams, celebrated his wedding Dec. 10, 
18 < 9, with Marietta, a daughter of Thomas 
and Phoebe (Brown) West; she was born 
April 16, 18G2. Mr. Henry C. Guy was born 
Feb. 28, 1848, in Washington Co., Penn.; he 
had but little advantage of education, on ac- 
count of the early death of his father. Mr. 
J. S. Guy was born about the year 1820, in 
Penn. His mother, Mary J. (Rees) Guy, was 
born in 1827 in Virginia. In 1854 the 
parents came to Ohio, settling in Knox Co., 
where the}'' bought 128 acres; here the father 
died April 19, 1862. The mother is still liv- 
ing in McLean Co., 111. They had seven 
children — Eliza married W. H. Edwards; 
Margie married James M. Latham ; Henry C, 
Anna married William McHugh; Adaline 
married William Lafaver of Knox Co.; others 
unmarried (deceased). Henry Guy and Mr. 
McWilliams were married the same day; Mr. 
Guy to Miss Eva West, born Feb. 8,"' 1861, 
and Mr. McWilliams to her sister, attended 
by Rev. J. W. Wright, of the Baptist Church. 
Henry enlisted in Co. I, 142nd O. N. G.; these 
two young wives are members of the Baptist 
Church. The boys bought 139 acres in the 
spring of 1 880, of M. Warner, where they are 
now pleasantly located and are tilling the soil, 
in which they are successful, as are those who 
follow their calling and are attentive to it. 
They both vote the Republican ticket. 

JOHN McCONICA, farmer; P. O., Maren- 
go; was born Feb. 4, 1824. His father, 
James, was born about 1795, in Ireland, 
and when young engaged in weaving, and 
in 1811 came to New York, and thence to 
Trumbull Co., Ohio, and soon afterward en- 
listed in the war of 1812, in which he re- 
mained until the close, and then came to 
lJ)elaware Co., Ohio, where he was engaged 
by the month; he was married in 1820, to 
Hannah, daughter of Ephraim and Elizabeth 
(Collins) Hubbell; she was born in 1804. 
They settled on the farm now owned by Jacob 
Long, of this township, and here the mother 
of our subject died in 1836; she was the 
mother of seven children — Benjamin, de- 
ceased; John, Elizabeth, Nancy, Alfred, An- 
geline and Hannah. The father then put the 
children out among relatives, and repaired to 
Illinois, and lived a single and lonely life un- 
til 1870, when he died. Himself and wife 



were active members of the Methodist 
Church. John learned tailoring and con- 
tinued at the same for some time, and 
then clerked for awhile for G. N. Clark, at 
South Woodbury. He then merchandized at 
Galion for some time, under the firm name of 
Hubbell & McConica. He was married in 
1851 to Refilla, a daughter of Thomas and 
Rebecca Madden; she was born Feb. 27, 
1830. They settled in Lincoln Tp., and dur- 
ing the same year he bought 84 acres of land 
of J. Wiseman; ho has also 100 acres in Har- 
mony Tp., upon which he resides. He had 
six children, two of whom are dead. The 
living are — Wilbert L., married Luella Gard- 
ner; Thomas H., Charles C; Minnie M. mar- 
ried William Fulton. He has served a full 
share of township offices; is a member of Mt. 
Gilead Lodge, F. and A. M. Mr. McConica 
is the architect of his own fortune. He 
bought and traded stock for many years, in 
which he was successful, as all are who attend 
strictly to business. His brother Alfred 
studied medicine with Dr. I. H. Pennock, and 
attended the Starling Medical College at 
Columbus, Ohio. 

ISAAC McCRACKEN, farmer; P. O., 
Chesterville; this enterprising farmer was 
born on the farm where he now resides; his 
father, Charles, was born in Pennsylvania, as 
was his mother, Jane (Agens). They emigra- 
ted here when young, and settled on the farm 
where Isaac now lives; here they reared ten 
children, four of whom survive — James, 
Isaac, Elizabeth and Deborah. The father 
died May 17,1872, and the mother in 1848; 
the father was married a second time, the last 
wife being Ruth McVay, and had by her three 
children, two living — Wayne and Welling- 
ton; the parents were Old School Baptists. 
Isaac was married in 1849, to Mary Chilcoat, 
and had ■ four children — x\nna J., Wilbert, 
Benjamin and James; she died in 1863; he 
was again married in 1866, toAmena Sellers, 
daughter of Joseph Se'lers; by her he had 
three children — Alice, George and William. 
He has 82 acres of well-improved land, ob- 
tained by his own exertions; has been Town- 
ship Trustee, and votes the Democratic ticket. 
He is an intelligent and enterprising farmer, 
always encourages any county enterprise, and 
takes interest in the educational department 
of the county. 



ifw^ 



1^ 



714 



HARMONY TOWNSHIP. 



JAMES MrCIlACKKN, faniior; P.O. Ches- 
tcrville. Among' the leading fanners of Har- 
niotiy Tp., is Janios McCTackon; he is a brother 
of Isaac, whose sketch a})pears elsewhere, and 
was born June 4, 18:^6, on the present farm; 
he attended school some in his youth in the 
old pioneer cabin, and engaged in clearing 
away the forests; at the age of 18 he began 
learning the carpenters' trade, at which he re- 
mained for ten years. He was married Jan. 
IJO, 1851, to Naomi, daughter of Henry and 
Mary (Thomas) George; she was born Aug. 
31, 1829; they settled in an old log cabin on 
the present farm soon after marriage, and have 
remained on this farm ever since, having in 
their possession seventy-one acres of the old 
homestead, which is well-improved and finely 
adapted to stock-raising; they have two chil- 
dren — Uretha J., who is married, James and 
Milton. He has always been identified with 
the Democratic party, and has been chosen by 
that body to represent them in county con- 
ventions, and has also served as Tovvnship 
Trustee three terms; he paid a portion of 
money to clear off the towhship draft. He 
and his wife are members of the Baptist 
Church. 

vTHOMAS H. POWELL, farmer; P. O., 
Chesterville; is the son of Daniel Powell, 
born in 1805, and Anna (Ayres) Powell, born 
in 1808, both in Pennsylvania. They were 
married in 1827 in Ohio, having emigrated to 
Welsh Hills at an early day, and made their 
final settlement in this township on what is 
now the residence of Aquilla Jarvis. Here 
the father died Dec. 24, 1860. The moth- 
er attended a fourth of July celebration at 
Mt. Gilead, and on the fifth of the month ex- 
pired, in the year 1870 or 1877. They had 
seven children — Levi, Eliza J., Sallie A., 
Maria, Thomas, Diana, Elizabeth M.; the pa- 
rents were Baptists. Thomas was borji July 
31, 1838, in what is now Morrow Co., and was 
named for Rev. Thomas Powell, who gave 
him a horse and %25, He attended school 
some in his yovuiger days, and worked for his 
father on his farm, and was married in 1857, 
to Elizabeth, daughter of James and Matilda 
Gale. Her father was born in Maryland, and 
her mother in Pennsylvania, and they had 
eleven children, seven of whom survive — 
Frederick, Elizabeth, Mary, Abner, Amy A., 
John and Sarah E. Mrs. Powell was born 



Oct. 4, 1830, and she and her husband set- 
tled after marriage on a portion of his father's 
farm, and in 1870 he bought the hotel in Ches- 
terville, and kept tavern for eighteen months, 
in which he was successful. Selling there, he 
came to the present farm in the spring of 
1873. He has now 143 acres of finely im- 
proved land; was once Constable, and has 
been township Trustee. He and his wife are 
members of the Regular Bapti>t Church. 
He cast his first Presidential vote for Douglas, 
and has since been identified with the party. 
His union blessed him w^th eight children — 
Mary E., married William Fogle; Benjamin 
F., Eliza C, James A., Murray, Millie, Laura 
and Hannah. 

ELDER PETER POWELL, minister; Ma- 
rengo; was born Oct. 18, 1804, in Fairfield Co., 
Ohio; his parents, Moses and Rebecca (Mere- 
dith) Powell, were natives of Virginia, and 
about the year 1800, emigrated to this State, 
locating in Fairfield Co. They had nine child- 
ren — Stephen, John, Aaron, Peter, Elizabeth, 
Prudence, Nancy, Isaac and Moses. The 
died in 1817 and the father in 1820; they mother 
were members of the Baptist Church. When 
Elder Powell was a boy, the opportunities for 
obtaining an education in Ohio were of the 
most meagre and primitive kind; the country 
was an unbroken forest, the settlements were 
but few, and but recently made, and the little 
community that could boast of a log cabin 
school-house, was considered highly fortunate; 
but Mr. PoAvell made the most of his oppor- 
tunities, and in the course of events, became 
a minister of the Gospel. May 3, 1827, he 
was married to Esther, a daughter of Elder 
Christian and Christina CofFman; her parents 
came from A'^irginia to Ohio in 1808, and be- 
come residents of Fairfieltl Co.; they were 
the parents of eight children, as follows — 
Anna, deceased; Esther, Rebecca, Gideon, 
Rachel, Fannie, Joshua and Joel. The father 
was an Elder in the Baptist Church for over 
fifty years. Mrs. Powell was born March 29, 
1809; after marriage they settled in Hocking 
Co., and engaged in farming. In 1832 they 
found a home on a farm in Trenton Tp., Dela- 
ware Co., and in 1834 moved to Lincoln Tp., 
now in this county, where they engaged in the 
nursery business, which proved a successful 
enterprise; in this a snug fortune was realized, 
a portion of which Mr. Powell distributed 



-4- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



715 



among his cliiMreu. A few years a^^o he pur- 
chased twenty acres of hind in Harmony Tp., 
Avhere he now resides; he retired from the 
active duties of life, devoting, liowever, some 
of his time to the ministry which he entered 
in 1843. He now has two regular appoint- 
ments, one in Westfield Tp., of this county, 
and the other in Harlem Tp., Delaware Co. 
Mr. and Mrs. Powell are tlae parents of six 
children — Ann, who married George Ulrey, 
they have two children — Esther B. and Sarah 
M.; John (whose biography appears in Lin- 
coln Tp.); Rebecca, Avho became the wife of 
James S. Dunham, and has seven children — 
John B., Minerva J., Monroe H., Peter I., 
Esther A., Amos M. and Minor B.; Isaiah, 
who married Elizabeth Long, nine children 
have been born to them, viz. — John O., Wil- 
liam and Allen, deceased, Barton. Emily, 
Peter J., Manford P., deceased, Tilman and 
an infant not named; Maria J. married Eli 
Ulrey, to whom three children have been 
born — an infant deceased, Delbert D., and 
Lyman P.; the sixth of the family, Minerva 
married John W. Porter, they have had two 
children — Alice F., deceased, and an infant 
un-named. A party, consisting of Elder 
Powell's paternal grandfather and a brother 
Robert, and the Elder's father, while crossing 
a ford of Cheat river (afterwards called Pow- 
ell's ford), in West Virginia, were assailed by 
the Indians; the grandfather was shot, and 
his brother Robert was tortured to death by 
pine sticks being stuck into the flesh of his 
legs and set on fire. Mr. Powell's father, 
Moses, escaped. 

JOHN RALSTON, farmer; P. O., Card- 
ington; was born Feb. 19, 1807, in Pennsyl- 
vania, and was married March 12, 1829, to 
Catharine, daughter ^of Alexander and Mary 
(Snyder) Hiddleson. Her parents were mar- 
ried in 13elmont Co.; she was one of four chil- 
dren — Catharine, Agnes, Mary and Susannah. 
Mrs. Ralston w^as born March 15, 1809, in 
Pennsylvania; she and her husband settled 
soon after marriage, in Monroe Co., and 
moved thence to Muskingum Co., and re- 
mained there until 1833, when they settled on 
his present farm of 84 acres; they have im- 
proved the samo from the green woods; they 
have had thirteen children — Louisa (deceased) 
Robert, married Sarah Biggs; Almeda, mar- 
ried Reason Skinner; Alexander, married 



Sarah Wright; William (deceased), Isaiah, 
married Caroline Decker; Isabel, married Jo- 
seph Potts; Mary A., married Isaac Bockour; 
Pluxibe, (deceased), Minerva, (deceased), Syl- 
vester, married Clara Burk; Laura, married; 
Anna J., Moore and Silas. John's father Rob- 
ert, was born Nov. 3, 1780, in Ireland; and 
his mother, Susannah (Winland) Ralston, was 
born in 1795, in the State of Delaware. They 
emigrated to Monroe Co., this State, in 1816, 
thence to Muskingum Co., 1833, afterward 
came to this county, where the father died, in 
1863, and the mother. May 17, 1858. They 
were the parents of eight children — William, 
Joseph, John, Robert, Ann, Thomas, James 
and Elizabeth. The father was a member of 
the Disciples Church, and the mother of the 
New Light. 

JOSEPH SELLERS, farmer; P. O. Card- 
ington; was born July 19, 1819, in Pennsyl- 
vania, where he attended school in an old log 
school-house, and there learned the rudiments 
of " readin', 'ritin', 'rithmetic.'' He is a brother 
of Henry Sellers, whose sketch appears in 
the biographical pages of Chester Township. 
Joseph was married in 1841 to Elizabeth, 
a daughter of John and Mary Sayres. Both 
from New Jersey, and had six children — Eliza- 
beth, Almira, Harriet, Hulda, Henry and 
Nancy. They rented of difi'erent parties, for 
many years after their marriage; and in 1853 
he bought 138 acres where he now lives, and 
improved the same, and has added to it since, 
luitil he now possesses 358 acres of finely-im- 
proved land, adorned by one of the best 
houses in the township. His father gave him 
^600, and the remainder of his vast fortune is 
the product of his own labors; he has long 
been identified with the Democratic party. 
Their union gave them two children — Mary 
J. and Almeda S. 

JOSEPH SHORT, farmer; P. O., Chester- 
ville; is a son of Adam and Mary (Miller) 
Shor.; his parents were born in Pa.; their 
children were — Elizabeth, married Thomas 
Scott; Mary married Jacob Sperrer; John, 
dead; Peter; Jacob married Lavina Maxwell; 
Joseph; Andrew married Mary Philips; 
George, deceased; Franklin married a Miss 
Sumplin; Adam married Mary Miller; Sarah. 
His parents were Catholics; Joseph was born 
June 10, 1811, in Pa.; he attended school but 
little, and at the age of 20 he went to Mary- 



'Ji^ 



71 (i 



HARMONY TOWNSHIP. 



land and engaged in working on a farm at 
$80 per year, and continued tliere five years; 
he then came to Knox Co., this State, and 
worked by the year at $100, and continued 
the same eleven years, and was married in 
1841 to Phoebe, daughter of Benjamin and 
Phoebe Williams; her parents were natives of 
New York; she died in 1855, having three 
daughters, who have grown up to make his 
home happy; their names are — Laura J., 
Lydia L., Mary E.; their mother was an active 
member of the Methodist Church, in which 
faith she died, leaving them to fight the 
journey of life alone, and motherless; Mary 
E. also belongs to the M. E. Church; his wife's 
parents had twelve children, but two survive — 
Daniel and Ransom. 

Mr. Short settled on the present farm of 
172 acres in 1865; it is finely improved, 
and is the fruit of his own labor and man- 
agement, in which he has been nobly as- 
sisted l)y his amiable daughter; he takes in- 
terest in township enterprises, and votes the 
Republican ticket; he paid off a portion of the 
amount to clear this township's draft; his 
grandfather Short was in the Revolutionary 
war; Mr. Short has retired from hard labor, 
and is enjoying in luxury the proceeds of his 
early industry. 

B. A. SELLERS, farmer; P. O., Chester- 
ville; war born Feb. 3, 1851, and is a son of 
Henry Sellers, whose sketch appears in Ches- 
ter Tp. He early began attending school, and 
became very proficient in his studies, which 
enabled him to teach school; this avocation he 
followed for three terms, and was consid- 
ered the most successful pedagogue of the 
township. He was married Sept. 21, 1873, to 
Minerva A., daughter of Joel U. and Abigail 
(Lewis) Bruce; she was born March 2, 1855. 
They settled after marriage on the present 
farm of 84 acres, owned by his father, and has 
since remained here. Has been prominently 
identified with the Democratic party, and by 
that organization was chosen Township Clerk 
for the year of 1880. He makes a specialty 
of Poland-China hogs. His wife is a member 
of the Old Scoool Baptist Church. 

ELMER THOMAS, farmer; P. 0., Mt. 
Gilead; was born June 10, 1852, in Morrow 
Co., and is the son of Benjamin and Marilla 
(Westbrook) Thomas; their children were — 
Wilber, Martin, Elmer and John. Elmer re- 



mained at home with his parents until he mar- 
ried, which event occurred Dec. 21, 1870, to 
Esther, daughter of Henry and Margaret 
(Wolf) Sellers. Mrs. Thomas was born in 
July, 1848; she and her husband lived for a 
short time on the farm of J. C. Swetland, and 
then rented near Lucerne, Knox Co., trans- 
ferring from there to Abram Dicker's farm, in 
Chester Tp. In 1880, he bought fifty acres, 
being his present farm, and he has improved 
the same. Thev had one child — Nora B., 
born Nov. 25, 1877, died Sept. 9, 1878. Him- 
self and wife are members of the Baptist 
Church; he votes the Democratic ticket. Mr. 
Thomas is the architect of his own fortune, 
and is an industrious and enterprising farmer. 

SILAS O. ULREY, farmer; P. O., Card- 
ington; was born April 18, 1838, in this 
county; his father, Jacob, was born in 1797, 
and his mother, Christina Alender, in 1800, 
and were natives of Pennsylvania; they emi- 
grated to Ohio at an early day. They had 
seven children — Demas, Davis, John A., Lu- 
cinda, Elizabeth, Silas and J. W. The father 
died June 4, 1870, and the mother April 0, 
1880; they were Baptists. Silas obtained 
gdbd common school education and engaged 
for many terms in teaching school, in which 
he was successful, proving himself prepared 
to master all undertakings. He also worked 
at Ambrotyping for eight months, with V. B. 
Bean; was married Jan. 14, 1861, to Millie, 
a daughter of Henry and Jane Lctherman 
Allen, of Kentucky. They have six children 
— Christina married Lewis C. Healea; Mary, 
Ida O., Margaret M., Keturah and August. 
His wife was born about the year 1832. They 
settled for awhile after marriage in Kentucky, 
and Dec, 1869, they came to the place of his 
nativity, and engaged in farming for his 
father, who owned 84 acres, which he willed 
to his four sons 'ere his death. Silas O. has 
bought one share and now owns 42 acres of 
the old homestead, which is fine tilable land. 
He has faithfully served this township as 
Clerk nine years, and is Land Appraiser for 
1880. He votes the Democratic ticket. 

JOSEPH ULREY, farmer; P. O., Sparta. 
This old pioneer was born March 15, 1802, in 
Pa.; his father, John, and mother, Elizabeth, 
(Arnold) Ulrey, were also natives of Pa., and 
had ten children: Stephen, John, David, 
Daniel, George, Jacob, Joseph, Agnes, Eliza- 



w 



•k. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



717 



beth and Polly. Our subject attended school 
some little in his younger days; he also learn- 
ed to weave, and followed the same for many 
years; was married 1827 to Sarah, daughter of 
George and Eleanor (Roberson) Hupp; her pa- 
rents had seven children — Maria, Margaret, 
Sarah, Ann, Clarissa, Clarinda and George. 
She was born Sept., 1809. She and Joseph 
settled in Pa. until 1834:, when they came to 
Ohio, and settled in Harmony Tp., and have 
improved quite an amount of land; he now 
has 305 acres of well improved land, the fruit 
of their own labors. They had eleven child- 
ren that grew up: George, Harrison; John, 
was killed May 13, 1873, by the falling of a 
beam while raising a barn ; was married to Jane 
Waltman and had four children: Stephen, 
Delia, Effie and Lily; Maria, Joseph, Ellen, 
Caroline, Clara, Eli, Freeman and Stephen; 
the latter married Jane Evans, now deceased; 
they had one child, Charlie. Joseph and wife 
are active members of the Baptist church, with 
which he has been identified for forty years. 
He votes the Democratic ticket, and is an in- 
telligent, industrious man; takes interest in 
educating his children. 

E. L. WINTERMUTE, farmer; P. O., 
Chesterville; is the son of Abram S., born 
Feb. 20, 1807, in Sussex Co., N. J.; he at- 
tended school in an old log cabin, and worked 



on the farm, and was married in 1834, to 
Ellen Lanning. They have two children — 
Edward L., born April 14, 183G, and George 
W., born Aug. 17, 1S41; an infant died Feb. 
7, 1875; and he was again married in 1876, to 
Elizabeth Lanning, daughter of Peter I. and 
Ann (Washer) Struble. She was married in 
1844 to Richard Laiming, and had six chil- 
dren (one unnamed) — Delphina, Mary, Electa, 
Emma and Sylvester. Her first husband died 
Feb. 10, 1871. The father of our subject 
settled on the farm, where he now resides, in 
1841, buying 40 acres of Mr. Thrailkill; he 
now owns 8i acres of well-improved land, ob- 
tained by his own labor and energy; he could 
not borrow !f^2.50 with which to pay his tax, 
and he sold clover seed to meet this ex- 
pense. He and his wife are members of the 
Baptist Church. Mr. Wintermute was mar- 
ried in 1859 to Martha, a daughter of John 
and Rebecca (Donnelson) Bennett. Her pa- 
rents are natives of Perry County, and had six 
children — Malinda, Isaac, Martha x\., Samuel 
H., Mary E. and John L. She was born Oct. 
30, 1840, and has four children — Abram, born 
Nov. 5, 1860; Mary E., April 25, 1864; John 
D., July 23, 1866; Alice R., Aug. 7, 1876. 
They are also members of the Old School 
Baptist Church. E. L. settled on his present 
farm in 1879. They vote the Democratic ticket. 



CANAAN TOWNSHIP. 



JAMES ADAMS, farmer; P. O., Carding- 
ton; was born Sept. 22, 1829, near Mans^eld, 
in Richland Co.; his parents, .fames and Mar- 
garet (McGiboney) Adams, were natives of 
the Emerald Isle, and they emigrated to this 
country and stopped some years in Pennsyl- 
vania, and then located for a time in Richland 
Co., moving to this township in 1844; after 
making several changes, they moved to Mar- 
ion Co., where they died at the ripe age of 94 
years. At the age of 14, James Jr. started out 
to do for himself, and worked five years for 
William Johnson; he received, the first year, 
$4.00 per month; the second year, 15.00, 
and so on, increasing his wages until 
the expiration of the time. While yet a lad 



in his teens, he made a trip across the moun- 
tains with a drove of hogs for his employer, 
to the eastern market, and disposed of them 
at a profit. Subsequently he learned the cab- 
inet maker's trade, at which he was engaged 
for fourteen years. At the aare of 25, he was 
married to Eliza L. Freeman, born Jan. 6, 
1835, a daughter of George and Emma (Bird) 
Freeman, both natives of England. After Mr. 
Adams' marriage, he began farming, and 
rented land for several years, when he began 
keeping house; his outfit was of a very mea- 
ger character, having to borrow utensils to 
commence with; in 1869 he purchased 60 
acres; in 1864, he entered the service and 
was out one year, in the 174th O. V. I., Co. 



;^ 



^K 



^l^ 



718 



CANAAN TOWNSHIP. 



K, ami partii'ipattMl in sev(»ral battles, and 
was a tnio and faitliful soldier. Mr. Adams 
not having had sehool advantages worth men- 
tioning, aj)preciates the worth of them, and is 
irivirig his ehildren all the advantages in his 
power; his danghter, Emma, is now teaching, 
having seeiired a certificate before she was 1") 
years old. He and his wife are members of 
the Bethel Church; he is also a member of 
Caledonia Lodge No. 209, I. O. O. F. Of the 
ehildren, they are as follows: George, born 
July 22, 1857, Adda, (deceased) June G, 18G0, 
Km'ma, Aug. 17, 1862, Charlev, April 11, 
18(10, Frank, Feb. 3, 1868, Ollie, Sept. 1, 1870. 
Mr. Adams has 92 acres of choice land, all of 
which he has acquired by industry. 

AVM. S. AYE, farmer; P. O., Caledonia; 
Sept. 19, 1821, Mr. Aye was born in Ma- 
rion Co., Ohio; his father's name was Jacob, 
who was born in Maryland in 1792, and emi- 
grated to this State with his father, whose 
name was also Jacob, and located in Berk- 
shire Tp., Delaware Co., in 180G, remaining 
there until 1820; he then came to Clarendon 
Tp., Marion Co., where William S. was born; 
after a residence of a few years on this place, 
the family moved four miles north, and lived 
upon a forty-acre piece, which they had en- 
tered, remaining there until 1826, when they 
moved to what is now Morrow Co., Ca- 
naan Tp., and entered eighty acres, the 
first year he cleared four acres, which was 
planted June 18, yet with good results; the 
year following he cleared six acres more, 
which crop was nearly all destroyed by the 
squirrels. Jacob Ave died Aug. 24, 1871; his 
wife was Rebecca Hyde before marriage; she 
died Sept. 12, same year; she was born in 
Massachusetts, Sept. 12, 1792; her birthday 
and death were the same date; the Ayes 
are of German descent; William S. was mar- 
ried Oct. 10, 1844, to Sarah J. Mitchell, who was 
born March 27, 1829, in Ross Co., Ohio, and 
is a daughter of William and Jane (Hines) 
Mitchell, who came to Marion Co. the same 
year that Sarah was born, and entered eighty 
acres of land; the Mitchells are of Irish and 
the Hines of Dutch descent; since the mar- 
riage of Mr. and Mrs. Aye, they have lived at 
their present place of residence; he has, in 
all, nearly 500 acres of land, IGO of the num- 
ber in Wyandott Co.; eight children have 
been born to them, five now living — Maria, 



now Mrs. J. M. Campbell; Morris J., Melville 
C, William M., Laura T.; the deceased are — 
pjinily, Elenore, and Almon N.; Mr. Aye, 
wife and entire family are members of the M. 
E. Church; while his father lived across the 
line in Marion, the first Methodist society 
established in Marion Co., was formed at his 
father's house in 1821, and consisted of seven 
members; Jacob and his wife were of the 
number, he having joined that denomina- 
tion in 1814, and his wife in Massachusetts in 
1808; Mr. Aye is among the intelligent class; 
is a liberal patron of the public journals, and 
his library is well stored with useful and 
standard works. 

JASPER BRADFORD, farmer; P. O., 
Cardington; born Dec. 1, 1818, in Musking- 
um Co.; is the son of John and Mary (Davis) 
Bradford, Avho were married in Loudoun Co., 
and came West about 1812, locating in Mus- 
kingum Co. Jasper is the fifth of a family of 
eleven children, and was married July 1, 
1841, to Mary E. Lane, a native of Musking- 
um Co.; she died Dec. 25, 1843, leaving 
two children — Achsah, now in Oxford Tp., 
Delaware Co., the wife of Wm. Nelson, a. id 
George, in Muskingum Co. Mr. Bradford 
was married the second time, to Elizabeth 
Davis, Nov. 27, 1845, the daughter of Samuel 
and Mary Davis, who were natives of Penn- 
sylvania; four children crowned their union — 
Harriet J., Mary E., John M. and Maranda C. 
Harriet now of Edgar Co., 111., is the wife of 
H. Rowland; Mary E. is Mrs. Martin Powers, 
of Cardington; .lohn M. is on the farm; Maran- 
da, deceased. His second wife died Nov. 1, 
1865, in Edgar Co. On July 30, 1870, was 
married to Mary Ann Miller, his present wife, 
who was born in Belmot Co., Sept. 12, 1818; 
her father, Andrew Miller, entered the land 
they now reside upon; his wife was Susanna 
Ault, both natives of Pennsylvania, and emi- 
grated to this state in the year 1818, and to the 
present limits of Morrow Co. in 1835; in 1867, 
Mr. Bradford moved to Edgar Co., 111., and liv- 
ed there three years, returning to this county 
where he has since resided. Mr. Bradford and 
wife are members of the Methodist Church, 
and have been identified with the church for 
about thirty years. Their farm, consisting of 
74 acres, affords them a handsome living, 
and a good home. 

JOHN W. BRATTON, farmer; P. O., 







l^ 



Carding'ton; is ainon^ Caiiaan''s best fanners. 
He is a native of Ohio, born in Radnor Tp., 
Delaware Co., May 18, 1831, and a son of 
James W. Bratton, whose wife was Mary Kyle, 
who was likewise reared in Delaware Co. 
James W. was a native of Pennsylvania. 
John was the second of a family of ten chil- 
dren, and was reared in the home circle; after 
his father's death he assisted in the care and 
support of his mother; at the age of 25, he 
was married to Rosannah Mciiride, Avho was 
born in 1835, in Marion Co.; a daughter of 
Robert and Melissa (Reece) McBride. After 
marriage he began by renting land, which 
he continued to do for several years, and ac- 
quired enough means to purchase a small 
place near Denmark, which he sold soon after 
and moved to Marion Co., and purchased 43 
acres, and in 1869 moved to this township, and 
purchased his present home, where he has since 
lived. They have two children — Lillie and 
Ollie; OIlie is now the wife of Samuel War- 
den, of this township; Lillie is at Cardington, 
engaged in the millinery trade. Mr. Bratton 
is a member of the Bethel M. E. Church. 
Democracy runs in the family, and John is 
quite strongly tinctured with its principles, 
and votes straight. 

MRS. NANCY BAIRD, farmer; P. O., 
Caledonia; was born in Morris Co., New .Jer- 
sey, Sept. 3, 181G, and was married to Peter 
Baird, who was born Dec. 7, 1814, in Morris 
Co., New Jersey; he was a son of William 
Baird. Mr, and Mrs. Baird came to this 
State in 1839, spending the first winter in 
Mt. Gilead; then moving to Shaw's Creek, 
and purchased 80 acres one mile north of 
Denmark, remaining there three years; then 
rented out their land and moved to Gilead, 
where they lived one year; during their so- 
jour here Mr. Baird was engaged in the man- 
ufacture of brick; about the year 1848 they 
traded their farm north of Denmark for the 
one she now owns. Aug. 31, 1850, soon after 
their arrival at this place, Mr. Baird died; 
since his death she has remained on the farm, 
her son John carrying on the farm. Eight 
children were born to her, but seven are liv- 
ing. 

MARTIN V. BROWN, farmer; P. O. Mt. 
Gilead; is among the genial, whole-souled men 
of the county, whose heart is ever open to the 
cry of the needy, and his hand ready to 



stretch forth to adminster totheiir necessities; 
he was born in this township Nov. 1, 1884, is 
a son of Dr. Ira Brown, who practiced medi- 
cine in this county for many years, and was 
among the proininent and successful physi- 
cians; he was born in Knox Co., in July 1810. 
His wife, Sarah Brown, was born the year 
previous. Martin's grandfather's name was 
Luther; he was a native of Albany Co., and 
came out to this State prior to the war of 
1812, and settled near Chillicothe. Martin's 
father practiced medicine about thirty years; 
later in life he moved to Rock Island Co., 
111., where he died May 2, 1874, aged 63 
years, 10 months and 6 days. His wife died 
May 11, 1877, aged 68 years 7 months and 8 
days. At the age of 25 Martin was married 
to Eliza Schooley; was born in May, 1834, in 
Cardington Tp.; she is a daughter of Samuel 
and Mary E. (Graves) Schooley, who were 
natives of Virginia, and of English descent, 
and emigrated West to this county in the 
year 1830. After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. 
Brown, they remained on the homestead; in 
1879 they came to Section 30, and purchased 
80 acres. They have three ehildren — Ross 
N., born Sept. 27, 1860; Charles C, May 
1863; Emma, April 2, 1866. He and wife 
are members of the Protestant Methodist 
Church; he is also a representative of Caledo- 
nia Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 299, and a good 
Democrat. 

WILLIAM BROOKS, farmer; P. O. Iberia; 
was born in the Empire State, Cayuga Co., 
March 3, 1831; his parents were .Tohn and Re- 
becca (King) Brooks, whose family consisted 
of eight children, William being the second. 
The King family trace their ancestry to the land 
of roast beef and plum pudding, while the 
Brooks came from the State of Connecticut. 
William was but 2 years of age when his 
parents moved to Seneca Co., Ohio, and were 
not blessed with an abundance of this world's 
goods. His first effort to lay the foundation 
of his future business, was to learn the carpen- 
ter's trade; he soon perceived that in its pros- 
ecution through life it would necessitate a 
continued change of place, and irregular em- 
ployment, and in view of these facts, he aban- 
doned it, and resolved to be a tiller of the 
soil; it seemed a long time to him before he 
could be in possession of a farm of his own, 
yet he firmly resolved to accomplish his aim. 



;Rr 



720 



CANAAN TOWNSHIP. 



His first move was to secure a team, and ac- 
eordiiii'i'ly bouirlit a youiijr horse of his brother, 
which (lied before it was paid for, though the 
debt was due his brother, yet he worked on 
and paid it, to the last farthing. At the age 
of "i'-i, in December, 1854, he was married to 
Hannah Braden, who was born Oct. 17,1837, 
a daughter of William and Susan (Mack) 
Braden. After his marriage he farmed for 
his great uncle abovit nine years; in 1863 he 
moved to the south edge of Marion Co., and 
rented for one year; in May, 1804, he joined 
the service, and was out several months in 
Company A, 13Gth regiment, O. N. G. In 
the fall of '04, he moved across the line into 
Morrow Co., where he had purchased about 
eighty acres of land, which was only partly 
cleared; he has since added to his original 
])urchase, having now about 100 acres of land. 
The buildings and the main improvements are 
the result of his own labor. Politically he is 
a Republican; in 1876 he was brought for- 
ward for County Commissioner, and was 
elected, and in 1879, re-elected by a handsome 
majority, and is serving with credit to him- 
self and the satisfaction of his constituents. 
Have three children — Emma S., Nellie E. 
and Victor Lincoln. The entire family, ex- 
cepting the youngest child, are members of 
the U. P. Church. ' 

WILLIAM BAIRD, farmer; P. O. Marits; 
was born Jan. 17, 1840, in .this State and 
county; is a son of Peter and Nancy Baird, 
who came to this county about the year 1838. 
William has always been engaged in farming 
pursuits, living in Morrow Co. all the time, 
with the exception of two years, which were 
spent in Vermilion Co., 111. At the age of 
34 he was married to Nancy E. Christy, who 
was born in this township in 1848, and is a 
daughter of David and Nancy Christy, and 
grand-daughter of John Boyles, the pioneer. 
After their marriage they located on the farm 
where he now resides. They have three child- 
ren: Wellington, born March, 1875; Han- 
nah, Sept., 1877; Lillie Dale, Sept., 1878. 
Mr. Baird is a hard-working and industrious 
man. 

GEORGE W. BRADEN, farmer; P. 0., 
Iberia; is a native of Richland Co., and was 
born near Plymouth, Feb. 21, 1833; his pa- 
rents were William and Susan (Mack) Braden; 
the father was a native of Mercer Co., Pa.; was 



born in March, 1808, and emigrated West, lo- 
cating first in Asldand Co.; he then moved to 
Richland Co., and in 1848 came to this county, 
purchasing eighty acres of land, where Wil- 
liam Brooks now lives, and soon after added 
eighty acres more adjoining, which he located 
upon, remaining sev(;ral years, until he moved 
across the line into Marion Co., where he now 
resides; George was the eldest of the family, 
and has been thrice married — first to Eliza- 
beth Wirebaugh, who was born in January, 
1837, in Crawford (yo., daughter of John and 
Elizabeth (Potts) Wirebaugh, in December, 
1871; she died leaving eight children, seven 
living — William A., Sarah M., Lizzie, John 
A., Frederick M., Harley and Ann, one dying 
in infancy; his second wife was Charity 
Moore; they had one child — Alta; his wife 
died in March, 1870; June 19, 1879, he was 
married to Rachel Lautzenhiser, who was 
born in Summit Co., Dec. 2, 1844, daughter 
of John and Lydia (Baughman) Lautzenhiser; 
the mother was a native of Trumbull Co., born 
Aug. 4, 1812; the father Avas born in May, 
1802, and came West from Pa. to this State in 
1821, and was one of the pioneers of Summit 
Co, where Mrs. Braden was raised. Mr. Bra- 
den is a member of the U. P. Church; his 
wife, of the Reformed. He has eighty-seven 
acres of land. 

JOHN CAMPBELL, farmer; P. O., Cale- 
donia; was born Sept. 23, 1810, in Loudoun 
Co., Virginia; is a son of William and Cath- 
arine (Wright) Campbell, who are of Scotch 
and Irish descent. John was but one year 
old when his father died, and came West with 
his mother when five years of age, and loca- 
ted in Muskingum Co., where they remained 
about three yoars; also stayed at Darby Plains, 
the same length of time; went to Waldo and 
remained one year, and in Delaware Co., sev- 
eral years, and in 1822 came to this township, 
with his mother, who had married Frederick 
Dunklebarger, who entered land and located 
on the same. Jan. 22, 1835, John was mar- 
ried to Lucinda Downs, who was born .Ian. 
.12, 1814, in Ross Co., Pa., the daughter of 
David and Sarah (Murphy) Downs; he being 
a representative of Loudoun Co., Va., and she 
of Ohio birth. After their marriage they set- 
tled on the same section where they now live, 
their domicile being made of logs with pun- 
cheon floor and stick chimney. The forest 



TT 



>> 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



721 



stood in its primitive beauty, no clearing hav- 
ing been done at this time. Indians were 
pltMitiful, and were camped about them, 
watching with a jealous eye the encroach- 
ments ot" the settlers on their domain; here 
Mr. and Mrs. Campbell spent the prime of 
their life, enduring all the privations and hard- 
ships that attend the settlement of a new 
country; their corn was pounded in a mortar 
or ground by a hand stone, and tlieir clothing 
was of their own manufacture. Their first 
summer spent in their cabin was without any 
floor; a hole cut in the side served as a place 
of ingress; the fire was made upon the ground, 
the smoke seeking its own outlet; yet they 
were happy, and looked for better days to 
come; 1880 finds them in possession of 
an excellent home, and a farm of 185 
acres, and eveiything about them to make 
life enjoyable. They have eight children — 
Martha N., at home; Eliza, now Mrs. S.Rice; 
John N., Sarah J., now Mrs. Strawman; 
William W., James W., Alfred M., George 
W. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, as well as the 
entire family, are members of the M. E. 
Church of which Mr. and Mrs. Campbell 
were among its first members. 

DAVID CHRISTY, farmer; P. O. Caledo- 
nia; was born in Harrison Co., town of Cadiz, 
State of Penn., June 17, 1820; is a son of Da- 
vid and Martha (Dillon) Christy, who were 
natives of Washington, Pa., and came to this 
State prior to their marriage. They came to 
this county about the year 1830; his father 
purchased eighty acres west of Denmark, up- 
on which he settled and remained until his 
death, which took place in 1863; his wife died. 
At 21 David began for himself; Sept. 2Sth, in 
his 22d year, he was married to Haniiah J. 
Boyles, who was born in this township Feb. 
9, 1825, and is the seventh of a family 
of nine children, born to John and Nancy 
(Merritt) Boyles; her father was one of the 
early pioneers in the county; the Merrits were 
prominently identified with the county during 
its early settlement. After marriage, Mr. 
Christy rented land at different places. In 
1848, he bought eighty acres of land, and lived 
several years in their cabin home. Mr. 
Christy was very poor when he started; he be- 
gan at the bottom of the ladder; he, was with- 
out a dollar, and they began keeping house 
with one chair, six knives and foriis, one set 



of teacups and saucers, and a few plates; their 
first payment was $16, and this was the accu- 
mulations of many months, of a few quarters 
at a time, yet they toiled and labored on, and 
after years of privation and hardship, have ac- 
quired a good home, and 273|- acres of land. 
Nine children have been born to them: Mar- 
tha E., Mrs. A. Stagle; Lodema, Mrs. C. Zil- 
ler; Nancy E., Mrs. Wm. Baird; Eliza J., 
Mrs. John Fields; Alfred C, in Iowa; David, 
in Iowa; John B., Minnie and Emma Ne- 
vada, at home. Mr. and Mrs. Christy are 
both members of the Presbyterian Church. 

NATHAN N. COE, farmer; P. O., Marits; 
born Nov. 8, 1837, in Gilead Tp.; is a son of 
Abram^nd Margaret (Nichols) Coe; Abrani 
was born Dec. 6, 1806, in Loudoun Co., Va., 
and emigrated to this State, locating in Gil- 
ead Tp; he yet survives, and is among the 
honored and highlj^-respected citizens in the 
county. Nathan Nichols was married in his 
23rd year, Oct. 10, 1860, to Sophia Harris, 
who was born in Denmark, Canaan Tp., Feb. 
25, 1839, the daughter of Joel Harris. After 
their marriage they lived one year on the 
homestead in Gilead; in 1863 he purchased 
seventy-one acres, one-half mile south of 
Denmark, which he has fitted up in good far- 
mer shape; he has good buildings, and ar- 
ranged with a view to comfort and conven- 
ience; and is living in comparative content- 
emnt, enjoying the love and good-will of his 
friends and neighbors. They have no children. 

ELI CLEVINGER, farmer; P. O., Gilead 
Station. Among the representatives of this 
county, who hail from the "Old Dominion" 
State, whose career has been a sj.iccessful one, 
is Mr. Clevinger. Starting out in life without 
procuring aid, or even a common school edu- 
cation, he struggled on in his business tran- 
sactions, having to trust to the honor of his 
fellows, who, in many instances, had no con- 
scientious scruples, and exercised their op- 
portunities. Yet he has triumphed over these 
conditions, and has lived to experience a 
realization of his early hopes and cherished 
anticipations — which was, to " some day have 
a home and property of his own, that would 
place him beyond the probable reach of want 
and to be placed upon the plane of indepen- 
dence." Such has been his realizations, having 
brought those desires to a successful issue; he 
was born in Frederic Co., Ya., Sept. 15, 1821; 



CANAAN TOWNSHIP. 



^ 



he is a son of William and Martha Mulvania; 
who were natives of Virginia, and emigrated 
to Muskingum Co, (^hio, when Eli was a lad of 
1) years; his father was twice married, he being 
the second child of a family of four, by the 
second marriage, and lived with his father un- 
til his ^oth year, and was married to Hebecca 
Jionham, whose parents were Mahlon and 
Esther (Wickersham) IJonham. His first 
purchase was 80 acres of land; he added to it 
at different times, until he acquired 320 
acres; in 1875, he disposed of his interests in 
that locality, and came to this township, and 
purchased 100 acres. They have seven chil- 
dren — Susannah, now Mrs. Samuel Bush, of 
Cardington; Martha, Mrs. George Rhodes; 
Hester, John, William, Thomas and Mahlon. 
Mr. Clevinger has been a constant member of 
the M. E. Church over forty years. 

FKANK M. CURL, farmer; R O. Caledo- 
nia; is among the worthy young representatives 
of this township; he was born Aug 16, 1854, in 
Cardington Tp. His parents were Henry W. 
and Elizabeth (Johnson) Curl; she is a native 
of tliis county, and her husband of Clark Co., 
Ohio. The Curl family are of Scotch, and 
the Johnsons of Dutch extraction; Frank's 
grandfather was a settler in the county. At 
the age of 18 Frank worked at the carpen- 
ters' trade, and continued the same business 
for five years; in his 23d year he was mar- 
ried to Ermina J. Bay, who was born Oct. 9, 
1857, on the farm where they now reside, 
which was formerly owned by her parents, 
Harrison and ]\Iiranda J. (Moore) Bay. The 
former was born near Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 
11, 1812, and emigrated first to Guernsey 
Co., and to this county in 1851. Mrs. Bay was 
born March 29, 1818, near Chandlerville, 
Muskingum Co., where she was married, Oct. 
2-4, 18-14, and moved to Guernsey with her 
husbanil, thence to this county, where they 
remained until their death. Harrison Bay 
died Aug. 3, 1801; his wife died Nov. 24, 
1873. Since the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. 
Curl, they have resided on the homestead 
farm; they have one child — Alma, who was 
l)orn Nov. 12, 1879. Mrs. Curl's grandfather 
was a Colonel in the war of 1812. Mr. Curl 
is affiliated with the Republican party, and is 
now serving as Township Trustee. Both are 
members of the M. E. Church. 

SHERIDAN S. COX, farmer; P. O., Caledo- 



nia; was born in Harrison Co., Ohio, March 
5, 1833; son of Zebediah and Elizabeth (Ry- 
an) Cox, who are natives of Maryland — Zeb- 
ediah was born in the year 1801, and emigra- 
ted to this State, with his father, in the year 
1802, locating in Harrison Co., where the fam- 
ily remained until the year 1850, when Zebe- 
diah moved with his family to Wyandot Co., 
Ohio, and settled in the woods, west of Upper 
Sandusky, and cleared up the farm; after fif- 
teen years' residence Zebediah returned to 
Harrison Co., Sheridan remaining on the 
farm until 1800, when he came to this county, 
and purchased eighty acres of land. Jan. 5, 
1800, he was married to Nancy Patton, who 
was born in this township, in 1843. She was 
a daughter of Patrick and Rebecca (Morgan) 
Patton — she died 1871, leaving three children, 
whose names were — Lizzie, Mary E., and 
James S. In 1873, he was married to his 
})resent wife, Delilah Kerran, who was born 
in 1843, daughter of John and Rachel (Slaugh- 
ter) Kerran. There are no children. He and 
wife are members of the M. E. Church. 

JAMES H. COEN, farmer; P. O., Cale- 
donia; was born in Knox Co., Ohio, Aug. 20, 
1827; his father, Isaac Coen, died when James 
was but two years of age; his mother's maid- 
en name was Mary Williams, and married the 
second time when James was but 12 years of 
age, sending him to live witli a man who was 
to learn him the carpenters' trade, but who 
kept him doing drudgery instead, and he de- 
spaired of ever learning the trade, and left,- 
after staying with the man three years; he 
then went to live with Henry Valentine, stay- 
ing there three years also; he then set out ibr 
Marion Co., and worked by the month, and 
"grubbed " and chopped cord- wood at thirty- 
three cents per cord, boarding himself; at the 
age of 27, he was married to Ann Harrison, 
who was born Aug. 22, 1834, in Fairfield Co.; 
is the daughter of Jacob and Rachel K. (Rice) 
Harrison; Jacob was born Jan. 17, 1805, in 
Fairfield Co., and was married to Rachel 
Rice, April 23, 1829, and moved to Marion 
Co. in 1834, and scuttled in the " beech woods;" 
he joined the M. E. Church in 1841, and was 
the first ])erson to join Jacob Geyer's class, and 
was the first Sunday-school superintendent. 
He died Oct. 23, 1875. After the marriage of 
Mr. and Mrs. Coen, he began farming; his 
first purchase was the Knowles grant, which 



k 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



72S 



he afterwards sold and settled on the Badjrer 
farm, and began buying out the heirs; had an 
interest in some land in Van Wert Co., which 
he traded for a two-horse wagon; since Mr. 
Coen's location here, he has remained, and is 
permanently settled; he has now about 250 
acres of choice land, beautifully located, no bet- 
ter in the township, and he is among the coun- 
ty's best farmers and self-made men; they have 
six children — George F., Mary A., Lizzie, 
Nora M., Hattie B. and Harrison H. 

EZEKIEL H. COX, farmer; P. O., Iberia; 
was born in Tulley Tp., Marion Co., Ohio, May 
24, 1843; his father, Abraham Cox, was born in 
Monongahela Co., Va., July 11, 180G; he mar- 
ried Mary Pittman, who was born May 25, 
1810, and emigrated west about the year 1835, 
locating in Monroe Co., and later, ifi Gilead 
Tp., where he purchased 160 acres of land, 
and remained their until his location in Marion 
Co. Ezekiel remained at home until 27 years 
of age; April 14, 1872, he married Louisa J. 
Hendrickson, who was born in Marion Co., 
1853, daughter of G. AV. Hendrickson; her 
mother's family name was Blocksom; since 
the marriage of Mr. Cox he has been a resi- 
dent of Canaan, on Section 2, where he has 
135 acres of land. They have two children — 
Alfred E., born March 20, 1873; Adda A., 
March 5, 1875. 

CLARK COX, farmer; P. O., Caledonia; 
is a native of Marion Co., Ohio; he was born 
in Tully Tp., March 28, 1847, and is the eighth 
of a family of nine children; his parents Avere 
Abraham and Mary (Pittman) Cox; he was a 
native of Virginia, and came West at an early 
day; they now live in Gabon, Ohio. On be- 
coming of age, Clark began farming on his 
own a'^-count; and Feb. 22, 1871, he married 
Miss Rebecca J. Irvin; she was born in Wash- 
ington Tp., this county, in the year 1848; 
after their marriage, they lived with his father 
until 1874, when he came to his present place, 
and has lived here since. They have five 
children — James H., born Dec. 25, 1871; 
Charles E., Dec, 28, 1873; William J., Oct. 
20, 1875; Mary S., Oct., 17, 1877, and babe 
born May 17, 1880. Mr. Cox is among 
the well-known farmers of his township; his 
farm contains 200 acres of land well-adapted 
to stock-raising, in which he is largely inter- 
ested; he is located about eight miles north- 
west of Mt. Gilead. 



THOMAS A. CAMPBELL, farmer; P. O; 
Gilead Station; is a descendant of the Camp- 
bell family, who were among the early arriv- 
als in this ])art of the township. Mrs. Camp- 
bell, the widow of A. Campbell, a grandfather 
of Thomas, emigrated here at an early period, 
and made a purchase of land, part of which is 
now occupied by W. J. Campbell, the brother 
of Thomas. Thomas was born in Gilead Tp., 
Oct. 21, 1822, and is the eldest of a family 
of five children, whose parents were William 
and Mary (Axtell) Campbell. The Axtells 
are of Yankee extraction, while the Camp- 
bells are of Irish. Dec. 25, 1861, he was 
married to Beliah Webster, who was born 
Sept. 11, 1836, in Gilead Tp. She is a daugh- 
ter of Marvin and Maria (Newson) Webster, 
whose father was an early settler in Gilead, 
and among the first to build in the town of 
Gilead. After Mr. Campbell was married, he 
rented land in Gilead Tp. some time, and 
subsequently moved to his farm, consisting of 
fifty acres. They have had seven children; 
five are living — John E., Mary, Sarah, Myrtie, 
Imo and Charley C. 

WM. J. CAMPBELL, farmer, P. O., Gilead 
Station; was born July 31,1846; his first recol- 
lections being confined to the limits of the 
homestead, where his parental ancestors — 
William and Mary Campbell — resided. Their 
home was then located near the boundary 
line dividing Gilead and Caanan townships. 
His father departed this life 1854; he was a 
native of Jefferson Co., and his advent to 
this county was during its early history, and 
he was among its respected citizens; his wid- 
ow still survives him, and resides on the home- 
stead farm that was located by Williams' 
early ancestors. 

May 6, 1875, William was married, while 
in his 30th year, to Mary E. Smith, born Oct. 
15, 1849, in Fairfield Co., daughter of George 
and Elizabeth (Pugh) Smith; after his mar- 
riage, he located on the homestead, remaining 
there until the spring of 1878, at which time 
he moved to his present place of abode. 

Mav 6, 1880, they celebrated their wooden 
wedding, their friends giving them an unex- 
pected visit, presenting them with testimoni- 
als suited to, and commemorative of the occa- 
sion. One child, Jessie May, was born to 
them May 21, 1879, but the fair flower 
soon faded, its spirit returning to Him who 



»3/ 



w 



i^ 



724 



CANAAN TOWNSHIP. 



•rave it Jvuie 30 of the same year. Mr. Camp- 
hell and wife are members of the M. E. 
Church, and endeavoring to live lives eon- 
siistent with their profession. He has consid- 
erable real estate, and is a successful farmer. 

.[()HN N. CAMPBEr.L, farmer; P. O., Cale- 
donia; was born July 9, 183!l, in Marion Co.; 
is the third of a family of nine children, born 
to John and Lucinda Campbell, who have 
been long; and favorably known in this county. 
John Nelson, in his early years, evinced an 
aptitude for farming and stock-raising. At 
the age of 24 he united his interests with Miss 
Maria P. Aye, born in 1845, and a daughter 
of W. S. Aye, one of Canaan's staunch citizens, 
and early settlers. Subsec|uent to their mar- 
riage they moved to the Taylor farm, in this 
township, Avhich he occupied for eight years; 
they then moved to the middle fork of the 
Whetstone, on the Strawnian farm, which has 
been his residence ever since, having 186 
acres of land, which employs his time, being 
eno-atred in farminor and stock raising. They 
have a family of six children — Mary O., Mel- 
vin A., Morris W., Cora 13., Hallie R. and 
Pearl L.J. Himself, wife and three children 
are members of the M. E. Church. 

•PETER DILTS, farmer; P. O., Caledonia; 
'• Uncle Peter" was born in Muskingum Co., 
Ohio, Aug. 7, 1814; his parents were Peter 
and Elizabeth Dilts, who emigrated to 
this State from New Jersey in the year 
1812, where they purchased land from the 
government, remaining on the same until 
their death. Peter had but the advantages 
attorded by those early times; schools were 
few and sparsely attended. He lived with 
his father until his 23d year, at which time 
he married Sarah Ann Knight in March, 
1837, making his father's home his place of 
abode until 1852; he was the youngest of 
a family of eight children. Since 1852, 
he has been a constant resident of the 
county; his farm consists of 84 acres, 
and is located in the northwest part of 
the township; since his advent to the county, 
he has not been out of the State. Nine chil- 
dren have been born to them; five of the 
number are living — Amanda, now Mrs. Hip- 
shire; Louisa, now Mrs. Monroe; Sarah Ann, 
now Mrs. A. Cunningham; Elizabeth, now 
Mrs. Hipshire, and Austin M., all residents of 
Marion Co. Four are deceased — Rebecca, 



the wife of Mr. White; Franklin at the age 
of 24; Freeman, when a babe, and Cordelia, 
the wife of Levi Ulch, who was shot in her 
own house by some unknown parties, her 
husband being absent at the time with stock. 
She was sitting in the room at nightfall, sew- 
ing, when the dastardly deed was done by 
some party outside. No light has ever been 
thrown upon the matter, and to this day re- 
mains a painful mystery. 

WM. FEIGLEY, retired farmer; Caledonia; 
stands prominent among the early settlers of 
this locality; he was born in Washington Co., 
Md., Nov. 2, 1811, and is the fourth of a fam- 
ily of eight children, born to William and 
Susanna (Ikimgardiner) Feigley, both natives 
of Washington Co., Md. William remained 
in his native county until he was 20 years of 
age, when, in company with others, he walked 
to the vicinity of his present place, and, form- 
ing a favorable opinion of the county, he re- 
turned to Maryland, where, on becoming of 
age, he voted for Gen. Jackson, and came 
into possession of his interest in his father's 
estate, and the same fall he came West, and 
entered 100 acres of land in the present town- 
ship of Canaan, Morrow Co., and cleared the 
same. Aug. 8, 1833, he married Miss Lucinda, 
daughter of Isaac and Lanor (Washer) De- 
witt, of New Jersey. She was born in Sussex 
Co., N. J., April 10, 1814, and came West 
with her parents, in 1816. They entered forty 
acres on Owl Creek, near Salem Church, in 
this county, and in 1818 they entered eighty 
acres where the tile factory now stands, west 
of Mt. Gilead; here she lived until her mar- 
riage, after which Mr. Feigley built a round 
log cabin, of one room, containing a bed, 
table, four splint-bottom chairs, and a cup- 
board, all transformed from the raw material 
by the assistance of an ax, and all were locat- 
ed in the midst of the forests, whos3 nights 
were made hideous by the howling wolves; 
but, despite these disadvantages, a small crop 
of corn and potatoes were soon under v/ay. 
He lived on the place for twenty-one years, 
when he bought 125 acres at |>26 per acre, and 
lived on the same for seventeen years; he 
then went to Gabon, and lived there for twen- 
ty-two months, when he returned to Canaan 
Tp., and settled on his present place, building 
his j)resent residence, and has lived in the 
same ever since. Of a family of sixteen chil- 



'k. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



dren, seven are living, viz: Isaac, Samuel, 
Mary, David, Lanor, fClizabeth and Lucinda; 
all are married and doine^ well. Aniono- those 
who now rest in the silent tomb, is Daniel, 
who, at his country's call, enlisted in the G4th 

0. V. I., and served until his death at Corinth; 
also John, who was a yardmaster on the B. & 

1. R. R., and met with an accident while in 
the discharge of his duty, which resulted in 
his death; the others died, surrounded by 
kind friends, midst the peaceful scenes of the 
home fireside. 

HORACE L. FRANCIS, farming; P. O., 
Three Locusts; born December 10th, 1849, in 
Claridon Tp., Marion Co., Ohio, the seventh 
child born to A. P. Francis and Alvira Townly 
his wife; who were born, raised and married 
in Tompkins Co., New York, and emigrated 
West, locating in Caledonia, Marion Co., about 
the year 1835, where he engaged in merchan- 
dising for several years. Subsequently he 
engaged in farming, buying 300 acres in the 
north part of Canaan Tp., Sec. 4, where he 
lived until his death, which took place in 1868, 
at the age of 65; his wife survived him three 
years. Horace was married Jan. ], 1870, to 
Mary C. Smith, who was born in this township 
Jan'y 3, 1853, a daughter of Jefferson and 
Catharine (Hines) Smith, who was a native of 
Pennsylvania, her husband was a native of 
Old Virginia, now settled in Gilead Tp. 
After Horace was married, they lived one year 
in Indianapolis, and engaged in railroading; 
1872, he located on a part of the (last pur- 
chased) home farm, having sixty acres. They 
have had two children— Charley, born March 
20, 1871, died Sept. 20, 1872; Stella, born 
July 3, 1872. Mrs. Francis' grandmother is of 
the Fritzman family, who came from Ger- 
many. 

SAMUEL S. GROVES, farmer; P. O., 
Caledonia; was born in Guernsey Co., Ohio, 
Aug. 14, 1827, and is a son of Benjamin and 
Ann (Hight) Groves, who were natives of Old 
Virginia, and emigrated west, where Samuel 
was born ; Samuel was 1 6 years of age when 
his father died, and but 2 years old, when his 
mother died, and was thus thrown upon his 
own resources; soon after the death of his 
father, he hired out to learn the carpenter's 
trade, contracting to remain with his " boss " 
three years, receiving as compensation, $28.00 
per year, and eight months' schooling; the last 



year, he bought his time and took all his 
schooling that year; he then entered into a 
partnershi}) with his employer, with whom he 
had learned his trade, which business associa- 
tion lasted two years; he then conducted the 
business upon his own account for twelve 
years; March 11, 1852, he started to Califor- 
nia, going the overland route, arriving at 
Carson Valley, July 4, of the same year; he 
began work in the mines, also was engaged 
in trading; he remained there about two years, 
and returned to this county, having made a 
successful trip. Soon after his return, he pur- 
chased 40 acres, on Section 8, only 5 acres of 
which had been cleared; he has since added 
to his original purchase, mitil he now has 148 
acres of land; he has now an excellent farm, 
which is well-improved. In 1848, he was mar- 
ried to Sarah T. Vallentine, who was born in 
Seneca Co., March 28, 1828; she is a daugh- 
ter of Henry and Catharine Stinchomb; he 
was born Jan. 16, 1783; she was born in 1794. 
Eleven children have crowned the union of 
Mr. and Mrs. Groves; all are living — Char- 
lotte, Amanda, Sarah, Mary, George W., 
Henry James, Samuel, Effidelia Josephine , 
and Bertha E. He is a member of Caledonia 
Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 299; and during the 
war he was out in Co. I., 88th O. V. I., and 
served two years, and was discharged on ac- 
count of disability. 

CHRISTIAN GRUBER, farmer; P. O., 
Marits; was the second of a family of three 
children born to John and Catharine (Day) 
Gruber; the former was a native of Jefferson, 
Co. Va., and emigrated to this State in the year 
1826, locating in Marion Co., where Christian 
was born, Feb. 7, 1835. John Gruber, the fath- 
er of Christian was but fifteen years of age, 
when his father emigrated to this State, and en- 
tered the land upon which now stands the Ma- 
rion Co. Infirmary; here he remained until his 
death, which occurred March 12, 1862, at the 
age of 50; his wife, Catherine, survives him, 
she is now 71 years old. The Grubers are 
of German, and the Days of English descent. 
Christian was raised to farming,* and did not 
change his bachelor life, until he attained his 
32d year, when he married Elizabeth A. Leon- 
ard, born in this township Nov. 1st, 1843, a 
daughter of Isaac and Aim (Hoag) Leonard, 
born in Green Co. Pa. Emigrating West, they 
located in this township. Since CLr.stian's 



^ s r- 



CANAAN TOWNSHIP. 



marriag'e, lie has residod on the farm he now 
owns, situated at Denmark, consistino; of 148 
acres, which was formerly entered by John 
Bo3-les. They have four children — Thomas, 
John, Homer, and Elzy He is a member of 
the M. E. Church. 

ISAAC GEYER, farmer; P. (). Caledonia; 
born in Muskingum Co., Ohio, May 2i, 18^3; 
is the son of Jacob and Ruth Geyer, the for- 
mer from Pennsylvania, and the latter from 
Virginia; she came West with her mother at 
an early time. June 20, 1844, Isaac was mar- 
ried to Mrs. Mary E. (Vallentine) Downs, who 
was born in Fairfield Co., Ohio, May 18, 
1821, a daughter of Henry and Catharine 
(Stinchomb) Vallentine, who were natives of 
Pennsylvania and Maryland. Mrs. Geyer 
came with her parents to Seneca Co. when she 
was 3 years of age, remaining there until she 
reached the age of 15, when she came to this 
township, locating with her parents on Section 
5; here they lived until their death; her father 
died Jan. 26, 18G8; his wife died Nov. 26, 1879. 
Mrs. Geyer has been twice married; her first 
marriage was to William Downs, with whom 
she lived four years; his death occurred Jan. 
5, 1843; they had four children — Alfred F., 
(one died in infancy), William M. and Palmer. 
Since the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Geyer, 
they have remained permanently in this lo- 
cality. Mrs. Geyer was the second of a fam- 
ily of nine children; her oldest brother was 
drowned in Cedar river, Indiana, where her 
father, Henry Vallentine, had purchased land, 
with a view to settling there, but after the 
death of his son the project was abandoned. 
After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Geyer, 
they located on the home farm, then bought 
forty acres on Thorn Hun, which was finally 
sold; they purchased eighty acres, upon which 
they at present reside, adding to it until they 
now have 100 acres. They have foin- children 
— Sarah J., now Mrs. A. Reed, of Missouri; 
Harrison B., Richard M. and Jacob H., at 
home. Mr. and Mrs Geyer have been mem- 
bers of the M. E. Church for forty years. 

ANDREW GEYER, farmer;"' P. O., Ma- 
rits; is a native of Westmoreland Co., Pa., 
and was born April 15, 1810; is a son of An- 
drew and I^(^tsey (I.inder) Ge^-er, who were 
parents of eleven children. They emigrated 
to the West about the year LS20 and located 
in Muskingum Co., buying 100 acres of land, 



which was covered with heavy timber; here 
they settled and died. Andrew was, married 
Feb. 11, 1832 to Miss Cass Linder, a daughter 
of James and Catharine (Geyer) Linder. Mrs. 
Geyer was born in Muskingum Co., and after 
their marriage they went to keeping house; 
their outfit was neither elaborate nor expen- 
sive, and Mr. Geyer remarked that he could 
have easily carried all of their outfit upon his 
back. They lived several years in their cabin 
home and were happy; they had a "Dutch 
oven," which served a double purpose of skil- 
let and boiler. In 1836, they came to this town- 
ship, where they purchased 160 acres, and their 
log cabin experiences continued for years after- 
wards; in 1869, they moved to their present 
place of abode. They have had eleven chil- 
dren born to them, but three are now left of 
the number — Rebecca, now Mrs. John Smith, 
of Marion Co.; Sarah, now Mrs. Matthew 
Smith; and Ruth, Mrs. David Sellers, of 
Gilead. Mr. Geyer has 186 acres of land, and 
is now partially retired; he is in poor health, 
has heart disease. 

FREDERICK GLATHART, farmer; P. 0., 
Caledonia; was born Dec. 19, 1827, in Canton 
Baron, Switzerland, and is the second child 
of Christian and Ann (Gacht) Glathart, who 
emigrated to this State in 1829, locating in 
Starr Co., Ohio, where he purchased land. 
Frederick came to this county with his parents, 
when he was but 8 years of age; his father en- 
tered forty acres of land on Section 17, and 
for several years lived a pioneer life. At the 
age of 21, he began work for himself; worked 
two years by the month. In the spring of 
1852, he made a trip to California, going the 
the overland route, and spent two years near 
Marysville, on Feather River, at work on a 
farm, and one year in the mines. Upon his 
return in 1855, he purchased eighty acres, 
where he now lives, and has since been en- 
gaged in farming. April 11, 1861, he was 
married to Margaret Baird, who was born in 
this township, Oct. 30, 1842, and was a 
daughter of Peter and Nancy Bockoven, who 
were natives of New Jersey; they have had 
five children born to them, but three are liv- 
ing — Nancy Ann. born Jan. 18, 1866; Rebecca 
E., July 10, 1868; Gertrude, April 9, 1875. 
Notwithstanding his vuifavorable start, he now 
has 220 acres of good land. His father died 
in 1853; his mother, March 8, 1874. 



(s^ -r 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



T. C. GALLEHER, fanner; P.O., Marits; 
was born in Congress Tp., Dec. 20, 1847; is a 
son of William H. Galleher, a native of Vir- 
ginia, and came West in 1844, stopping in 
Knox Co. two years; he then came to Con- 
gress Tp., Morrow Co., where Thomas was 
born; he subsequently moved to Frankl n Tp,, 
and after a residence of thirteen years in that 
locality, moved to Canaan Tp., on the farm 
now owned by Charles Gillson; here William 
H. Galleher died, in May, 1871, in his 64th 
year; his wife survives him. At the age of 21 
Thomas was married to Ollie Scribner, who 
was born in Marion Co., in 1849, daughter of 
J. H. Scribner, whose wife was Rachel Rush; 
Mrs. Galleher died Oct. 27, 1869, in Marion 
Co., 111., where they were married; she left 
one child — Willie H. Returning to Ohio after 
the decease of his wife, he was married Sept. 
24, 1871, to Mary C. Watson, who was born 
in this township, and is a daughter of Joseph 
Watson; they have four children — Lillie G., 
Harrie H., Lulu May and Bessie. After this 
marriage they moved to Cardington Tp., lived 
one year, and returned to this township, where 
he has been content to remain; he is a mem- 
ber of the M. E. Church, his father having 
been associated with that body for many 
years in an official way, as class-leader, and 
was an exemplary Christian. Thomas was a 
member of Co. G, 136th O. N. G., being ad- 
mitted at the age of 16; he is also a member 
of the Grange. 

JESSE S. GIDDIS, farmer; P. O., Caledo- 
nia; was born in Summerset Co., N. J., Oct. 
9, 1832. His father was Thomas Giddis, of 
Scotch ancestry, and married Rebecca San- 
ders, Avho was of English extraction, and by 
her had eight children, Jesse being the eld- 
est. Thomas Giddis was a blacksmith by oc- 
cupation, in which Jesse assisted him during 
his minority. In 1853, he turned his steps 
westward, reaching Morrow Co., Canaan Tp., 
in September of the same year. Oct. 7, 1854, 
he was united in marriage to Maria Rice, who 
was born March 18, 1832, and a daughter of 
John and Isabella (Himrod) Rice. Mr. Gid- 
dis, upon arriving in this county, had $2.50 in 
money. After marriage he bought one-half in- 
terest in a saw mill (" on time") which not prov- 
ing a paying investment, sold it back to its 
original owner. He then rented a- house which 
stood upon the same place he now owns, and 



lived there one year, working out by the day. 
He then rented of Jacob Rice the place now 
owned by Israel Jackson, where he lived four 
year. Going from here over into Marion Co., 
on Sandusky Plains, he stayed one year; he 
then moved one mile east to the Roberts' farm, 
where he lived two years. He lost his crops 
of wheat and oats by fire, and buried two chil- 
dren, and was sick the greater portion of the 
time himself. From this place he moved 
north of Caledonia, residing there one year. 
While here he purchased a large quantity of 
stock which increased in valuation, giving him 
a handsome profit of over $2,000. He next 
moved north of Denmark, where John Adams 
now resides, purchasing eighty acres — remain- 
ing there but one year. In 1866, he came to 
to the place where he now resides. He now has 
forty acres in all. He has a family of interest- 
ing children — Mary E., John, Charles, Eva 
and Emma (twins). We find Mr. Giddis an 
affable and courteous gentleman. He is a 
member of Caledonia Lodge, No. 299, I. O. 
O. F. Is now serving as Justice of the Peace. 
GEORGE TYRON HARDING, physician; 
Caledonia. The genealogy of the Harding- 
family is interesting and extensive, tracing 
their ancestry to the year 1086, and their his- 
tory to the year 450. Rev. Abner Monroe, 
member of the New England Historical and 
Genealogical Society, has written the history 
of the Harding family, which was published 
by H. W. Dutton & Co. The Dr.'s family 
belong to the Orange Co., branch of the Hard- 
ings. Charles A. Harding, the father of Geo. 
Tyron, was born April 8, 1820, in Susquehan- 
na Co., Pa., and emigrated West with his 
father, George Tyron, who was a grandson of 
old Governor Tyron of Colonial times. George 
Tyron's mother was a member of the Tripp 
family noted in Indian history; 1822 seems to 
be the year of the arrival of the Harding fam- 
ily at Bloomfield Tp., where they entered land 
where Bloomfield now stands. Here they re- 
mained until their death, and were prominent- 
ly identified with the township. Charles A. 
died April 3, 1878; George T., January 9th, 
1860. Mary A. Crawford was the wife of 
Charles A. Harding and mother of the Dr. 
She was born in Beaver Co., Pa., in Aug. 
1826; daughter of Joshua Crawford, who was 
prominent in the history of the county for 
years. Early in life young Harding enter- 



's 



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>> 



728 



CANAAN TOWNSHIP. 



tained favorable ideas oiniateria medica. Re- 
ceived the advaiitai^es afforded by the com- 
mon schools, and attended college three years; 
after which he befjan the study of medicine, 
which he continued until the outbreak of the 
war, when he enlisted in Co. "I," 13Gth Regt,, 
and served the full term of his enlistment. 
Upon his return, ho taught school and assisted 
his father in farming, resuming his studies in 
18G5, pursued them until graduation; in 1871, 
he located in Caledonia, where he practiced 
two years, by the authority of the Central 
Ohio Honueopathic Medical Association, and 
receiving his final honors in 1873. May 7, 
18(i4, he was married to Phtiebe Dickerson, 
wIkj was born Dec. ^1, 1843, in North Bloom- 
field, daughter of Isaac and Charity (Vankirk) 
Dickerson. Isaac was born in Virginia, in 
1801, and emigrated West in 1833; his wife, 
Charity, was born Nov. 31, 1803, in Washing- 
ton, Pa.; he died 1867. His death was occa- 
sioned by injuries received by being thrown 
from his buggy; he was pi'ominently identi- 
fied with the township, and also the Church. 
After the Dr. was married, he located in 
Blooming Grove, making this his home until 
his location in Caledonia, in 1871. While 
there he carried on a drug store in connection 
with his practice; he has associated for some 
time with the Caledonia ^Lr</us, being mainly 
instrumental in its establishment; he is a mem- 
ber of the 1. O. O. F. Caledonia Lodge, No. 
299; Knights of Honor, No. 1013, and a char- 
ter member of " The Sons of Temperance," 
still in existence in Caledonia. He is also a 
member of the Baptist Church, which all the 
Hardings, as a family, have been identified 
with from time (almost) immemorial. April 
1880, he moved to his present residence, 
which is located in the north part of Canaan 
Tp., on the middle fork of the Whetstone, 
where he has a beautiful home, and is having 
an excellent practice. He is a liberal patron 
of tlie ])ublic journals, fourteen iti number, for 
sonu; of which he is a correspondent. His li- 
braiy is quite extensively stocked with choice 
literature. The children that have been born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Harding, are Warren G., Chat- 
tie M., Mary C, Priscilla A., Daisy and' Char- 
ley A. Priscilla and Charley A. died in 1878, 
but six hours apart, and were buried in one 
grave. 

ABNER HOLLINGS WORTH, farmer; 



P. O., Marits; was born in Center Co., Pa., 
June 9, 1809; is a son of Isaiah and Jane 
(Morrison) Hollingsworth. Abner was the 
sixth of a family of ten children; his father 
died in Pennsylvania, in the year 1829. There 
being no estate to divide among the heirs, 
each one of the children, through the force 
of circumstances, were left to do for them- 
selves. At the age of 21, Abner was married 
to Nancy Coleman, whose birth-place was 
Lycoming Co., Pa.; she was born in Feb. 
180G, and is a davighter of Hugh Coleman; 
after their marriage he worked four years as 
farm laborer, and then came to Richland Co., 
where he was engaged in tilling the soil; in 
1838, he came into this settlement, and pur- 
chased eighty acres, only five acres being 
cleared; but the timber soon disappeared be- 
fore his ax, and it was not long ere he had a 
good farm, and well improved, consisting of 
164 acres, which he has acquired himself, and 
has no one to thank for substantial favors, in 
the way of gifts or endowment. In 1873, 
while Mrs. Hollingsworth was on a visit to 
Iowa, she passed into the spirit land, leaving 
as living records behind her the following 
children — Samantha, Jane E., Mary E., Cole- 
man, George M., Hezron and Lafayette. In 
1874, he was married to Mrs. Amanda Bend- 
ing, whose maiden name was Wright; they 
have no children. 

GEORGE HURR, farmer; P. O., Caledo- 
nia; born Sept, 13, 1833, in Lycoming Co., 
Pa., and emigrated to this State with his pa- 
rents in 1843, to Crawford Co. His father's 
name was George and his mother's name was 
Christina Kerer, before marriage; '^ they emi- 
grated to Pennsylvania from Germany, where 
they lived until their advent to the 13uckeye 
State, making their stopping place in Whet- 
stone Tp., where they lived until their death; 
the father died about the year 1848, when 
George was 15 years old; from that time for- 
ward he remained with his mother until he 
was 20 years of age. At this time he set out 
to do for himself, and began work at #8 per 
month, and by the day at three shillings; he 
worked on for two years, saving in the mean- 
time some money, which enabled him to buy 
some necessaries to begin farming with; he 
and his brother farmed together for fifteen 
years; after that partnership ended, they 
bought eighty acres together; subsequently 



:rz 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



729 



George purchased twenty acres, they keeping 
the eighty acres about twenty-three years. In 
February, 1877, he sold his interest in that 
county, and located in the northern part of 
('anaan Tp., where he now has 140 acres, 
which he runs in true farmer style. Oct. 27, 
1859, during his 26th year, he was married to 
Eliza Diegle, born Nov. 6, 1837, in Mifflin Tp., 
Richland Co., daughter of George and Cath- 
arine (Duwe) Diegle, and natives of Ger- 
many; they have seven children — William F., 
born Aug. 23, 1860; John G., Jan. 8, 1862; 
Isaac N., Sept. 15,1863; Jacob W., July 3, 
1866; David A., Oct. 26, 1869; Sarah E., 
Aug. 15, 1873; Mary E., April 7,1879. He 
and his wife are members of the M. E. Church. 

JEFFERSON HARRIS, farmer; P. O., 
Marits; was born Oct. 1840; is a son of Joel 
and Sarah Harris. His father was a house- 
carpenter, and raised his boys to the same vo- 
cation, which Jefferson continued to follow, 
until he was 28 years of age, when he was 
married to Sarah Thew, who was born in 
Claridon Tp., Marion Co., and is a davighter 
of Wni. P. Thew, who is of English parentage. 
Subsequent to his marriage he located for a 
time in Marion Co., renting land of his father- 
in-law, continuing there until 1873, when he 
came to Canaan, and purchased 80 acres, now 
owned by Martin Brown. In the spring of 
1877 he moved to his present place of abode 
having seventy-five acres. They have two 
children, Fred, E. born in Apr. 1872; Ray- 
mond, born March 22, 1879. He is a member 
of the M. E. Church. 

WASHINGTON HARRIS, farmer; P. O., 
Marits; was born March 20, 1837, in Den- 
mark, and is the eldest son of Joel and Sarah 
(Merritt) Harris; his father, Joel, being one 
of the first occupants of the town, having en- 
tered the land upon which the town now 
stands; his father was a carpenter, and Wash- 
ington soon acquired the same trade, and fol- 
lowed this vocation until he attained his 29th 
year; in Nov., 1864 he was married to Mary 
E. Thew, born April 18, 1842, in Marion Co., 
daughter of William P. Thew, who was one 
of its early settlers and a soldier in the war of 
1812. Her mother's maiden name was Susan 
Davis, whose family was also identified with 
the early settlement of the county. Since 
Washington's marriage he has been engaged 
in fanning pursuits, having laid by the square 



and compass and taken up the plow instead, 
and seems quite at home as an agriculturist; he 
has an excellent farm of 120 acres, which he is 
farming quite successfully. They have three 
sons born them — Hollis,"born April 2, 1867; 
Harry C, born May 9, 1869; William H., 
born June 27, 1871. Mr. Harris has been for 
several years identified with the Church inter- 
ests, and though not an active member, is 
strongly in sympathy with its teachings, and 
is endeavoring to practice the principles 
taught in Holy Writ, as well as those inculca- 
ted in the organizations of I. O. O. F. Card- 
ington Lodge, No. 196, and the Royal Arca- 
num, of which order he is a member. Joel 
Harris was born Oct. 11, 1812, and was mar- 
ried to Sarah Merritt in 1835, in the house 
now occupied by Washington. 

ABRAM HARDMAN, farmer; P. 0., Mt. 
Gilead; was born in Harrison Co., Va., April 
25, 1825, and emigrated to this State with his 
parents when he was a lad of 8 years. His 
father, Daniel Hardman, was born Nov. 6, 1787, 
and his wife. May 29, one year later; both were 
natives of Virginia; in 1833, they settled in 
this township, where he purchased 80 acres on 
Section 33, which was then in a perfect state 
of nature; bridle-paths were then cut through 
the timber leading to Gilead, then a mere 
nothing as regards a town. Here his father 
built his cabin, which is yet standing in the 
yard, a relic of those times; he purchased his 
land from a second party, who had purchased 
the same from the Government; he paid f 110 
for the 80 acres. Here Daniel Hardman lived 
until death claimed him, Jan. 19, 1837; his 
wife survived him until 1876. Abram's father 
dying, he was reared by his mother. There 
were fourteen children in the family; he was 
tenth in order. March 7, 1849, he was mar- 
ried to Hannah Oliver, born in this county, 
Nov. 10, 1830, a daughter of William Oliver. 
She died May 24, 1856, having had three chil- • 
dren — Sarah Ann, now Mrs Wesley Myers, of 
Cardington; Hannah E., now Mrs. M. Geyer, 
of Paulding Co.; the third died in infancy. 
June 24, 1857, he was married the second 
time to Eliza J. Rogers, who was born in 
Aug. 1835, in Richland Co., daughter of Wm. 
H., and Mary M. (Curtis) Rogers. They have 
had seven children — Mary O., Martha J., 
John C, Ida, Lewis, Wm. H., one dying in 
infancy. He has 95 acres. He and wife are 






^ 



-30 



CANAAN TOWNSHIP. 



members of the M. E. Church; his mother 
was identified with that body for sixty years. 

T. T. IDEN, mercliant; Marits; is a sou of 
Jolin Iden, who is one of the prominent repre- 
sentative men in Congress Tp., and who was 
one of the early arrivals in that region of coun- 
try, and is yet living, and celebrated his golden 
wedding during the month of April, 1880, and 
bids fair to add another decade to his already 
advanced age. Theodore was born in Con- 
gress Tp.. on the home farm, .Jan. 3, 1846. 
His mother's name was Dorcas Furr, prior to 
her union with Mr. ]den. B(»th were natives 
of Virginia, and emigrated to this State about 
the year 1835. Theodore made his home with 
his parents until he was 28 years of age. 
During the year 1873, he was married to Mary 
E. Gardiner, who was born in Congress Tp., 
daughter of Harriet (Carr) Gardiner. They 
have one child — Roy, born April 1877. In 
the spring of 1873, he began in business at 
Denmark, selling goods, associating with him 
his brothers, M. M. and L. D. Iden, in the 
trade, under the firm name of Iden Bros. 
He began with a small stock of goods, and 
their business has increased to such an extent 
that it has necessitated an enlargement of their 
storage capacity and their trade has so in- 
creased that their stoclc is triple the first in- 
voice. Their stock consists of dry goods, gro- 
ceries, boots and shoes, hats, caps, glass and 
hardware, notions, etc., and at bottom prices. 
Their kind and obliginginanner, coupled with 
straightforward dealing, has justly merited the 
confidence of the community. 

WM. J. IRELAND, farmer; P. O., Mar- 
its; born in Monroe Township, Knox Co., in 
1830; the fourth child of a family of nine child- 
ren, born to William Ireland, who is now 93 
years of age, and was born in Washington 
Co., Pa., and emigrated to this State in 1810; 
and started for the seat of war, to join his 
brother Noble, but the war closed ere he 
reached his destination. He afterwards mar- 
ried Nancy Porter. The Noble family are 
from Maryland. When William arrived to 
maturity, his sole possessions were 135,00. 
He began working out by the day, and turn- 
ing his attention to anything at which he 
could make an honest dollar; he continued 
thus to labor and save, until now, when we find 
him in possession of an excell(;nt farm of 137 
acres, purchased in 1873, which is beautifully 



located. At the age of 25 he was married to 
Susan J. Ewers, wlio was born Aug. 11, 1828, 
a daughter of Anion and Nancy Ewers. Have 
seven children — Lockwood W., born Nov. 20, 
1855, Emily R., born May 3, 1858 (died March 
12, 18(J0); Jonathan M., born March 11, 1800; 
]5arton T. Feb. 28, 1862; Ridgely P., May 14, 
1864, Frank, Sept. 24, 1866, James E., Nov. 28, 
1868. 

EDWARD S. JACKSON, farmer; P. O., 
Caledonia; was born Feb. 23, 1849, in Canaan 
Tp.; he is the youngest of a family of ten 
children, who were born to Henry and Lydia 
(Long) Jackson. Henry Jackson is of Irish 
birth and parentage, born in Rockingham Co., 
Va., and came west in 1829. His wife, Lydia 
liOng, was born in Maryland, in 1806; after 
they came to this county they entered forty 
acres in Gilead Tp., and remained two years; 
they then sold out and entered eighty acres, 
on what is now the McKeene farm; they re- 
mained there two years, then traded ft)r forty 
acres, one and one-fourth miles north of Den- 
mark, and resided on the same about fifteen 
years. He departed this life March 17, 1869, 
on the place where Israel now lives; his wife 
two years previous, Jan. 6, 1867. Edward 
was married at the age of 25, to Hannah Rich- 
ardson, born in this township, in 1854, daugh- 
ter of John and Mary A. Richardson. Since 
his marriage he has resided on the Jackson 
homestead. 

HARRISON KINNAMON, farmer; P. O., 
Caledonia; was born Feb. 6, 1843, four miles 
north of Chillicothe, Ross Co. His father, 
George Kinnamon, was born Sept 16, 1809, 
in Maryland, and emigrated to this State 
when a lad, with the family, Avho came out in 
a one-horse cart, locating near Chillicothe; he 
moved to this county in 1857, locating about 
two miles north of Denmark, where he pur- 
chased 160 acres, remaining thereon until his 
death, which occurred July 3, 1879. His 
wife's name was Hannah Downs before mar- 
riage; she died in Ross Co. about the year 
1851. There were ten children in the famiK^, 
Harrison being the ninth; he was [raised to 
farming pursuits; during the late war he was 
out in the 43d Regt., O.' V. I., Co. " K," serv- 
ing eleven months, and re-enlisting in Co. A, 
136th O. N. G., again serving out his period of 
enlistment, he cast his lot with the 38th O. 
V. I., and served until the close of the war; 






:^ 



l^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



rsi 



upon his return he resumed farm labor. In 
1867, he was united in matrimony to Huhla 
A. Hipshire, born in Marion Co., in 184G, 
daughter of Adam and Samantha (Gleason) 
Hipshire. He, after marriage, rented land 
one season; the following year he purchased 
the farm he now owns, consisting of eighty 
acres; in 1878, his house took fire, and burned 
down, he having at the time two children sick 
with scarlet fever, who had to be transferred 
hastily during the fiery ordeal; they after- 
wards died — Ross ladred, Sept. 20, 1878; 
Anna F., Oct, 3, the same year, thirteen days 
later; they were born as follows: Anna F., 
Jan. 11, 1870; Ross I., April 14, 1876. But 
one child is now living — an infant — not 
named, born Sept. 20, 1879. In connection 
with his farming, Mr. Kinnamon is also en- 
gaged in stock-trading. He and his wife are 
members of the M. E. Church. 

GEORGE LEFEVER, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O., Mt. Gilead. This gentleman, 
whose portrait appears in this work, is a na- 
tive of Ohio Co., Va.; he was born there Jan. 
19, 1816, and is the sixth child of a family of 
sixteen children (ten boys and six girls), born 
to Isaac and Joanna (Wells) Lefever; these 
parents were born in Butler Co., Pa., in 1787, 
and in Virginia in 1789, respectively; they 
were married in the year 1803; he was of 
French, and she of English origin. Grand- 
father TiCfever was captured by the Indians in 
Kentucky, and sold to the British at Montreal; 
he refusing to take the oath, was incarcerated 
in prison, and finally with others succeeded in 
.escaping, by digging their way out. Grand- 
father Wells was a native of England, and 
came to America as an English soldier during 
the Revolution, and remained in the country 
thereafter. Isaac Lefever and family moved 
to Ohio in 1822; they stopped one year in 
Belmont Co., then moved to Knox Co., where 
they lived until 1829; they then came to 
Marvin Tp., Marion Co., Ohio, and entered 
eighty acres on the State road, three miles 
north of the present town of Mt. Gilead; at 
that time all was timber; they built a cabin of 
round logs, containing one room, a stick 
chimney, puncheon floor, and in every par- 
ticular a pioneer's home, in which they lived 
some six years, clearing the land, raising flax, 
and making their own clothing. The family 
milling was done at Mt. Vernon; they had a 



yoke of oxen, two horses and three or four 
cows, which they pastured in the woods — 
wintering the stock the first winter on the 
liiabs of trees. In 1835, they sold the place, 
and moved to Canaan Tp., where they bought 
170 acres of land, and settled on the same, 
where Mr. Isaac Lefever died, in 1864; his 
wife, Joanna, died in Illinois, in 1866, while 
on a visit to her children. Our subject lived 
at home about fourteen years, during which 
time he attended subscription school some 
three or four winters, and summers he worked 
on the farm. At the age of 14, he was hired 
out to work on the farm and drive team, work- 
ing principally at teaming, until he became of 
age, his wages ranging from $7 to $10 per 
month, going to his parents; on becoming of 
age, he purchased a team, and wagoned over 
the mountains for six years; he then traveled 
one season with Fog & Stickney's circus. In 
1842, he married Julia, daughter of Solomon 
and Sarah (Walker) Gellar; she died in Feb- 
ruary, 1851, leaving one child — William S., 
living in Rossville, 111. After his marriage he 
settled on a tract of eighty acres of land he 
had previously bought. Aug. 7, 1851, he mar- 
ried Miss Catharine, davighter of Abraham and 
Catharine (Bender) Moody; she was born -in 
Cumberland Co., Pa., Aug. 24, 1828; during 
her infancy her mother died, and she was 
taken into the family of John Fishburn, who 
raised and educated her — she following teach- 
ing; she came to this county on a visit to rela- 
tives, and taught one term, in 1851. After 
the marriage, they occupied the present place, 
and have lived here since, except two months' 
residence in Mississippi. By the marriage 
there have been nine children, seven of whom 
are living — Frank, Ross, M. B., Wilson G., 
Clark, Maggie, now Mrs. Shaw, of this vicin- 
ity, and Ellen G. Charles and Marion died in 
infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Lefever are both mem- 
bers of the M. E. Church— he for thirty-five 
and she for twenty-eight years — and have 
taken a leading part in all matters pertaining 
to the chi^rch. Throughout, his has been a 
life of earnest effort, surrounded by trials and 
hardships but few would have overcome; and 
such has been his success, that he has from a 
team and wagon at the beginning, acquired 
over 800 acres of land, well-improved, stocked, 
etc., part of which he has since given to his 
married children. 



TV* 



732 



CANAAN TOWNSHIP. 



JOHN UNDER, farmer; P. O., Marits; 
was born Dec. 14, 1826, in Muskingum Co., 
is a son of James and Catharine (Geyer) Lin- 
der; she is a native of Westmoreland Co., Pa., 
her husband was from Virginia. They came 
west, locating in Muskingum Co., and came 
to this county in 1833, and entered 280 acres 
of land in Canaan Tp., and cleared up the 
same, and lived on this 'purchase until 
his death, which took place October 8, 
1867; his wife followed him Feb. 8, 1869. 
John was but a lad of seven when his parents 
moved to this Co. After attaining his 32d 
year he began business operations on his own 
account. November 2d, 1854, at the age of 
28, he was joined in wedlock to Sarah Carnes, 
of Muskingum Co., a daughter of James 
Carnes, whose wife was Nancy Geyer. She 
died in Sept. 1870, leaving four children — 
Harvey N., Joseph M. and George E., twins, 
John being the youngest. He was married to 
his present wife in June, 1871, whose name 
was Frances Clutler, born in Franklin Tp., in 
1839, is a daughter of William Clutler; they 
have three children — Minnie, Albertine and 
Sarah E. Mr. Linder has IGO acres of land, 
and is among the township's best farmers. 
His father was formerly a member of the Dem- 
ocratic party, but afterward voted with the 
Republicans. John has never* deviated from 
the example laid down by his paternal ances- 
tor; he is a member of the M. E. Church. 

FRANK LEFEVER, farmer; P.O., Iberia; 
was born May 20, 1852, in this township, and 
is the eldest of a family of seven children, by 
the second marriage of George Lefever to 
Catharine Moudey; his youth and early man- 
hood were spent at home on the farm, assist- 
ing and attending to the multifarious duties 
that pertain to farm life, and being thus closely 
('inj)loye(l, his opportunities for an education 
were limited; yet he has had good business 
training, his father being a successful farmer. 
After attaining his majority, he began farming 
for himself, his father placing in his possession 
a farm of 104 acres, located in Washington 
Tp., which was unimproved; this he began 
clearing, and after two years of ownership, 
Oct. 22, was united in marriage to Mary Lyon, 
who was born in Sussex Co., N. J., Sept. 
28, 1855; she is a daughter of J. R. Lyon. 
After their marriage they located on his farm 
and lived one year, then disposing of it, came 



to his present farm, consisting of 200 acres, 
which was a ])art of the old Calmery farm, 
located in the northeastern ])art of the town- 
ship, which he is now operating; he has made 
considerable improvement upon the same, 
having cleared about thirty-five acres, and 
"underdrained" about 550 rods. Has had 
two children — Grace, born Oct. 8, 1875, died 
July 24, 1879; John Edwin, Oct. 25, 1878. 
Mr. Lefever and wife are members of the 
M. E. Church. 

JACOB R. LYON, farmer and stock-raiser; 
P . O., Iberia. Among the self-made men and 
and successful farmers in Canaan Tp., we find 
J. R. Lyon, who is located, in the extreme 
north east corner of the township. His place 
of birth, was Sussex Co., N. J., Nov. 17, 1828. 
His parents were, Holsey and Harriet (Rose) 
Lyon, who were both natives of New Jersey, 
and had twelve children born unto them, Ja- 
cob beinff the third. At the acre of sixteen 
he began for himself, and worked by the 
month until he was 23 years of age. Dec. 22, 
1851, he was married to Esther Johnson, who 
was born Sept. 3, 1828, in Sussex Co., N. J., 
daughter of Elias and Mary (Kimber) Johnson. 
For three years after marriage, he was en- 
gaged in farming in N. J. During the time 
he was engaged in working by the month, and 
while teaming across the mountains, noted the 
difference between products of the rough and 
mountainous part, and the valleys and rich 
bottom land, the difference being very percept- 
ible; attributing the contrast to the charac- 
ter of the soil more than the climate, he 
determined, in as much as he had decided up- 
on leading the life of a husbandman, to seek 
the country affording the best soil. Coming 
from New .Jersey, he "struck" for the Buck 
Eye State, and landed in Canaan Tp., and set- 
tled near Denmark, on Shaw's Creek, purchas- 
ing 80 acres; subsequently, he went north of 
Denmark, and located in August 1862; he vol- 
teered in Co " C " 96th, O. V. I., and served 
until the close of the war; upon his return from 
service, he lived three years on the eighty-acre 
tract on Shaw's Creek he then went north of 
Denmark where he purchased 160 acres, and 
remained on the same until 1872, when he sold 
his farm, and purchased the Dalrymple farm 
where he now resides. He has now 245 acres 
of choice land, most favorably located. Few 
men in the county have been more successful 



rv 



-^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



733 



than Mr. Lyon. Beginning a poor bov, he 
worked by the month, at low wages, and gave 
one-half of his earnings to his father, and 
saved every dollar he earned, and has at 
length become one of the staunch and affluent 
farmers in the locality, farming and stock- 
raising being his delight. Three girls have 
been born him, Mary, now Mrs. Frank La Fe- 
ver; Hattie, Mrs. John Maiden ; and Amy, born 
June 14, 18G1. The family are members of 
the Presbyterian Church. 

WILLIAM MoLAIN, farmer; I. O. Gilead 
Station; born Nov. 28, 1816, in Huntington 
Co., Penn., the seventh of a family of four- 
teen children, whose parents were William 
and Mary (Traxler) McLain. The former was 
born in Dec, 1780; the latter in 1790, the 
same month. The Traxlers are of German 
descent, and the McLains are from Maryland. 
William emigrated to this State with his pa- 
rents about the year 1846, locating in Bucy- 
rus Tp., Crawford Co., where they lived until 
1852, when William and his brother Eli came 
to Canaan Tp., and together purchased 260 
acres of land, which was only partially cleared. 
Here they began work, and the timber was 
speedily cleared to make way for the plow. 
Mr. McLain's father and mother died on this 
farm — his mother in Jan., 1864. His father 
was a man that gave his entire attention to 
his business, and was successful in his under- 
takings, and of robust constitution, temperate 
and upright in all his dealings; Republican in 
politics, but took no part in partisan strife. 
He died in Feb., 1866. In 1864, William, Jr., 
was married to Elizabeth Chilcoat, who was 
born Aug. 18, 1830, in Perry Co. Her moth- 
er's maiden name was Mary Robinson. The 
Chilcoats are natives of Pennsylvania; the 
Robinsons are of Irish descent. Since his 
marriage he has been located on the place 
where he now lives. They have no children, 
and he has sold off the greater portion of his 
land, reserving enough for a home. He has 
been a member of the M. E. Church for forty 
years and a liberal patron of good literature. 

JAMES MAKEEVER, retired; Caledonia; 
is another of the hardy pioneers of Canaan Tp.; 
he was born Dec. 8, 1809, in Green Co., Pa., 
son of Patrick and Isabel Makeever. Patrick 
was of Irish birth and parentage; he was a 
weaver by trade, and, being unfortunate in 
his business transactions, financial embarrass- 



ments compelled his children to depend upon 
themselves for maintenance. James, at a ten- 
der age, was bound out to a farmer, and, be- 
ing released at the age of 14, he hired out to 
work on a farm for two years, at 14.50 per 
month; at the age of 17 he came West with 
Ephraim Sayers, in a wagon; he returned 
afterward with a drove of hogs; soon after 
his return to Pennsylvania, he sent his 
mother and family out to this county; the 
expense was $60, which he borrowed, and 
remained behind to pay it; after working a 
few months, his leg was broken, by the 
kick of a horse, which rendered him help- 
less for some time; he borrowed means suffi- 
cient to bring him West to his mother, which 
added to his already incurred obligation; 
when able to work, he took a job of clearing 
ten acres of timber, at S2.50 per acre, and cut 
7,000 rails, at 374 cents per hundred, and fin- 
ished paying his indebtedness the following 
summer; for three years afterward he followed 
clearing timber by the job; about this time, 
his health becoming impaired, he had to 
change his vocation, and for seven years fol- 
lowed teaming. July 4, 1837, he was mar- 
ried to Hester Pittman, who was born Aug. 
10, 1815, in Monroe Co., Ohio, and who came 
to this county, with her parents, Jacob and 
Sophia Pittman, about the year 1831. Since 
his marriage he has been a constant resident 
upon the place he now owns. Nine children 
have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Ma- 
keever, but two of whom are living — Sanford, 
on the home farm, and Milton, living nearby; 
the others have gone to their final rest. Feb. 
26, 1879 his wife died, and was laid to rest; 
the spot is marked by a beautiful monument. 
He has been a consistent member of the M. 
E. Church for many years; in his business 
relations he has borne an honorable part, and 
has been successful in acquiring for himself 
an excellent home, and a competency for his 
declining years, besides donating to his chil- 
dren a lib; ral patrimony; he has been in 
former years associated with the Democratic 
party, but more recently, with the Republican. 
MILTON MAKEEVER, farmer; P.O. Cal- 
edonia; born Nov. 6, 1841, in this township; 
son of James and Hester (Pittman) Makeever. 
Milton left home a short time before he was 
of age; went to Jasper Co., Indiana, remain- 
ing four years. June 14, 1868, he was mar- 



-7- 



;fv* 




ried to Elizabeth Griiber, who was born Aug. 
11, 1843, in Marion Co., daughter of Abram 
and Francis E. (Bell) Gruber. She was born 
Dec. 18, 1821, in Maryland. Abrani, her hus- 
band, was born July 19, 1819, in Jeflerson Co. 
He died Dec. 24, 1807. The Grubers are of 
German descent, and the Bells are of the So- 
ciety of Friends, or Quakers. Mr. and Mrs. 
Makeever lived two years on the Makeever 
farm after their marriage. They then went to 
Marion Co., and lived three years, and in 1873, 
came to the place he now owns, consisting of 
120 acres; has four children — George E., born 
Dec. 19, 18G9; Louie B., July 5, 1873; James, 
Nov. 5, 1875; Alma Pearl, Dec. 4, 1879. Mrs. 
Makeever is a meml)er of the M. E. Church. 

ZEN AS L. MILLS, farmer; P. O., Marits; 
born on the farm where he now lives; March 
9th, 1845, situated one mile north of Denmark, 
being the third of a family of eight children, 
but six of whom are living, who were born to 
Hallett and Emily (Merritt) Mills. He was 
born in New York State Feb. 6, 1810, and was 
married Dec. 5th, 1839, to Miss Merritt, who 
was born Nov. 26, 1818. Hallett was young 
when he came West. The first purchase he 
made was eighty acres, at $5.00 per acre; this 
he settled on, and cleared, and remained un- 
til his death, which took place March 4, 18G4, 
Zenas Mills' grandfather's name was Thomas; 
he was born in Virginia, March 10, 1789, and 
was married Nov. 10, 1813, to Maria (Hall) 
Merritt, who was born Feb, G, 1796; Matthew 
Merritt was the great grandfather of Zenas, 
and was born June 11, 1758, whose wife was 
Sarah .lamason, who was born April 15, 1756, 
and was married to Matthew Merritt October 
1st, 1777. Of the children l)orn unto Thomas 
Merritt, (the grandfather of Zenas) were — 
Nancy, born Sept. 10, 1814; Sarah, born Jan. 
14, 1817; Emily, born Nov. 26, 1818; Martha, 
born Feb. 18, 1821; Matilda, born Nov. 23, 
1822; Zenas, born Nov. 11, 1824; Mary, born 
May 31, 1827; Maria, born Jan. 8, 1835; 
Zenas has been living on the homestead since 
the death of his father. Zenas was out during 
the late war, and served nine months in Co. 
" B," 5th Ohio Cavalry; Sept. 21, 18G5, he was 
married to Rachel McClenathan, who was born 
in Tuscarawas Co. She is a daughter of Blair 
and Mary A. (Dalrymple), McClenathan; they 
have two children — Mary E. and Maria J. 
He and wife are members of Protestant Meth- 



odist Church. He is also a member of the 
L O. O. F. Caledonia Lodge No. 299. 

JACOB MARTIN, farmer; P. O., Caledonia; 
born in Baden, Germany, July, 27, 1827, is a 
son of Christian and Margaret (Keller) Martin, 
who emigrated to this country when Jacob was 
three years of age, and located in Columbiana 
Co., where they lived about eleven years, and 
moved to Marion Co., where his father died 
after a residence of two years. There were 
eighty aci'es of land in the farm which he and 
his mother carried on ; he remained with her 
until he attained his 21st year. He then be- 
gan for himself, farming being the business to 
which he seemed best adapted; having no 
land of his own, he rented land, and bought 
and sold horses, being quite successful in this 
line. At the age of 26, he was married to 
Elizabeth Bassler, born in Germany May 9th, 
1833; her father was Christian Bassler; her 
mother's family name was Henrietta Vallmer. 
After Mr. Martin's marriage,they lived eleven 
years on the homestead farm. About the year 
1864, he moved to the farm he now owns, con- 
sisting of eighty acres, upon which he has 
made a good deal of improvements, having 
built a good house, with excellent cellar, and 
has his farm in good condition. The children 
now living are: Gilbert, born March 15, 1855; 
Sarah E., Jan. 16, 1861; Anna H., Aug. 14, 
1867; Katie J., July, 1871; George Washing- 
ton, a Centennial lad, born July 4, 1876. Three 
children are deceased; Frederic, Margaret and 
Willie, Mr. Martin and wife are members of 
the Evangelical Church. Mr. Martin has been a 
very hard working man, and his health is now 
verv much impaired. 

THOMAS D. MORTON, farmer; P. O., 
Caledonia; was born in Knox Co., Feb. 14, 
1838, and is a son of Thomas and Mary (Dil- 
lon) Morton, who were natives of Pennsylva- 
nia, and emigrated to Knox Co., at an early 
day. Thomas Morton is a descendant of the 
Morton whose signature appears on the Dec- 
laration of Independence. Thomas D. was 
left an orphan at an early age, having to 
maintain himself and press his way through 
the world, without the advantages of paternal 
counsel. At the time of his majority he had 
saved $130, which, with some means which 
were left to him from the estate, he invested in 
western land. Upon his arrival in this county he 
worked one season on Shaw Creek. After 



•<. K 



'k* 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



735 



farming three years on shares, he ran a produce 
wagon seven years; in 18G5, he moved to the 
place where he now lives, purchasing 50 acres; 
but fifteen acres were cleared; he has since 
added to the same, until he has 140 acres, 
115 of which is now improved. Nov. 15, 
1860, he was married to Mary J. Fluckey, who 
was born Feb. 11, 1838, in Cardington Tp., a 
daughter of Adam and Mary (Sellers) Fluckey, 
he being one of the early settlers in the county; 
his father's name was George Fluckey, who 
died in 1847, being 95 years of age, of Ger- 
man birth, and was a soldier in the Revolu- 
tionary war; he was a tailor by trade, and 
made a suit of clothes for General Washing- 
ton; the shears used upon that occasion are 
now in the possession of Mrs. Morton. Eight 
children have been born unto Mr. and Mrs. 
Morton, six are living — William C, born 
Nov. 15, 18G1; Adam A., Oct. 30, 1863; James, 
June 27, 1866; Mary M., Jan. 15, 1870; Joe 
Tom, Aug. 23, 1873; Sarah R., Jan. 3, 1880. 
Mr. Morton is a lover of good stock, keeps the 
French stock of horses, and the Poland China 
stock of hogs, which he breeds for the market. 
Since 1873, Mr. Morton has had to use crutches 
being disabled by an accident. 

ALLEN OLIVER, farmer; P. O., Gilead 
Station; is a native of Licking Co.; born Sept. 
6, 1822. His parents came to this county in 
the year following, 1823. His father, William 
Oliver, was born in Harrison Co., Va., July 2, 
1795. He was the son of Samuel Oliver, and 
emigrated West in 1820, to Licking Co. His 
worldly effects were few. In 1834, he bought 
eighty acres in Gilead Tp. He subsequently 
moved to Shaw's Oeek, where he bought 160 
acres. He next bought 320 acres in the north- 
east corner of the township, remaining on this 
tract until removed by death, Nov. 3, 1877, 
having l)een in his time one of the substantial 
men of the county. Allen was married in his 
22d year, March 2, 1844, to Lucy O. Marre- 
sur, born in March, 1821, in Steuben Co., N. 
Y., the daughter of John Marresur, who was 
born July 13, 1789, in New Hampshire, and 
whose wife was Lucy Bryant, born in Rutland 
Co., Vt., July 1, 1795. They were married in 
Vermont, and lived sixteen years in New York, 
coming West in 1836, and settled in what is 
now Gilead Tp. He died Aug. 26, 1846. His 
wife, the mother of Mrs. O., subsequently 
married Mr. Oliver's father, and lived together 



about twenty years. He died Nov. 3, 1877; 
she, April 2, 1872. After Allen's marriage he 
located where he now resides. They have had 
seven children — Lucy E., John N., Martha 
O., Elma A., are all that are living. Mr. Oli- 
ver had 270 acres of land, but has since di- 
vided out some among his children. 

JOHN N. OLIVER, farmer; P. O., Gilead 
Station; is among the enterprising young men 
of the township, and bids fair to become one 
of the most successful agriculturists in the 
county; he was born Nov. 23, 1848 in this 
township; is the third of a family of seven 
children, born to Allen and Lucy O. Oliver; 
John remained with his parents until he at- 
tained his 26th year, at which time he was 
united in wedlock to Libbie Jewell, which 
event was solemnized Nov. 15, 1874. She is 
a native of Licking Co., born Oct. 24, 
1851, the daughter of Joseph and Anna 
Jewell, the former a native of Pennsylvania; 
the latter from Licking Co. He purchased 
100 acres of good land, well improved, upon 
which they have made their home. They 
have two children — Monna Bell, born Jxdy 27, 
1876; Minnie Myrtle, Sept. 11, 1879. Mr. 
and Mrs. Oliver are members of the M. E. 
Church. 

JOSEPH PATTEN, farmer and stock rais- 
er; P. O., Mt. Gilead; born in Pa., March 3, 
1820, son of Thomas Patten, who was born in 
Ireland, 1787, and emigrated to this county 
in 1826, and worked one summer at Chester- 
ville, and one season on the canal, and saved 
some means with which he returned to Pa., 
and brought his family in 1828, and entered 
169 acres of land on Sec. 11, where he re- 
mained until his death, which took place in 
1863. The family came from Pennsylvania 
to New York by water, and the Erie Canal to 
Buffalo, and thence by lake to Sandusky; from 
there to Mansfield by wagon, and by the aid 
of one McClaredon, found the land he had en- 
tered, blazing their way as they went; the 
usual log cabin was soon erected, which was 
of small dimensions and very slenderly fur- 
nished; here the family lived for years in the 
dense woods. His father was very poor, and 
had entered his land, which took what means 
he had, and was for some time without a team; 
he was a man who would never go in debt; he 
worked until he obtained means to purchase 
two cows, and from these he raised two steer 



^; 



•y 



7:^6 



CANAAN TOWNSHIP, 



calves, and when tliey matured, he liad a team 
wliich enabled liim to do the work of the 
farm more satisfactorily. Joseph and his sis- 
ters used to carry the rails used for making 
fences upon their backs, and doing all such 
drudgery themselves; and when the steers 
were initiated, the children were relieved of 
those laborious duties. Joseph's mother's 
name before marriage was Elizabeth Porter, 
who was born in Chester Co., Pa., in 1797, 
and was a hardy matron of that early time; 
she once killed a deer with an axe near her 
own cabin. Joseph and his sisters once ran a 
very narrow escape from being devoured by 
wolves, and upon another occasion he and his 
father were forced to take refuge in a tree to 
escape being torn in pieces by a drove of wild 
hogs. Joseph was married at the age of 26, 
to Sarah E. Coe, born on the Russel farm, in 
Gilead Tp., Jan. 25. 1825; her mother's maid- 
en name was Ruth Nichold, a native of Vir- 
ginia. After Mr. Patten married, he followed 
blacksmithing in Gilead Tp. for fourteen 
years; he then went to farming in Washing- 
ton Tp; he began renting, and made his first 
land purchase in Gilead Tp., and after making 
several changes, he purchased in Canaan Tp., 
and has since added to the same until he now 
has 400 acres of land. Seven children are the 
result of his marriage — Ruth E., Cornelia, 
-Martha, Mary, Randolph, Alden and Charles. 
He and wife are members of the M. E. Church. 
He has always been identified with Democ- 
racy. 

J. C POLAND, teacher; Marits; is among 
the successful educators in this county, and 
was born Feb. 23, 1837, in Knox Co., this 
State; is a son of Samuel and Mary (Truax) 
Poland, both natives of Virginia, and emigrat- 
ed West about fifty years ago, and settled in 
Congress Tp. Samuel Poland was the first 
Recorder of Morrow Co. J. C. was the fifth 
child, and was raised on a farm until ] 1 years 
of age, when his parents moved to Mt. Gih^ad, 
where he was afforded good school facilities, 
which he improved until 19 years of age, 
when he went to Iowa, and Vjegan teaching, 
which he continued until the outbreak of the 
war, when he enlisted, Oct. 5, 18G1, in the 
regular army, 19th United States Infantry, 
and served as band musician and clerk in the 
Adjutant's office until July 1871, and was 
discharged at New Orleans, La. Upon his 



return home he resumed teaching, at which he 
has been engaged Tip to the present time, and 
is one of the most efficient in the county. For 
the last eight years he has been teaching in 
Denmark, and served as Township Clerk five 
consecutive years, which office he yet holds 
with credit to himself, and with satisfaction to 
the people. He is married and has a family 
growing up about him. 

JOriN PITMAN, farmer; P. O., Caledo- 
nia; born in Monroe Co., Ohio, March 17, 
1823; he was a son of John, whose father's 
name was William. John Pitman, the father 
of our subject, came to this county with his 
father about the year 1839, and remained un- 
til his death; John, Jr., remained with his 
father until some time after he was of age; 
his father having a large farm, his services 
were required at home; by going on bail for 
his friends, he lost all his land, consisting of 
400 acres, and had to start anew. After this 
financial reverse, John accompanied his father 
to Delaware Co., and rented land, until 1850; 
he then came to this township, locating in the 
northeast part of the same, where he purchas- 
ed 160 acres of land, and lived on it until his 
father's death, which occurred in 1873; his 
wife preceded him two years. At the age of 
35 .John was married to Lydia Rice, who was 
born in this township, in July, 1840; she is a 
daughter of Jacob Rice, one of the old pio- 
neers of the county. After the marriage of Mr. 
Pitman, he settled on Section 7, and lived there 
until 1875; he then moved across into Section 
6, which has since been his permanent home. 
He has 138 acres of land, which is under good 
culture, and well-improved. They have six 
children living — Oilendo, Franklin, James, 
Mary L., Alice and Ada. 

JOHN F. PFEIFER, farmer; P. O., Card- 
ington;was born in Wirtemberg, Germany, 
July 9, 1818, the son ot Adam F., who was 
born Aug. 14, 1788, and was married to Ger- 
trude Christiana Gcckle, who w-as born Oct. 
29, 1796; they were married Sept. 18, 1816; 
he emigrated to America in 1827, locating 
in Marion Co.; the same year he voted 
for Gen. Jackson. He obtained 75 acres of 
land in payment for services rendered in 
throwing up a certain amount of mud pike. 
Adam Pfeifer was one of Napoleon's soldiers 
— an artilleryman — his sword he brought 
with him to this country, which, after being 



J^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



737 



cut off and sharpened, was used effectively 
for cutting down youna^ saplings, and small 
timber. His father settled in the woods, hav- 
ing to trace their way to their cabin by 
"blazed" trees; their bread was prepared by 
pounding corn with a wedge, and it was sifted 
through a small pan that had been perforated 
with a nail, and this fried with the fat of a 
ground hog, which were very plenty then, 
and which for some time, was their principal 
diet; those days Mr. Pfeifer " was his own 
miller," and ground his corn to suit the taste. 
At the age of 25, he was married to Christina 
Mack, who was born Aug. 20, 182G, in Ger- 
many, and emigrated to this State in 1840. 
Three children were born to them — Mary, 
Catharine and William Frederic; but one is 
living — William; the first died of scar- 
let fever. Mr. Pfeifer came to this township 
in 1852, and now has nearly 300 acres of land. 
William F. was born April 8, 1847, and was 
married April 10, 187i), to Caroline Fisher, 
born in Marion Co., April 11, 1847, the daugh- 
ter of August and Christina Clowner, both of 
Wirtemberg. They have one child — Mary 
C, born Jan, 26, 1880. William resides on 
the homestead. 

MRS. MARY A. RICHARDSON, farm- 
er; P. O., Calecionia; was born in Richland 
Co., Ohio, March 12, 1822, a daughter of 
Samuel and Margaret (Poynar) Foster, who 
were natives of County Down, Ireland, and 
emigrated to this State about the year 1818, 
landing in Richland Co. They were very 
poor; there was no house for their occupancy 
upon their arrival, so they spent their first 
winter in an old still-house, where Jane Fos- 
ter, now Mrs. Bowron, of Dauphin, Kansas, 
was born. For several years the family had 
a hard time; he was inexperienced in Ameri- 
can ways and customs; he was a weaver by 
trade. The first kettle they purchased upon 
their arrival was from the sale of one of his 
shirts; he worked out at ditching, having 
many times gone many miles from home to 
obtain work, his life endangered by Indians 
and wild beasts, his faithful wife remaining 
at home laboring to maintain the family, buy- 
ing her first cow of J. B. Cook, by spinning 
flax, at which she was an expert, and for some 
purposes would spin the threads so finely that 
she could draw twenty-four " cut " through 
her finger ring. After some time, Mr. Foster 



saved sufficient means to enable him to enter 
some land, which he located in Washington 
Tp., where Armstrong's mill now stands; 
here he put up a grist-mill, and afterwards 
traded land wath one Jefferies, and moved to 
what is now Iberia, and entered the land 
where Iberia College now stands, and erected 
a mill north of the town. Some years later 
he moved south into Delaware Co., where he 
built and ran a mill near Stratford for several 
years, and finally moved to Holt Co., Mo., 
where he built and ran a mill for several 
years, and remained until his death, which 
was accidental; also, that of his wife. His 
property, personal and real estate, being 
assessed at 140.000, besides money and notes. 
Mrs. Richardson was married to James 
Brownlee in 1839, who was born in 1815, in 
Washington Co., Pa. After their marriage 
they lived several years on the farm now 
owned by John Campbell; they then came to 
the place upon which she now resides,where Mr. 
Brownlee died in 1845. She was afterwards 
married to John Richardson, who was born in 
England, but raised in Scotland, by whom she 
had ten children, six sons and four daughters — 
Jennett, now Mrs. William Irvin; Elizabeth, 
now Mrs. Andy Jackson; Mary, now Mrs. 
John Richardson; Hannah, now Mrs. Ed. 
Jackson; John L,, Walter, James, Samuel, 
William and Robert. She has one child by 
her second marriage. Mrs. Richardson has a 
farm of 180 acres, and has been a member of 
the United Presbyterian Church since 18 
years of age. 

THOMAS D. RIDDLE, farmer and teacher; 
P. O., Iberia; born in Hamilton Co., Canada, 
July 5, 1840; is a son of John and Nancy 
(McNeil) Riddle, who were natives of Ireland, 
emigrating to this country, and landed in New 
York, and purposed coming directly west, but 
in consequence of the outbreak of the cholera, 
they abandoned the idea, louring the war, 
Thomas enlisted in the 22nd N. Y. Cavalry, and 
served until the close, being engaged in sev- 
eral hotly contested battles. After the close 
of the war in 1805, he came west and engaged 
in farming. In 1875, he was married to M.J. 
McNeil, who was born May, 1838, ift Wash- 
ington Tp. — daughter of Allen and Agnes 
(Struthers) McNeil, both natives of Washing- 
ton Co., Pa. Allen emigrated West in the 
year 1827. Agnes S. came shortly afterwards, 



■^' 



-»< — ►- 



liL 



738 



CANAAN TOWNSHIP. 



and was married to Mr. McNeil in 1S;}7. Af- 
ter inarriatje they located on the land his 
(Allen's) father had entered. Mrs. Riddle's 
father was for several years eniratretl in nier- 
chandizinir, and subsequently moved to the 
place his father settled, which was in Marion 
Co., near the Morrow Co. line. His wife died 
in 1S41. Since the marriao^e of Mr. and .Mrs. 
Riddle, they have resided on the farm they 
now own. For several years past Mr. Riddle 
has heen engaged in teaching, being recog- 
nized as an efficient teacher. He has been 
serving the ])resent year as Township Assessor. 
They have two children — Eddie, born Feb. 
27, 1876; Mary, born Feb. 10, 1S80. Mr. Rid- 
dle and wife are members of the U. P. Church. 
Her father has for many years past been a 
member of that body, and is one of the pillars 
of the church, having served as Elder in the 
same for many years. He is now a resident 
of Washington Tp. 

GEORGE RICE, farmer; P. O., Caledonia. 
Jacob Rice, the father of George, figures very 
conspicuously in the history of this township, 
being one of the first settlers, and to give the 
history of Canaan Township without relating 
the experience of Jacob Rice, would be simi- 
lar to seeing the play of Handet with the 
Prince of Denmark left out. John was born 
Aug. 27, 1826, on the east ^ of S. E. i of 
Section 7, in Canaan Tp. There were thir- 
teen children, of which number, John ranked 
midway, being the seventh in order. At the 
usual age, John embarked for himself, and 
like many others of his time, had nothing but 
his hands to help him. At the age of 23, he 
was swept westward by the tidal wave of '49, 
remaining in the mines at Nevada about two 
years. Soon after his return home he married 
Elizabeth Ann Geyer, who was born in Mus- 
kingum Co., Ohio, in 1833, being the eldest 
daughter of Jacol) and Ruth Geyer, who wt-re 
among the staunch families in the township, 
and were located on Section 9. Since 1870, 
her father's remains have reposed in Canaan 
Cemetery; his wife yet survives him. Since 
the marriage of our subject, he has resided on 
the farm he now owns; he first lived several 
years in a cabin southwest of his present resi- 
dence. Five children are the fruits of their 
union — Zeralda, now Mrs. J. C/ampbell; James 
B., Arminda J., now Mrs. G. W. Vallentine; 
George M. and Anna. His first purchase of 



land was KiO acres for ^13.00 per acre, upon 
his return from California; he has now 302 
acres, and made the greater j)art of the im- 
provements. Is not a member of any church 
or order; is a Universalist in principle. 

ELIJAH S. SHERMAN, farmer, P. O., Car- 
dington; is a son of Adam Sherman, who was 
born in Old Virginia, .Jan 17, 1804, whose wife 
was Mersilda Deeter, born in Pennsylvania, 
April, 1822; were married, and emigrated 
West about the year 1840, and entered land in 
Marion Co. and settled on the same, remain- 
ing until his death; he was a min of kind 
and generous impulses, and a mend^er of the 
Church of Christ, or what is more commonly 
known as the " Discij)ie Church." Elijah 
began doing business for himself at the age 
of 22 years; later he was married to Lydia 
Jackson, who was born in this county in No- 
vember 1857, a daughter of Israel Jackson; her 
mother's name prior to her marriage was Eliz- 
abeth Rice. Their marriage was duly solem- 
nized March 11, 1875; since his marriage he 
has been located on the farm he now owns, con- 
sisting of 105 acres, and has two children, 
Amanda M., born May, 187G; Franklin E., 
Dec. 12, 1879. 

MRS. MARY P. SHAW, retired; P. O., 
Marits; was born P^eb. 19, 1830, in Litchfield 
Co., Conn.; is daughter of Joel Todd, whose 
wife before marriage was Austria Griggs; the 
Griggs are of Scotch descent; the original 
family came to this country about the time of 
the Revolution. Mrs. Shaw's great grand- 
father was present at the taking of Burgoyne, 
as was also her great uncle. The Todds are 
of English descent. Mrs. SliJ^w came to this 
State in Oct., 183G, while in her sixth year, 
the family locating in Medina Co., where 
they lived several years. Her mother died 
in 1847; her father in 1851 ; he was a man of 
excellent business qualifications and marked 
intelligence; had a superior education for a 
man of his time. He held the office of County 
Surveyor for twelve years in Connecticut, and 
was the first mayor in Gabon, serving in that 
capacity for three terms. Mrs. Shaw was mar- 
ried in 1850 to John L. Shaw, and by him had 
seven children; five are living — .Joel T., Mer- 
ritt W., Ella M., J. Legrand and Carrie F. 
Merritt W. was born in Denmark, Nov. 11, 
1852; he was raised on the farm. He had 
good educational advantages afforded him, as 



J^f 



:K 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



739 



well as those of travel. He attended school 
ttt Gilead and at Oberlin; in his 23d year was 
married to Maggie Lefever, who was born in 
March, 1859, in this township. She was a 
daughter of George I^efever, who was identi- 
fied with this county at an early time; he was 
among the county's first assessors. Her moth- 
er's name was Catherine Moody, of Pennsylva- 
nia. After Me rritt married he spent one sum- 
mer in Mississippi; upon his return he em- 
barked for a time in the mercantile business 
at Denmark, since when he has been engaged 
in farming. He and his wife are members of 
the M. E. Church. He is a member of Caledo- 
nia Lodge of I. O. O. F., No. 299. Have one 
child, born Sept. 22, 1876. Mrs. Shaw now re- 
sides in Denmark, and has been a resident of 
this township over thirty years. She is a 
member of the M. E. Church, but was raised 
an Episcopalian. 

M. P. SAYERS, farmer; P. O., Marits; 
was born June 24, 1836, on the same farm he 
now owns. His father, Reul Sayers, was a 
son of Josiah Sayers. Martin's mother's fam- 
ily name was Ruth Martin; she was born in 
Green Co., Penn., about the year 1805, and 
was married to Reul Sayers, June 1831, who 
was born in Pennsylvania. They emigrated to 
this State, locating in Canaan Tp., where he 
settled and remained until his death, which oc- 
curred August 12, 1847; his faithful wife sur- 
vived him several years. Martin P. is the 
third of a family of six children, three of the 
number are now living — Ezra now in Henry 
Co., Martin P. and Cinderilla, now Mrs. Sam- 
uel Adams of Marion Co. Martin has been 
twice married — first time, April 10, 1856, 
to Hattie Johnson, born March 8, 1837, in 
Guernsey Co., who was a daughter of William 
Johnson. After his marriage he moved to 
Noble Co., where he lived when his wife 
died in October, 1861; January 7, 1863, he 
was married in Noble Co. to Martha Hatha- 
way, born Aug. 15, 1836, in Green Co., Pa., 
and emigrated to Monroe Co. with her par- 
ents; her father's name was Elijah Hathaway, 
born Aug. 18, 1804, and married the mother of 
Mrs. Sayers, whose maiden name was Elizabeth 
Smith, born January 25, 1803, all of Pennsylva- 
nia. They are of English descent. After Mr. 
Sayers' marriage they lived six years in Noble 
Co., and in 1869 came to Canaan Tp. and lo- 
cated on the homestead farm, and has since 



lived there; he has had six children, five liv- 
ing — Eliza E., born Nov. 7, 1863; Roscte 
Dec. 23, '65; Hattie E., Sept. 8, 1868; Lydia, 
Aug. 30, 1871 (died Apr. 9, 1875); Samuel, 
born Sept. 14, 1873; Delbert B., March 19, 
1876. He has 120 acres of good farming 
land, and handles high grade of sheep and 
cattle; he and his wife are identified with the 
M. E. Church. 

S. B. SHAW, farmer; P. O. Marits. The 
Shaw family are prominently identified with 
the pioneer history of this county; John L. 
Shaw, the father of Sylvester, was horn in 
what is now Westfield Tp., June 6, 1809, and 
is supposed to be the first child born in the 
county; he is yet living, after a residence of 
sixty-six years in the county; having been a 
successful business man, he moved to Green 
Co., Pa., where he now resides. Sylvester B. 
was born in this township, June 20, 1837, be- 
ing the third of a family of five children. His 
mother's name was Eliza Marits. His father 
was twice married, she being the first wife. 
Feb. 17, 1863, Mc Shaw was married to Car- 
oline M. Masters, born Nov. 20, 1846, in the 
town of Gilead, who is a daughter of Jona- 
than and Ruth (Ewers) Masters, with the ex- 
ception of two years, which he lived on the 
edge of Marion Co.; after his marriage he has 
been a constant resident of this township. 
They have had four children; three are living 
— Etta, born Dec. 1, 1864; Jonathan M., May 
17, 1867, and Frank B., June 17, 1870, died, 
April 9, 1871; Lewis W., born April 12, 1873. 
Mr. Shaw has 160 acres of land, and one of the 
best houses in the township; his farm and out- 
buildings will compare with any in the coun- 
ty, when his present plans are carried out. 
The Shaw family, politically, are known only 
as identified with the Republican party; Mr. 
Shaw has been identified with the temper- 
ance cause, and is a valiant defender of the 
same, and is a member of the Prohibition 
party. 

SAMUEL STRAWMAN, farmer; P. O., 
Caledonia; was born Dec. 26, 1836, on the 
Kinneman farm, but a short distance from his 
present residence, being the youngest of a 
family of nine children, born unto Jacob and 
Christina (Ruching) Strawman, who were na- 
tives of Europe. Jacob was born in Switzer- 
land, and emigrated to this State in 1821, lo- 
cating in this township, and entering 160 acres 






y- 



740 



CANAAN TOWNSHIP. 



of land on Section 5, and cleared up the same; 
besides experiencing all the disadvantages 
that usually attend the settlement of a new 
country, he was a foreigner, and unacquointed 
with our language, or even the use of an axe; 
for several years he was too poor to purchase 
a wagon, yet finally overcame many of the 
obstacles and acquired a good home, and was 
among the township's most valued citiz(Mis. 
lie is yet living; was born March 10, ISOO. 
His wife died in 1872. Samuel, being the 
youngest of the family, remained at home; at 
the age of 25 he was married to Sarah J. 
Campbell, born April 20, IS-t'J, in this town- 
ship; she is a daughter of John and I^ucinda 
(Doans) Campbell. Since their union they 
have resided on their farm of 122 acres. 
Four children have blessed this union, 
three living, whose names are, respectively — 
Edson E., born Jan. 31, 1864; Dora Bell, July 
20, 1860; George L., Sept. 14, 1870. Mr. 
and Mrs. Strawman, as well as two of the 
older childrtiii, are members of the M. E. 
Church — Jacob Strawman of the Evangelical 
iiiSSOOi fit-ion 

ALF.IED M. SMITH, farmer, P. ()., Cale- 
donia, is a nativ(i of Washington Tp., and 
was born Oct. 1), 1850; son of William J. 
Smith, who was born July 30, 1828, in lloss 
Co., Ohio, and came to this county with his 
father, Jefferson Smith, in 1835, locating on 
Sec. 3, where he had entered forty acres of 
land, adding to it afterwards until he had 
10+ acres. Here William remained until 
1872, since which time he has been a resident 
of Gilead. Alfred stayed at home until his 
25th year, and was then married to Sabina J. 
Dounce, who was born March 22, 1853, in 
Claridon, Marion C/O., daughter of James and 
Ann (Lawrence) Dounce, who were natives 
of England. Since Mr. Smith's marriage, he 
has been located on the homestead farni, 
which he now f)wns, and has had two children, 
—Elsie Ray, born July 20, 1877, and Hugh 
James, Oct. 7, 1879. May 10, 1880, death in- 
vaded Mr. Smith's home, and bore oft' the 
baby, Hugh. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are m 'm- 
bers of the M. E. Church; Mr. Smith is a lib- 
eral patron of the public journals, and is 
among the representative young men of this 
countv. 

W." L. G. TABOR, farmer; P. O., Gilead. 
William Lloyd Garrison, of historical fame, has 



a representative in the ])<M"son of our subject. 
He was born in Gilead Tp., July 10, 184!», on 
the homestead farm now occupied by his pa- 
ternal ancestor, William Tabor, who is a mem- 
ber of that highly esteemed class of people, 
the "Friends;" he was born in Addison 
CyO., Vt., July 2, 1819, and emigrated to this 
county with his father, Thomas Tabor, when 
about 17 years of age, and located land on 
the same section where William Tabor now 
resides. William L. G. is the second of a 
family of four children; Init two are living. 
His educatiimal advantages were better than 
his health, receiving the advantages of the 
common schools, and subsequently attending 
the High Schools of Gih^ad and Delaware, and 
would doubtless have pursued his studies unto 
graduation, had not failing health prevented. 
Soon after his return home, at the age of 1 9, 
he formed a matrimonial alliance with Miss 
Olive Silverthorn, whose parents were Thomas 
and Ella (Clark) Silverthorn, whose birth 
places were Muskingum and Delaware coun- 
ties. The former, born April 2, 1820, the lat- 
ter, April 3, 1825. They settled in Marion 
Co., where Olive was born March 9, 1851. 
Three children have been born to them — Lil- 
lie Orra, born Nov. 1, 1809; Fordyce, horn 
July 13, 1871, dying Feb. 23, 1874; Willie, 
born May 24, 1873. Mr. Tabor and wife are 
members of the M. E. Church. Mr. Tabor 
often conducts meetings in an official way 
when duty calls, and is a pleasant speaker. 

WILLIAM UNDERWOOD, farmer; P. 
O., Marits; born Feb. 11, 1833, in Marion 
Co,, and is a son of Jesse and Isabella Un- 
derwood; her maiden name was Sergeant; she 
was born in Lincolnshire, Eng., in June, 1811, 
and came to this country when 9 years of age. 
Jesse Underwood was born in York Co., Pa., 
and came VVest to Holmes Co., in 1824, and 
to Marion ('o. in 1829, and entered the land 
now occupied by William, and lived in this 
locality until Jan. 5, 1880; his wife survives 
him. At the age of 20, William ccmimenced 
learning the blacksmith's trade, which occu- 
pation he foUowt^d for seven years; Sept. 
18, 1850, he was married to Caroline Shuey, 
who was born in Richland C'o., Feb. 21, 1837, 
and is a daughter of Daniel ajul Barbara 
(Stout) Shuey; after marriage they located in 
Claridon Tp., Marion Co., and lived until the 
spring of 1858, and have since resided on the 



)^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ES. 



741 



land he now occupies, which was entered by 
her father, situated in the west side of" the 
township. Mr. Underwood was out in the 
late war, and served in Company K, 47th 
Regiment, and was at tiie battle of Benton- 
vilie, and ])artici|)ated in the charge at Fort 
McAllister. They have had eleven children; 
nine are living, viz.: James T., born Aug. 24, 
J 857; George W., Sept. 12, 185!); Wilfis 1)., 
April 5, 1802; Mary 1., Jan. G, 18(34; Cecelia 
E. and Ivie (twins), Apr. 19, 18t;(i; David L., 
Aug. 30, 1868; Charley H., Sept. 30, 1870; 
Jesse A., Dec. 30., 1873. Mr. Undorwood is 
a member of the Protestant Methodist Church. 
Since his marriage he has been engaged in 
farming. 

J(JHN A. WEBBER, farmer; P. 0., Cale- 
donia; among the representatives of Morrow 
Co., who have crossed the " briny deep" 
and have cast their lot with this people, is 
the Webber family. Mr. Webber was born 
Oct. 31, 1816, in Leutenberg, Rudolstadt, 
Upper Saxony; son of Frederic William 
Webber, and emigrated to this State in 1834, 
landing in Baltimore. He left Washington 
Co., Pa., and the following March came to 
Columbus, Ohio, remaining there a short time 
and after making several minor changes, set- 
tled April 30, 1836, in Canaan Township; Dec. 
1834, was married to Mrs. Elizabeth Cunning- 
ham, sister of Joseph Ritteuer, formerly gover- 
nor of Pennsylvania; she dying, he was later 
married Apr. 2, 1840, to Mary Rice, born July 
16, 1819, in Fairfield Co., Ohio, daughter of 
Jacob Rice, who came with her parents to this 
county in 1821. After marriage tliev lived on 
Mr. Rice's farm until 1853; 1849 xMr^ Webber 
caught the gold fever and went to California, 
and was engaged in mining; after an absence 
of several years he returned with money 
enough to purchase eighty acres of land situ- 
ated in the northwest part of the township, 
where he has since remained. Coming here 
poor he has by hard labor and frugal economy 
acquired a good home, and is very comfortably 
situated in life. Three children have been born 
to him. He now resides with his son James 
K. P., who was born Sept. 17, 1845; he is a 
graduate, and has been engaged as teacher in 
one of the prominent schools of the State; he 
is now engaged in farming and is one of the 
promising young men in the township for 
intelligence and reliability. Is now serving 



as Township Trustee. Mr. Webber and family 
are members of the Lutheran Church. 

THOMAS 1). WOGAN, farmer; P. ()., 
Marits; son of Elijah and Maria (Sayers) 
Wogan; Thomas is the youngest of a fam ly 
of two children, and was born in Marion Co., 
April 15, 1856; his father was at one time one 
of the most p'ominent stock-raisers and ship- 
pers in the county of Marion. Thomas 1). re- 
mained with his parents until he reached his 
majority, Dec. 27, 1876; was united in mar- 
riage to Sarah P. Douce, born .Ian. 24, 1857, 
in Marion Co., daughter of James and Anna 
Douce, who were natives of England; since Mr. 
Wogan's marriage, he has resided on the Say- 
er's farm, which he now owns, consisting of 
KJO acres; he and his wife are mend^ers of the 
M. E. Church; Mr. Wogan is a man strongly 
opposed to the use of intoxicants. 

JAMES WATSON, farmer; P. O., Marits; 
is a self-made man; was born Oct. 4, 1830, in 
Cumberland Co., Pa., being the second of a 
family of fourteen children, twelve of whom 
are living, and were born to Joseph and Bar- 
bara (Bender) Watson, both being natives of 
Pennsylvania. Joseph was born June 30, 
1806, ids wife April 17, 1807; were married 
.June 10, 1828, in Pennsylvania, and emigrated 
West in Oct., 1838, locating near Lexington, 
and came to Gilead in 1843, remaining six 
years; coming to Canaan Tp. in 1849, locating 
northeast of Denmark, where he purchased 160 
acres of land, which place is now owned by 
Jonathan Masters; he subsequently moved to 
Gilead, on the John Darymple farm, where he 
remained until his death, which occurred .July 
25, 1865; his wife died Mirch 21, 1872. When 
Mr. Watson, Sr., came to this State he was 
very poor, having 133 in money, an old horse, 
for which he paid |20, and an old wagon; he 
gave a cow for a horse, to match the one he 
already had, and with a set of harness that an 
old Pennsylvania farmer had cast aside, he 
secured an out-fit. Having a family of seven 
children on his hands, and being in poor 
health, made but little progress, he not being 
able to work after James was 12 years of age, 
and the care of the family, in a great measure, 
was thrown upon him. In 1853, at the age of 
22, James went to Califorin'a, and spent four 
years in the mining districts; was also en- 
gaged in the lumber trade, to some extent. 
He returned to this township in 1857, having 



washin(tTon township. 



^ 



made a successful trip. Jauuary 21, 1858, ho 
was married to Catharine llauiniond, who was 
born Aug, 1(3, 1835, in Coshoeto:i Co., a 
daughter of Daniel P., who was burn in Penn- 
sylvania, Westmoreland Co., July 4, 17!>2, 
whose wife was Elsie Reasoner, a native of 
the same place. After Mr. Wats( n's mar- 
riage, he moved to Marion Co., Ills., and after 
a residence of eighteen months, returned to 
this township and purchased eighty acres on 
Section '-^9, and has since added to his original 
purchase, until he now has 200 acres of land. 
They have had nine children, eight living — 
.foseph ])., Francis L., MoUie C, JJelle Z,,'lda 
\'., Mattie A., James E. and Hattie B. Is 
identified with the Republican party. 

\N'ILL1AM. M. WHITE, farmer; P. O., 
Cardington; was born Sept. 20, 1825, in 
Perry Co., Pa., son of William White, 
who was born in Baltimore; his father went 
to sea, and was never heard of afterward. 
Sarah (Redding) White, was William's moth- 
er; she was born on the banks of the 
Brandywine. William came west with his 
])arents, when he was but seven years of 
age; his parents settled near Crestline, where 
they lived until their death, and their remains 



now repose, in theCvrestline Cemetery. Early 
in life William learned the painters' trade, 
which proving distasteful to him, he aban- 
doned, and took up the "trowel," and fol- 
lowed j)lastering for several years. At the 
age of 25 he was married to Mary Ann Davis, 
a native of England, aiul a daughter of John 
Davis; she died in 1S54. The year following 
he was married to Isabel Sayers. They had 
one child, Davis B. His present wife was 
Mary A. Miller, born Aug. 21, J840, a daugh- 
ter of W. H. Miller, who was born near New- 
market, Md.; her mother's maiden name was 
Sarah (Iruber, born in Va.; they were among 
the first settlers in Marion Co. Mr. and Mrs. 
White were married Feb., 7, 1865; he hjcated 
on his present farm in 1873, where he now re- 
sides. Mr. White knows what it is to "grow 
up with the country, " and to contend against 
poverty, he worked out for several years at 
low wages, and worked his way up in the 
world by hard labor and careful management, 
and can take a retrospect of the past and ac- 
count for every dollar that he has made. 
George S., born March -l, 1866; Eva, Dec. 3, 
1869; Carlton B., Dec, 18, 1874, are the chil- 
dren now at home, by his last marriage. 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



JAMES AULD, retired farmer; P. O., 
Iberia. This gentleman, whose portrait ap- 
pears in this work, is a native of Pennsylva- 
nia; he was born on a farm in Cumberland 
Co., Jan. 30, 1803; when he became 5 years 
of age, the family moved to a farm on the 
line between Greene and Washington Co's., 
upon which they lived for eighteen years; 
they then moved to a farm located near Tay- 
lorstown. James lived there with his parents 
until 1830; he then came West in a wagon, 
and settled on his present place, upon 
wliich he has since lived. The country wafe 
all timber when he came; he entered 150 
acres, and erected a frame house, with a 
shingle roof, probably the second of the kind 
in the township; the house was 18x20 feet, 
one room, and one story and a half high, 
glass windows, and in every way a model 



palace of its day, and though it has been 
standing for fifty years, it now, with a few 
additions, serves as his present residence. 
While in Pennsylvania, Mr. Auld worked 
some at carpentering, at first receiving $8 
]ier month. The state road from Mansfield to 
Marion, passes his residence, and was opened 
only a short time previous to his coming. He 
began clearing the land, and making a farm, 
and soon had some small crops growing. 
They wore home-sjmn clothing, and did ])rin- 
cipally all their own labor; in the early days 
he also hauled grain to Sandusky and Milan, 
and shared in general the comforts of the pio- 
neers. Feb. 4, 1831, he married Miss Jane 
Way, a native of Washington Co., Pa. She 
died Oct. 12, 1859. They had five children, 
three of whom are living — Sarah Noble lives 
in this vicinity; Mary H. Coulter lives in 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



743 



Clearfield Co., Pa.; Samuel D. farms the 
homestead; David died while youtig, and 
Nancy .lane Martin was killed in Iowa by a 
storm, July 4, 187(>. Oct. 20, 1863, he mar- 
ried Mrs. Walker, formerly Miss Mary Gar- 
rett. She was born in Ohio, and died April 
6, 1873. His present wife was Mrs. Arm- 
strong;, formerly Miss Catharine Armstrong; 
they were married May 20, 1870; they live on 
the old homestead, which contains 146 acres, 
and is located one-half mile west of Iberia. Mr. 
Auld became a member of the United Pres- 
byterians in 1828, and has ever retained 
his Christian principles. His parents, David 
and Mary (Auld) Auld, were natives of Ire- 
land; they came to the United States — he, 
when about 30 years of age, and she, when 
about 26; she came here first; they settled in 
Cumberland Co., Pa., where they married 
about the year 1802; they finally settled near 
Taylorstown, Pa., and lived there until their 
deaths. 

J. D. ARMSTRONG, miller; Mt. Gilead; 
was born in Knox Co., O., 1841; his parents 
were among the early settlers of that county, 
and were formerly from Canada. The ances- 
try preceding the second generation was of 
Irish descent. Besides availing himself of 
the common school privileges in the near vi- 
cinity of his home, Mr. Armstrong attended 
the academy at Danville, of his native county, 
for two years. At 20 years of age he went 
to California and remained there six years, 
and then returned to his early home, and af- 
terwards purchased a grist-mill in Washing- 
ton, Morrow Co. Mr. Armstrong married in 
1870 Miss Linda Wood, whose home since 
eight years of age has been very near where 
they now reside. Irma and Orrin are the 
names of their f^hildren. Mr. Armstrong is 
now enlarging the capacity of his mill so that 
hereafter he may secure a larger success in 
his occupation. 

ARCHIBALD BROWNLEE, farmer; P. 
O., Iberia. Six feet tall, straight as a reed, 
hair white with the frosts of nearly seventy 
winters, and brushed back from a massive 
forehead; an eagle eye, Roman nose, mouth 
and chin indicative of firmness. Such is a 
brief description of " Uncle Archie," as he is 
familiarly called; indeed this is the notn cle 
2'>li(me under which he has frequently written 
for the local paper. He was born in Ohio Co., 



W. Va., in 1811; yet in spite of early associa- 
tions, was in the days of slavery a strong abo- 
litionist. At the age of 25, he married Miss 
Danl(>y, cousin of Hon. Wilson Shannon, who 
was twice governor of Ohio. In the follow- 
ing spring they moved to Ohio and located in 
Wasliington Tp., two miles from where he 
now resides; to which place he removed in 
the year 1852. When he first came to Ohio, 
this township was a wilderness which was 
thought impossible to subdue; but the indus- 
try of himself and fellow pioneers has caused 
it to blossom as the rose. The old family Bi- 
ble' tells the following story: Agnes, born 
Feb. 14, 1837; H. C, Oct. 9, 1838; Levenia, 
March 24, 1840, died Jan. 13, 1S79; Martha 
J., born Oct. 5, 1841; Margaret, April 6, 1843, 
died June 3, 1869; Sarah, born Oct. 11, 1844; 
Elizabeth, July 30, 1846, died May 15, 1872; 
Josephine, born Sept. 15, 1848; Rebecca, 
Feb. 24, 1850; John, Dec. 17, 1851; Mary 
Helen, Aug. 16, 1855; Francis A., July 20, 
1857. They are all married except John and 
Helen, who reside with the old couple. The 
others are in homes of their own, more or less 
distant. " Uncle Archie " has suffered for 
several years with asthma, and yet in spite of 
his disease, is a genial old gentleman, always 
glad to welcome and entertain his friends at 
his hospitable home. 

EBENEZER BURT, retired; Iberia; was 
born in Washington Co. Penn., May 3d, 1811 ; 
Mr. Burt's father was born in Fayette county 
of the same State about the year 1789; his 
mother spending her early years in the State 
of Maryland. In the early part of the 18th 
century, three brothers came to America, two 
of whom engaged in the iron business, in the 
State of Penn. At the breaking out of the 
Revolution, they sold out their interest in 
those works, taking their pay in Continental 
money, which proved almost valueless. One 
of these brothers was the paternal ancestor of 
our subject. Mr. Burt came to Ohio in 1830, 
settling in Guernsey Co., near Cambridge; 
he married Miss Isabella Rankin, of Janes- 
ville, Muskingum Co., who died at Cambridge 
Dec. 1st, 1840, a little over nine years from 
date of their marriage. About this time Mr. 
Burt commenced the study of law and was 
admitted to the bar, his certificate of admis- 
sion dating Oct. 29, 1841. In August, of the 
same year, he was married to Mary Ann 



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lU 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



Cliitlirio, of Cambriilij^o, who is still living. 
After pnii-tic'iiif^ law lor upwards of six years, 
lie reiiiovtHl to Marion Co., where he eiij2^a<red 
in farmiiijf and stot^k <i^razin<r. He has ever 
since made a speoialty of raisin<r fine stock; 
sheep raisinif beinj; tlu^ department he has 
specialized. In April J<S(J,'), Ik; removcul to 
Iberia. The family IJihle tells the l"ollowiiii>- 
story — Silas, horn Au<>^. 17, IS)})}; Matliew 11., 
April !), ISoo; John F., June 10, IHoT; Kliza- 
l)elh J., Vol). 17, 18:i!»; Joseph G., April 17, 
1S41; Ebenezer 1)., Sept. :2(), 1840; Wm. W. 
anil Thos. W. twins, Jvdy 14, 1S48; Robert 
G., Aufj. 23, 1850; Margaret A., Jan. 18, 
185:2; Elnora, April 11, 1855; all of these 
have been married, and those living are settled 
in the vicinity of the parental home. Mar- 
garet married Mr. James P. Hammond, and 
with him went to build up a home near Edgar, 
Neb., where she died in 1870; Mathew joined 
the 96th O. V. 1., and was killed- at Arkansas 
Post on White River; John and Joseph were 
also in the service and went through the war, 
being honorably discliarged at its close. Mr. 
Burt is respected and honored in the com- 
nnniity, and a member of the U. P. Church; 
amid pleasing surroundings, with wealth to 
couiinand the luxuries of life — the "sunset" 
of his days cannot but be otherwise than 
peatx'ful and bright. 

W. C. BENNETT, physician; P. O., Iberia; 
was Ijorn in Cardington, Morrow Co., O., Sept. 
16, 1853; his parents were among the early set 
tiers of that township. Dr. Bennett passed 
his youth upon the paternal acres. He availed 
himself of th(! opportunities for gaining an 
education, such as were furnished by tlie public 
schools in the near vicinity; ])etween school- 
life and farm-life, w(;re sandwiched several 
terms of teaching common schools. He early 
chose medicine as a profession, and com- 
menced the study with Drs. Swingley & Shaw, 
of Mt. Gilead, and attended lectures at the 
^ledical Department of Wooster University at 
Cleveland, graduating with honor in 1877. 
In May of the same yi'ar, he located in Iberia, 
enttiring into ])artnersliip with Dr. Reed, and 
witii Dr. Reed's daughter about a year and 
a half later. His ability together with a pleas- 
injr address, must secure to him a large prac- 
tice. 

EV^AN J. CRANE, whose portrait apjiears 
in this work, was born in Salem Tp., Muskin- 



gum Co., ()., April 2(t, 1827; his paternal 
graiulfather came from P(!nnsylvania to Ohio 
in the year 1808, and brought with him four 
sons, one of whom, Joseph, the father of 
Evan J., is now living in Iberia. Our subject 
passed his youth on his father's farm, and 
as he became older he taught school in 
the winter months, and farmed during the 
summer; Nov. 4, 1851, he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Cassan<lra Geyer; they lived on 
the farm vnitil 1857, when they moved to So- 
nora (7 miles east of Zanesville), and engaged 
in the general merchandisi! business. In 1864 
he removed to Iberia, and has since conducted 
a general merchandise business at that place; 
by his marriage there has been live children — 
Marion C, Rosetta C, George W., FlonMice 
M. and Delia V.; his sons graduated with 
honor at Eastman's business college, Pough- 
keepsie, N. Y., and are now engaged with 
their father in the store at Iberia; in each of 
the different communities in which Mr. Crane 
has lived, he has held prominent positions; 
he has been Post-master almost continuously 
since 1858; he has also held the office of town- 
ship clerk and trustee, also justice of the 
peace, in all of Avhich jjositions he has proven 
himself worthy of the trust reposed; early in 
life he connected himself with the M. E. 
C'hurch, and has ever since maintained the 
Christian princij)Ies of the Church of his 
choice; in 1808, when the Iberia circuit was 
organized, he was elected recording steward, 
and has served as such since; also as secretary 
of the board of trustees of the Ohio Central 
college, of which he has been a member since 
its re-organization; in the slavery and tem- 
perance reforms he has taken a prominent 
part, and his influence has always been on the 
side of right, the question with him being the 
way of duty, and when it is decided he un- 
swervingly walks therein. Aug. 3, 1849, is 
the date of Mr. Crane's initiation into the 
mysteries of Free and Accej)ted Masons in 
Malta Lodge, No. 118, at Norwich, Muskin- 
gum Co., Ohio, and has never severed his 
connection with that body; he has taken all 
the degrees in the Blue Lodge, and all chap- 
ter degrees, was a charter member of Hubbard 
Lodge No. 220, at Adamsville, Ohio, also 
1st Senior Warden of same, and is now a 
member of thi' Royal Arch Chapter at Gabon, 
Ohio. 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



r45 



RPJV. C. L. CONGER, B. S., minister; 
Iberia; pastor of the M. E. Church and Pro- 
fessor of English Laiifruage and Litera- 
ture in Ohio Central College; was born in 
Delaware Co., O., in the year 1854. His pa- 
rents were formerly residents of New Hamp- 
shire, but removed to Ohio in 1852, and s(!t- 
tled in Delaware C'o., where they died. Rev. 
Mr. Conger entered Ohio Wesleyan University 
at l^elaware, in 1873, and graduated from the 
college,of which he is now Professor in 1879, his 
course being interfered with by the demands 
of the pulpit; he first joined the North Ohio 
Conference in 1878, and was regularly ap- 
pointed to his present charge, having previ- 
ously labored in that place as a local preacher. 
Hence he is now completing his pastorate — 
the longest term allowed by the economy of 
Methodism. His youth, present ability and 
success give prophecy of a remarkable future. 

SAMUEL COLMERY, farmer; P. O., 
Iberia; was born in Washington Co., Pa., 
Feb. 1827. His parents were early residents 
of that county; his paternal ancestry is Irish, 
and the maternal, Scotch. When Mr. Col- 
mery was 11 years of age his parents moved 
to Ashland (then Richland) Co., O., and set- 
tled near Hayesville. In the spring of 1850 Mr. 
Colmery went across the plains to California 
with an ox-team, occupying five months in 
the passage between Independence, Md., and 
Placerville, Cal.; he remained in that State a 
little more than six years. After his return, 
his mother having removed near to Iberia, he 
returned to that place. Mr. Colmery was 
marrried Jan. 20, 1858, to Miss Elmira Han- 
mer, originally of Elmira, N. Y. During the 
following summer he settled in Knox Co., O., 
where he remained seven years; after one 
year spent on a farm in the southeast part of 
the township, he settled on the farm where he 
now resides. They have eight living children 
— Wm. W., 21; Walter Scott, 20; Mary Alice 
{now the wife of Chas. W. McFarland, living 
in the eastern part of the township); Samuel 
Finley, 16; Alexander Alpheus, 14; Robert 
Chalmers (who only lived to be six years of 
age); .John L., 9; David Ray, 6; and Abbie 
May, three years of age. Mr. Colmery is an 
elder in the Presbyteaian Church. He has 
three brothers preaching for that Church in 
this State, and one brother teaching in the 
State of Mississippi. 



S. D. CASS, farmer; P. O., Iberia; was born 
in Portland, Chautau(jua Co., N. Y., Feb. 14, 
1819; his father, Joseph Cass, was a native of 
Vermont, and his mother. Miss Jane Dixon, 
of Cherry Valley, N. Y. Mr. Cass came with 
his parents to Ohio in 1838, and settled near 
Mt. Vernon, Knox Co., where he remained 
about twelve years; four years were j)assed 
in South Bloomficld, Morrow Co., when he re- 
moved to Washington Tp., and located where 
he now resides. In 1855 he married Miss 
Martha Ann Story, whose early home was near 
their present location. They have seven chil- 
dren — Vienna, 23 ; J. C. Fremont, 21; G. 
Dudley, 20; Eugene B., 15; D. Webster, 13; 
Henry C, 7, and Paul, 5 years of age. Mr. 
Cass has always been engaged in farming, 
though he has taught school eighteen winters 
in succession, superintending his farm the 
while. 

WILLIAM DUNLAP, farmer; P. O., Ga- 
llon; was born in Washington Tp., Morrow 
Co., March 8, 1831, on the farm on which one 
of his sons is now residing^ about two miles 
distant from his present residence. His father 
was among the earliest settlers in the town- 
ship, and was the first school teacher. Being 
the eldest son, it was necessary for him to re- 
main at home to assist in clearing up the farm, 
and so he Avas deprived of any advantages of 
education, except of common school. He 
married Miss Abbie Maria Dickerson, in the 
fall of 185G, whose early home was in North 
Bloomfield Tp. They have two sons — Frank 
R., 23, who married Miss Fanny Shear, of 
Ashland Co., Ohio, and who is living on the 
home farm, and Harley Mitchell, 17 years of 
age. Mr. Dun lap has been a member of the 
Christian Church since 25 years of age. His 
two farms, numbering 426 acres (about 350 
of which are in agood state of cultivation), the 
care of which he regards as sufficient to fill his 
time without dabbling in politics, and to 
their cultivation he devotes all his time and 
attention. 

J. M. DAVIS, farmer; P. O., Iberia Sta- 
tion; was born in Greene Co., Penn., June 12, 
1829; his father was engaged in farming 
in that State, came to Ohio in 1831, and 
settled immediately in Washington Town- 
ship, Morrow Co., on the land where Mr. Da- 
vis now resides. Mr. Davis has spent his en- 
tire life on this farm; he was married Nov. 15, 



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r46 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



1S4!I, to Eli/.altotli Dalryinple, whose early 
home was in (iih'ad Tp.; tlioy liave had four 
children, three <»1" wiioni are liviii<r — Harriet 
lyouisa, w;is born Sept. 4th, 1850, (is now tlie 
wife of Willter Ji. 'I'lionias, and islivinp;in th(> 
vicinity;) Mary Jane, borji Aup^. :i*.S, 1S,")2, and 
died June 34th, 1S75; Georo;e Melville, horn 
Au{T. 21), ItSoG; (married Miss Uosa Shellt-r, 
and is living on apart of the home farm,) and 
William Curtis, born Oct. 22, 1859; Mr. ]Ja- 
vis has interested himself somewhat in politics; 
he is Democratic, preferring to vote for men 
of character, rather than follow strictly parti- 
san principles. For several years he has held 
the office of Justice of the Peace, which office 
he has employed to keep the peace, harmoniz- 
ing- discordant elements, without allowing 
them to come to trial; such a character is 
very desirable in any community, and ren- 
ders its possessor worthy of preferment. 

JOHN T. FRATER, Iberia; was born in 
Belmont Co., O., Apr. 19, 1848; his parents 
were originally from the north of England, 
of Scotch extraction. His mother only is now 
living — the present wife of Mr. Allen xMcNeal. 
Mr. Frater first came to Il)eria in 1869, for the 
purpose of attending school at the " Ohio 
Central " College, located at that place. He 
soon afterward settled in this town; and first 
engaged as clerk for E. J. Crane, and after- 
wards on his own responsibility, in the grocery 
and provision business. In the fall of 1874 
he married Miss Julia Meyers. Mr. Frater 
has twice held the office of Town Clerk, and 
twice that of County Assessor. In politics 
he is a Republican, active in furthering the 
interests of his party, and faithful in the dis- 
charge of the offices with which he has been 
identified. 

MATTHEW HINDMAN, farmer; P. O., 
Iberia; was born in Savamiah, Ashland Co., 
Ohio, Ai)ril 2)}d, 1835; his |)arents were Samuel 
and Anna (McKeeman) Hindman. Mr. Hind- 
man's ancestry is Scotch-Irish — the paternal 
descent being Irish, and the maternal, Scotch. 
His mother died in 1841, and with his father 
he came to Iberia the following winter, and 
here he has since resided. He married Miss 
Lucinda Noble of that place in 1858, and has 
six children living — Eva, Cynthia, Maggie T., 
•Fennie P., French M. and Ivalrrace. Mr. 
Hindman has a fine farm of upwards of a hun- 
dred acres east of Iberia, on the Mansfield and 



Marion road; this farm he superintends, while 
he isalso engaged in a Life Insinance Agency, 
for the Mutual Endowment and Relief As- 
soc'iation of Cardington, of which association 
he is one of the directors. 

J. S. HUNTER, farmer; P. ()., Iberia; was 
born in Troy, Richland Co., Ohio, Jan. 28, 
]>^'.ili. His father, Wm. Hunter, came to 
Richland Co.; his mother. Miss Jane Cham- 
bers, also when young — both from Pennsylva- 
nia. His grandfather was engaged in the 
Revolutionary War, and was among the early 
settlers of that state. His maternal descent is 
Irish. Mr. Hunter attended the Ohio Central 
College in the year 1857; he taught in the 
common sohools for three winters. He mar- 
ried Miss Lizzie Story, June, 1858 (whose 
father was one of the earliest settlers, and 
still survives), and has one son and three 
daughters — I^oren A., 21; Etta, 19; Rennie, 
17, and Maud, 14 years of age. Mr. Hunter 
was in the service of his country amongst the 
" three-months men," in the 136th O. V. I. 
He lost his wife Jan. 11, 1872; seven years 
later he married Miss Carrie E. Walker. Mr. 
Hunter is a farmer, well worthy the high es- 
teem accorded to him by his fellow citizens. 

ROBERT KELLY, retired farmer; P. O., Mt. 
Gilead; was born in Franklin Co., Penn., Nov, 
8, 1795. His father, James Kelly, was born 
in Belfast, Ireland, and married Miss Arm 
McCammis, a native of Franklin Co., Penn. 
In 1801 the family moved over the mountains 
to Washington Co., Pa., and farmed there 
one year, and they there entered 320 acres of 
land, about 16 miles west of Steuben ville, 
Ohio, which they occupied, living in a log 
cabin, and cleared the land. Feb. 13, 
1826, Robert was joined in marriage to Miss 
Jane Young, a native of Ireland, They 
lived on his father's farm. In 1830 his father 
died, and in 1832 he moved west by wagons, 
and settled on his present place, buying out a 
former settler who had made a slight improve- 
ment. In 1835 his mother and family came 
West, and settled in his'neighborhood. She 
lived with her children until her death. 
Robert and family lived in a log cabin. 
She made home-spun clothes, and he cleared 
the land. He also did teaming to the 
lake for himself and others. They did the: 
milling below Mt. Vernon. He assisted in 
cutting out the road that now passes his house, 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



747 



and in many ways fij^ured with tlie pionrcr 
characters ol this locality. By the marriage 
there was ten chihlren. five of whom are liv- 
ing — James lives in Albia, Iowa; Mary How- 
ard in Missouri; Wm. Y. in Canaan Tp., 
this Co.; Robert J. farms the old home- 
stead here; John M. lives in Kansas; all are 
married and pleasantly situated; Sept. 2, 1848, 
Mr. Kelly was called to mourn the death of 
his wife. Rol)crt J. Kelly, farmer, P. O. Mt. 
Gilead was born on the present place in Wash- 
ins^ton Tp., Marion — now Morrow Co., O., — 
June 18, ISo*), and made it his home until his 
marriage, July 2, 1868, to Miss Mary A. Galle- 
her, a native of Congress Tp., Richland — now 
Morrow Co., O. After the marriage they 
moved to a farm located two miles north of 
Mt. Gilead, and farmed there until Jan., ] 874, 
when they came to the old homestead, 
having farmed same since. Of their five 
children, four are living, Chas. E., Albert C, 
Alice E., and Anna ; Bertha J. died. 

J. P. LININGER. farmer; P. O., Gallon; 
was born in Whetstone, Crawford Co., Ohio, 
1833. His father, Henry Lininger, came from 
Canton, Stark Co., Ohio, and entered land in 
Crawford Co. among the earliest settlers. His 
mother, Mary Palmer was united in marriage 
to his father previous to their coming to 
Crawford Co., and endured with him all the 
hardships of pioneer life. At the age of 25 
years, Mr. Lininger married Miss Harriet 
Harding, whose early home was in Washing- 
ton, Morrow Co. During the eleven years 
innnediately following their marriage, they 
lived in Gabon, Crawford Co., two of which 
years Mr. Lininger spent traveling in Mon- 
tana Territory. They have two sons living 
— William H., 17, and Horace H., 11 years 
of age; also Ida H., born in Gallon March 22, 
1860; and died Oct. 25, 1861. They returned 
to Washington Tp. in 1870, and settled on 
the farm which had been the early home of 
Mrs. Lininger, where, blessed with prosper- 
ity, thev still reside. 

ALLEN M( NEAL, farmer; P. O., Iberia ; 
was born in Washington Co., Penn., in 1809. 
At the age of 18 he came wtih his parents to 
Ohio and settled in Marion Co. In the spring 
of 1837 he came to Iberia for permanent 
residence, and four years later returned to 
Marion Co.; six years were then' passed on 
his father's farm, when he bought land in 



Canaan Township, where he resided till 1870, 
when he retired from active farm life, and now 
resides in Iberia. In the year 1837 he mar- 
ried Miss Agnes Struthers, from which union 
two children were born — J. F. McNeal, of 
Mnrion, andlVlrs. Thos. D. Riddle, of Canaan, 
Marrow Co. But death severed the marital 
relation after four brief, happy years. In 1845 
he married Mrs. Rachel Davidson. They had 
four children, three of whom still survive — two 
sons, who are editors and {)ublishers of Medi- 
cine Lodge "Oes.se^," in Kansas, and one 
daughter, whose avocation is school-teaching. 
Sixteen years later he was again a widower, 
but after nearly nine years of loneliness he 
married Mrs. Isabella Frater, who is still liv- 
ing, and with whom lie is enjoying the fruits 
of a long and industrious life; having passed 
the allotted span of life, he is yet hale and 
hearty, and a devoted Christian. 

JOHN MoNEAL, farmer; P. O., Iberia; 
was born in Iberia in 1838; his parents were 
natives of Washinoton Co., Penn., whence they 
removed to this county with his grandparents 
about the year 1832, and were married soon 
after. Mr. McNeal has lived all these years 
in this county, except a single year in Ottawa 
Co., and those years in the service of his 
country. He first entered the army among 
the three-months' men; when mustered out 
of this, he entered the Ohio Artillery, in which 
he continued till the close of the war. He 
was wounded severely at the battle of Stone 
River, the last day of 1862, and from this 
wound still suffers. Mr. McNeal was married 
in 1876 to Miss Mary Fierer; and they have 
had two children. His farm containing 
seventy-eight acres is unencumbered, and in 
a good state of cultivation; has fine out build- 
ings; and these, together with his well-ap- 
pointed home, render him well prepared to 
enjoy life. 

JOHN McANALL, farmer; P. O., Iberia; 
was born in Ohio Co., W. Va., April 6, 1829. 
His parents were originally from Ireland. His 
father came to America when very young, 
and, a'ter his marriage settled in that county. 
Both parents lived and died there. Mr. 
McAnall lived with his parents on the farm 
till 23 years of age, at wliich time he came to 
Morrow Co., settling in Washington Tp., 
moving from time to time, till at length he 
settled permanently upon the farm where he 



748 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



now rosidos. Tliis farm contains about a 
quarter socti(»ii, and is undor a liisxH state ol" 
cultivation. March 20, IS,-)5, he married Miss 
Sarah Levering. They have two (thihlren — 
Clement, 21, and Mary Ada, IS years of aj;e. 
April 2S, 1S(14, Mrs. McAr)alI died. In 
December, 1804, Mr. McAnail married Miss 
Minerva .1. Lofjjan; their children are as fol- 
lows — .lohn Logan, Cora Ann, Marg^aret Ag- 
nes, Martha Belle, and Hugh Williiim. Mr. 
MeAnall is a member of the IVesbyterian 
(Mum ell at Iberia. He is not a politician, wish- 
ing to have as little to do with politics as is con- 
sistent wilh intelligent Christian citizenship; 
he is emphatically a farmer, ])ractical and scien- 
tific, striving to get the most out of the soil. 

HEZEKIAH MoCLUKK, farmer; P. ()., 
Gabon; resident of Polk 'Pp., Crawford C >.; 
was born in Westmoreland Co., Penri., Aug. 
10, \S'Zi\; his father was a native of Mary- 
land, while his mother, whose maiden name 
was Ksther Gross, >vas a native of the above- 
named county in Penn.;in 1S29 they removed 
to Richland Co., O., wlieie they rcnnained one 
year, and then moved to Jackson Tp., Craw- 
ford Co.; it was on the farm in this latter 
townshij) Mr. McClure spent the remaining 
years of his minority; at the time of their 
first settUnnent in Crawford Co., the nearest 
improvement was more than a mile distant 
from his home; his father died Nov. 12, 1S41), 
while his mother is still living, and though 
nearly 87 years of age, is fully as active as 
many another of half her years. Oct. 5, 
1853, Mr. McClure married Miss Ann Cri- 
der, originally from the same county of Penn. 
in which he was born; they have two children 
— Malinda A., 25, and Wilber C, 1(3 years 
of age; Mr. McClure remained after mar- 
riage on his father's farm, till his removal to 
Washington Tp.. in Morrow Co., which oc- 
curred in the spring of 1S()5; prosperity has 
smiled upon him, and he has accumulated a 
larg.' property in the extreme norih of this 
townshij); recently he has removed across 
the county line into Polk Tp., Crawi'ord ,Co., 
where he now resides, though he still retains 
the farms he had in Washington Tp.; with 
wealth sufficient to own a fine town property, 
and secure to hitn a prominent place in its 
society, he still prefers the quiet of the coun- 
try, and in the management of his farm finds 
happiness and content. 



PKTKR C. McCLUh'K, farmer; P. ()., Ga- 
bon; was l)orn in the year 1S;53, in .lac-kson 
Tp., Crawford Co., Ohio. His parents were 
amongst th(! earliest siUtlers of that county, 
having come from Westmoreland Co., Pa. 
His maternal ancestors were amongst the ear- 
liest settlers of the last named county, while 
his paternal grandfather was from Scotland. 
Mr. McClure spent his early life on the pater- 
nal acres. His father's death occurring wIkmi 
he was only 15 years of age, he was thus 
early thrown upon his own resources. In the 
spring of 1855 he married Miss Eli/abeth IJro- 
kaw, a native of .lackson Tp. To them was 
born one son, Lawrence Calvin (who is still 
living at the home of his father). In the 
month of Sept., 1858, death removetl th(; com- 
panion of his (^arly life. In the month of 
May, 1800, he married Miss Margar.t T.An- 
derson. They have two children — John An- 
derson, 18, and Charles Ellsworth, 10 years of 
age. Mr. McClure has made frequent changes 
of residence. At first he owned a farm in 
Williams Co., Ohio. This was exchanged for 
a farm joining the one owned by his father- 
in-law in Jackson Tp., Crawford Co., which, 
upon the death of his wife, was sold. Next 
he ])urchased a piece of "town " property in 
Crestline, and at the same time owihhI apiece 
of property between Crestline am! Robinson, 
on the line of the P., Ft. W. & C. K. R. Af- 
ter disposing of the latter, he traded his 
" town " property for a farm in West Jack- 
son. This farm was sold, and in the spring of 
1870, he purchased a fine farm of 130 acres in 
the extreme north of Washington Tp., where 
he now resides. Among the fine stock on his 
farm, he has some thorough-bred swine of the 
Jersey red variety. 

NEELY NOBLE, farmer; P.O., Mt.Gilead; 
was born in Stark Co.,0., in 1823. Mr. Noble's 
father — James Noble— is a native of Shenando- 
ah county, Va., and is now living in Washing- 
ton Township, Morrow Co., ()., and is one of its 
oldest settlers. Mr. Nol)le came with his 
father to this township when only 10 years old. 
All the schooling he ever got was obtained in 
a log school-house in the vicinity, work- 
ing on the farm in the summer and going to 
school in the winter. During his eighteenth 
year he helped to build the first railroad in 
the State of Ohio, then called Sandusky and 
Newark R. R., now a part of the Baltimore 



^; 



^ ^—^ 



^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



749 



and O'lio K. R. Mr. Noble was married 
April ;20th, 1852, to Miss Martha Elliott, but 
after eight years' married life she died, and 
in 1801 he married Miss Jane Walker, who 
is still living. Their family is as follows — 
Franklin Pierce, 27; Robert Lee, 24; Chas. 
Fremont, 18; James Ellsworth, 16, and 
Lincoln, 13 years of age. Mr. Noble has a 
fine large farm along the eastern boinidary of 
the township, but stock grazing is the ])artic- 
ular branch of industry he follows — raising 
thorough-l)red stock, horses, cattle and sheep. 
Of the " Durham " l)reed of cattle he has 
some as fine specimens and as near thorough- 
bred as can be found in the county. In this 
department of husbandry he is already a suc- 
cess. 

WILLIAM NESBITT, clerk ; Iberia; 
was born Sept. 25, 1847, in Northum- 
berland, England, and emigrated to this 
country when only eight years of age. He 
first settled in Marion Co., Ohio, but almost 
immediately removed to Iberia. Mr. Nesbitt 
selected for a companion and helpmeet, Miss 
Emma McPeek, to whom he was married in 
the month of October, 1808. They have 
one daughter aged ten years. Mr. Nesbitt is 
a carpenter by trade, but his health forbidding 
him to work at that occupation, for the past 
five years he has been engaged as clerk in the 
mercantile establishment of E. J. Crane. His 
gentlemanly bearing and activity give prom- 
ise of success in that line of business. 

T. C. NELSON, farmer; P. O., Iberia; was 
born in Wayne Co., O., July 16, 183o; his fa- 
ther came from Mercer Co., Penn., when 
about 18 years of age; his mother is of 
Scotch descent; after their marriage they re- 
moved to Washington Tp., Morrow Co., and 
settled on the farm, where they are now resid- 
ing. This occurred when Thomas, the eldest, 
was about 11 years of age. After attaining 
his majority, Mr. Nelson spent about one 
and a half years in Iowa. After his return 
he spent some time with his father, but to- 
gether with his brother, leased a farm near 
Gabon, in Crawford Co., for a term of three 
years; at the expiration of this lease, or in 
1802, they together purchased a steam saw- 
mill in Washington Tp., Morrow Co., which 
they still own and operate. Mr. Nelson mar- 
ried Dec. 9, 1875; Miss Harriet B. La Rue, 
whose parents were among the earliest 



settlers of this township, having settled in 
the south part in 1833 (the date of their mar- 
riage.) Mrs. Nelson's father, Wm. R. La Rue, 
is of Fretich descent; was born in Pleasant 
Co., W. Va. Her mother, Miss Eliza Amlin, 
was a native of Washington Co., O.; after 
their marriage Mr. La Rue entered ^ section 
on the State road, where they remained only 
a short time, when they removed to a farm on 
the Iberia road, and there spent their remain- 
ing years; both are buried in the cemetery at 
Iberia. 

A. B. NEWSON, fa m-r; P. O., Mt. Gil- 
ead; was born in Gilead, Morrow Co., in 
1832. His parents were originally from 
Washington Co., Ind.; his ancestry preced- 
ing the second generation were English. Mr. 
Newson spent his youth on his father's farm, 
attending the public school in the vicinity. 
At the age of 25 he married Miss Phoebe A. 
Hull; the following four years he remained 
in Gilead, after which he removed to Wash- 
ington Tp., and settled on apart of the large 
farm, which he has since acquired, and now 
controls. They have three children — Geor- 
giana, now the wife of W. F. Blayney, living 
on a part of the farm; Laura, 14, and EIry, 5 
years of age. Mr. Newson's farm numbers 
500 acres, cultivated principally with a view 
to stock-grazing; while he has a large number 
of many varieties of live stock, he specializes 
two branches, viz: fine horses and sheep. He 
at present has on the farm about a thousand 
sheep, some thorough-bred,of the Spanish Meri- 
no variety; Mr. Newson is also a prominent offi- 
cial in the M. E. Chirch. With a character 
unimpeachable, with an abundance at his 
command, with opportunities unsurpassed, 
the future before him is indeed enviable. 

JOHN T. QUAY, farmer; P. O., Iberia; 
was born in Center Co., Penn,, Sept. 20. 1830. 
His parents were natives of that county; 
they moved into Marion (^o., O., when Mr. 
Quay was but five years of age. Nov. 18, 
1852, he married Miss Catharine Holmes, 
whose home was in this vicinity, though her 
parents were originally from the State of 
Pennsylvania. After marriage they settled 
on the farm of Mr. Holmes, where they re- 
mained about two years; they then removed 
to his father's farm — his parents having re- 
moved to Marion Co. They have had six 
children — Isaac Ervin, (who died when a little 



!t 



750 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



over Hve years of aj^e); James ISIelvin, born 
Oct. 18, 18')4, (and was married May 3, 1870, 
to Miss Ella Gillis of North liioomfield T|).); 
Emma V., Sept. 9, 1850, (and was mar- 
ried March 4, 187U to James Hammond; 
both of these are residing on farms owned 
l.v Mr. Qnav); John T., Jr., born May 4, 1858; 
William 8.," May 14, 1859; Eva D., Fel). 13, 
1801; and Georjre Elroy, April 20, 1805. 
Prosperity has, in the main, attended 
the ettorts of Mr. Qnay. At one time 
his barns and all they contained of grain 
and farm implements were destroyed by 
Hre. More recently a tornado nnroofed his 
home, ex])Osini>- its inmates to the fury of the 
elements. Hut alter all these misfortunes he 
has succeeded, not only as a farmer, but in 
o-aininj? a high j)lace in the esteem of his fel- 
lows. A Trustee of Ohio Central College at 
Iberia and active in furthering its interests, 
steadfast in his religious principles and con- 
stantly striving for the success of his church, 
prominent in all movements calculated to 
better the community in which he resides; 
and none holds a higher or more secure place 
in the confidence and esteem of his fellow- 
meu. 

\VM. REED, physician; Iberia; was 
born in the State of Peruisylvania, in 
1824, and is of Scotch-Irish descent. When 
nearly thirty years of age he chose medicine 
as a profession, and with this in view he took 
a course of study in the Medical Dept. of 
Ohio Western Reserve College, located at 
Cleveland, from which he graduated in 1853. 
He came to Ohio in the fall of 1859, and soon 
after settled in Iberia, where he soon gained 
a large practic'e. At the lireaking out of the 
war he tendered his services to the govern- 
ment, and was appointed Surgeon of the 170th 
O. V. I. He man ied in early life Mary Snod- 
grass, of Allegheny Co., Penn. They have 
Hve childreti, all grown to maturity — one, his 
daughter lielle, married Dr. Bennett, whom he 
re(;eived into partnership in the medical 
|)ractice. By close application to his profes- 
sion, and not being diverted by political hon- 
ors, he has gained the deserved confidence and 
esteem of the community in which he has so 
long resided. 

WM. SMITH, merchant; Iberia; was 
born in Knox Co., O., April 29, 1853. His 
father, William Smith, spent his minority in 



Ireland, while his mother. Miss Sarah Ann 
Ray was born in Washington Co., N. Y. His 
father came to America in 1818, and remain- 
ed in the State of Pennsylvania several years 
when he removed to Knox Co.. O. He mar- 
ried Mrs. Sarah Ann Eivingstone (nee Ray), 
then of Pulaskiville of that county, Jan. 10, 
1850. Mr. Smith spent the most of his min- 
ority on his father's farm. He came to Iberia 
at the age of 18 years, to attend the Ohio 
Central College, and then went to Oberlin. 
After spending some time at the latter place 
he returned to Iberia to engage in mercantile 
pursuits. October 31st, 1878, he married 
Mary L. Paxton, whose home has always been 
in Iberia. About the same time he received 
into partnership J. C. Irwin, and together the 
business is being pushed forward with suc- 
cess. His fellow townsmen have already rec- 
ognized him as a rising young man by elect- 
ing him three successive terms to the office of 
Township Clerk, and more recently he has 
been made Notary Public. Besides attend- 
ing to the duties of the offices (where the 
people have placed him) he is also diligent in 
business affairs. 

JOSEPH H. SHUMAKER, farmer; P. 0., 
Gabon; was born in Berks Co., Penn., in the 
year 1814; his parents were always residents 
of that county, while his grandparents were 
amongst the earliest settlers of the same. 
Mr. Shumaker remained with his parents till 
about 18 years of age, when he was appren- 
ticed to the shoemakers' trade. He first en- 
gaged in that business in Lycoming Co., of 
his native State, where he carried on a shop 
for more than a year. He was now enabled 
to enlarge his business, and so removed to 
Harrisburg, and kept a boot and shoe store for 
the next four years; then he returned to Ly- 
coming Co., where, this time, he remained 
about four years. His next change occurred 
in October, 1844, when he came to the States of 
Ohio, settling in Fairfield Co., still " sticking 
to his last;" but, having purchased a farm, 
his attention was somewhat divid(Ml between 
shoemaking and farming. His trade seems 
to have become less and less enjoyed, and his 
farm more desirable; accordingly, after thir- 
teen years passed in these two occupations, 
he next removed to Washington Tp., Morrow 
Co., settling on a farm some two miles west 
of his present residence, and engaged alto- 



\ 



^1 



•k^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



751 



gether in larming. At length he moved across 
the county line into Polk Tp., Crawford Co. 
This was in 1864. Here he engaged in a vari- 
etyjof occupations sufficient to crowd the time 
and attention of a half-dozen different men — 
farming, stock-droving, the grocery and com- 
mission business; at the same time owning 
and managing a steam saw-mill. Eight years 
were occupied with these crowding activi- 
ties; in 1S72 he was weary of this variety 
of life, and hence returned to Washington 
Tp., to ])ass the remaining years of his 
life on a fine farm, in the extreme northeast 
of the township. When engaged in business 
in Harrisburg, Penn., he married Miss Susan 
Walton, whose early home was in Muncie, 
Penn., who has shared with him, all these 
changes. The old family Bible tells the fol- 
lowing story: John, born Sept. 3, 1837; Eben- 
ezer, Dec. 38, 1839; Harriet, Sept. 9, 1843, 
(died Nov. 18, 1879;) James, Jan. 30,1845; 
Joseph A., Sept. 7, 1847; Ann M., Oct. 31, 
1849; Elmira C, Feb. 5, 1853; Emily R., June 
9,1854; Clarissie, July 17,1850; Franklin P., 
Dec. 30, 1858. This reveals the fact that all 
these have lived to maturity; one only has 
diftd, and of the remainder, all except two are 
married, and are living in homes of their own, 
more or less distant, one only beyond the 
bounds of the State. Such is a brief record of 
an eventful life crowned with success. 

J. M. STIGERS, merchant; Iberia Station; 
was born in 1844, in Washington Co., Penn. 
When but 8 years of age he was thrown upon 
his own resources, and at that time came 
within the territory of Morrow Co., O., and 
almost immediately settled in Washington 
Tp., at Iberia Station. Stigers had merely 
common school advantages, but these were 
carefully improved upon. Preferring single 
blessedness so far of his life, he is yet unmar- 
ried. When 17 years of age he commenced 
working on the C. C. C. & J. R. R.; two years 
were passed upon the road, one year in the 
passenger depot, and five years in the freight 
depot, in Cleveland; all the time in the emj)loy 
of the same company. In 1869 his health 
failed, and on account of this lie commenced 
the business of a peddler; this he continued 
for five years, when he regained his health 
and returned to Iberia Station, to engage in 
the grocery and commission business, and in 
this business is now engaged with success. 



J. W. SHAFFER, farmer, P. O., Galion; 
was born in Washington Tp., Morrow 
Co., July 17, 1846; his parents (still living on 
the farm adjoining) were among the early 
settlers, coming from Mansfield, O., but origin- 
ally from Germany. Mr. Shatter has spent all 
these 3^ears on his father's farm, or that por- 
tion of it which is come into his possession. 
His opportuniti s for an education were lim- 
ited to the public schools in the near vicinity, 
but these were eagerly seized and conscien- 
tiously improved. May 3, 1866, he married 
Miss Mary Burkhart, whose early home was 
in Pennsylvania, but more recently in Marion 
Co. of this State. They have three children; 
the two oldest are as follows: Sarah Ellen, 13 
years, and Ida May, 7 years of age. Mr. 
Shaffer has a fine farm, numbering 50 acres, 
in a fine state of cultivation. In this he inter- 
ests himself, keeping it in good repair, raising 
good crops, and is making a success as a 
practical farmer. 

ALFRED B. TUTTLE, farmer; P. O., Ga- 
lion, was born in 1843, in Washington Co., 
Penn.; when only four years of age his par- 
ents came to Washington Tp., Morrow Co., 
O., and with them he has spent all his years; 
his mother, widowed in 1868, is still living 
upon that portion of the home farm which was 
allotted to him; although young, at the 
breaking out of the war he enlisted in the 
136th O. N. G., and with that regiment passed 
the term of service in Ft. Lyon, Va.; Oct. 11, 
1870, he was married to Miss Eliza Harding, 
whose early home had always been in this and 
in Marion counties; they have two children — 
Clarence Eugene and Alva Cary : having no po- 
litical aspirations further than t<ydeposit an in- 
telligent vote, aiming only at the best method 
of cultivating his farm, which is sure to bring 
good results, Mr. Tuttle must secure not only 
a competency, but many of the luxuries of 
life. 

OWEN TUTTLE, farmer; P. O., Galion; 
was born in Washington Co., Penn., May 38, 
1837; his parents were natives of that county; 
his grandfather was engaged in the war of the 
Revolution; Mr. Tuttle's parents came to 
Washington Tp., Morrow Co., ()., when he 
was but ten years of age; on the farm of his 
parents he spent his minority, and in 1863 lie 
enlisted in the service of his country in the 
4oth O. V. I., which was an old regiment re- 



'K 



ii. 



752 



BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



oi'iranizetl; alttM- tlut'c months' service he was 
lionorahly ilischarireil; alter his return to his 
lionie, he aoain enlisted, this time in the l.'JGth 
(). N. G., which passed its term of service in 
Ft. Ly»)n, X'irjrinia; at the ch)se of the war, 
Mr. Tuttle and his brother leased the home 
farm, which, at the death of his father, was 
divided, about 130 acres falling to his share; 



June 10, 1HG7, he married Marj^aret Gilliland, 
whose early home was in the near vicinity; 
they hav« one daughter, Mary L,, 12 years 
of aj^e. In the year of his marriaf^e he built 
a fine house, and now, surrounded pleasantly, 
with enough to secure a competency, he is 
prepared to enjoy the best that life brings. 



BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



JOHN ALLISON, farmer and stock-dealer; 
P. O., Bloomiicld; is the oldest son of O. Al- 
lison, whose famdy history is in this work. 
He was born in Columbiana Co., Ohio, June 
2\), 1834. John remained with his parents 
until he reached his majority, and then, in 
connection witli his father, engaged in stock- 
dealing until he was 2S years of age. He was 
united in marriage May 4, 1802, with Mary A., 
daughter of B. F. Vail, by whom he had five 
children — Franklin M., born May 5, 18(13, 
died Aj)ril 24, 18G0; Fred, born July 25, 18G7; 
Carrie A., born April 17, 1870, and died Jan. 
23, 1872; Howard, born Dec. 28, 1872; Ralph 
H., born Sept. 1(1, 187!>. The mother was 
born Oct. 17, 1842, and was one in a family 
of twelve. Mr. Allison is a Republican, and 
he and his wife are members of the M. E. 
Church at Bloomfield. He enlisted for three 
months in Co. A., 20th Reg., in the war of 
Secession. He owns 115 acres of excellent 
land, which he farms in connection with deal- 
ing in stock. .Mr. Allison is one of the nine 
men who have charge of the beautiful ceme- 
tery north of Bloomfield. Mr. Allison is one 
of the most intelligent and infiuential men in 
Bennington Tp. He is enterprising and pub- 
lic spirited, and is a highly honorable citizen. 

BURTON J. ASHLKV,\Marengo, was l)orn 
in Bennington Tp., Morrow Co., ()., March 17, 
1857. He began going to school at the remark- 
ably early age of three and one-half years, and 
continued this winter and summer until he 
was clever, years old. His father then re- 
quiring his services on the farm, kept him at 
home summers, but contiiuied to send him to 
school during the vvint(^r months until he was 
]G, when he was employed by an organ agent 



for $20 per month to show the excellencies of 
the instruments. In the fall of 1873 he attend- 
ed the Cardington Union Schools, but came 
home to attend school during the winter. The 
following summer he sold sheet music and 
musical periodicals, farming while not thus 
engaged. In the fall of 1874 he went to Mt. 
Gilead to school, and the following winter 
taught his first term. He was then 17 years 
old. This school was a difficult one and had 
a hard name, but after some preliminary 
skirmishing, during which some of the worst 
characters received prompt and summary 
correction, it was easily governed. The next 
summer he taught his home school, and in 
the following fall started for Oberly, where 
he remained two and a half years, completing 
the scientific course of that college. l)uring 
his last term he taught two classes in book- 
keeping in the college. During the vacations 
he would teach to get means to continue his 
college course. On Nov. 24th, 1877, he was 
married to Addie L., daughter ofAbnerand 
Abbey A. (Morris) Sherman. Mr. Ashley's 
parents are Harrison E. and Adaline (Benson) 
Ashley, Harrisoti ))eing the grandson of the 
illustrious Eld. William II. Ashley, who figured 
so prominently in the early history of this 
and neighboring T[)S. He taught in Har- 
mony township the winter of 1877-8, and the 
succeeding fall and winter, the fall term being 
a select school. The following spring and 
summer he worked with his father. In the 
spring of 187!» he moved to Marengo, and 
lived there during the summer, fitting himself 
for teaching. The following fall he began in 
the graded school at Sparta, teaching there 
the fall, Avinter and spring terms. The Board 



"© V 



a; 



k 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



753 



of Education, hig-hly pleased with liis school, 
has employed him for the coming year. Mr. 
Ashley has shown more than ordinary talent 
for music and in the acquirement of knowl- 
edge; he began to play the violin when eight 
years old, and when 14 purchased an organ, 
paying for it by his own labors and giving a 
colt he owned as part payment. Since then 
he has been connected with many musical 
entertainments and concerts throughout the 
southeastern part of the county. Mr. Ashley 
has shown a perseverance in the pursuit of 
knowledge worthy of imitation. He made 
his way at Oberlin by his own endeavors, 
teaching and economizing, and the result is 
that he has a fine education. He is a Repub- 
lican and is a member of the Christian church 
at Sparta. He is also a surveyor and civil 
engineer, and is a commissioned notary pub- 
lic, his office being in Sparta. He owns forty 
acres of nice land in Bennington Tp., which 
is clear of all encumbrances. 

JOSIAH BENNETT, farmer, stock-dealer, 
wool-grower and bee-keeper; P. O., Bloom- 
field. In about 1825 Josiah S. and Lydia 
(Cook) Bennett, natives of New York and 
New Jersey, emigrated to Bennington Tp., 
Morrow Co., O., locating in the vicinity of 
what is now known as Vail's cross roads. 
After enduring much hardship and privation 
incident to pioneer life, they secured a com- 
fortable home. Here they raised a family of 
nine children — Daniel C, Phoebe C, Jona- 
than, Josiah, Charlotte, A. D., Townzend B., 
Seaner E. and Andrew L. Andrew, Charlotte 
and Daniel are dead; the others are living 
and married. .Josiah was born in Benning- 
ton Tp., Sept. 16, 1829. He lived with his 
])arents until he was 19. He was united in 
marriage Sept. 6, 1853, to Eunice Greene, 
daughter of Stephen and Rebecca (Sherman) 
Greene, by whom he has a family of three 
sons and two daughters — Rozilla, born July 
9, 1857; Douglass", Aug. 29, 1860; Royal T., 
March 12, 1866; Clara, June 10, 1870. The 
fifth child died in infancy. Those living are 
yet at home. Mr. Bennett owns 171t acres 
of well improved land, upon which he has 
just erected the finest house in Bennington 
Tp. The house is very handy and commo- 
dious, and is built of the finest materials that 
could be secured. The wood-work, for artis- 
tic finish and design, will rival many a house 



of greater pretensions in the larger cities. It 
was planned by Mr. Bennett himself, who 
proves to be an excellent architectural de- 
signer. Mr. Bennett is built like Hercules, 
and weighs 268 lbs.; he is the largest and 
strongest man in Bennington Tp. He is a 
strong Jackson Democrat, and is the Voltaire 
of the neighborhood, having been an infidel 
for many years. His wife is a Universalist, 
Mr. Bennett is a prominent and successful 
farmer, and manages his large farm with con- 
summate sagacity and skill. The family is 
intimately connected with the history of Ben- 
nington Tp,, and much will be found of them 
in the body of this work. 

♦ELIZABETH CULVER, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. 0., B'loomfield; is the daughter of 
Jonathan and Millison (.Jennings) Bennett, 
who had twelve children — Sally, Robert, .Jo- 
siah, Susan, Berthsheba, Mary, Martha, Ma- 
tilda, Mariah, Elizabeth, William and Mimi; 
Matilda and Elizabeth are the only ones now 
living of this large family; Elizabeth was 
born in New York, in 1810, and moved to 
Ohio in 1824; she was married May 10, 1827, 
to William Culver, and by him had nine 
children — .James, born in Sept, 1828, married 
Elizabeth I3ecker, and lives in Bennington 
Tp., as does all the family ;Harriet, born May 7, 
1830, is the widow of John A. Taylor; Mar- 
tha was born in September, 1833, and is the 
wife of Stephen Gage; >A.aron, born May 19, 
1836, and married ^elvina Powell; Asel, 
born June 7, 1842, and was drowned in "a 
river in New Mexico July 18, 1875; Mary, 
born April 19, 1838, arid died August 30, 
1859; Jonathan was born in March, 1844, and 
is the husband of Harriet Dunham; Sarah 
M., born March 26, 1848, is the wife of Tho- 
mas Chase; Jesse B., born July 15, 1846, and 
was married September 17, 1878, to Nettie 
Boner, and by her had one child, Daisy, born 
March 16, 1880; Jesse has always made his 
home wnth his parents; he has eighty acres 
of land, while the parents have 190 acres; 
they came to Bennington Tp. in 1830, and 
have lived there ever since; two of the boys 
were in the war of Secession; Asel was a pri- 
vate, and Jonathan was second lieutenant; 
they, generally speaking, are Republicans, 
and are large land owners in Bennington. 

WILLIAM DAVIS, Marengo; son of Na- 
thaniel and Martha (Doty) Davis; was l)orn in 



754 



BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



Ktiox Co., Ohio, Sept. 30, 1822; he remained 
with his father until he died, which was Aug. 
G, 1839. His schooling was very limited, 
consisting of but two or three terms of winter 
school; the school house he remembers as a 
log cabin, with a portion of one of the logs 
sawed out for a window, and oiled jiaper 
served in the stead of window glass. In this 
poorly constructed concern he received only 
the rudiments of an education; since that 
time and out of school he his acquired quite 
a good knowledge of books and sufficient to 
])ass a teacher's examination. When Mr. 
Davis first attended school, children that 
could read, write and cipher were considered 
graduates. "William remained with his mother 
after his father's death, until she married John 
Lash. On the 30th of Nov., 1844, he was 
married to l^ovina Vining, daughter of John 
and Abigail (Ganong) Vining. No family 
has ever been born to this union. They have 
raised two orphan children from infancy and 
])artly raised two others. James Rice and 
Juliet Davis were brought up by Mr. and Mrs. 
Davis. These children now are married and 
occupy responsible positions in the neighbor- 
hood in ^yhich they live. Mr. Davis started 
in life with scarcely a shilling, but by industry, 
frugality and hard labor, he has amassed quite 
a fortune. His place is nicely situated on the 
Mt. Vernon road, one mile east of Marengo, 
and consists of 269 acres of good land. He 
has acquired this by farming and stock-deal- 
ing, and is said to be one of the most exten- 
sive stock-dealers in Morrow Co. Though 
successful in business, Mr. Davis has been 
unfortunate in having met with severe acci- 
dents Ijy flood and field. Once, when only a 
child, he fell in a deep spring, and was only 
rescued from drowning by the timely arrival 
of his sister. At another time he was on a 
steamboat in Lake Erie when it collided with 
a lumber-laden brig, and only escaped drown- 
ing by a miracle. He was also in the great 
railroad hjrror that occurred in Iowa in 1877. 
In this wreck there was over thirty killed and 
a groat number wounded. In this accident 
Mr. Davis received severe injuries, the Iowa 
State liecfister to the contrary. His last acci- 
dent occurred the latter part of June, 1880. 
While riding in his carriage the horse took 
fright and ran away, throwing Mr. Davis out 
and kicking him on the hip so severely that 



the thigh bone was broken al)out two inches 
from the hip-socket. Though an old man, 
the vigorous constitution he possesses will 
carry him through, so that he may again as- 
sume his usual prominent position in society. 
He is a staunch Republican in politics, but 
has steadily declined positions of honor and 
trust tendered him. He is one of the most 
prominent and upright men in Bennington 
Tp. and south-eastern Morrow Co. 

ELIZABETH R. HESS; Marengo. Phillip 
and Deborah (Flood) Gage were natives of 
Woodbridge, N. J., the former being born in 
1791, and the latter in 1793; they were united 
in marriage in June, 1813, and to this union 
was born the following family — Mary E., born 
April, 1814; Martha in March, 1816; Clark- 
son, in Aug., 1818; Bloomfield, in Aug., 1822; 
Sarah A., July, 1825; Stephen, May, 1828; 
Elizabeth, Jan'y, 1831, and George in 1835. 
Mary, Martha, Sarah and Bloomfield are dead. 
Mary married G. W. Hess; she is now dead. 
After Mary's death, Elizabeth married G. W. 
Hess, and had one son, Madison C, born 
Dec. 12, 1873; died Aug. 14, 1874. Mr. Hess 
is dead, but his widow survives him, and is 
living with her parents. Clarkson is single, 
and still lives with his parents; Stephen is 
maried, and lives in Bennington Tp.; Phil- 
lip, though 89 years of age, is yet almost as 
lively as a boy, being remarkably vigorous 
and active for a man, almost four-score-and- 
ten. His wife is almost as lively as he, and 
both are singidarly well preserved, for persons 
who have suffered the hardships of pioneer 
life. Phillip owns nearly 325 acres of well 
improved land. His sons now living our far- 
mers. He is a Repul)lican in politics, and a 
Presbyterian in religion. The Gages are old 
settlers, and are well known and highly re- 
spected in Berinington Tp. 

AARON B. KEES, farmer and stock-dealer; 
P. O., Bloomfield. Samuel Kees, the son of 
Russel Kees, was born in Ohio, in Oct. 1811. 
He was married to Margaret, daughter of 
John and Sophia (L\ice) Hadley, June 20, 
1833. To this union was born a family of ten 
children — Samantha M., born Nov. 20, 1834; 
Minerva J., March 23, 1837; Thomas J., Sept. 
3, 1839; Aaron B., Oct. 13, 1841; Sophia E., 
July 6, 1844; Angeline, Oct. 23, 1847; Mary 
and Martha, twins, March 23, 1851; Margaret 
A., Jan. 15, 1854, and Kate A., March 19, 1857. 



Ml 



>?- 



BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Thomas died May 20, 1874; Samantha married 
Osgood Duston, the first blacksmith in Sparta; 
Minerva married Mathias McKinstry, and lives 
in Hardin Co., Ohio; Sophia married James 
Carson, and lives in Sandusky Co., Ohio; An- 
geline married James Gage,* and lives in Iowa ; 
Martha married Henry Keller, and lives in 
Morrow Co.; Margaret married Jacob Berry, 
and lives in Illinois; Mary and Katie are 
single, and live at home with their mother; 
the mother was born Sept. 2, 1816; the fa- 
ther died July 27, 1875; his son, Aaron 
B., passed his youth and early manhood at 
home with his parents. \yhen twenty years 
of age, he enlisted in Co. B., 43 Reg. O. V. I. 
This was Nov. 22, 1861; he first went into 
camp at Mt. Vernon, where he staid until Feb- 
ruary the following year; he was then sent to 
Missouri; he was, until the battle of Vicksburg, 
in " Fuller's Brigade," and after that time 
was with Sherman on his March to the Sea. He 
was in the battles of New'Madrid, Island Num- 
ber 10, luka, Kenasaw, Corinth, Resacca, At- 
lanta, Dallas, etc. He was discharged July 
13, 1865, having served all through the war, 
without being wounded. The latter part 
of the war he held the rank of corporal. He 
was united in marriage Dec. 21, 1865, to Miss 
Huldah Sprague, daughter of Alpheus and 
Jane (Courtright) Sprague, and by her has the 
following family: Flora B., born Nov. 4, 
1866; Calvin D., born March 6, 1868; Charley 
C, March 12, 1870; Carrie D., July 26, 1876, 
and Maggie M., August 1, 1879. All of these 
are living at home with their parents. Mr. 
Kees's folks owns 220 acres of nice land; and 
Mr. Kees himself own forty-nine acres adjoin- 
ing the old homestead. He is a Republican, 
and he and his wife are members of th M. E. 
Church at Bloomfield. 

WILLIAM KING, Bennington; was born 
in Franklin Co., O., in 1872. His parents 
were Samuel and Martha (McElvain) King, 
the former being born in 1777 and the latter 
in 1782. They were united in marriage in 
1801, and to this union, were born, the follow- 
ing family: Elizabeth, born 1801; Magdalena 
1803; Thurzza, 1805; Samuel McElvain, 1807, 
Robert, 1809; William, 1812. The girls 
in this family are dead. Samuel lives in 
Franklin Co.; he married Nancy.Daugherty, 
and has a family of nine children, two of whom 
are dead. Robert lives in Missouri; he mar- 



ried Sarah Anderson, and has four children, 
one of whom is dead. The father of this 
family had two wives, the latter being Adaline 
Vincent, by whom he had one child. William, 
the subject of this sketch, passed his early 
years at Columbus, receiving scarcely no ed- 
ucation. When twelve years of age he served 
an apprenticeship at the baking business, 
finishing at the end of two years; he w^orked 
at his trade for a short time, and the balance 
of time before his marriage was spent upon 
his father's farm. On the 28th of June, 1831, 
he married Mar\^ Ann, daughter of Isaac and 
Millicent (Harris) Eastwood, by whom he has 
a family of fourteen children; Martha Jane, 
born in 1832; George P., 1834; Susan H., 
1837; John Wesley, 1839; Millicent E., 1841; 
Harriet E., 1843; William C, 1845; Joseph 
McE., 1847; Mary Frances, 1852; Emma C, 
1853; Charles W., 1855, and Samuel W. 1859; 
The other two died in infancy; Martha mar- 
ried Joseph Goetschins, and lives in Illinois. 
George has been in California for many years; 
Susan married Theodore Benedict; John, 
Harriet and Millicent, are dead; William 
married Sophia Lucas, and lives in Kansas; 
Joseph married Emma Cooley and lives in 
Kansas; Mary married W. T. Armstrong, 
and lives in Columbus; Emma is at home, 
single. Charles married Ella Lane, and lives 
in Franklin Co.; Samviel is at home, single. 
Mr. King is a local minister in the 
M. E. Church. He is a strong and prominent 
Republican. In September, 1862, he enlisted 
in the 81st Reg. O. V. 1. At the end of 
eighteen months he was discharged for pro- 
motion, and was appointed, by Gen. Dodge, 
Chaplain of the 110th U. S, Colored Infantry, 
in which capacity he served steadily, until 
nine months after the close of the war. He 
was taken prisoner at Athens by General 
Forest, and after being kept about five 
weeks at Meridian, and Enterprise, Missis- 
sippi,was sent North, where, after some troub- 
le, he rejoined his regiment. His father came 
to Ohio in 1800, and settled in Franklington, 
and was the first white man to cut timebr on 
"High Banks," near Columbus. 

JOHN C. MEAD, Marengo; was born in 
Westchester Co., N. Y., in 1824. His parents 
were Martin and Mary (Travis) Mead, the 
former being a native of Connecticut, and 
the latter of New York. Their children were 



;Rr 



» ^ 



75G 



BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



— Alva H., Amaziah, John C, A. J. and Abel; 
Alva was united in marriao^e with Harriet 
l)oy, who bore him one child, but the father 
is now dead; Aniaziah married Sarah Court- 
wri<>;lit, and by lier has a family of seven chil- 
drtm, two of wliom are dead; he lives in 
Dehiware; A. J. resi<h?s in Indiana; he niar- 
riiMl Elizabeth Rineliart, and by lier has two 
children; Abel (bed when a boy; John C. 
])assed the first ten years of his life in New 
York; in 1854 he came to Ohio, and settled 
near Mt. Vernon, but, at the expiration of 
about one year, located in Bennington Tp., 
Morrow Co., near Vail's Cross Roads; in ISG.'] 
he moved to Delaware Co., but at the end of 
nine years returned to Bennington Tp., and 
bought the place he now occupies. Mr. Mead 
remained with his father until the age of 21; 
then, after working for himself for about two 
years, away from home, he returned and lived 
withJiis father, who was sick, for four years; 
after this the proceeds of his labor went to 
himself. While in Delaware Co. he owned 
IM) acres of land, but prior to this time he had 
owned 50 acres near VaiPs Cross Roads; these 
two farms were disposed of, and Mr. Mead at 
present owns 115 acres of nice land close to 
the village of Marengo. On the 18th of Jan- 
miry, 1849, he married Margaret J. Vining, 
who bore him the following children — Alva, 
Frank, Henry, Wesley and Joseph; Alva 
married Martha Vananken — has one child, and 
lives in Iowa; Frank married Flora Bronson, 
and lives at Boone, Iowa; Henry is at Boone, 
Singh;; Wesley is on the C. & N. W. R. R., 
in Iowa; Joseph is at Belle Plain, Iowa. Mr. 
Mead's hrst wife died in Jmie, 18G9, and in 
January, 1870, he married Mary Noe, daugh- 
ter of George Noe, and by her has three chil- 
dren — Fred, Gertrude and Nellie; these chil- 
dren are all living. Mr. Mead is a Republi- 
can, and his wife is a member of the M. E. 
Church at Marengo. He is nicely located 
n(;ar a growing town, and the proximity of 
the new railroad will increase the value of his 
property. He is one of the most prominent 
men in Bennington Tp. 

ROBERT L. NOE, Marengo; was born 
in Madison Co., New Jersey, October IG, 
1819. His parents were Roliert Noe and 
Mary (Ta|)pin) Noe, who came to Bennington 
Tp. and settled a half mile north of Marengo 
in IS'^'i. The Noes are descended from three 



brothers of that name who came from France 
five or six generations ago to escape the ter- 
rors of some of the French revolutions. Grand- 
father Noe's name was .John, who had among 
others the following children — Marsh, Jona- 
than, Elias and Rob(;rt. Robert married as 
alxjve and had the following family — Susan, 
P^liiis, Samuel, Mary iVnn, William, Margaret, 
James H., George T. and Robert L. Susan 
died in infancy, Elias died early in life, Sam- 
uel died in early maidiood; Mary Ann mar- 
ried Calvin Vining and lived in Bennington 
Tp. and has a numerous family; William 
married Albacinda Crane, and has a fanuly of 
nine children and lives near Marengo; Mar- 
garet married William Johnson, has a numer- 
our family and lives in Illinois; James H. 
married Caroline Page and moved to Tipton, 
Iowa. He has a large family. George T. 
married Sarah Doty; has seven children and 
lives in Bennington Tp. Robert L. received 
but a common school education in youth, and 
as he was the youngest son he remained with 
his father managing the old farm until the 
death of the father in 18G1. On the 4th of 
July, 1849, he married Fannie E. Morris, 
danghter of Joseph P. and Ann (Voorhies) 
Morris, and by her has four children — Joseph 
Augustus and Ann Augusta, twins, born 1852, 
Mary E. born 185G, and Bell, born 18G0. 
Joseph married Bida Osborne, daughter of 
Abraham Osborne, in 1875; they have one 
child, Maud, born 1878. Ann married .James 
C. Evans, son of Thomas Evans, in 18G8, and 
has two children — Charles and Gracie. Mary 
married Dr. J. W. Pratt in 1878 and has one 
child, Edna. Bell married Alexander Ram- 
sey, son of Samuel Rams(;y, of Delaware Co. 
Joseph P. Morris had the following family — 
Augustus, Abby Ann and Fannie E. The 
son died in Mt. Vernon in 1843. Abby mar- 
ried Abner Sherman, has four children and 
lives in Bennington Tp. Fannie E. is the 
wife of our subject. Robert L. Noe is a rad- 
ical Republican, and himself and family are 
members of the M. K. Church. He has oc- 
c>]j)ied many }>ositions of trust in the town- 
ship; he was for eight consecutive years town- 
ship assessor. He was projector of the town 
of Marengo, and his land now surrounds the 
whoh; town. He is one of the most promi- 
nent men in the township. 

SAMUEL B. PAGE, M. D., retired phys- 



?1^ 



t— ^ 



^'. 



'\±^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



ician, farmer and wool grower; P. O., Page- 
town; was born in New York, Jan. 15, 1818. 
His parents were Isaac and Polly (Bennett) 
Page; prior to his marriage with Polly Ben- 
nett, Isaac had married Betsey Page, but af- 
ter her death was married to Polly Bennett. 
Isaac by his first wife had six children — Ty- 
rus, Betsey, John — who was deaf and dumb — 
Harmon, Alva and Isaac; ail in tliis family 
are dead. By his second wife Mr. Page had 
the following family — Irena, who died when 
young; Lewis, Samuel, Irena, William, Wes- 
ley, James and Solon; Samuel and Solon are 
the only ones living. The mother died in 
1S64, and the father in 1848. When Samuel 
was about 16 years old he conceived the idea 
of studying medicine; he read under Dr. 
Griffiths of New York — an alopathic physician 
— and completed a thorough course of medi- 
cal lectures at Fairfield, New York, in 1837. 
He soon afterwards moved to the neighbor- 
hood in which he now lives, and commenced 
the practice of medicine at the age of 19. He 
continued the work there for ten years, and 
then moved to Mt. Gilead, where he practiced 
medicine and engaged in the dry goods busi- 
ness with brother, as a partner. He was a 
popular physician, and the first one in Page- 
town. Dr. Page was often called to go fif- 
teen and twenty miles away to see the sick. 
At present he is not practicing medicine, 
having retired a number of years ago. He is 
now engaged in wool growing, and has been 
in that business for a number of years. In 
1839 he was married to Eliza Marvin, daugh- 
ter of Stephen Marvin, and has by her one 
child — Frederick M., born May 24, 18G5. 
Mr. Page's grandfather Bennett was a soldier 
in the war of 1812, while the doctor himself 
served with distinction in the celebrated 
"Squirrel Campaign" at Cincinnati. Dr. 
Page is one of the most prominent men in 
southern Bennington, and is closely identi- 
fied with its history. He has shown sufficient 
business sagacity during life to accumulate 
several hundred acres of nice land. 

JOHN PIERCE, Marengo; was born in Ben- 
nington Tp., in 1843. He is the son of John 
and Eunice (Turney) Pierce, who were par- 
ents of the following family — Clark, Wesley, 
John and Elizabeth. Clark was a member 
of the 121st Itegiment, Co. C, O. V. I, and 
was killed at the battle of Kenesaw Moun- 



tain, while valiantly fighting in defense of his 
country. Wesley married Samantha Beard, 
and lives in Hardin Co.; Elizabeth is the wile 
of Albert DeGood, whose biography appears 
in the history of Delaware Co. John lived 
with his parents on the farm, going to school 
until he was of age. On the 4th of June, 
1870, he married Berintha Morhouse, and by 
her has three children — Frank, born in 1871; 
Ernest, 1873, and Elsie, 1877. Mr. I iercc 
owns 100 acres of good land in Bennington 
Tp., upon which he resides. This farm is 
noted for being plentifully supplied with 
springs of pure water. Mr. Pierce is a Dem- 
ocrat, and is said to be an excellent farmer. 

LYDIA A. (DWINNELL) ROGERS, far- 
mer; P. O., Page town. This lady is the 
daughter of Allen and Lydia (Harris) Dwin- 
nell, who were among the earliest settlers in 
the township. Father Allen was the projec- 
tor of Bennington Tp., and the one who 
named it. He was born in 1785, and his wife 
in 1783; and they were married in 1804. To 
them was born the following family — Sallv, 
1809; Clark H., 1812; Phillip P., 1814; Han- 
nah O., 1815, and Lydia Ann, 1821. The 
father died in 1836, and the mother in 1855. 
Much of Mr. Dwinnell's life will be found in 
the history of Bennington Tp. He was a 
Frenchman, with the native suavity and po- 
liteness that characterize those people. Lydia 
received the best education that the common 
schools afforded, and finished at the Female 
Seminary , at Granville in two years. In 1840 
she married Seal S. Rogers, son of William 
and Elizabeth (Wyant) Rogers, who had the 
following family — Mary and Sarah, who were 
twins; Uriah, Robert, Hannah, James, Char- 
lotte, Seal, John and Caroline. Lydia and 
husband have had the following family — 
Clark D., born 1842, and Mary Eugenie, 1844; 
Mary E., died in 1862; Clark was married in 
18G5 to Polly, daughter of Elias Wilson; he 
has no family. Allen Dwinnell was an old 
line Whig, and gloried in that cognomen. 
Seal Rogers was the same. Lydia Rogers is 
a Universalist, while her husband was a "New 
Light." The Dwinnells wore Methodists. 
Lydia owns 125 acres of fine land, and her 
son Clark owns 65. The son lives with his 
mother in the old Rogers place. The mother 
received a much better education than chi.- 
dren usually obtained in those early days. 



'K 



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758 



BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



Her father owned large bodies of land, and 
for the backwoods, was considered a wealthy 
man. He was a justice of the peace, a lawyer, 
and was a man of distinction in that section. 
^yILLTAM A. OTEKKITT, farmer; P. O., 
Marengo; was born in Pennsylvania, May 24, 
1830; his father was born in 17'J4, and mother 
in 1799; they were married about 1820, 
their names being, respectively, Alexander 
Sterritt and Margaret Montgomery; there 
were six children in their family, as follows: 
—Rebecca, born Oct. 1822; John, July, 1824, 
Robert, Jan'y, 1827; William A., Matthew D., 
Feb., 1833; Thomas, Nov., 1835; his first 
wife, Margaret, having died, he married Mar- 
garet Davidson, and had by her James P., 
born Feb., 1840, Martha Jane, Nov., 1841, 
and Mary Ann, June, 1874; his first wife 
died Feb. 3, 1838, and the father died in 
1844, Nov. 24; Rebecca married William 
Simpson, .John married Emily Oakle}^, Robert 
married Mary Carnes, Matthew married EUeu 
Anderson, James married Catharine Burton, 
Martha married a Mr. Donaldson, and after 
his death in the army married again; Mary is 
single, and all these children live in Pennsyl- 
vania; William lived with, his father until he 
was about 14 years old, and then hired out by 
the month on neighboring farms, and worked 
thus until in his 17th year, when himself and 
Vjrother Robert leased a farm and began to 
improve it; he continued thus working on the 
farm during the summer season, and chojjping 
in the lumber country during the winters, for 
seven years; In 1854 he came to Ohio and 
began working at the carj^enter trade in Ben- 
nington Tp. ; in 18G0 he purchased seventy- 
five acres of land, where he now lives, and 
has since added to it at divers times, until he 
now owns 107 acres of well improved land; 
in 1858 he married Sarah, daughter of Wil- 
liam Noe, and by h;^r had three children — 
William B., born 1859, Theresa S., 1861, 
and Ora B., 18G5; Sarah, his wife, died 
July, 1805, and in September, 1866, he mar- 
ried Ellen Doty, and by her has five children 
— Elza, born Dec, 1807, Mary E., Jan., 
1868, Alfred, Aug., 1871, Mattie", born Sept., 
1874, and Robert, April, 1876; all these 
children are living, and are yet at home; 
Mr. Sterritt is a staunch Rejiublican, and 
his wife is a member of the M. E. Church; 
his father was in the war of 1812, and his 



grandfather was in the Revolutionary war; 
the Montgomerys settled in the eastern part 
of Pennsylvania, in 1801, and the Sterritts 
settled at what is now called " Sterritt's Gap," 
in eastern Penn., before the Revolution; the 
Sterritts are of English descent, and the 
Montgomerys of Irisli; Mr. Sterritt's brother 
Matthew enlisted in the celebrated 121st O. 
V. I., and served with it in all its movements 
of daring and death, until mustered out of 
service at the close of the war; Mr. Sterritt 
is one of the most prominent men in Benning- 
ton. 

EZRA C. STEWART, Page town; is a na- 
tive of Ohio; he is the son of Solomon and Nan- 
cy White) Stewart, who had the following fam- 
ily — Polly, Charlotte, Ezra C, Ruth, Harvey 
and Emily — Charlotte and Emily being dead. 
Polly is the widow of David Babcock, and 
lives in Porter Tp., Delaware Co.; Char- 
lotte married Marcus Van Sickle, and died 
without issue, Oct. 1850; Ruth married Ira 
Van Sickle, and lives in Wood Co., O.; Har- 
vey married Mary O. Andrews, and resides in 
Wood Co.; Emily became the wife of George 
Page, and died, leaving a family of four chil- 
dren. The father was one of the earliest set- 
tlers in the Tp., as well as one of the most 
prominent, and died in June 1849. The 
mother is yet living with her daughter, Polly. 
Our subject was born Dec. 8, 1820. He re- 
mained with his father until the age of twen- 
ty-eight, and for a few years after that date 
taught school, and worked at the carpenter 
trade. On the 15th, of Sept. 1853, he was 
united in marriage with Lavina M., daughter 
of Nehemiah and Mary (Austin) Barnhard, 
and by her had the following children — 
George E., Martha A., Mi rah, Emma A., 
Charles E., Elnora, Mary A., William C, Ed- 
win O., James L., Harry, a girl baby, and a 
child that died in infancy. Mr. Stewart 
moved to Pagetown in April 1875. He owns 
four acres in Pagetown, and sixtv acres in 
Kingston Tp., Delaware Co.; he has'been hon- 
ored with diiferent township offices, serving as 
Justice of the Peace ten years, and was com- 
missioned Notary Public for three years. 
He is at present Collection xVgent, and No- 
tary Public; himself and family are members 
of the Wesleyan Church at Morton's Corners. 
The father of our subject, was a soldier in the 
war of 1812, and his grandfather served in 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



759 



the War of Independence, and was also hon- 
ored in New York, by being elected to the 
State Legislature. Our subject is one of the 
most prominent and intelligent men in the 
township. 

TOBIAS STILLEV^ Marengo. The sub- 
ject of this sketch is a grand-nephew of the 
celebrated pioneer and hunter, John Stilley, 
who settled in Knox Co. the latter part of the 
last century. The family have become his- 
torical, their deeds in the forest becoming 
traditional and absorbingly interesting. They 
located on Owl Creek, and were the means of 
leading the tide of emigration into that fer- 
tile region. Tobias was born in Pennsyl- 
vania in 1814, his parents being John Stilley, 
a nephew of the elder Stilley, and Mary 
(Caykendall) Stilley. These parents had a 
large family, as follows — Tobias, Eliza, Jere- 
miah, Ruth, James, Nancy, Rebecca, Mary, 
Sampson and Joel, all of whom are living ex- 
cept Jeremiah and Joel. Tobias' youth was 
spent in Chester Tp. When 19 years old he 
began for himself; and after many years of 
toil and hardship finally has a pleasant home. 
In 1833 he married Susan Bowles, daughter 
of Thomas Bowles, of Chester Tp.; they have 
four children: Rachel, Jeremiah, Ann and 
Luvila, all of whom are married and have 
families. His wife, Su?an, died in 1845, and 
in a few years afterwards he married Eliza 
Ann Price, daughter of John Price, of Ben- 
nington Tp. He has one child by his second 
wife— Samuel M., born in 1852. The Stilley 
family are of German descent, and the father 
and son are enthusiastic Republicans. Tobias' 
father came to Ohio in 1818, and located on 
Owl Creek. In 1878 he died, aged 86. Sam- 
uel was born in Franklin Tp., and owns at 
present 125 acres of land, his father owning 
fifty adjoining that of the son. The family 
are good citizens and neighbors, and are 
prominent in all affairs of benefit to the 
community. 

EDWARD R. SHOTWELL, Marengo, 
was born in Rah way. New Jersey, Aug. 19, 
1811, and came to Bennington Tp. in 1845. 
His father was Peter Shotwell, who was de- 
scended from iVbraham Shotwell, a settler in 
the Province of New Jersey in 1G65, or ear- 
lier. His mother was a descendant of the 
old Fitz Randolph families of the East. 

MARGARET TRAVIS; Page town ; daugh- 



ter of John and Sarah (Test) Morris; was born 
in Green Co., Pa., Jan. 18, 1819. When Mar- 
garet was eleven years old her mother died, 
leaving the care and responsibility of the fam- 
ily upon her; she remainad at home one and 
a half years, and then hired out to do house- 
work for the neighbors. On the 10th of June, 
1840, she was united in marriage with Isaac 
B. Travis, son of David and Deborah (Smith) 
Travis. Isaac was born Feb. 21, 1818; his 
father dying when he was a small child; he 
lived with his mother helping her, until he 
was married. After this the motlier lived 
with her son until her death, which occurred 
in 1846; she was a kind, God-fearing mother, 
and reared her son under the light of the Gos- 
pel of Christ. Isaac learned the shoemaking 
trade when quite young, and worked at that 
in connection with his farm until his death, 
which occurred Aug. 6th, 1877. He came 
with his mother to Ohio in 1820, and became 
one of the influential men of his neighbor- 
hood; he was often consulted by his neigh- 
bors on questions of agriculture and stock- 
raising, and when he died his death was 
greatly deplored by his neighborhood, and es- 
pecially by his devoted wife and family; his 
body was laid to rest in the beautiful ceme- 
tery between Sparta and Bloomfield. Isaac 
and Margaret, as the fruit of their union, had 
the following family — Sarah Jane, born March 
10, 1841, and died" March 15, 1851; Adaline, 
born Nov., 18, 1846, and died March 12, 
1851; Mary, born Dec. 27, 1851, and dec'd; 
and David S., born Jan. 26, 1858; David is 
still li\ang. Sarah and Adaline died within 
three days of each other, the former on her 
death-bed consoled with religion, shouting 
praises to God. The mother and her son, 
David, live together on the old place in 
Bennington Tp. December, 1877, David was 
united in marriage with Ella Mel linger, 
daughter of Jacob Mellinger, of Bennington 
Tp. The Travises own 165 acres of excellent 
land, and are promising citizens in southern 
Bennington; all are earnest woi-kers in the 
Methodist Church, and all are well known and 
universally respected throughout the neigh- 
borhood. 

SEMANTHA WELLS; Pagetown; was 
born July 18, 1808. ' Her parents, Isaac Davis 
and Betsey Vining, were married in March, 
1805, and had a famil}' of three children — 



\ 



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760 



BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



Simeon, born June 21, 180G; Semaiitha and 
Milton, l)orn in 1811. Tlie oldest and young- 
est are both dead. Seniantha passed her early 
years in the woods. Her fath r came into 
Benninf^ton Tp. when she was ten years old, 
and was among the first settlers in the town- 
ship. He was the first man in the township 
to introduce sheep, and during liis life^figured 
prominently in the early aiVairs of his locality. 
Seniantha received but a meagre education. 
Her life has been one unceasing round of toil, 
and though 7'1 3'ears old, she is yet blessed 
with a clear mind and witii good health. In 
1825 she married Abraham Wells, and by him 
had the following family : Roslinda, born 
lSv*G; James M., 18'28; lietsey Jane, 1830; 
Milton, 1832; Isaac, 1835, and AVilbur, 1838. 
James and Betsey are dead; Milton lives with 
his mother; Isaac lives just north of Morton's 
Corners, and Wilbur is in Illinois. Roslinda 
married Edmund Morton in 1844, and by him 
had the following family: Corydon B., born 
184G; Caroline, 1848; Carintha, 1849; Cora 
Estelle, 1850; Charles Frenaont, 1856, and 
Clemence Isora, 1859. Corydon married Sarah 
J. Vansickle, 1878, and lives at Morton's Cor- 
ners. Caroline married James M. Roberts; 
has one child, and lives in Delaware Co. 
Carintha married Henry E. Sh(^rman, and has 
three children; Cora E. is yet single, and is a 
dressmaker in Olive Green ; Charles is at 
home, single; Clemence is a milliner in Dela- 
ware, O. Mrs. Morton was left a widow in 
1800, and in 1872 she married Harvey Cham- 
bers. She has lived all her life at Morton's 
Corners. Semantha is the oldest living settler 
at the Corners, and has a distinct recollection 
when her father came into the townshiji, and 
of the hardships he endured with his family 
in prej)aring the backwoods for succeeding 
generations. 

LORIXDA (JOHNSON) WEAVER, Ma- 
rengo. This lady was born in Ohio in 1820. 
She came with her widowed mother and 
grandparents to South liioomfield Tp., in 
1826, and after remaining there eight years, 
moved to Bennington Tp., where she has 



since resided. Her mother died in 1832, 
leaving Lorinda to battle with the realities of 
life at the age of twelve. She passed many 
years at hard work, suffering all the degrada- 
tion that motherless girls are compelled 
to undergo. Arriving at womanhood she had 
acquired a fair education, through trials and 
discomforts, and during early womanhood 
taught six terms of school. In 1840 she was 
united in marriage with Wright, son of Wan- 
ton Weaver, but no children were born of 
this union. Mr. and Mrs. Weaver have de- 
voted their married life to the rearing of or- 
phan children, raising from infancy five or six, 
which almost at birth were thrown hel])less 
upon the charity of the world; Mrs. Weaver 
remembering too well the hard struggle she 
had in early years for a livelihood, resolved 
that some poor orphans should escape the 
trials she suffered. She has taken children 
from want and destitution, sending them at 
mature years out into the world, fitted for the 
battle of life. Not content with merely rear- 
ing them to man or womanhood, she has 
adopted two — one, Hannah L., the present 
wife of Lafayette Dudley, and the other, Ida 
May W^eaver, a successful school teacher in 
Bennington Tp. These adopted children, at 
Mrs. W^eaver's death, will inherit her proper- 
ty, which consists of 150 acres of fine land. 
If they die without heirs the property is to be 
devoted to the maintenance of orphxn child- 
ren in Bennington Tp., which will stand a 
monument to Mrs. Weaver's memory, more 
lasting than marble. On the 22nd of Febru- 
ary, 1860, Mr. Weaver died of pulmonary 
consumption. He lingered many months, 
suffering great agony, dying with Christian 
fortitude and faith. He was a man of affect- 
ionate disposition — kind and sympathizing, 
and his death was a great loss to the neigh- 
borhood. Mrs. W^eaver's brother, Henry 
Johnson, served in the Mexican war as a pri- 
vate, and also in. the last war, entering as 
captain and coming out as major. The life 
of Mrs. Weaver is a lesson well worth read- 
ing. 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



761 



LINCOLN TOWNSHIP. 



T. P. ASHBROOK, farmer; P. O., Card- 
ington; was borii in Hampshire Co., Va., Jan. 
9, 1806; he is a son of Eli and Catharine Ash- 
brook, who were born in the same county; his 
father was born about 1782, and his mother 
in 1784; in the father's family there were 
fourteen children, two of whom died in infan- 
cy; the rest are living, and have families of 
their own; there are seven of the family yet 
living. The father was a Baptist Minister, 
and labored a great many years in the cause 
of Christianity; he died in 1878, and Catha- 
rine, his wife, died Jan. 1, 1872. He came to 
Fairfield Co., Ohio, with his parents, in 1810, 
and from there to Licking Co., in 1823, 
where his parents died, and where he was 
married, Jan. 5, 1832, to Annie Coffman, 
whose parents were born in Pennsylvania. 
She was born Sept. 21, 1807. From this union 
there were seven children — Laura J., Milton 
P., William, Naomi, Welcome, Sa villa and 
Lemuel. The mother of these children died 
June 16, 1850. Mr. Ashbrook lived a Avid- 
ower until Aug. 3, 1851, when he again mar- 
ried. His second wife was Elizabeth (George) 
McCrary, a widow lady, with two children; 
she is a daughter of Henry and Mary George, 
who came from Wales; they lived a short 
time in Pennsylvania, and came from thereto 
Delaware Co., Ohio, in a very early day, and 
from Delaware Co., they came to Morrow, in 
1810. She was married first to George Mc- 
Crary, who died Feb. 20, 1848. From her 
second marriage there were three children, 
one of whom died in infancy — Louis D. and 
Emma K. Mr. Ashbrook is a mason by trade, 
a business he followed for over thirty years in 
connection with farming; he is also a Baptist 
Minister, and a faithful worker in the cause. 
He began business for himself in the woods, 
and with limited means, but by faithful appli- 
cation to his various occupations, he has 
gained quite a fortune, and has an excel- 
lent farm where he lives, consisting of 320 
acres. He had one son in the late, war. Wel- 
come Ashbrook enlisted in 1862, was in the 



] 5th regiment O. V., Co. C, and served until 
the close of the war, at which time he was 
discharged; he was in a number of engage- 
ments, but never received a wound. Mr. 
Ashbrook's second wife also had a son in the 
war — Davis McCrary, who enlisted in 1861, 
and was in the 15th regiment O. V., Co. C; 
he served first a little more than a year, when 
he was taken sick, and discharged, but after 
he got able he enlisted again, and served 
until the close of the war. 

J. T. & COLLINS BUCK; Cardington. 
The Buck family were among the first settlers 
of Lincoln Tp., in Morrow Co. Edmund 
Buck, the father, was born in Connecticut, 
April 9, 1791. At an early age he left the 
place of his nativity for that of Clinton Co., 
N. Y., where he remained until the year of 
1812, when he removed to Ohio, settling on 
the west bank of Alum Creek, in Peru Tp., at 
that time Delaware Co., but has since been 
changed to Morrow Co., where he remained 
but a short time, when he moved into Lincoln 
Tp., in the same county, and on the same 
creek. Edmund Buck was married about 
1815 to Anna Hubble, who was born in Sen- 
eca Co., N. Y., June 3, 1795. About the year 
1813 she left the place of her nativity and 
came to Morrow Co., O., being one of its ear- 
liest pioneers. In their family there were 
eight children, two of whom are now dead — 
Israel E., Phoebe Collins, Priscilla A., John 
T., Anna M., Ruth M., and Annis. The pa- 
rents of these children more than passed their 
fifty-first anniversary together. The father 
died Oct. 21, 1866; his wife surviving him 
nearly seven years, and died March 4, 1874. 
There are a number of the family yet in Lin- 
coln Tp., among Avhom is Collins Buck, who 
was born in Morrow Co., Oct. 29, 1821. He 
resided with his parents until of age, at which 
time he began business for himself. He re- 
ceived a common school education; he was 
married April 8, 1847, to Nancy Stiner, whose 
father, William Stiner, was born in Maryland, 
July 22, 1775. He came to Fairfield Co., O., 



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7(3-2 



LINCOLN TOWNSHIP. 



when a young man; he was married to Mar- 
ion Smith in 1807, and came to Morrow Co., 
( )., in an early day. In their family there 
were fourteen children — Henry, Jerusha, 
Harriet, Betsey, David, Joshua, Maria, Nan- 
cy, Jacob, John, Sallie, William and Mary; 
one died in infancy. In Collins Buck's fam- 
ily there are three sons — Gilbert L., born 
Feb. 27, 1050; Edmund W., June 30, 1851; 
John S., March 28, 1857. Mr. Buck has 
always followed farmino-, and owns a farm of 
245 acres of well imj)r(»ved land in Lincoln 
Tp.; he also deals in fine sheep, a business in 
which he takes o;reat pride, and in wdiich he 
is very successful. J. T. Buck, a younger 
brother of Collins Buck, was born May 24, 
1832; he yet lives upon the farm that his 
father purchased when he first came to the 
township; he is a surveyor by profession, and 
has been County Surveyor of Morrow Co. 
since 1859, with the exception of one term; 
he was educated at the Ohio Wesleyan Uni- 
versity at DelaAvare, Ohio; he is among the 
])r()minent men of the county; he was mar- 
ried Nov. 19, 18G3, to Martha A. Nichols, 
whose parents were natives of Virginia, and 
came to Morrow Co. in an early day; she was 
born July 5, 1844. From this union there 
were five children, one of whom is now dead — 
Thadeus E., born April 18, 1805; Arthur H., 
Jan. 24, 1808; Anna M., Oct. 2, 1871; Minnie, 
Jan. 18, 1870; Ralph W., May 30, 1879; 
Anna M. died Oct. 20, 1875. J. T. Buck yet 
holds the office of County Surveyor, an office 
he has long held with honor. He owns the 
old homestead, a fine old farm on the banks 
of Alum Creek, in Lincoln Tp., where he is 
engaged in farming and stock-growing. 

JOHN BENNETT, farmer; P. 0.,^Maren- 
go; was born in 1811 in Perry Co. ; his father 
was born in Virginia and his mother in Penn- 
sylvania; they came to Licking Co., 0., in 
about 1807, and from there went to Perry Co. 
in 1808, where they lived until their deaths. 
In the family there were ten children, three 
girls and seven bo}' — James, George, Isaac, 
William, Sarah, .John, Jonah, Samuel, Catha- 
rine and Abraham. John Beinictt was raised 
on a farm and resided with his parents until 
of age, at which time he began business for 
himself. He was married Oct. 3, 1833, to 
Rebecca Donilson, whose parents were natives 
of Harrison Co., O., and in an early day moved 



to Perry Co., O., where she was born in 1813; 
her grandparents on her mother's side came 
from Ireland. There are six children in 
John's family — Isaac, Malinda, Martha, Sam- 
uel, Mary and John L. I J'tjy came to Mor- 
row Co. in 1834 and settled in Lincoln Tp., 
where they have lived ever since; Mr. Ben- 
nett purchased a farm in the woods which he 
cleared up and improved, and where he yet 
lives. His family are now all married and 
doing business for themselves. They all live 
in the county where they were born. John 
L., the youngest of the family, was married 
Dec. 18, 1879, to Nina Hill, and is living with 
his father. Mr. Bennett had one son, S. H. 
Bennett, in the late war; he enlisted Aug, 
27, 1804, was in the 179 regiment, Co. A., O. 
v.; he served until June 17, 1805, at which 
time he received his discharge. Mr. Bennett 
and wife, and most of the family, are mem- 
bers of the Baptist church. 

ALFRED J. BATTEY, farmer; P. O., Car- 
dington; is a native of Yorkshire, England, 
where he was born Aug. 4, 1838; the son of 
John and Sophia Battey. He came to Amer- 
ica in July, 1850, with his parents; they 
landed at New York, and came direct from 
there to Morrow Co., where Alfred J. has 
since resided \Yith the exception of three 
years, that he has spent in the late war. His 
mother died in 1878; his father is yet living. 
Mr. Battey entered the army Aug. 9, 1802, 
and was actively engaged in some of the 
liardest contested battles of the war — such as 
the seige of Vicksburg, battle of Jackson, 
Miss, and was wounded by being shot through 
the right shoulder at the battle of Grand 
Coleau, which unfitted him for service; he re- 
ceived an honorable discharge July 1, 1805. 
Since the war — except two years, was spent in 
school, and teaching — Mr. Battey has followed 
farming. He was married Dec. 13, 1808 to 
Miss Almira M. Vanhoute, whose parents 
were born in New Jersey, and came from Pa. 
to Ohio; from this union there are three 
children; Martha J., Sophia M. and PJmma A. 
Mr. Battey purchased fifty five acres of land 
in 1870; the most of which he has improved. 
He began business for himself depending 
upon his own resources, and now has a good 
and comfortable little home. His wife is a 
member of the Presbyterian Church, he is a 
Republican. 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



763 



ANDREW CLICK, farmer; P. O., Car- 
dington ; was born in Fairfield Co., Oliio, in 
1814; his parents were natives of Pa., and 
came to Fairfield Co. about 1808, where they 
lived until 1833; they then moved to Frank- 
lin Co., and both died there in 1861. About 
1843 Mr. Click came to Morrow Co.; was 
married in 1837 to Sarah Alspach, whose par- 
ents were early settlers in Fairfield Co., and 
came to Franklin Co. previous to the Clicks; 
from this union there were eleven children, 
three of whom are now dead; they had one 
son, John H., in the late war, as member of 
the 9Gth Reg., O. V. I.; after two years he 
died, while yet in the service of his country; 
Mr. Click purchased a farm of 106 acres, in 
Lincoln Tp.; when he first came to the coun- 
ty this land was densely covered with tim- 
ber; this he cleared off, and turned the wil- 
derness into cultivated fields, thus establish- 
ing a home for the enjoyment of himself and 
of those who came after him. 

A. H. CUNARD, farmer; was born in 
Morrow Co. Aug. 22, 1845; son of Stephen 
and Vashti Cunard, who were natives of Lou- 
doun Co., Va., and came here at a very early 
day. Mr. Cunard passed his boyhood days 
on a farm up to the time he entered the army 
during the late war, when he enlisted Aug. 
27, 1861, in the 31st Reg. O. V. L In this 
organization he served three years, and re- 
ceived his discharge Sept. 19, 1864; while in 
this reaiment he took part in the battles of 
Stone River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, 
Rosacea, Rome Geo. and others of less import- 
ance; he enlisted a second time in Co. G, 187 
O. N. G., Feb. 25, 1865, and was discharged 
Jan. 20, 1866. During all this service, and 
with all the engagements participated in by 
him, he passed through unscathed. Mr. 
Cunard was married March 3, 1873, to Miss 
Virginia A. Craven, whose parents are old 
residents of Morrow Co., originally from Lou- 
doun Co., V. From this union there is one 
child, Ora Vashti. Since the war he has been 
generally engaged in farming and owns a 
homestead of 87 acres, which is pretty well 
improved. 

xMRS. HARRIET M. CADY, Cardington; 
was born in the State of New York, in 1813; 
daughter of John H. and Julia (Robinson) 
Warner; she has been married twice. Her 
first husband was Leander Benson, to whom 



she was married in 1831; he was also a native 
of York State, where he was born in 1809. 
After their marriage they came to what is now 
Morrow Co. with his parents; he purchased a 
farm of 200 acres in Lincoln Tp., which he 
cleared and improved, and upon which she 
still resides. From this marriage there were 
eight children, three of whom died in infancy; 
those living are Daniel, Henry, John H., 
Adaline and Ada A. The father died in 
1856. Mrs. Cady lived a widow two years, 
when, in 1858, she was married again, her 
second husband being Parley R. Cady, who was 
born in Vermont, Aug .4, 1815; he went West 
in 1837, and settled in Cardington, where he 
only remained a short time. His first wife 
was Sophronia Grandy, whose parents were 
natives of Vermont. They had five children, 
all of whom are yet living — Norman W. Lu- 
cius S., Myron, Mary L. and Hattie M. Their 
mother died in August, 1857. Mr. Cady was 
raised on a farm, but has since followed vari- 
ous occupations; he purchased a farm of 47 
acres, near Cardington, which he cleared, and 
afterwards sold; he then purchased another of 
87 acres, which he also cleared, and subse- 
quently sold. Mr. and Mrs. Cady are mem- 
bers of the M. E. Church. 

WASHINGTON FLEMING, farmer; P. 
O., Cardington; was born in what is now 
Morrow Co., March 27, 1827; son of Isaac and 
Elizabeth (Wyan) Fleming, who eame from 
Pennsylvania to Ohio about the year 1816. 
Their family consisted of seven children, two 
of whom are now dead. Washington re- 
mained with his parents until of age, living in 
Peru Tp. until fifteen years of age, and 
in various parts of Delaware Co., finally mov- 
ing to Morrow Co.; the first year after his 
majority, he worked for his father, for which 
he received $8.50 per month; he was mar- 
ried Nov. 15, 1849, to Miss R. A. Minter. 
Her parents were early settlers of Delaware 
Co. Her father was a native of Kentucky, 
and mother of Pennsylvania. Mr. Fleming's 
father gave him 80 acres of land, in Lincoln 
Tp., to which he added twenty acres more; the 
most of this land he cleared and improved; he 
now owns 170 acres; on this farm he has ex- 
pended over $1,600 in drainage, of which he 
is now reaping the benefit of surer and in- 
creased crops. They have no children of their 
own, but have an adopted daughter, Flora A., 






'A 



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764 



LINCOLN TOWNSHIP. 



and have also partially raised several others. 
The iatnily are members of the U. B. Church. 
He is a Republican. 

JAMES GARDNER, farmer; P. O., Card- 
ingtoii; was bora in Ireland, Dec. 18, 1821. 
He came to America with his parents, 
Andrew and Margaret (Emmerson) Gard- 
ner, in 1823; they landed at New York, and 
from there went to Clinton Co., in the same 
state, where they resided until 1833, when 
they came to Licking Co., Ohio, and in 1840 
came to Morrow Co., where our subject has 
since resided, and where his parents died. 
His father was a weaver by trade, a businsss 
he did not follow after coming to America; 
his father was born in 1811, and mother in 
1818; the father died April 25, 18G2, and the 
mother May 18, 18G7; James was raised on a 
farm, and has always follo\ved farming for a 
l)usiness; his early life was spent at home on 
the farm; he received limited education, and at 
the age of 21 began business for himself. He 
was married twice; the first marriage was Nov. 
24:, 1842, to Frances Coffman. She was born 
May 1), 1823; her parents were natives of Va., 
and came to Morrow Co. in a very early day. 
From this marriage there were five children — 
Peter P., born Sept. 7, 1843; William E., 
Oct. 10, 1845; Albert G., Oct. 22, 1847; 
James F., July 30, 1851; Margaret E., June 
15, 1858. The mother of these children died 
March 30, 18G9. 

Mr. Gardner remained a widower until 
April 10, 1870, when he married Mrs. Jane 
(West) Biggs. Her parents were natives of 
Pa. and came to Morrow Co. in a very early 
day. Her father was born June 3, 1809, and 
mother March 11, 1808, and she was born 
June 18, 1838; she had one child by her first 
marriage, Dennis E. Biggs; he was born Jan. 
1, 1860. She also has one child by her last 
marriage, Charles W., born April 22, 1874. 
Mr. Gardner began business for himself in 
the woods, and almost entirely upon his own 
resources; but by hard work and perseve- 
rance, iie has accumulated enough to keep 
him comfortably through the balance of his 
days. He and wife are members of the Bap- 
tist Church; his first children are all married, 
and doing for themselves. 

WASHINGTON GARDNER, farmer; P. 
O., Cardington; was born in Muskingum Co., 
O., Nov. 2, 1814; son of John and Elizabeth 



(Groves) Gardner. His father was born near 
I'aisley, in Scotland, and came to America 
during the Revolutionary War; he was a sol- 
dier in that war. He was born in 1750, and 
our subject's mother was born in Pennsylva- 
nia, in 17G9, and her parents were born in 
Holland. Mr. Gardner is the youngest of a 
family of twelve children; there are oidy four 
of the family now living. His parents came 
to Morrow Co., O., in a very early day; they 
settled in Peru Tp., there being only three or 
four families in the township at the time they 
came. His father died in Feb., 183G; and his 
mother in 1847. He was raised on a farm, 
and resided with his parents until their deaths; 
he received a common school education; was 
married in 1847 to Mary Wiseman, whose pa- 
rents came to Morrow Co. from Crawford Co., 
in about 1843; they were natives of Pennsyl- 
vania. She was born March G, 1828; her 
father was born in about 1783, and mother in 
1795. From this union there were nine chil- 
dren, five being dead, those living are Zach- 
ary, Winfield S., Maggie A., Albert, John F., 
Lola M., Oscar M., Alary A., Nellie R. Mr. 
Gardner began business for himself entirely 
upon his own resources, and all that he has 
was made by himself. He served eleven 
months in the late war, enlisted July 25, 18G1, 
in the 2Gth O. V. I., Co. G; was discharged 
June IG, 18G2. He and his wife are members 
of the U. B. Church. 

BENJAMIN GREGORY, farmer, P. O., 
Bennington; was born in Vermont, Feb. 
12, 1820; the son of Selah and Mary 
(Wheeler) Gregory; the mother died in 
Vermont, and tlu; father came west in 1833, 
bringing Benjamin with him; he then pur- 
chased 300 acres of heavily-timbered land in 
Lincoln Tp.; this he cleared, and has brought 
it under good cultivation. Benjamin is one 
of eleven children, only two of whom are 
now known to be alive. He resides on part 
of the farm that was purchased by his father 
on coming to the county, there being 120 
acres as his portion, which is well stocked and 
in fine condition for successful farming. Mr. 
Gregory was married July 2G, 1858, to Miss 
Emily Vansickle, whose parents came from 
New Jersey at a very early day. In their 
family there are four children: James H., 
Alice M., John F. and Augustus C. Mr. 
Gregory and wife belong to the M. E. Church; 



l^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



765 



his parents worshiped as members of the So- 
ciety of Friends. 

A. L. GANO, farmer, P. O., Cardington; 
was born in Morrow Co., Ohio., March 6, 1854. 
His father was a native of Portajre Co., Ohio, 
and the mother of Virginia; they settled in 
Lincohi Tp., where they resided until 1873, 
when they moved to Carding-ton Tp., east of 
Cardington. A. L. Gano now lives on the 
old farm; he resided with his parents until 
18 years of age; he is now living with his 
second wife, to whom he was married Oct., 
29, 187G; her name was Lily Shoemaker; 
her parents were old settlers of Morrow Co. 
From this union there is one child — Gracie. 
Mr. Gano has a nice little farm, well suited 
for snug, careful farming; he having been 
brought up to this occupation, knows how to 
perform its duties to the best advantage. 

GEO. M. D. HYMES, farmer; P. O., Card- 
ington; was born in Md., June 14, 1846; son 
of Samuel and Barbara Hymes, who were 
also natives of Maryland; his father is yet 
living, but his mother died in 18G5. George 
M. resided with his parents until IG years of 
age, at which time he came to Morrow Co., 
where he worked at the carpenter's trade for 
a short time, and in 1864 enlisted, and went 
into the army July 24, and was in Co., A., 
174th regiment, and served until July 8, 1865; 
he was in a number of engagements, but was 
fortunate enough to come out unharmed. 
After the war he came back to Morrow Co., 
where he has since resided, and worked at his 
trade until 1878, when he moved on a farm, 
a business he is now following. He was mar- 
ried Sept. 8, 1869, to Alvira Henry, whose 
parents were early residents of Morrow Co. ; 
from this union there were three children, 
one of which is now dead. Leota V., Wil- 
liam C, and Effie. Mr. Hymes and wife are 
members of the U. B. Church. 

M. H. HICKS, farmer; P. O., Cardington; 
was born in York State, Onondaga Co., Sept. 
11, 1834; the son of John and Orilla (Fosmer) 
Hicks, natives of York State; he was raised 
on a farm, and received the advantages of a 
common school education; he was married 
Sept. 9, 1857, to Miss Clarinda M. Hammond, 
whose parents were old residents of Morrow 
Co.; from this union there are two children — 
Rollin B., and Rhoda O.; Mr. Hicks served 
nearly three years in the late rebellion, as a 



member of the 121st O. V. I.; he enlisted 
Aug. 11, 18G2, and was discharged June 18, 
18G5; some of the battles in which he partici- 
pated are those of Marietta, Rome, Kennesaw 
Mts., and Atlanta, besides others of less note; 
passing through all those sanguinary conflicts 
unharmed from the enemy's bullets, he fell a 
victira to the exposure and unhealthy climate, 
and has never regained his health to this day; 
since the war he has been engaged in farming; 
he has forty-four acres of land under cultiva- 
tion, and the usual concomitants of a well 
regulated farm as the fruits of his industrv. 

SEYMOUR HOWARD, farmer; P. O., 
Cardington ; was born in York State Jan. 3, 
1823, the son of Levi and Mary (Stratton) 
Howard, who were natives of Rutland Co., 
Vt., from which place they went to York 
State and afterward came to Ashtabula Co., 
O., where they resided until 1846, when they 
moved into the present limits of Morrow Co. 
Here the father died March 28, 1852, and the 
mother May 28, 1857. Seymour lived with 
his parents until of age, receiving a common 
school education, when he began business for 
himself. He was married April 4, 1847, to 
Eliza Jarvis; her father was born in New 
York City and her mother in New York State. 
They went to Pennsylvania and came from 
there to this part of Ohio at an early period; 
her mother died Feb. 7, 1847, and her father 
in Dec. 1856. From Mr. Howard's union 
with Miss Jarvis there were seven children, 
five of whom are now dead. Those living 
are Eva E. and Frederick P. He started for 
himself empty-handed and has made all he 
now poi^sesses by industry and economy; he 
owns a farm of 108 acres, has held several 
township offices, such as justice of the peace 
and assessor. His wife is a member of the 
Christian church. Mr. Howard's father was 
born March 3, 1782, and his mother Sept. 14, 
1780. 

C. F. HAMMOND, farmer and stock-raiser; 
P. O., Cardington; came to what is now Mor- 
row Co. with his parents in the year 1841, 
from New York State, the nativity of parents 
and son; the latter was born May 18, 1834; 
the former, Chauncy and Rhoda (Davenport) 
Hammond, at first, on coming West, kept hotel 
in Westfield, and subsequently purchased a 
farm in Lincoln Tp., which is the present home 
of C. F. Hammond. The mother died Dec. 






im 



LINCOLN TOWNSHIP. 



27, 18G3, and tho father in August ISTL 
Mr. Hammond has been occupied in agricul- 
tural pursuits tliroug-h the greater portion of 
liis life; however, f(jr a period of three years he 
varied his calling by working at the carpen- 
ters' trade; Aug. 2, 1857, he was married to 
Miss Koxy Manville; her father was a native 
of Pennsylvania, and came to what is now 
Morrow Co. in 18L"). Her mother was also 
early in this county. The union of Mr. and 
Mrs. Hammond has been j)roductive of six 
children— Mary B., Rhoda (3., Ivali K., Myrtle 
F., Chauncy C. and Lena G. As an auxiliary 
to his farming, Mr. Hammond has been quite 
an extensive dealer in stock, buying and 
sliipping in considerable iiuantities. Having 
starte<l in life with no aid, he has generally 
been successful in his business, and is now in 
the enjoyment of a reasonable competency; 
his farm of 220 acres is in good condition for 
prosperous farming, being well equipped and 
stocked — sheep receiving the most attention 
in that line. A saw-mill, which is appreciated 
by the neighbors in tlie surrounding country, 
is located upon the farm, and forms a valuable 
adjunct to the other interests. 

F. M. JAMES, farmer; P. O., Bennington; 
was born in Virginia, Feb. 6, 1823; son of 
])avid and Charlotte .lames; the father was 
a native of Virginia, and the mother of Mary- 
land; they came to Morrow Co. in 1836, 
wliere they resided until their death — the 
father May 24, 1858, and the mother Sept. 
19, 1809. Mr. James' youth was spent at 
home, and at the age of 19 he went to learn 
the wagon-makers' trade — a business he fol- 
lowed for about ten years, after which he pur- 
chased a farm in Lincoln Tp., and has been 
following farming and stock-growing since. 
He was married aljout 1844, to Miss Anna 
Barnard, whose parents were natives of Ver- 
mont, and came to Ohio about 183G, and are 
both living. From their marriage they have 
three cliildren — Eiizalieth, George B. and 
Edmund. Mr. .lames owns a farm of 100 acres, 
most of which he cleared and improved; he has 
resided in Lincoln Tp., about thirty-one years; 
previous to coming here he lived in Peru Tp. 
twelve years, making 43 years in the county; 
being but a wilderness at the time of settle- 
ment, they have seen it improved to its 
present civilized condition. Mrs. James is a 
daughter of Edmund and Laura Barnard; she 



is the eldest of a family of seven children. 
Mr. and Mrs. James are members of the M. E. 
Church. 

T. A. LIGGETT, farmer; P. O., Carding- 
ton; was born in Muskingum Co. Ohio, Sept. 
4, 1832; his father was a native of the State of 
Delaware, and his mother of Pa., they came 
to what is now Morrow Co. (at that time Del- 
aware Co.), in 1833, where they lived until 
their death, with the excej)tion of al)out one 
year, which they spent in Summit Co., going 
their in 1844, and returning in 1845. The 
father died in Oct., 1855, and the mother Jan. 
12, 1879. Mr. Liggett is of a family of nine 
children; he was married June 2S, 185G, to 
Miss Sarah A. Howard, whose parents were 
natives of New Jersey, and came to Morrow 
Co. in a very early day. She was born Jan. 
14, 1833; from this marriage there are six 
childien — Lettie, born Nov. 24, 1857; Marv 
E., Jan. 1, 18G0; Sarah R., Feb. 17, 1862; 
Rose E., Oct. 20, 1864; William W., Feb. 3, 
1867; Louis, Dec. 27, 1869; Mary E., died 
Sept. 8, 1861. Mr. Liggett continues stock 
raising, with that of farming, and owns 183 
acres of well improved land; the fruit of his 
industry and good management. He has 
held the office of Jvistice of the Peace in Lin- 
coln Tp. for nineteen years, and is still per- 
forming its duties. Mr. Liggett, together 
with others of the name, are of Republican an- 
tecedents. Four of his brothers served in the 
late war, two of whom sacrificed their lives 
in tlie cause. He has comfortalile surround- 
ings, and is a respected member of the com- 
munity in which he lives. 

EZRA LIGGETT, farmer; P. O., Carding- 
ton; was born in Morrow Co., Ohio, Dec. 9, 
1850; was raised on a farm, and received a 
common school education; with the exception 
of a short time that he spent in the West and 
at the Black Hills, he has followed farming, 
and now owns a greater portion of the old 
homestead, the farm that his father purchased 
when he came to the county; he was married 
Oct. 4, 1877, to Miss Clara A. Clouse, whose 
parents were raised in Franklin Co., Ohio, but 
came to Morrow Co. a number of years ago. 
Mr. Liggett's father died Oct. 21, 1855, and 
his mother Jan. 12, 1879. Further reference 
to them is made in the sketch of T. A. Lig- 
gett. 



:?: 



'k^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



767 



JACOB NICHOLS, fanner; P. O., Benning- 
■ ton; was born in Loudoun Co., Va., March 29, 
1815; his parents were also natives of Va., 
where they lived aRd died; the father was 
born April 24, 1769, and died March 1, 
185G; the mother was born about 1779, and 
died in 1843; Mr. Nichols was married ^Iarch 
IG, 1837, to Miss lanthe Smith, whose parents 
were also natives of Va.; Mr. and Mrs. Nich- 
ols have had four children, one of whom died 
in infancy — Mary F. was born March 27, J 840; 
George T. June 21, 1842; William H. Dec. 
28, 1845; the mother of these children died 
Sept. 16, 1864; Mr. Nichols married his second 
wife. Miss Peace Mosher, Oct. 19, 1865; her 
parens were natives of York State, and are 
very old residents of Morrow Co., where they 
still live; from this union there are five chil- 
dren, the eldest, Edith, was born Nov. 2, 
1866; Sarah, April 2, 1868; Gideon M., Dec. 
28, 1869; Isaac, Nov. 9, 1872; Robert, Dec. 15, 
1878; Mr. Nichols began at the age of 20, to 
work for his father for wages, and at his mar- 
riage he received 8400; most of his present 
possessions ai"e the result of his own hard 
earnings; he came to Morrow Co., Ohio, in 
1855, and purchased the farm he now lives 
upon; he now owns 252 acres of well im- 
proved land; he pays considerable attention to 
stock raising, making sheep a specialty; Mr, 
Nichols is a member of the Society of Friends, 
being devoted in his daily walk in accoi'dance 
with his belief. 

PETER PERKINS, farmer; P. O., Card- 
ington; was born in Belmont Co., Ohio, Feb. 
8, 1819; his parents were natives of Virginia, 
and came to Belmont Co. about 1804, where 
they lived the balance of their days. Here Pe- 
ter Perkins lived until 1847, when he came to 
the present county of Morrow, and purchased 
the land upon which he still makes his home. 
It was then in the woods, but by his energy and 
thrift he has turned it into pleasant fields, 
from which he reaps the benefit of his days 
of toil in bringing it under cultivation. He 
was married in 1842 to Miss Emily Russell, 
whose parents were also natives of Virginia, 
and came to Belmont Co. at about the same 
time of the Perkins family. From their mar- 
riage there were ten children, three of whom 
are now dead. Mr. Perkins had two sons in the 
late war. The^^ went out in 1804. One of 
them, Isaac, died in a few months thereafter; 



and the other, Jephtha, served till the close of 
the war, and returned to his home. Mr. Per- 
kins began business at the bottom of the lad- 
der, and can appreciate a home built by his 
own hands, having comfortable surroundings. 

JOHN POWELL, farmer; P. O., Carding- 
ton; was born in Delaware Co., O., Feb. 10, 
1830; he is of Wels|h descent; his parents 
were born in Fairfietd Co., O. They came 
to Delaware Co. in a very early day, where 
they resided until 1833, at which time they 
came to Morrow Co. Mr. Powell was raised 
on a farm, and resided with his parents until 
of age, at which time he began businesss for 
himself. He received a common school edu- 
cation; he was married Dec. 20, 1849, to 
Mary E. Stephens, whose parents were very 
early settlers in Morrow Co.; from their mar- 
riage there were eight children, two of whom 
are dead; Peter C, Margaret E., George M., 
Isaiah D., Clement L. V., Sanford D., Maria 
E., John W. Mr. Powell began business for 
himself entirely upon his own resources, and 
made all he now has, by hard work and eco- 
nomy; owns a farm of 170 acres of well im- 
proved land, and is in comfortable circum- 
stances. 

G. W. ROBY, farmer; P. O., Cardington; 
was born in Virginia July 11, 1817; son of 
Thomas and Sarah (Kelly) Roby, who were 
also natives of Virginia. They came to Per- 
ry Co., O., in 1819, where the mother died in 
1831. In 1836 the father and his family came 
to Morrow Co., O., where a number of the 
family still reside. The father married again 
and went to Wisconsin, where he died Jan. 
20, 1877. G. W. Roby was raised on a farm 
and received a common school education. He 
was married Dec. 17, 1840, to Nancy Fickle, 
who was born April 3, 1813, in Perry Co., O. 
Her parents were natives of Perry Co. also. 
From this union there were four children, one 
of whom is now dead. Rebecca J. was born 
Sept. 21, 1841; Sarah H., May 24, 1843; 
Thomas B., Oct. 20, 1844, and Dortha A., 
July 13, 1845; Sarah H. died March 6, 1866. 
Mr. Roby began business for himself entirely 
upon his own resources, and made all he now 
possesses by his own hard work and economy; 
he owns 100 acres of well improved land, all 
of which was cleared and improved by him- 
self. He had one son, T. B. Roby, in the 
late war; his family are now all married off 



[^ 




and scattered over the coiintrv in jreneral, 
only one, liis youngest daughter, remains in 
the eonntv. 

JOSEPH RUSSELL, farmer; P. ()., Car- 
dington; was born in .Miami Co., ()., Dec. 14, 
IS'^:}. His father was a native of South and 
his mother of Nortii Carolina. The father 
went to Miami Co. in about 1808, where he 
was married to Tamar Mendenhall, whose 
parents came to the same county in an early 
day. From this marriage there were ten 
children, three of whom are dead; Joseph is 
next to the oldest of the family. He resided 
with his parents until of ago, at which time 
he began business for himself. He has been 
married twice; his first marriage was Nov. 13, 
1S51, to Ann Bunker, whose parents were old 
residents of Morrow Co.; she was born May 
25, 1828; from this union there is one 
son — William H., born June 20, 1853; she 
died Dec. 31, 1855. Mr. Russell lived a wid- 
ower until Feb. 12, 1857, when he was 
again married. His second wife was Pruscilla 
A. Buck; the history of her parents will be 
seen in this work; she was born July 25, 
1827. Mr. Russell has always followed farm- 
ing and stock raising; he owns about 32 acres 
of well improved land, and is in good, com- 
fortable circumstances. His father died Oct. 
18, 1873, and his mother in December of the 
same year. 

CHRISTIAN STOVENOUR, farmer; P. 
()., Cardington; was b(»-n in York Co., Pa., 
J^ec. 10, 1803; his father was a Prussian, and 
came to America about 1792, and shortly 
after to Pa. Mrs. Stovenour is of German 
descent; was born in Pennsylvania. Mr. 
Stovenour came with his parents to Mus- 
kingum Co., Ohio, in 180G, where they re- 
mained until 1829, when he came to what is 
now Morrow Co., which has been his home 
to the present day. At the time of settling 
here, there were but a few families in the 
neigh})orhood. He bought 100 acres of land 
in Harmony Tp., Delaware Co., which he part- 
ly cleared. He sold this farm and came to 
Lincoln Tp., where he purchased 150 acres of 
timlx'r l;.\nd, which he has br(?ught under good 
cultivation, and added to it, until he now 
owns 260 acres, all of which with the aid of 
his sons, he has cleared and turned to his ad- 
vantage. He was married in about 1828 to 
Nancy Sowers, who lived but a short time, 



passing away in April, 1829. Mr. Stovenour 
was again married August 20, 1830, to Eliza- 
beth Stiner, whose parents were natives of 
Md., and came to Morrow Co. at a very early 
day; she was born in 1813. From this union 
there were twelve children — John, born May 
31,1831; Frederick, Oct. 18,1834; Mary, April 
4, 1837: Nancy, May 4, 1839; Susanah, Jan. 
16, 1841; Henry, Nov. 18, 1842; Sarah, Jan. 
10, 1845; Elizabeth, March 24, 1847; Esther, 
July 22, 1852; David, August 22, 1854; Wil- 
liam, Nov. 3, 1857. One died in infancy. 
Elizabeth Stovenour, the mother of these 
children died Feb. 8, 1874. 

IRA A. SWART, farmer; P. O., Carding- 
ton; was born in Wayne Co., Ohio, March 
14, 1847; his parents, James aed Rose A. 
(HaflFhill) Swart, were natives of Va.; they 
came from Va. to Wayne Co. at a very early 
da}'^, where they resided ni'.til 1805, when they 
moved to Homes Co., Ohio, where they yet live. 
Ira A. resided with his parents until 14 years 
of age, at which time he went to learn the shoe- 
maker's trade, a business he followed 19 
years; he was married Dec. 12, 1809, to Mi- 
nerva Porter; her parents are natives of 
Holmes Co., Ohio; they have a family of four 
children — Luna M., Mary A., Ira A. and 
James M.; Mr. Swart did not go with his pa- 
rents to Holmes Co., but remained in Wayne 
Co. until 1880, when he came to Morrow Co.; 
he has quit his trade, and is going to make 
farming his business for the future; he served 
nine months in the late war — went out in Jan., 
1803, and received his discharge in Oct., 
1803. 

C. H. SAGE, farmer; P. O., Cardington; 
was born in the State of New York, .lane 7, 
1818; is the son of James R. and Ada (Baker) 
Sage, who were married at the early ages of 
18 years, months, and 10 years, months. 
Mr. Sage received a good common school 
education. In 1830 he came to Morrow Co., 
and kept hotel in Mt. Gilead for about four 
and a half years; he also followed school 
teaching, which profession he principally fol- 
lowed in the winter seasons of the year. He 
went to Knox Co. in about 1841, where he re- 
mained until about 1845, when he" returned 
to Morrow Co., where he has since lived. He 
purchased a farm two miles south of Carding- 
ton, most of which he cleared and improved. 
He was married in about 1845 to Miss Sarah 



V 



^. 



;k^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



769 



M. Bishop, of Knox Co., whose parents were 

natives of Rhode Island, and came to Ohio in 

a very early day. From this union there are 

three children — Ella, Ada and Francis M. 

I\Ir. Saoe iias made farming: and stock-o-row- 

... . V ' ^ 

ing his principal business since his marriage; 

he and his wife are members of the U. B. 

Church. 

A. T. STOCK, farmer; P.O., Cardington; 
was born in Columbiana Co., O., Jan. 10,1851. 
His father was born in Oldham, England, and 
came to America in 1817, and shortly after to 
Colund)iana Co., where he was married to Eliza 
Ashton, Jan. 2, 184:4; she was born Jan. 16, 
1810. The father died in Sept., 1870, A. T. 
Stock came to Morrow Co., O., in 1867, and 
since the death of his father, his mother has 
made her home with him. He was married 
Jan. 19, 1871, to Mary A. MilHgan; she was 
born in Morrow Co., July 31, 1850. Her 
father, Jesse Milligan, was born in Stark Co., 
O., March 5, 1818, and her mother, Ruth Mil- 
ligan, was born in Columbiana Co., July 31, 
1819. They were married June 1, 1837, and 
came to Morrow Co. in 1846, where they still 
live. The Milligans are of Irish descent, and 
the first of the family came to America in 
1785, settling in Pennsylvania, where they 
remained until 1812, when they came to Stark 
Co., this State. Thomas Ashton, the grand- 
father of Mr. Stock on his mother's side, was 
born in Springfield, Buck Co., Pa., April 28, 
1766. Martha (Marsh) Ashton, his wife, was 
born in Chester Co., Pa., Apr. 19, 1783. They 
were married May 12, 1802. He died in Col- 
umbiana Co., O., March 1, 1840, and his 
wife died June 13, 1867. Mr. and Mrs. Stock 
have five children — Richard, born Oct. 2, 
1871; Bertha, June 15, 1874; Jesse. March 
19, 1875; William, Sept. 13, 1876. The young- 
est is unnamed, and was born March 20, 1880. 
Mr. Stock owns a nice little larm, well im- 
proved, and is a respected and substantial 
citizen of the county. 

S. M. SMITH, farmer and stock-grower; 
P. O., Cartlington; was born in Harmony Tp., 
Morrow Co., Ohio., April 29, 1838. His father 
and grandfather were born in Connecticut; 
the first in 1796, and the latter in 1752. In 
1796, the year of the father's birth, the grand- 
father, with his family, moved to Luzerne Co., 
Penn., (now Wyoming Co.) where the grand- 
father died, in 1822, and wliere the father 



lived until the death of his mother, which 
was in about 1811, at which time he went to 
live with a sister in York State, where he 
lived until of age; after which he followed 
rafting on the Susquehanna River until 27 
years of age; he was married Aug. 3, 1823, to 
Polly Marcy. They had four daughters — 
Abaline, Elizabeth, Nancy and Lydia. The 
mother of these children died Aug. 23, 1831. 
The father again married, Nov. 8, 1832. His 
second wife was Martha Marcy, a sister to his 
first wife. She was born Dec. 4, 1813. From 
his second marriage there were eleven chil- 
dren — Lucy, Caroline, Perry Z., Sidney M., 
Ursula M., Madison M., Leonard, Millard 
F., Linton N.; two died in infancy. The 
Marcy family are of English descent, and 
the first of the family that came to America 
was John Marcy, who came over in 1686; 
he came from Roxbury, England, where 
he was married and where his wife, Sarah 
Hadlock, was born Dec. 16, 1670. They 
had eleven children, the eldest of which was 
born in England — Annie, John, James, Ed- 
ward, Joseph, Benjamin, Moses, Samuel, 
Sarah, Ebenezer and Elizabeth. The grand- 
father of Polly and Martha Marcy was Zebu- 
Ion Marcy, who was born June 8, 1744, and 
their father was Zebulon Marcy, Jr., who was 
born July 10, 1780. The grandfather was of 
a family of eight children — Zebulon, John, 
Lydia, Nicholas, Sarah, Zebulon Abel and 
Jerusha. The first child must have died when 
young, as there are two in the family bv the 
same name. In their father's family there 
were also eight children — Polly, Nicholas B., 
Eunice, Betsy, Patty, Lucretia, Daniel and 
Zarina. S. M. Smith was reared on a farm 
until 17 years of age, at which time he went 
away to school, where he remained until of 
age, with the exception of three winters that 
he taught school in that time. His parents 
came from Pennsylvania to Delaware Co., 
Ohio, in 1824, where they resided until 1828, 
at which time they came to Morrow Co., where 
the father died Oct. 28, 1868, and where the 
mother yet lives. The first year after quit- 
ting school, Mr. Smith farmed, and taught 
school in the winter, and the next year he was 
in the book business, canvassing, and after 
that he and a brother built the present 
foundry in Cardington. They remained in 
this business until 1865, when he sold his 



:|^ 



770 



LINCOLN TOWNSHIP. 



interest in the foundry to his brother; after 
which he sold inachinory of different kinds, 
until the fall of 18(.i5. lie was married Oct. 
'.i, 18G5, to Kuth M. Buck, who was born in 
Morrow Co., May 5, 1838. The history of 
her parents will appear in this work. Since 
his niarriau^e, Mr. Smith has been farming 
during the summer, and teaching school in 
the winter season; he has taught school for 
fifteen winters, but the last few years he has 
been dealing in fine Merino sheep; he had 
two brothers in the late war, Madison M. 
and Leonard. The first enlisted in 1863, 
and served three years and four months; he 
was in Co, B. 43, O. V. L The second was 
in the three months' service, and was sent to 
AVashington, where he was at the close of the 
war. 

JOEL P. STRAUM, farmer; P. O., Ben- 
nington; was born in Perry Co., Ohio, March 
17, 1818; his father was born in Pa., March 
10, 177U, and his mother in Va., in 178.5; in 
the father's family tht-re were tvvc^lve children; 
the father came to Perry Co., Ohio, in a very 
early day; Mr. Straum was raised on a farm, 
and has always followed farming for a busi- 
ness; he was married Nov. 39, 1840, to Sarah 
Hartsell, whose ])arents were natives of Pa., 
and came to Perry Co. in an early day; she 
was born May 20, 1817, and from this union 
there were ten children, six of whom are dead 
— Martha J., Sarah A., Amanda F., John C, 
David, Noah G., Thomas J., Luciiula, Fran- 
cis M. aiul Reatha T^.; .foel P. came to Morrow 
Co., Ohio, in 1848, and piu-chased a farm of 
fifty-two acres, which he cleared and improv- 
ed, and where he yet resides; his mother died 
in 1842, and his father about 1853; they died 
in Perry Co.; Mr. Straum and wife are mem- 
bers of the Baptist Church. 

JOHN UNDERIIILL, farmer and me- 
chanic; P. O., Cardington; was born in Penn- 
sylvania in 1811, and is of English descent. 
His grandfather, on his father's side, came to 
America in about 1790, and settled in Wash- 
ington Co., Pa., where he lived and died. 
Mr. Underhill's father came to Guernsey 
Co., Ohio, where he remaintid for a while, 
and after living in several other counties in 
the state, finally settled in Perry Co., where 
he made it his home until his death. John 
came from Guernsey Co. to what is now 
Morrow Co. about 1834, which has since been 



his place of abode; at 10 years of age he com- 
menced to learn the carpenters' trade, a busi- 
ness he followed for aljout forty-five years. 
Mr. Underbill was married about 1833 to 
Mary Wilson, whose parents were natives of 
(Juernsey Co. From their union there were 
twelve children, three of whom are now dead. 
His farm that now affords him a comfortable 
home, was wild and heavily timbered land 
when he purchased it; with the aid of 
his sons he has cleared it, and brought it to its 
present state of cultivation. Mr. Underbill 
an<l three of his sons were in the late war, all 
of whom passed through that terrible strife, 
and returned to their homes, to enjoy the 
peace that comes from victory. He and wife 
are members of the U. B. Church; politically, 
he is a Republican. 

JAMES W. VAUGHAN, farmer; P. O., 
Cardington; is a son of Mathew Vaughan, 
who was born in Tsle-of- Wight Co., Va., Nov. 
30, 1784. His ancestors were from wales; he 
was the youngest of four sons. In 1808 he 
came from the home of his birth, to Stark Co., 
O., which wasattime a newly organized county. 
In 1813, he was united in marriage with 
Phebe Pennock, whose former home was in 
Chester Co., Pa. and who moved from Bed- 
ford Co., Va., to Ohio, in 1807. They were the 
first cou])le married in the township, of Lex- 
ington, in Stark Co. Nine daughters and 
three sons were born to them, of whom but 
two daughters and one son (James. W.) are 
living. Their father died Aug. 39, 1878; his 
wife Phebe died in 18G9; they came to Mor- 
row Co., in 1851, and settled in the township, 
where they resided until their death. James 
W., the youngest son, was born in Stark Co., 
in March, 1833, and came with his father to 
this county, and worked on the farm, until of 
age, when he commenced for himself. He was 
married August 31, 1853, to Miss Rachel M. 
Wood, who was born in Morrow Co., July 25, 
1833; her mother was born in (3hio, and her 
father in York State; they are both dead. 
They have four children — Eddie J., born Aug. 
9, 1857; William P., April 17, 18G3; Mamie 
N., Jan. 13, 18G4; AValter W., Feb. 7, 18GG; 
Mr. Vaughan has followed farnting and stock- 
raising for a business, making sheep more of 
a specialty then any other class. His family 
are members of the Society of Friends, as was 
also his father. 






i^ 

" 



M: 




£K 



B. F. WILLIAMS, farmer; P. O., Marincro; 
was born in Perry Co., O., Jan. 2, 1812. His 
parents were natives of Bedford Co., Pa.; they 
came to Perry Co., 0., in 1804, where they 
died. In the father's family there were 
six children — Rachel, William, John, B. F., 
Michael and George. B. F. was raised 
on a farm, and lived with his father until 
25 years of aiie. He received a c(jmmon 
school education, and was married in Nov. 
183G, to Martha A. Melick, whose parents 
were natives of Pennsylvania, and came to 
Perry Co., O., in a very early day, where they 
lived and died. From our subject's union 
there were ten children — James W., John, 
Thomas J., Monroe, Francis M., William M., 
and Albert; three died in infancy. Two of 
his sons — .James W. and Thomas J., are prac- 
ticing medicine. Mr. Williams came to Mor- 
row Co. in 1847, at which time he purchased 
the farm on which he now resides. Previous 
to coming to Morrow Co., and after his mar- 
riage, he went into the woolen business; he 
built a factory and was engaged in the manu- 
facture of woolen goods of different kinds; lie 
was engaged in this business for about eight 
years, but since that time he has been en- 
gaged principally in farming, and dealing in 
stock. He has been successful in all his bus- 
iness undertakings, and is owner of several 
hundred acres of land in Morrow Co. His 
family are all married off, and in business for 
themselves; his wife is a member of the Bap- 
tist Church. 

B. W. WILLIAMS, farmer; P. O., Car- 
dington; was born in Delaware Co., Ohio, in 
1829; his father was born in Virginia, and his 
mother in York State; they came to Del- 
aware Co. in about 1828, and from there to 
what is now Morrow Co. In 1830 the father 
purchased a farm of eighty acres in Westfield 
Tp., where he resided until his death, in 
1857; the mother died about 1852. B. W. 
resided with his parents until their death, 
and was married in September, 1852, to Miss 
Mary J. Brenizer, whose parents were natives 
of Maryland, and were early settlers in this 
county. From this union there are four chil- 
dren — Joseph C, James, Jane and Ira. Mr. 
Williams commenced business for himself 
under unfavorable circumstances, but by 
close application he has placed himself in a 
position to enjoy the balance of his days. He 



owns 120 acres of land, which is well im- 
proved and under good cultivation, and like 
the most of his neighbors combines with his 
agricultural pursuits the profitable adjunct of 
stock-growing. He came from Westfield Tp. 
in 1863, and purchased his present place. 
He is a member of the Baptist Church, and is 
now Township Trustree, which position he has 
filled for seven years. 

GEORGE YAKE, farmer; P. O., Carding- 
ton ; was born in Baden, Germany, Sept. 22, 
1822; his parents, George and Magdalene 
Yake, were born in the same place. George 
Yake, Jr., came to America in 1834. His 
parents had come two years previous. They 
settled in Marion Co., Ohio, where they resid- 
ed until their deaths; they had but one child, 
the subject of this sketch. After coming to 
x^merica he resided with his parents in Mar- 
ion Co., Ohio, until his marriage; he was 
reared on a farm and received a limited edu- 
cation; he was married Nov. 26, 1842, to 
Catharine Wick, who was also born in Germa- 
ny, in 1823; she came to America in 1832, 
with her parents, Adam and Eve Wick. 
They also settled in Marion Co., where they 
lived until their death. From their marriage 
there were four children — Catharine, George, 
.Jacob and Michael, all of whom are now mar- 
ried. Mr. Yake came to Morrow Co., in 
1875, where he purchased a farm of 150 acres, 
one mile east of Cardington. He and family 
are members of the Lutheran Church. 

ABRAHAM YANT, farmer; P. O., Car- 
dington; was born in Pa., May 22, 1791; his 
parents, Valentine and Louisa Yant, were al- 
so born in Pa. Mr. Yant's parents died in 
1840; he was raised on a farm, and resided 
with his parents until of age, at which time 
he began business for himself. He came to 
Morrow Co., Ohio, from Pa., in 1855, where 
he has since resided. He was married to Cath- 
arine Snider, about the year 1811; her parents 
were also natives of Pa.; from their marriage 
their were five children, one of whom is now 
dead — Rebecca, Hannah, Valentine, Jacob 
and William. Mr. Yant began business for 
himself, with very limited means; and all he 
has, was made by himself. When he came to 
the county, he purchased 184 acres of land, 
which he has now well improved. His wife 
died about 1858; he is a member of the Pres- 
byterian church, as was also his wife. 



-4 % 

^ <s r- 



■V 



^ 



772 



FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 



FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 



JOEL AXTELL, farmer; P. ()., rulaski- 
ville. Joel Axtell is the son oi" Thomas and 
Eunice (Rigg;s) Axtell, and was born Jan. 20, 
1802, in Mercer Co., Pa.; his youth was passed 
on his father's farm, and when 10, he worked 
one year in a tannery; at the age of 21 he be- 
gan clearing land at |!2.50 per acre, cutting 
all under eighteen inches, and continued the 
business four years, being one of the men 
who cleared the land upon which the village 
of Denmark now stands. On the 20th of 
June, 1IS27, he married Miss Jane Campbell, 
daughter of Robert and Mary (Reynolds) 
Campbell, and by her raised a family of seven 
children — Thomas, born Jan. 9, 1830; Han- 
nah M., Nov. 1, 1831 (deceased); Obediah, 
C, April 2!), 1833; Phoebe A., May 31, 1836 
(deceased); .Simeon B., Jan. 11, 1838; Eunice 
J., May 28, 1840; Robert married Elizabeth 
Williams, who died, leaving two children; he 
ai'terward married Millie A. Schade, and is 
now a farmer in Congress Tp.; Thomas mar- 
ried Margaret M. Marian, and lives in Cali- 
fornia; Obediah married Elizabeth Wirth, 
and is a physician in Kansas; Simeon lives in 
Congress Tp., and has had two wives — the 
first, Mary Eldridge, and after her death, Jane 
McMillen. In 1S25 Mr. Axtell entered 80 
acres of land in Congress Tp., upon which he 
moved in 1828; he had no tools, team, nor 
money, but managed to raise three acres of 
corn the first year, cultivating it with rude 
hoes; his few supplies were obtained at Mt. 
Vernon; he built liis own cabin, doing all the 
W(irk with an ax; at the age of 22, he joined 
the Presbyterian Church, and was an Elder 
for thirty years, first joining the Harmony 
Church. He is a Democrat, and polled his 
first vote for Andrew Jackson; he is one of 
the most prominent of the Congress Tp. citi- 
zens. Mr. Axtell's father was a native of 
Washington Co., Pa.; he was born there Jan. 
30, 1 TSO. He married at the age of 21, and 
in the spring of 1810, left Mercer Co., Pa., 
and canjo t<j Knox Co., Ohio, leased a trac. of 
land near Mt. Vernon, planted ten acres of 



corn, and returned to Pennsylvania in harvest 
time for his family. He served forty days in 
the war of 1812, though he eiditsted for a 
longer period. His wife remained alone in 
her cabin with her family, unprotected, and 
one day, meeting Johnny Appleseed. was told 
that the British were coming; but the reso- 
lute woman, instead of fleeing to the fort, re- 
turned to her cabin to guard her children. 
The father died in 1859; after his wife's death, 
in 181 G, he married Jane, widow of Isaac 
Jackson, and by her had four children — Tho- 
mas M., Jane, Azuba D. and William M. His 
first wife bore him Joel, Hannah, Joseph, 
Daniel, Cvrus, Mary and Rufus. 

anna" burns, retired; P. O., Mt. Gil- 
ead. Anna Burns was born June 16, 1812, in 
Columbiana Co., Ohio, and is the daughter of 
William and Elizabeth (Hawn) Grace. She 
received a limited education at the early 
"subscription schools," and at the age of 21 
married Hezekiah Burns, who was born in 
the same county Jan. 17, 1808. After mar- 
riage they moved to Harmony Tp., of this 
county, and located on 168 acres of land, now 
owned by Samuel Gordon. They raised a 
family of six children — Ely, born April 2, 
1837;" Delilah, June 14, 1839; Delorma, 
April 24, 1841; Emeline, March 26, 1844; 
William P., Oct. 24, 1846; Samuel D., Jan. 
10, 1849. All are now married except Ely 
and Samuel. On the 19th of Nov., 1848, her 
husband died, but the widow continued to 
live on the farm with her six small children, 
the oldest being but twelve, and all the care 
and responsibility falling upon the mother's 
shoulders. The widow moved to where she 
now resides in December, 1878; her son, Ely, 
owns 90 acres, and her son, Samuel, owns 60 
acres adjoining his brother's. Hezekiah 
Burns was a blacksmith, and always voted 
the Democratic ticket; he was a member of 
no church, but took an active part in all edu- 
catioiuil and moral enterprises; he secured his 
property by industry and economy, and 
always had an earnest and sympathizing 



■^< 



4l^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKP^TCHES. 



773 



assistant in his wife; the family are highly 
respected citizens. 

JOEL BROWN, farmer; P. O., Pulaski- 
ville; was born Nov. 30, 1809, in Loudoun Co., 
Va.; the son of Issacher and Hanna (Oaven) 
15rown. His father came from Pennsylvania 
to Virginia in an early day; he was a soldier 
in the Revolutionary war, and drew a pension 
for his faithful service, in his later years. .Joel 
married Mahala, daughter of Hugh Harr, Dec. 
30, 1S3(). She was horn Feb. '^8, 1808. They 
remained in the "Old Dnminion " until 1847, 
when he came with his family to Ohio, and 
settled on the farm where he now lives. They 
raised a family of ten children — JMary E., 
James E., Atnanda C, Sarah E., Fenton J., 
and Zillah J. are stdl living, while John W., 
Thomas M., Hannah S. and Charles F. are 
dead. Realizing the value of knowledge, 
which the imperfect schools of Virginia de- 
nied him in his youth, he has given each of 
his children a liberal education. One son 
was educated for the ministry — Thomas M., 
who died after preaching one year. Mr. 
Brown is a member of the Presbyterian 
Church at Chesterville; has held the office of 
Elder in the Church twenty-five years; he owns 
So acres of well-improved land with good, 
substantial buildings, made principally by 
himself ; he is an earnest supporter of the 
Republican party. His wife died Dec. 4, 
1872, and now in the closing years of a well- 
rounded life, he is cared for by two devoted 
daughters, Sarah E. and Zillah J., who will 
watch over and comfort him in the evening 
of his life. 

CALVIN BLAIR, farmer; P. O., Lever- 
ing; among the leading farmers of this town- 
ship is Mr. Blair, who stands in the front 
rank, being a representative of one of its old- 
est families. He was born Feb. 15, 1819; 
his father was a native of Bedford Co., Penn., 
and came to this township in the spring of 
1811; his grandfather an old Revolutionary 
soldier, who followed the trade of shoemaker, 
and three aunts, came with his father and 
settled on the farm where Calvin now lives. 
He is the third son of William and Mary 
(Cook) I51air, and is the fourth in a family of 
nine children — John, Ida, AViliiam, Calvin, 
Lucinda, Charlotte, Isher, Obediah and Abi- 
gail; Obediali died when a child. W^hen 
the news was brought by a friend of the 



murder of the Seymour family, the Blair 
family removed to Mt. Vernon and remained 
six weeks. Mr. Blair early showed a remark- 
able skill in the use of tools and a desire for 
mechanical pursuits; hence after working a 
short time on the farm, he entered into part- 
nership with George Jeffries, in the manufac- 
ture of wagons at Waterford, O., where he 
remained one year, he afterwards worked at 
wagon-making for a few years at different 
places; then emigrated to St. Joseph, Mis- 
souri and worked for a time in the machine 
shops of that place; he next engaged in farm- 
ing in Illinois for five years; then came home 
on a visit, when his father was striken with 
paralysis, and he remained to care for him 
until his death. He purchased the home 
farm of 160 acres in 1861, and has since turned 
his attention to farming and stock-raising. 
He makes a specialty of the breeding of fine 
mules which are bred from a warm blooded 
animal of the Brazilian stock brought from 
Kentuc'<cy. The size and beauty of his stock 
is tto well known to need further comment. 
Mr. Blair has been an extensive traveler — 
was in Texas during the Mexican war. He 
owns 5000 acres of land in eastern Tennessee, 
rich in mineral and covered with grasses suit- 
able for grazing. 

SAMUEL BOWEN, farmer; P. 0., Ches- 
terville. The above named gentleman comes 
of a numerous and highly respected family, 
who left Monmouthshire, Wales, for the at- 
tractions of America, settling in Chester Tp., 
this county, in 1815. He is the fourth son of 
John and Elizabeth (Jenkins) Bowen, and 
was born April 10, 1829, in Chester Tp. 
Here his father purchased 160 acres of land 
in the woods, which he cleared up and im- 
proved, raising nine children, all living 
but two — Elizabeth, John, Mary, Nancy, 
Enoch, Samuel and Isaac, and Henry 
and Emma are dead. The father was 

a good scholar in both Welch and English. 
He came here with a small capital and left a 
handsome property for his family; he died 
about 1868. Samuel passed his early life on 
the farm, receiving the rudiments of his edu- 
cation in the schools of his day until 20 years 
old, when he rented the home farm, which he 
continued to till about fourteen years, then 
he purchased 142 acres of the present farm 
in Franklin, upon which he began operations 



if^ 



FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 



v> 



with such marked success that he now owns 
2o5 acres, made principally by his own lal)or. 
He is a consistent member of tlie Baptist 
Church. 

JOSEPH BIGGINS, farmer; P. O., Ches- 
terville; son of James and Aiui (Abram) Big- 
gins; he was born in Yorkshire, England, 
April 22, 1831. As his father had been far- 
mer, it was but natural that Joseph should 
follow in his footsteps; after receiving- a lib- 
eral education, which included hiiid survey- 
ing, at Ganford Academy, he married Jane 
Cole, daughter of William aiid Susan (Por- 
ritt) Cole; she was born in Yorkshire, May 16, 
182!). Soon after the inarriag(i, which was 
celebrated July 7, 1851, they l)egan farming 
in " merry England,''' which he followed two 
years, but hearing favorable reports of the 
United States from his father, who had emi- 
grated to Chester Tp. in 1852, he and his 
family embarked in July, 1853, and after a 
voyage of forty-two days, reached New York 
and came by way of Dunkirk, Cleveland and 
Fredericktown, and remained one month in 
his father's family; he then purchased 100 
acres in Franklin Tp., and settled upon it in 
Oct., 1853, and lived there until 1864, when 
he sold out with a view to locating in the 
West, but changed his purjjose, and purchased 
the present 100 acres, where he has lived 
since. Two sons and four daughters have 
been born to them — Mary A., married to N. 
H. Jagirer, Sept., 22, 1874; Susan, Maggie, 
William J., John T. and Priscilla; all the fam- 
ily are well educated, and Maggie and Susan 
are successful teachers in public schools. 

HEROD BARNHARD, farmer; P. O., 
Chesterviile; son of Jonathan I5arnhard; w^as 
born March 16, 1820, in Baltimore Co., Md.; 
he came with his parents to Knox Co., O., 
when he was six years old. He was sent to 
an old log school house of the rudest kind 
for a short time in winter; sometimes not 
longer than two weeks; his first outfit of books 
was a Testament, an Elementary spelling-book 
and two sheets of paper; in this way he 
gained a kno\Yledge of the common branches, 
and became very j)roficient in spelling — he 
could spell every word in the old "Element- 
ary." He worked on the farm with his father 
until 21 years old, when he married Lucinda 
Love, Nov. 4, 1S41 ; she is a daughtc^r of Young 
and Ann Love, both natives of Ireland. After 



marriage he tilled his father's farm eight 
vears; then rented diflerent larms near Fred- 
ericktown, O., until 1872, when he came to 
the present place, where he owns four acres 
near Franklin Center. At the age of 15 Mr. 
Baridiard united with the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. He soon began exhorting others to 
live a Christian life, and in due time he was 
licensed by the church to work in the local 
ministry, where his labors have been continu- 
ous for over thirty years; he has also taken a 
profound interest in the Sabbath-school work, 
of which school he was many times chosen 
superintendent. They have raised a family 
of four children, and he has supported his 
aged mother for thirty-six years. He has 
three sons and one daughter — Wdliam L. H., 
a rising young attorney-at-law of this town- 
ship, Hugh, John Wesley, and Sarah A. are 
living. Two daughters, Jane and Amarula, 
are dead. Jonathan Barnhard was first mar- 
ried to Rebecca Price, in Maryland, by whom 
he raised one son — Nehemiah. Then his wife 
dying, he married Catherine Walker, by whom 
he raised three children — Eliza, John and 
Herod. He emigrated from Baltimore Co., 
Md., to Knox Co., O., in 182(), settling four 
miles east of Fredericktown, where he lived 
until 1845. He was a blacksmith, but being 
crippled by a falling log at a raising, he taught 
school, and was elected for many years Justice 
of the Peace. 

JOHN BLAIR, farmer; P. O., Levering. 
The above named gentleman is the first white 
child born in Franklin Tp., which event oc- 
curred July 3, 1812; he is therefore the oldest 
native resident of the townhsip. His taste, 
naturally enough, ran in the same direction as 
his father's; accordingly, he tilled his father's 
farm until he was 25 years old, when he was 
united in marriage to Melicent Hayden, a 
daughter of Samuel and Parthena (Stevens) 
Hayden, who settled in Radnor Tp., Delaware 
Co., O., in 1811, being luitives of Massachu- 
setts. Her father died soon afterwards, and 
her mother with the family came to this town- 
ship about 1817. One son blessed this union 
— Byron, who died Feb. 27, 1858; Melicent, 
wife of John Blair, died Sept. 29; 1839. He was 
married to Artamisa Stevens, Dec. 10, 1843; 
she was a daughter of Reuben and Elizabeth 
(Scribner) Stevens, and her parents came from 
Radnor Tp. in 1817; five children have been 



iL^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



775 



born to them — Lyman B., Calvin H., Cylva 
M., Almon S. and Lauren A.; two of these 
died in youth — Almon S. and Lauren A. 
Mr. Blair's grandfather was a "Minute 
Man" in the war of the Revolution and in 
this country, pursued the calling of shoe- 
maker; and owing to the scarcety of mone}"^, 
he was often obliged to accept wheat in 
payment for work, and as he was a lover of 
coifee, he often traded a bushel of wheat for 
a pound of coifee. His father's house burned 
about 1839, with an almost total loss of house- 
hold goods. The neighbors asseml)led with- 
out invitation the very next morning, with va- 
rious contributions, and in three days had 
another subslaitial building, ready for occu- 
pation. At one time, an aunt of Mr. Blair, 
who had been to a neighbors, came in, report- 
ing the apjjroach of hostile Indians, when 
Mrs. Blair caught John, then an infant in her 
arms, and sprang through a four-light window 
in her fright; but the persons approaching, 
proved to be Captain Lewis, with a party of 
scouts. Mr. Blair had few advantages for 
mental improvement in early life, but has 
done much in later life; and is a well posted 
man, taking a profound interest in the affairs 
of the Disciple Church, in whicli he holds the 
office of Deacon. 

WILLIAM T. CAMPBELL, farmer; P. 
O., Pulaskiville; son of Benjamin and Sarah 
Campbell; was born Oct. 8th, 1795, in 
Northumberland Co., Pa.; his father came 
from New Jersey to Penn. just after the 
Revolutionary war and engaged in farming. 
They raised a family of eleven children — 
John, Mary, William T., Margaret, Lanah, 
Jesse, Joanna, Sarah, Benjamin, Levi and 
Jane — all grew to manhood and womanhood. 
William T. being only a boy came to Cin- 
cinnati, O., in 1812; he remained in the State 
until 1817, when he and two others began a 
pilgrimage to the "Keystone State;" they 
walked 550 miles. He was married May 10, 
1818, to Sarah, daughter of Robert and Mary 
(Reynolds) Camplxdl; she w^s born in Oct., 
1798, in Pennsylvania. He remained here 
four vears; he ran a saw-mill a short time, 
I aught school in the winter and wove during 
vacations. He emigrated with his family to 
this township about 1822, living in a cabin 
near where Center school house stands. Here 
he taught in the old cabin schoolhouse men- 



tioned in the history of this township. In 
the spring of 1824 he removed to the farm 
where Samuel Hull now lives; with a strong 
and willing hand he wielded the ax until the 
sun shone on the smiling fields. He contin- 
ued for many years to teach school in the 
winter; he was the first and only one for many 
years who taught grammar and geography in 
the district school; he taught in all fifteen 
terms; the lowest wages he received was 
112.50 per month, and was also a teacher of 
vocal music, using the old patent notes in his 
singing school. The sterling integrity and 
quick intelligence of Mr. Campljell peculiarly 
fitted him for a leader in public affairs; he 
has been chosen to fill the office of Trustee, 
which he filled with honor to himself and sat- 
isfaction to all; but in the church has his 
manly zeal, coupled with a benevolent Chris- 
tian spirit, shone with untarnished lustre for 
more than half a century; during a member- 
ship of fifty-four years in the M. E. church, 
he successfully filled the offices of Trustee, 
Class-leader and Steward many times; no so- 
licitor for church enterprises ever appealed 
to him in vain. The subject of temperance 
early engaged his attention, being a charter 
member of the first society organized in the 
neighborhood. He raised a family of nine 
children — Mary A., Jane, Jackson, Sarah, 
William E., Levi, Ermina, Lodema and Lovi- 
na. Two others, Baxter and Joseph, died 
young; his second son, William E., served as 
engineer in the late war. Mr. Campbell's 
success in farming has been commensurate 
with his unremitting labors; before he re- 
tired from business he owned 350 acres of 
land, which he has since bequeathed to his 
children. He moved into the present house 
in 1858. The wife of his youth died Feb. 
27, 1868, and he married Mary Harris Feb. 
20, 1873. [He received only a common school 
education in boyhood, but many anight found 
him poring over his books bv firelight. 

SIMON J. COOK, farmer; P. O., Lever- 
ing; is the oldest son of William P. and 
Louisa (Mann) Cook; was born October 5, 
1835, in Franklin Tp.; he passed his boyhood 
on his father's farm, attending, during a part 
of the year, in the common school, until he 
was prepared to enter the Chesterville High 
School, which he did, pursuing a course of 
study under the instruction of Professor J. B. 



;^ 



t 



77(5 



FRA N K L I N TOWNSH IP. 



Selby, then Principal. For a time he divided 
his attention between teachinj^ and fanning, 
having; tatight in all six terms. He was mar- 
ried .Ian. 'J, l.S()2, to Mary C. Hull, born Jan. 
11, 18.'5!S, in Center Co., Pennsylvania; she is 
the yoinifrest living dangljter of Peter and 
Sarah (Hnckley) liuU; her parents were na- 
tives oi" Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio in 
1S4I5, settling j)ertnanently in Franklin Tp. 
in 1844. They had eight children — Saninel 
S., Isaac, .lames, William, Fli/abetli, Char- 
lotte D., Mary C. and Ellen, who died in 
Pennsylvania. Mr. Cook is known as a suc- 
cessful farmer, and has a desirable farm, with 
good, substantial buildings; he and w.fe are 
members of the Disciple Church; voles with 
Democratic party; he has two adopted chil- 
dren, J. Clinton and Addie K. 

WILfJAM P. COOK, farmer; P. O., Lev- 
ering; son of .John Cook, whose history ap- 
pears in the sketch of Stephen Cook. His 
mother's maiden name was Ida Van Liew. 
Both parents were natives of Monmouth Co., 
N. J. Mr. Cook was born May 31, ISOO, in 
Washington Co., Maryland. He was I'l ^^ears 
old when he came with his father to Franklin 
Tp. ; his memory therefore extends over a 
longer period of the township's history than 
almost any other person in it. He attended 
school in Maryland when a boy, and only 
went to school about thirty days in this co.in- 
ty. He worked with his father until his 
death, which occurred when AVilliam was 22 
years old. From this time he divided his at- 
tention between farming and teaching for 
three years. Receiving a quarter section of 
land from his father's estate, he moved on the 
])resent site in 1825. He married Louisa 
Mann, a danght(!r of Joseph and Sarah (Law- 
head) Mann, who came from Bedford Co., 
Pa., in 1818, settling just west of Cook's. 
She was born Dec. 15, 1807, in Bedford Co., 
Pa. They have two sons and two daughters 
— Dinah, now Mrs. Samuel T. Gallegher, and 
has two children; Mary, now Mrs. AVibiam Peo- 
])les, and has four children; Simon J. Cook 
and Alcet R. Cook. William P. united with 
the Harmony I3aptist Church at 20 years of 
age, where he remained eleven years, Subse- 
(|M('iitly he identified with the Disciple 
Church, of which his wife is also a member, 
where he has been a faithful and consistent 
member for over 46 years. During that pe- 



riod he has repeatedly l)een chosen to fill the 
oflice of elder. In his youth he purchased an 
interest in the Fredericktown Library, and 
step by step these records of the past were 
forced to yield their treasures to the earnest 
yoiith who was struggling for development of 
mind and heart, amid the wild scenes of pio- 
neer life. Mr. Cook has for many years vote«l 
the Democratic ticket, casting his first vote 
for that prince of orators, Henry Clay. His 
son, Aleet R. Cook, who married Alvina 
Stackhouse, is living with his father, and has 
one son. 

JESSE CAMPBELL, farmer; P. 0., Pulas- 
kiville; the subject of this sketch was born 
July 12, 1802, and is a son of Benjamin and 
Sarah (Teitsworth) Campbell; he is a native 
of Northumberland Co., Penn., and spent the 
days of his youth on a farm, receiving but little 
education, as his home was among the moun- 
tains with the nearest school seven miles 
distant. His father dying just after his son 
had reached his majority, Jesse was left to 
to help in the support of the family, which 
filial duty he performed for four years. In 
the fall of 1825, with his mother and five child- 
ren he came to Ohio, being conveyed by w}igon, 
the journey occupying twenty-one days. He 
immediately entered eighty acres of land and 
erected also a hewed log house, hauling logs 
to a saw-mill below Mt. Gilead. The first 
spring he put out two acres of corn ; he re- 
mained here some two years when he went 
East in company with Allan Kelly, driving a 
heard of cattle ; during the next seven years 
he worked by the day and month at various 
points, including the Canal R. R. Sept. 6, 1832 
he was united in marriage to Ellen Williams, a 
daughter of Jonathan and EUeanor (Ues) 
Williams ; his wife was born Feb. 24, 1813 
and shared with him the pleasures and pains 
of life until her death, Ajiril 1, 1878. For 
some time after marriage he lived with his wife's 
father, and then buying a team in the fall of 
'35 he removed to his mother's place. His 
brothers and sisters having married and scat- 
tered, each for themselves, he in time bought 
the place which he still owns. Mr. Campbell 
is the father of four children now living, two 
dying when quite young — Jonathan W., born 
()ct. 30, 183G, married Mary Hogler antl set- 
tled in Lee Co,, 111 ; Mark W., born March 
23, 1844, married a Miss Bum barge r, and is 






:k^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



777 



ill ()<r]Q Co., III.; Sarah B., born July 12, 1847, 
is st.ll at lioiiie ; Eliza J., born July 17, 1854, 
at home. The mother of Mr. Campbell died 
Dec. 20, 1808, fiared 98 years, 7 months, 16 
days ; her mother also had lived to be 98. II(i is 
a Democrat ami (;ast his first presidential vote 
lor Andrew Jackson ; with his wile and family 
he is a member of the M. E. Church, and since 
early manhood has been a constant Christian 
and man of upright intesrity. 

REV. STEPHEN COOK, farmer; P. O., 
I^evering;; was born Feb. 25, 1811, in Wash- 
ington Co., Md. He is a son of John and 
Rachel (Bryson) Cook; his parents came here 
when Stephen was about \H months old. It 
was in the fall of 1812 that the family of Rev. 
John Cook began their journey to Ohio with 
a five-horse team; they arrived in October, 
cutting their way through the woods to a 
cabin and a small clearing, made by .lohn 
Cook, a son, some three months before, on the 
land purchased by the father in 1810. Rev. 
John Cook enlisted under Captain John 
Schenk for one year, and then became a 
''Minute Man," fighting in the battles of 
Germantown and Flat-bush, of the Revolu- 
tion. The Cook family, along with five or six 
others, fled to Daniel Levering's during the 
Indian troubles, where they erected a block- 
house, near Waterford; the men working on 
building, while the women and children were 
crowded in the dwelling for two days, until 
Mrs. Cook, being a lady of culture and refine- 
ment, said that she would rather face the In- 
dians than remain longer. At one time, Tom 
Lion, a friendly Indian, was there on butcher- 
ing day, and they asked if the Indians could 
furnish hams of venison for the winter, and 
tallow of the deer for medical pur])Oses. 
Some time later two Indians came on Sunday 
with six saddles of venison; no one was at 
home but Mrs, Cook, so she gave them a din- 
ner and told them to help themselves to pota- 
toes, which they did, taking six bushels in 
payment for the venison. The winter of 1812 
brought many hardships to the family, owing 
to the difficulty of procuring provisions; corn 
was to be found below Mt. Vernon, and the 
family lived on corn-bread and blue venison 
that winter. Mr. Cook began preaching in 
Maryland, where he united with the regular 
Baptist Church in an early day, and he con- 
tinued his ministrations in this county, organ- 



izing the first Church in the house of BiMija- 
min Hart. He was married to Ida Van Liew 
of New Jersey, by whom he had six chiMren 
— fohn, Asher, William P., Polly, Dinah and 
PJlizabeth. Tlu> wife of his youth dying, he 
married Rachel liryson; by this marriage 
five children were born — Ida, Stephen, 
Joseph, Nathan and Ruth. The Bryson's 
were directly related to the old Stevens 
family, of which Thaddeus Stevens is the 
illustrius representative. The ancestry 
pointso also to the Hale family, whose ])ro- 
genitors were of the nobilty of England. 
Rev. John Cook departed this life Aug. 22, 
1822, when Stephen was only twelve years 
old; he attended school the following winter, 
and from that time the care of the bereaved 
family and the interests of the farm claimed 
his attention; taking charge of the home 
place when he was 15, he c ntinued to farm 
it until 1837, when he purchased 100 acres, 
where he has lived ever since, near a beautiful 
spring of clear, sparkling water, which scarce- 
ly varies in its ceaseless flow from year to year. 
He was married to Mary Van Cleve October 
27, 1833; she was a daughter of William and 
Rebecca (Powell) Van Cleve, and came to 
Ohio about 1831, with Lawrence Van Bus- 
kirk, from Bedford Co., Penn. This mar- 
riage has been blessed wnth ten children — 
Caius M. C, Stephen M., John M. C, Ida, 
Mary C. and Lua R., are living; while Lovina, 
Mary, Louisa and ('aroline are dead; two of 
these are ministers of the Disciple Church, 
and all are married except John M. (J. and 
Lua D., who are still at home. Stephen, when 
a boy, became a subscriber to the Frederick- 
town Circulating Library, and by the flicker- 
ing light of a lard lamp he might be found 
night after night, ])oring over the pages of all 
the ancient and modern histories extant, in 
those days; from these lessons of " Philosophy 
teaching by exam])le," he obtained a concep- 
tion of human life, which aided him in the 
education of his own family, which claimed 
his attention for thirty-five years; Mr. Cook 
votes the Democratic ticket, but is not a 
strict partisan; he and his family are members 
of the Disciple Church, in which he has 
jjreached for forty-five years, beginning at 
the age of 24. His labors in the cause of the 
Master for nearly half a century have been 
prompted by an untiring zeal for humanity. 



:[^ 



778 



FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 



DR. S. M. COOK, ministtjr; Lever- 
iiijr; is a iiativo of Franklin Tp., being the 
second son of Rev. Stephen Cook; his moth- 
er's maiden name was Mary Van Cleve; he 
was born Oct. ], 1S45, and passed his l)oyh()od 
amid the scenes anil hibors of rural life, until 
he reached his'^Oth year. In 18(3(J he attended 
the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. 
After his return he taug:ht school for some 
time. Subsequently he befjan reading med- 
icine in the office of Dr. W. N. King, of 
Mansfield, Ohio; after remaining here one 
year he went to the Michigan University, re- 
ceiving instruction in the Medical dejiartment 
one year; he next visited Iowa, and found em- 
ployment in the schools of that State; when 
his school reached a successful close he en- 
tered the Iowa Business College at Des 
Moines, completing his course there; he re- 
turned to Ohio and muted his fortune with 
Margaret A. Ilardgrove, of Knox Co., Sept. 
4, 1870. In October following he entered 
the Ohio Medical College, graduating March 
1, 1871, with the first honors of his class. He 
began the practice of Medicine in Pulaski- 
ville, Ohio, remaining one year; he removed 
to Waterford, Ohio, where he remained five 
years, building up a large and lucrative prac- 
tice in Knox, Morrow and Richland Counties. 
In 1877 Dr. Cook sold his })roperty in Water- 
ford, closed his office, and purchased his pres- 
ent home of thirty-two acres in Franklin Tp., 
and entered the nn'nistry under the auspices 
of the Disciple Church, leaving a prof(!Ssion 
where wealth and distinction awaitiid him in 
the near future; from a sense of duty to his 
God and a love for his fellow beings, he en- 
gaged in a cause where only sacrifices sweeten 
toil; and a conscious presence of Him who 
said it is more blessed to give than to receive, 
is more than riches. He united with the North 
Branch Church at the age of 13 years, follow- 
ing his Mast(>r in the ordinance of baptism, 
vuider the administration of Rev. N. A. Wal- 
ker, of Indianapolis, Ind. During the first 
year of his ministry Mr. Cook baptised 00 
persons, who cami; confessing their sins; he 
is now preaching for different churches in 
Morrow, Knox and Licking C(junties. Al- 
though Dr. Cook would gladly retire from 
the practice of medicine, he is called to 
many a home where disease and want go 
hand in hand, and fees are never thought of 



or demanded. He has gathered a fine collec- 
tion of miscellaneous books, embracing 150 
volumes, in addition to his medical library. 
They treat of theology, history, science and 
literature. He has a family of two sons and 
three daughters — Lovina R. was born June 
19,1871; Van Cleve, July 20, 1873; Scott, 
June 9, 1875; Connie L., Aug. 14, 1877; Etha, 
Sept. 5. 1879. 

MIODNEY CRAVEN, farmer; P. O., Ches- 
terville; is the son of James and Abbie 
(Holmes) Craven; he was born in Loudoun 
Co., Virginia, Jan. 3, 1820; his parents were 
natives of the "Old Dominion," and followed 
the occupation of farming, but gave their son 
Rodney a good education. June 29, 1843, 
he was married to Sarah E. Jones, a daughter 
of John and Elizabeth (Simpson) Jones, born 
May 29, 1820, in Virginia; her parents were 
natives of that State, and owned a ])lantatioii 
of 260 acres, and seven slaves. They reared 
five children, but all are dead but Mrs. Cra- 
ven; her father died Nov. 2, 18(37, leaving a 
legacy of 134 acres of the old homestead to 
our subject. In the fall of 1843 Mr. Craven 
set out for Ohio, and after a journey of 21 
days in a big wagon, they arrived at Knox 
Co., where they remained oidy one year, re- 
moving from thence to Harmony Tp., of this 
county; here they lived on a farm of 120 
acres for 18 years; the family next removed 
to Decatur Co., Indiana, where they remained 
about three years, then returned and spent 
about three 3'ears near Leverings Station. 
The intervening years from that time to this 
the family have lived in Franklin Tp. 
Eleven children have been born to them — 
Virginia, William H., John A., James R., 
Mary E.,1Keuben R., Win field, George, Laura, 
Alice, and an infant died; James R. eidisted 
in the 187th O. V. I., Company G, and .fohn 
A. enlisted in the 88th O. V. I., Company K; 
these two noble boys were only 17 and 18 
years old, who left the comforts of home at 
the call of their country; in a few short weeks 
they were taken down with the measles, and 
died within two days of each other; their re- 
mains were sent home to the sorrowing fam- 
ily. Each year, when the glad earth is 
thrilled with the lay of feathered songster, 
and clad in the rich garb of leaf and ilower, 
may the lowly mounds where rest the remains 
of Jfames R. and John A. Craven, be stre ,vn 



^1 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



779 



with choice tributes of a grateful Nation. 
Mary E. died April 29, 1878. Mrs. Craven 
was a member of one of the aristocratic fam- 
ilies of Virginia, and unused to work until 
she came to this country, but lias struggled 
brav'ely until a large family surrounds her, 
and as handome competence for the future. 

ABEL DICUS, carpenter and farmer; P. 
O., Chesterville; son of Samuel and Sarah 
(Kelly) Dicus, was born April 12, 1821, in 
Northumberland Co., Penn.; his father was a 
native of Delaware, who came to Pennsylva- 
nia in about 18K3, where he engaged in farm- 
ing until his death, which occurred in about 
1829, leaving two children, Nancy and Abel, 
then only eight years old; the latter worked 
for his board and clothing eight years in one 
family. Then, after working by the month 
a short time, he learned the carpenter's trade, 
working about two years, at from S2.75 to 
$3.50 per month. At the age of 18, he pur- 
chased a set of carpenter's tools on credit, 
costing him 160; he has worked at his trade 
forty years in Pennsylvania and Ohio. He 
married Mary Hile, in Pennsylvania; she was 
a daughter of John and Hester (Johnson) Hile, 
who came from New Jersey to Pennsylvania 
in an early day. Mr. Dicus drove through 
from Pennsylvania in a one horse-wagon, a 
distance of 500 miles in three weeks, settling 
first in Congress Tp., in 1852, and lived there 
two years; and after living in various parts of 
Franklin Tp., he settled on the present farm 
of thirty-six acres, on which he has erected 
substantial buildings. Among the objects of 
interest in this township are the beautiful sul- 
phur springs, in the western part of Mr. Dicus' 
farm; they are said to contain peculiar medici- 
nal properties; the clear, sparkling water boils 
up through porous formations of limestone or- 
igin, which resemble petrified moss. They 
have five children — Melinda, Ira, William, 
Gracie A. and Samuel. Mr. Dicus served 
eleven months in the 43d O. V. I., Company 
B. and votes the Republican ticket. 

HOMER P. EMERY, nurseryman and 
farmer; P. O., Chesterville; is the oidy son 
of Samuel L. Emery. He was born Oct. 16, 
1843, in Lincoln Tp., of this county. He 
passed his youth amid the scenes of rural 
life, and received a good education in the 
common schools. As the father had been a 
grower of trees, it was but natural that the 



son should follow the same employment. His 
taste and inclination led him to turn his at- 
tention to growing of evergreen and orna- 
mental trees; accordingly, he purchased a large 
stock of healthy trees of Storrs, Harrison and 
Co., of Painesville, O. He has continued 
to add new and rare varieties from year to 
year, until he has grown from three to four 
thousand healthy, vigorous trees at present. 
They embrace over twenty of the most pop- 
ular varieties of evergreens adapted to this 
climate, and a large assortment of ornamental 
trees. This nursery is well worthy of a visit 
from those who wish to procure the finest 
trees without the expense and injury incident 
to transportation from foreign nurseries. He 
united his fortunes with Fanny Detwiler Nov. 
27, 1879. She is a daughter of Samuel and 
Jane (Riddle) Detwiler. She was born Feb. 
8, 1851, near Belleville, Richland Co., O. 
Mr. Emery is a practical farmer, who takes an 
active interest in the Grange movement, seek- 
ing to exalt and dignify the calling he has 
chosen. He is Past Master of Franklin 
Grange, No. 466. Samuel L. Emery, father 
of our subject, was the oldest son of Samuel 
and Nancy (Gardner) Emery; was born in 
Hillsborough Co., N. H., March 1,1816. He 
came with his parents to Ohio in 1831, he 
being 15 years old at that time. They settled 
on a fifty acre lot, where Abel G. Emery lives, 
in Lincoln Tp. It was all in woods then, and 
they lived in Jerah Smith's house until a cabin 
could be built. It was a large log cabin, 
raised one day, hewed down the next, and 
they moved in on the third day. Here 
they lived until fall, without chimneys, doors 
or windows. The first corn crop was two 
acres, enclosed by brush fences. The father 
of Samuel L. Emery was Captain of a mil- 
itia company in New Hampshire, and a man 
of considerable influence; he purchased two 
military claims — his homestead of fifty acres, 
and a hundred-acre lot, where Samuel L. 
now lives. He raised five children — Sam- 
uel L., Clementina, Homer C, Abel G. and 
Susanna B. Samuel L. had a fair education 
when he reached his forest home in Lincoln 
Tp.; in that neighborhood nothing had been 
done for the cause of popular education. He, 
with others, assembled to build a log school- 
house; it was built by voluntary contributions, 
and ere long they employed George Adams, 



^- 



iki 



im 



FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 



who was the first teacher; liere Mr. Emory re- 
ceived instruction until 21. A sad accident 
befell Mr. Emery, who came to deaden tim- 
ber, on his present place, in Aii<rust, 18iJ7, i)y 
an unti^uarded stn^ke the ax struck his knee, 
iiillit'tinof a wound which made him a cripple 
for life; he was confined with it nearly a year. 
May 6, 1S3!>, he went to Granville, Ohio, to 
learn cabitiet-making, and, b in<r still weak, 
worked on crutches two months; he worked 
at Granville about two years, and then re- 
turned to Emery's Cor?iers, and erected a 
shop and lathe, and worked at cabinet and 
furniture making, for eleven years. He name 
to the present farm of fifty-two acres in 1(S54; 
then few im})rovements had been made, and 
loo- cabins occupied the site of the present 
substantial buildings, which his energy and 
toil have reared. He engaged in the nursery 
and grafting business for many years. He 
was married to Caroline L. Powell, Dec. 1, 
1842. She was a daughter of William and 
Eunice (Tuirrel) Powell, born Aug. 16, 1822, 
in Essex Co., N. Y. She died Jan. 31. 1878. 
Two children were born to them — Homer P., 
subject of this sketch, and Eunice M. Sam- 
uel L. has been a constant reader of the best 
literature; has gathered many valuable books, 
and is well informed. He has been Clerk of 
his township two terms, and Lecturer of 
Franklin (Trange, No. 466. 

WH.LIAM FREDEKICK, farmer and 
wool grower; P. O., Chesterville; son of Wil- 
liam and Kachel (Turner) Frederick, was born 
in Morris Co., New Jersey, February 21, 
1827. His parents came in August, 1837, with 
a family of four sons, leaving one son. Thomas, 
in New Jersey. They settled on the ])resent 
place of over 100 acres. They had five sons 
— Thomas, Al)salom, William, James and Da- 
vid. The father died in Septemlier, 1866, 
and the mother in JvUy, 1876. William at- 
tended school three terms in New Jersey, and 
divided his time between the school and farm 
here until his seventeenth year, when he was 
apprenticed to learn the double trade of ma- 
son and ])lasterer. He was actively engaged 
at his trade in different localities from 1844 
to 1855, when he retired to th(^ old hom(;stoad 
which he had purchased about 1850. Mr. 
Frederick first gave his attention to the rais- 
ing of horses, for a few years, but soon be- 
came interested in the breeding of fine wool 



sheep, iiegan his flock with five Spanish 
Merinos, from the floc^k of Jacob Houser, in 
about 1864. Has since added animals of fine 
blood and strong constitution, at different 
times, until he has a flock of ninety fine ani- 
mals. Although Mr. Frederick had limite<l 
advantages for education in youth, he has 
been a constant reader of the best literature, 
until he is well informed on many subjects. 
He tak< s a deep interest in the school work, 
and has been chosen Trustee of his Township. 
He was married to Mary A. Davis, Decem- 
ber 1(), 1850. Three children were born to 
them — Wcller, Mary E. and I.ydia J. His 
wife, Mary A. Fre(l(>rick, died Novfnnber 16, 
18(J3. His son Weller died Fel)ruary 14, 
18(i4. In August, 1864, subject married Em- 
ily Shaw, a daughter of David Shaw (see bi- 
ography of New'ton Shaw). Of this marriage 
five children have been born, James M., Luel- 
la, Anna Alfred and David R. 

JOSEPH GROVE, farmer; P. O., Pulaski- 
ville; was born May 3, 1820, in Licking Co., 
Ohio, and is the fourth son of Samuel and Mary 
(Moyer) Grove, who came to Licking Co., 
Ohio, from Shenandoah Co., Virginia, in 1810. 
They had eleven children — John, Anna, Isaac, 
Elizabeth, Samuel, Joseph, Rebecca, Da> id, 
Henry, Harvey J., and Mary J., ail of whom 
lived to be married and have families. His 
father was a maiufaeturer of ropes, and a 
farmer; he was a mcMnber of the Old School 
Baptist Church. Joseph began farming in 
Octol)er, 1840, with no capital save energy 
and good health; he followed this calling in 
Licking county until 1851, when he removed 
to the place where he now lives, where he 
first purchased 140 acres of land of William 
Linn, and afterwards 100 acres more of Elias 
Higgins; he has l)e((ueathed a son and daugh- 
ter i()0 — all of which is the fruit of his own 
industry anil careful management; he had 
few advantages for education in early life, but 
has since been a constant reader, not oidy of 
l)ooks, but of men and events. Mr. Grove 
was married to Rachel Ewers, Feb. 29, 1844 ; 
they had two sons and two daughters — Mary J., 
Jacob, Milton and Armindia V.; Jacob is de- 
ceased, and the others are married; Mrs. 
Grove died Feb. 2, 185!); she was a devoted 
member of the New School Baptist Church. 
Mr. Grove married a second wife — Lucinda 
Blair — Jan. 25, 1866; she was a daughter of 



_^« 



-k* 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ES. 



781 



William and Mary (Cook) Blair (a full history 
of whom will be fouiul in the sketch of John 
Blair); she was born March 22, 1S21, in what 
is now Franklin Tp.; she is a member of the 
Disciple Chvireh. He has taken a deep inter- 
estin the improvement of stock, first beginning 
the breeding of cattle with a herd of iJevon- 
shires, and later in the Shorthorns, of which 
he has at present a fine herd of nine animals. 
The writer saw one cow of this herd, which in 
all essential points is a true representative of 
the stock, and a perfect animal; he has also 
a fine flock of 500 American Merinos. He 
has held various township offices — as Trustee, 
Director, etc.; voted the Democratic ticket 
until 1843, since then he has voted for prin- 
ciple rather than pai tv. 

FREDRICK GALE, carpenter; Pulas- 
kiville; among the representative men of 
this township Mr. Gale deserves more than a 
passing notice; he is the son of James and 
Matilda (Mann) Gale, and was born in this 
township June 15, 1836; his parents were 
natives of Bedford Co., Penn., and came and 
settled in Congress Tp., on the Daken place. 
They next settled in this township on the place 
known as the "Wheat Farm," where they 
lived and raised a family of eleven clildren — 
Melinda, Benjamin, Fredrick, William, Eliza- 
beth, Mary, Abner, Amy A., John, Sarah E. 
and Eliza C. Eliza C. died Sept. 14, 1859; 
Melinda, Feb. 8, 1855; Benjamin, Jan. 25, 
1870; William, Nov. 2, 1860; James Gale, the 
father, Sept. 7, 1868; Matilda Gale, the 
mother, Aug. 1, 1878; James Gale was one 
of those men who believed that it required 
the exercise of intelligence to make a 
successful farmer, and all his operations 
displayed a knowledge and foretliought 
of one who studied his calling. When he 
settled on the above mentioned farra there 
was only a small clearing and a cabin, built 
probably by Jonathan Lavering and now there 
are fine l)uildings, and about 140 acres cleared 
in such a way as to leave a girt of timber en- 
circling the farm for tlie protection of crops. 
He has for many years been known as a most 
successful wheat grower, raising an average 
of 300 bushels annually, and has raised 600 
bushels per year; during life he filled several 
township offices — as Assessor, Treasurer and 
Trustee. Frederick Gale received a common 
school education, and worked at home until 



he was 21; then he began working at the 
carpenter trade, having such skill in the use 
of tools that he received wages from the first; 
he has taken and completed many contracts 
in this township — as Township Hall and the 
Grange Hall — until he is known as a skilled 
and competent workman; Oct. 20, 1856, he 
united his fortunes with Lucy A. Hyler. She 
was a daughter of .lames and Ann (.lackson) 
Hyler. She was born Nov. 9, 1838, in this 
township. Two children, a son and a daugh- 
ter, have been born to them. Reece was born 
Jan. 22, 1858; Nett, May 2, 1864. The first 
five years of their married life was spent in 
Congress Tp., where he erected buildings. 
He now owns ninety acres of land, fifty of 
which he lias earned by his own labor and 
forethought; here we find one fine spring and 
twenty-five acres of bottom land. He has held 
the office of Assessor, to perform the duties of 
which he was tlioroughly competent. Mr. Gale 
has two dens containing two species of ferrets 
— a little animal very destructive to rats; he 
has also a fine collection of pigeons, consisting 
of eight varieties, some of them very rare and 
numbering fifty birds. 

RICHARD HOLLY GRAHAM, merchant; 
Pulaskiville; the youngest son of Joseph and 
Margaret (Mann) Graham; was born Nov. 7, 
1840, in this township. His parents were na- 
tives of Pennsylvania, and drove from Bed- 
ford Co. of that State in a one-horse wagon to 
the wilderness of Ohio, in about 1822. His 
father entered the quarter section where Val- 
entine Mann lives — all in woods then. He 
put up a cabin in which a quilt served as a 
door for some time to keep out the wolves, 
then so thick in the woods that they made 
night hideous. The family was poor, and in 
place of the elegant furniture of to-day, they 
thankfully ate their corn bread and venison 
on rough boards laid on pins driven in the 
walls. The family remained on the place 
first settled some time, and moved to the place 
where William Van Buskirk lives, where they 
lived until 1864, emigrating to Franklin Co., 
Ind. They lived there only two years, when 
Richard's mother died, and he and his father 
returned to Ohio, and together purchased 
ninety-three acres of land in Perry Tp., of this 
county. This they farmed in partnership un- 
til 1873, when they sold out, and the father 
found a home with his daughter, Elizabeth 






ik 



782 



FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 



Mettler, where lie died Oct. 8, 1877. He was 
a self-made, self-educated man. They had 
ten cliihhcn, two of whom died in youth — 
Al)iu'r, and infant, Jolni, Klizal)etli, Kairhel, 
Isaac, Martin, WesU'y, Mary, and Richard IT.; 
\l. II. Graham, or "HoII," as he is usually 
called, lived at home until the death of his 
mother. He then enga<^-ed in farmintr h<'n! 
until 1873. Then he traveled durinirthe win- 
ter and spring, and followed threshing during 
the summer and fall for the next three years. 
In 1870 he purchased a stock of goods of Mil- 
tt)n Hart, and has since been mercliant and 
postmaster at Pulaskiville. In April, 1880, he 
removed to the present commodious room be- 
neath the Grange Hall, where he keeps con- 
stantly on hand a full stock of dry goods, 
hats and caps, ])oots and shoes, glassware, 
and in short everything needed by a farming 
communily, at prices as favorabh^ as can be 
found elsewhere. He was married April 11, 
1880, to Cecelia Pittman, a daughter of Abed- 
nego and Atia (Slaugh) Pittman. 

DENTON GRAHAM, farmer; P. 0., Pu- 
laskiville. He is the youngest child in a fam- 
ily of ten, and was born ^larch 30, 1844, in 
Congress Tp., of this county. His father, 
Samuel Graham, a native of Bedford Co., 
Penn., in early life united his fortunes with 
Sarah Brewer, of the same State. In 1819 
the family drove through from Pennsylvania 
in a one-horse wagon to the little log cabin 
built by the father, who had preceded the 
family and entered a quarter section of land 
in the woods of Congress Tp. He died Aug. 
18, 1855; and Sarah Graham, the wife, died 
July 30, 1870. He cleared up a farm, and 
leaves a family often children, eight of whom 
are living-r— Oliver, Mary, Drusilla, Morgan, 
Levi, Benton, James and Denton; Charlotte 
and Rachel are dead. Denton lived in his 
father's family, and attended the rude school 
houses of the early days, during a short term 
in winter, where little was taught, and that, 
poorly. At 18 he began working by the 
month, which he continued for seven years. 
Aug. 19, 1809, he married Amy A. Gale (See 
sketch of Frederick Gah'), by whom he has 
been blessed with two children — .ludd was 
born Oct. 31, 1870; Stella was born Dec. 8, 
1878. Mr. Graham has been a successful 
farmer and stock-raiser, acquiring a handsome 
property of eighty acres by his own labor and 



management, with the exception of $800 from 
his father's estate. He early identified him- 
self with the Grange interest in Franklin, 
Grange, No. 400, where he with others are 
laboring to exalt the calling of the farmer to 
a position that its importance demands. 

GEORGE GATES, farmer; P. O., Pulaski- 
ville. The subject of these lines is the son of 
Martin and Mary (Poole) Gates, born in Wash- 
ington Co., Pennsylvania, in April, 1837. 
His father was a native of New Jersey, and 
his mother of Maryland. They were mar- 
ried in Pennsylvania, and their union was 
blessed by eleven children — John, William, 
Elizabeth, Ann, Mariah, Esther, Martin, 
George, Ruth, Isaac, and Sarah. They ar- 
rived here April 0, 1839, and purchased 100 
acres, where John Gates lives, which had few 
improvements then ; on his arrival, George, 
then a lad of twelve years, began clearing 
and farming, which he followed until his 
twentieth year; from that time he worked l)y 
the month and day until he was thirty-two. 
In 1859 he united his fortunes with Elizabeth 
A. Shoemaker, a daughter of Samuel Shoe- 
maker, of Chesterville, Ohio. They rented a 
lot at first, for one year, and afterwards lived 
in different places in this township until 1871, 
when he bought his present home of 05 acres, 
where he is engaged in farming and stock- 
raising. Mr. Gates has dealt in horses quite 
extensively for the last thirty years. In April, 
1880, he purchased the celebrated Norman 
Horse, raised by Jenk Williams, of this county, 
and one of the few representatives of the 
famous "Old Bob.' He is anobleand spirited 
animal, whose stock and well-known merits 
commend him to all. .vlr. Gates is a Repub- 
lican in politics, and has a family of one son and 
two daughters — Ida, born Feb. 5,1801; Minnie, 
April 24, 1800; Budd, June 14, 1870. Clyde, 
a son, died at the age of two years. Mr. 
Gates takes a deep interest in education, 
whose advantages he was denied in youth. 
He is well informed, and his home is a center 
of intelligence, where the stranger will find a 
generous and hearty welcome. 

MILTON GROVE, farmer and stock-rai- 
ser; P. O., Pulaskiville; he is the son of Jo- 
seph and Rachel (Ewers) Grove; was born in 
Licking Co., Ohio, Aug. 30, 1848; he worked 
at home until twenty years old, receiving a 
good education in the meantime; he then came 



i V 



-31 



y- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



783 



to the present place of IGO acres of fine farm- 
ing land, which he now owns; on his fields 
you will see a fine flock of American Grade 
Merino sheep, and a high grade of the short- 
horn cattle, which he is constantly innn-oving; 
although a young man, he has held the office 
of Township Treasurer with credit to him- 
self and satisfaction to all; he is a member 
of Chester Lodge, Number 156, F. A. M.; 
he married Lillias Craven March 11, 1874; 
she is a daughter of Leander and Lenora 
(Ewers) Craven; she was born March 17, 
1855, in Knox Co., (^hi(j; her father was born 
in the "Old Dominion,"' Dec. 17,1818, and 
emigrated to Ohio in 1833; Leonora Ewers 
was born July 7,18;^4,and came from Loudoun 
Co., Va., in 1840; they were married Dec. 1, 
1842; after marriage they settled in Mt. Gil- 
ead, where they lived some time, then re- 
moved near Waterford, Ohio; subsequently 
they settled permanently on the present place, 
near Salem Church, Wayne Tp., Knox Co., 
Ohio. Four children have been born to them 
— William Franklin Craven was born Aug. 
13, 1844; died Sept. 25, 1801; Marcella Cra- 
ven was born Aug. 19, 1847; married Elias 
Cooper January 4, 1870; Lillias Craven (see 
sketch); Linna F. Craven was born March 7, 
1865. 

GEORGE W. GUNSAULUS, Notary Pub- 
lic and dealer in marble ihonuments, Ches- 
terville; was born on the 15th of May, 1834, in 
Angelica, N.Y.; he is the youngest son living 
in a family of eight children. His father, Jo- 
seph Gunsaulus, is a native of New York State, 
and united his fortunes with Nancy Dempsey, 
also a native of that State. He farmed in the 
"Empire State " up to 1842, when he emi- 
grated to Franklin Tp. (then Knox Co.) Ohio, 
with a family of six children, settling near 
Pulaskiville; remaining here but a short time, 
they removed to Chester Tp., where he re- 
mained four years, and then went to Franklin 
Tp. He died in 1849, and his wife died in 
Putnam Co., Ohio, in 1874. He was a soldier 
in the war of 1812. They raised a family of 
eight children, six of whom are living — Will- 
iam, Joseph, Catharine, Calvin, George W. 
and Lodema. [For the history of Joseph and 
Calvin, see sketch in Chester and Gilead town- 
ships.] Peter and John are dead; George 
W. Avorked on a farm until he was 18; in the 
meantime, he attended school until he ac- 



quired a good knowledge of the common 
school braiuthes, and many of the natural sci- 
ences. In 1852, being 18 years old, he began 
a three years' apprenticeship at marlile cut- 
ting, under the ilirection of S. A. Crune; after 
this he worked two years as journeyman in 
the marble shop at Chesterville. He was 
married to Sarah Disman, Jan. 22, 1857; she 
was the oldest daughter of Joseph and Anna 
(Mathews) Disman; she was born in Chester 
Co., Pa., on the 27th day of August, 1834. 
Her ])arents came toOhio in 1852, and settled 
near Franklin Center, where they lived until 
1873, when they removed to Lima, Ohio, 
where they now live, surrounded by a large 
circle of friends, and esteemed by all. Th(^y 
raised a lamily of nine children — George W., 
•John, Joseph, Israel, Sarah, Rachel, Haimali, 
Elizabeth J. and Anna. After marriage, Mr. 
Gunsaulus moved to Franklin Center, where 
he has worked at marble cutting, for 21 years, 
in his present shop. His long exjjerience as 
a workman and dealer in every style of tomb- 
stones and monuments, has enabled him to fur- 
nish and erect over our beloved dead the most 
beautiful and appropiiate monuments to their 
memory at a very reasonable expense. This 
is the earliest industry of its kind in Franklin 
Tp., and is well worthy of the patronage of 
those who would mark the last resting-place 
of their dead with a monuinent of American 
or Italian marble or granite. Mr. Gunsaulus 
has been chosen to fill the office of Justice of 
the Peace for fifteen years, and now holds a 
commission of Notary Public; he was selected, 
over several competitors, to act as Enumerator 
of the Census of 1880; he was a member of 
the School Board for fifteen years, and aided 
in the purchase of the M. E. Church, now 
used as a school-house. Himself, wife, and 
four children are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, and active workers 
in the Sabbath-school, in which he has been 
Superintendent. He has a family of seven 
children — William D. was born Nov. 2, 1857; 
Anna M., Feb. 7, 1859; Mary F., October, 
1861; Joseph, Sept. 1, 1863; Addison, March 
12, 1865; Hattie L, Dec. 8, 1867; Katie, July 
23, 1869. 

MILTON HART, farmer; P. O., Pulaski- 
ville; oldest son of Levi and Leah (Mann) 
Hart, was born in Perry Tp., Feb. 23, 1832. 
He lived on the old farm on Owl Creek, and 



^T^ 



-^ 



r84 



FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 



went to school near by, on Nathan I^evering's 
place. He farmed the h«)niestea(l for some 
years after reaching his majority, and worked 
about four years for Me Arthur Cook. He 
came to I'ulaskiville in the sprino^ of 18G5, 
and with his brother Jiaiiner purchased a 
huge stock of new goods, and conducted a 
general store, uiuler the Hrm name of B. Hart 
& Brother. This partnership lasted three 
years, when Banner retired, and Milton con- 
tinued the business as sole proprietor for 
eight years longer, when lie traded the entire 
stock to R. H. Graham, the present proprie- 
tor, in 1S70, for thirty acres of land in Perry 
Tp. He also owns twenty-two acres of land 
near the vil'aue, with six town lots and a 
handsome dwelling and store-room in Pulaski- 
ville; all made by his own labor. He united 
in marriage witli Louisa Mann Jan. 5, 1854. 
She is a daughter of John Mann, Jr.; born in 
Congress Tp., Apr. ;^5, 18o"^. Milton is the 
grandson of Benjamin Hart, who walked 
through from Bedford Co., Pa., in about 1810, 
and arriving at the place he selected for a 
home, the Indians told him that a man had 
been there on horseback; so he walked on to 
Wooster in some haste, and had the papers 
made out for his land just as the man rode up, 
who had lost his way, and was very much 
chagrined at being beaten in the race. He 
made his settlement in the spring of 1811, 
erecting a cabin just south of the present 
brick residence. Levi Hart, the father of 
Milton, was the fifth and youngest son of a 
family of five sons and four daughters. He 
was born in Bedford Co., Pa., Oct. 19, 1807, 
hence was something past four years old 
when he came to Perry. There were no 
schools near them at that time, and the father 
supplied the defi;iency by distributing books 
among them on Sunday morning, and keeping 
them at the task all day. In this way they 
learned to read, write and cipher. When the 
first school was organized P]lizabeth, a sister 
of Levi, went to school one winter through the 
woods, four miles distant, alone, finding her 
way by the blazed trees. The same lady 
walked to Fredericktown, nine miles distant, 
and ri'turned the same day, from church. The 
Indians often came to sharpen their tools and 
W(;apons. At such times they would catch 
the boy Levi by the hair, and flourish their 
nmrderons looking knives above his head for 



their amusement. Levi Hart and Leah Mann 
were married Jan. 28, J 830. She is a daugh- 
ter of Joseph Mann (see sketch of Perry 
Marni), born in Bedford Co., Pa., Dec. 2, 

1809. They lived with and became the chief 
support of his parents luitil their death — a 
period of twenty-six years. He then biname 
possessed of the homestead of one hundred 
and sixty acres, where he resided until his 
death, March 0, 1875. He and wife were 
both members of the regular Jiaptist Church 
for more than thirty years. Mrs. Hart ha; an 
interesting relic in the shape of a quilt lined 
with linen spun by herself, inlaid with tow 
which she bleached and carded, and pieced 
largely with her first calico dress, which she 
earned by boiling sugar in dinner kettles, and 
purchased in Columbus at forty cents per 
yard. The quilting was done by herself in 
1829, and the quilt is in good condition. Of 
this marriage are five children — Milton, sub- 
ject; Sarah, born June 11, 18-}(J, now Mrs. 
Peter Sipes; Luzdla, June 29, 1838, now Mrs. 
Charles Dise; Banner, March 22, 1840; Polly, 
Jan. 1, 1843. 

ENOCH HIGGINS, farmer; P. O., Pulaski- 
ville; was born Dec. 11, 1831, in Franklin Tp., 
then in Knox Co., Ohio; is the fourth son of Eli- 
za and Mary (Hart) Higgins; his father was the 
son of Joseph and ("atherine (Hendershott) 
Higgins, and was' born Aug. 15, 1795, in Bed- 
ford Co., Penn.; he came to this county in 

1810, without capital, and worked for others 
until he earned money enough to buy a quar- 
ter-section of land. He was married to Mary, 
a daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Kear- 
ney) Hart, June 15, 1820; she was born July 
24, 1799, in Bedford Co., Penn.; her parents 
came from Pennsylvania to Perry Tp., then 
in Knox Co., in the Spring of 1811, where 
they settled, raising a family of nine children 
— AVilliam, John, Benjamin, Enoch, Levi, 
Mary, Elizabeth, Margaret and Sarah. The 
Hart, family at one time lied in the night to 
the fort at Fredericktown; and during the 
panic caused by the murder of the whites at 
Mansfield, they fled to Waterford, and assisteti 
in building a block-house near that ])lace. 
The father of Enoch after marriage, settled on 
the farm where Samuel James lives; in tw* 
weeks after the first log was cut, they moved 
into their cabin. To use the words of the aged 
mother, " It had neither floors, doors, chink- 



is 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



>> 



ing, chimney nor windows, but we ate our 
meals from nice clean clap-})oards spread upon 
the sleepers, and felt very Happy." Here 
they reared ten children — Harriet, Harvey, 
Curtis, Ella, Monroe, Enoch, Sylvester, Mary 
J., Sarah E. and Eiias. All are married and 
have families. The older Mr. and Mrs. Hig- 
gins have been members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church over forty years. He iden- 
tified himself with the Republican party at its 
organization, and was an earnest su2)porter of 
its principles. He passed away peacefully Jan, 
6, 1880, at the age of 84 years. His venerable 
wife still lives with her youngest son in the 
old home. Enoch Higgins remained at home 
with his parents until he was ^^ years of age, 
then rented his father's farm for three years, 
and in 1855 went to Wisconsin, where he en- 
tered 160 acres of land; he then returned home 
and remained until 1857, again going to Wis- 
consin and was there twoyears, building a house 
and improving the land which he had previ- 
ously purchased, returning to the scenes of 
his childhood in 1859. He celebrated our 
nation's Independence by his marriage to 
Leah Lovett, July 4, 1861. The}' have one 
son, Clinton O. Mrs. Higgins died in Feb. 
1867. On Oct. 7, 1869, he married Mary E., 
a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Dar- 
ner) Chambers; she was born July 7, 1846, 
in Harmony Tp., of this county. They have 
two children — Dilla E. and Rosella. He and 
wife are members of the M. E. Church at 
Pulaskiville; he enlisted in the 136 Reg., Co. 
I, O. N. G., and remained in the service four 
months. He owns seventy acres of well 
improved land, earned by his own labor and 
enterprise. 

JAMES HARDIN, farmer; P. O., Pulas- 
kiville; son of James and Sarah Hardin; was 
born Nov. 16, 1816, in Liberty Tp., Dela- 
ware Co., O. His parents fled from Marietta 
on horseback about 1812, to escape the hor- 
rors of the tomahawk and scalping-knife; the 
mother, with the babe on her arm sAvam her 
horse through the Muskingum river. The 
father was First Lieutenant in the war of 
1812, and raised eleven children — Mary, 
Sarah, Isaac, Mahala, Nancy, John, Lydia, 
James, Jane, Lucinda, Ezekiel. The family 
removed to Seneca Co., O., when James was 
a boy and he grew up among the Senecas, 
who lived there a good many years. They 



were almost daily visitors at his father's house, 
and were always on friendly terms with the 
family, often bringing venison and helping 
themselves to whatever they liked. On ac- 
count of the meager schools our subject had 
no advantages for education; he cleared 160 
acres of land by the job, the average price 
being §5.00 per acre. He served eight years 
as Captain of the Riflemen in Seneca Co., also 
as Drum Major in the militia of Delaware Co. 
He was married March 28, 1849, to Phebe 
Wright, daughter of Dennis and Lydia (Rob- 
ison) Wright, who was born June 8, 1827, in 
the State of New York; her parents came to 
Ohio in 1835, and settled first in this town- 
ship where Benton Levering lives. They 
raised a family of four children — Hester A., 
Edmund, Phebe and William N. After 
marriage Mr. Hardin engaged in farming 
here for three years, afterwards farmed in 
different parts of the township until 1863, 
when he went to Williams Co., O., where he 
stayed two and a half years, then removed to 
Sandusky Co. and farmed there until 1871, 
when he returned to present place, purchased 
in 1879. They raised three sons — Nelson 
W., Thomas R. and Dennis. Nelson W. 
died Oct. 13, 1865. 

IRA M. INK, farmer; P. 0., Chesterville; 
is the ninth child and youngest son in a family 
of ten children. He is the son of George and 
Mary (Rose) Ink; he was born Sept. 11, 1835, 
Tompkins Co., N. Y. His parents reared the 
following children — Permelia, Walter P., 
Jane, George C, Charles, Theron H., Cornelia 
A., Philo, Ira M. and Marilla. The father, 
who was a farmer, departed this life Oct. 23, 
1866, in the State of New York; and in 1870 
the widowed mother came to Ohio, and re- 
sides at present in Richland Co., O. The 
subject of these lines was raised on a farm and 
educated in the common schools. In the 
spring of 1856, he being 20 years old, emi- 
grated to California, by water route. He 
worked on the farm at from $40 to $75 per 
month, until 1860, when he embarked once 
more for his native State, arriving at New 
York City on Christmas day. He farmed his 
father's farm about two years, then by the 
month, in the gloomy pineries of Michigan 
and New York, until' the fall of 1868. He 
came in that year to Delaware Co., where he 
remained about 2 months, then came to this 



Hv 



-^ 



FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 



t()\viislii|) and worked for S. L. Newcoiub, a 
n'lative, until March 10, 1870, when he formed 
a matrimonial alliance with Allie Burt, a 
(laughter of Isaac and Sarah (Harris) Burt; 
she was born Aug. 21, 1852, in Cardington, 
O. Her parents were both natives of this 
State; her mother was born in Licking Co., 
and her father in this county. Mrs. Ink was 
a successful teacher in the schools of this 
county. Mr. Ink purchased 100 acres here in 
J8G9, and after nuirriage settled upon it in 
1870. He made a second trip to California 
in 1871, and tarried about nine months, and 
returning has lived here ever since, a success- 
ful and energetic farmer and a reliable man. 

SAMUEL JAMES, carpenter and farmer ; 
P. O., Pulaskiville. Among the worthy self- 
made men of Franklin, stands the gentleman 
whose name heads this sketch ; he is the third 
son of Henry W. and Hannah (Jones) James, 
born in what is now Gilead Tp., March 1, 
1828. At seventeen he went to Mt. Vernon 
to learn the carpenters' trade, serving an ap- 
prenticeship of four years ; he has worked at 
his trade principally in this county since that 
time ; he united in marriage with Miss Ellen 
Carrothers, May 11, 1851. This union has 
been blessed with four sons and two daughters, 
Maggie J., born Feb. 21, 1852, died May 18, 
1873 ; James C, born Oct 2G, 1853 ; Robert 
B., born Dec. 28, 1855 ; John W., born Aug. 
3, 1858 ; Sarah A., born June 2, 1862 ; Samuel 
Ellsworth, born June 20, 1864. After marri- 
age Mr. James lived three years on the farm 
of his father-in-law, then purchased thirty 
acres in this township of Wesley Martin for 
something over six hundred dollars, going in 
debt for a large portion; they worked early 
and late until the home was theirs. They sold 
this about 18G5, and after renting some two 
years they purchased his present home of fifty 
acres in 1867, on which he erected a substan- 
tial frame residence in 1872. His farm is well 
improved and embraces a fine sugar camp, and 
valuable farming lands under good cultivation. 
Mr. .James had few advantages in early life 
for education, but making the most of what 
came to him, he has solved the problems of life 
as they were ])resented, doing much to repair 
early loss ; he began life with no capital but 
stout hands and daring purposes, and has by 
force of will attained a handsome property, 
and reared a family such as any father might 



be j)roud to own. The wife and mother of 
his children has aided much by her wise coun- 
sels to form and fashion their character; she still 
presides over the home where taste and neat- 
ness adorns, with pictures, music, and literature 
crowned with hospitality make it worthy of 
that sacred name. 

MORGAN A. KEARNEY, farmer; P. O., 
Levering, Knox Co.; is the son of Thomas and 
Jerusha Kearney; his mother's maiden name 
was Van Cleve; he was born Dec. 8, 1821, in 
Bedford Co., Penn.; his father came 
to Knox Co., Ohio, about 1825, where he re- 
mained five years; he then removed to North 
Bloomfield Tp., then Richland Co.; they hired 
a man to bring them here from Knox Co., and 
he unloaded their household goods in the 
woods, and they were obliged to sleep in a rail- 
pen, until a cabin could be built; they lived 
here until 1851, when he removed to Warren 
Co., Iowa, where he died in the fall of 1852. 
His parents were married Dec. 4, 1814, and 
had thirteen children — Mary A., Sarah, Pow- 
ell, Morgan A., Rebecca, William, Harvey, 
Simon P., Catherine, Druzilla, Jerusha, 
Thomas D., and Priscilla; Simon P. and 
Catharine died when young. Morgan A. 
lived with his ])arents until he reached his 
majority, attending school only a short time; 
he then began working by the month at from 
eight to ten dollars per month. He was mar- 
ried June 12, 1853, to Hannah J., a daughter 
of Benjamin and Sarah (Jackson) Stackhouse; 
her parents came to Ohio, from Pennsylvania, 
in the fall of 1830. They raised a family of 
nine children — Nancy, Silas, Joseph, Stephen, 
Hannah J., Myrtilla, Sarah, Daniel .L, and 
Benjamin; of these, Stephen, Daniel J., 
Nancy, and Benjamin, are dead. In the fall 
of 1853, Mr. Kearney and wife emigrated to 
Warren Co., Iowa, where he engaged in farm- 
ing, until the fall of 1857, when he returned 
to the home of bis youth, and in the following 
spring moved into the house where he now 
lives, having purchased twenty-five acres of 
land, which he has since made attractive by 
various improvements. They have raised 
two children — Zelma J. King, since married, 
and Mary, the orphan daughter of Daniel J. 
Stackhouse, who lives with them now. Mr. 
Kearney became a member of the Old School 
Baptist Church in 1859, and he holds un- 
falteringly to that faith and doctrine; his 



^ 
^ 



iht^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



787 



wife is a consistent member of the Disciple 
Church. 

MILTON LAVERTNG, farmer ; P. O. Lev- 
ering ; lives on the old homestead purchas- 
ed by his father in 1810, and he still holds the 
original land-warrant, signed by James Madi- 
son, who was then President. He is the 
youngest son of William and Ruth (Brison) 
Lavering, born Feb. 16, 1821, on his present 
farm. His father in company with the Rev. 
John Cook and John Ackerman came on 
horseback to this township from Bedford Co., 
in 1810; he entered 160 acres of land here, 
and, soon after, by his brother, 160 acres 
inore in Congress Tp. They all soon returned 
to Pennsylvania; he made a second visit to 
this State and remained five months, and 
made a small clearing, returning to Pennsyl- 
vania; he this time loaded the four horse 
wagon with his family and household goods, 
reaching his destination in Nov. 1816; he 
moved into a cabin which his nephews had 
prepared for the family; there were nine 
children in the family, seven sons and two 
daughters — Archibald, Allen, Morgan, Morris, 
Nelson, David, Nancy, Milton and Polly. 
Archibald and Allen died when young. Wil- 
liam Lavering was a member of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, and de])arted this life 
Sept. 14, 1864. Milton Lavering has been a 
tiller of the soil all his life; he began with 
192 at the age of 21, and in 1864 he purchased 
the home place consisting of 160 acres of 
land, lying on the north branch of Owl Creek, 
with about fifty acres of fine bottom land. 
He married Mary Rinehart, April 24, 1860. 
She is a daughter of Jacob and Lydia Rine- 
hart. In her father's family there were nine 
children — Ellen, Caroline, Charles, Elizabeth, 
Mary and Jacob — three who died in youth, 
Lydia, Anna and an infant; they were natives 
of Pennsylvania, and came here in an early 
day. Mr. Lavering and wife are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Water- 
ford. He raised the first crop of flax for the 
seed ever sown in the vicinity. This was in 
1845, and sold at eighty-seven and a half 
cents per bushel. In early days his father 
made trips to thi^ lake with a barrel of maple 
sugar on the hind wheels of the wagon. They 
have a family of two children, Adda M. and 
Zantha E., the two eldest — Morgan and Wal- 
ter B. are dead. The old brick residence was 



built about 1823, and is perhaps the oldest 
brick house in the township. 

DARWIN LEONARD, farmer; P. O., 
Chesterville; Mr. Leonard is the representa- 
tive of one of the early settlers of this county. 
His father, Daniel S. Leonard, came to Ches- 
ter Tp. about 1820, from the State of New 
York; the roads were then marked by "blaz- 
ing trees," and the settlements were few and 
far between, and many were the hardships 
endured by the settlers of that day. The 
father was united in marriage to Elizabeth 
Lewis in 1833, and they settled on 150 acres 
of land one mile east of Chesterville, where 
they raised eight children — Darwin, Lewis, 
Abigail, Willoughby, Sarah E., Mary, Miner- 
va and Anna E.; six of these are living and 
two are dead — Anna E. and Willoughby. 
Darwin, the oldest son, was born Aug. 31, 
1834, in Chester Tp.; h3 worked at home 
until 27 years old and received a fair educa- 
tion, then he married Jennie A. Bain, by 
whom he has two children — Lizzie and Belle* 
His wife, Jennie A. Leonard, died April 23' 
1873, and he subsequently married Loretta 
Plum, of Mt. Gillead; he purchased 63 acres 
here in 1875, which he has farmed with suc- 
cess; he is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, and votes the Democrat ticket. 

THOMAS P. MORRISON, farmer; P. O., 
Mt. Gilead; youngest son of Thomas and 
Mary (Jennings) Morrison; was born on his 
present place April 30, 1837. He obtained 
his education in the district school, and at 
twenty-two began teaching, which he followed 
three terms. He took charge of the home- 
stead at his majority and has farmed it suc- 
cessfully ever since. In 1859 he purchased 
sixty -four acres of the home place. He united 
his fortunes with Caroline A. Bomberger, July 
3, 1869. Of this union there is but one child 
living — Rhoda B., born August 31, 1874. Mr. 
Morrison has been called to many positions of 
trust, serving as Chairman of the Democratic 
Central Committee in this county for six 
years; he conducted the campaigns with 
marked ability, electing some one at each 
election. He was Justice of the Peace for 
nine years, and Clerk one year, administering 
its duties with a fidelity and soundness of 
judgment that won the confidence of all. 
He united with the Presbyterian Church at 
eighteen, and has been a faithful member. 



:?1< 



;rv^ 



?T.*« 



J8S 



FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 



y\v. Monisuii possesses a fine library and is 
one of the best read men in that ])art of his 
township. His father Thomas Morrison was 
a native of Green Co., Penn., born June 4, 
179'i. He was raised to the occupation of 
farminj^, and wedded Mary .Tennin<^s, Decem- 
ber T, 18^0. She was born in Fayette Co., of 
the same State, August 2, 1798. In May, 
1S"23, they set out for Ohio; he drove the 
wagon, while the wife rode through on horse- 
l)a('k and carried her child before her. After 
a journey of about fifteen days they arrived 
at the present place which then had not "a 
stick amiss." They erected a pole pen only 
large enough for the so-called bed and table, 
and covered it with bark. They slept on 
poles which lay across from side to side, and 
cooked outside in kettles hung on forked 
sticks. They lived in this way until fall when 
they moved into the log cabin, which had been 
built in meantime on the one hundred and 
seventy-one acres, which they had entered and 
punhased. They went to Mt. Vernon to buy 
grain and to mill at Young's, below Chester- 
ville. It is worthy of note that the two sons 
went to mill once on the 3d of Oct., when 
the snow fell a foot deep, so they could not 
return that night. The parents united with 
the Presbyterian Church very early — he at 
New Providence about 1821, and she with 
the George's Creek Church in Fayette Co., 
Penn. about 1817. On coming to this coimtry 
they first united with the Harmony Church 
but when the church was organized on this 
place they became members of it, and he was 
Deacon many years. When they first came 
the wolves were so troublesome that they 
were obliged to pen their sheep every night. 
A spirit of fellowship characterized their pro- 
oeedino-s, and at one time Mr.Morrisan went six 
miles distant to a barn-raising, and hitching 
his horse by a brush heap, the animal made 
way with a part of it. Five sons and three 
daughters were born to them — Robert, the 
oldest son, graduated at the Miami University 
at Oxford, liutler Co., Ohio, married Flora .1. 
IJomberger, and is now a Minister of the 
Prt'sbyterian Church at Ftiiton, Missouri. 
Henry J. married Sallie A. Fox, and lives in 
llichland Co., Wis., where he divides his 
attention between farming and teaching. In- 
fant daughter lies buried on the ground owned 
by William D. Kelly. Rhoda died Aug. 20, 



1847, aged nineteen, and her remains rest in 
the Bryn Zion graveyard. William M. 
graduated at the Miami University, and has 
taught school in Tennessee, Kentucky and 
Ohio. He married Sally Benthall of Ken- 
tucky, who died some two years after; he 
then married Aseneth E. Taylor, a descendant 
of Hannah Dustin, the colonial heroine. 
James L. married Mary J. Shaw of Kentucky; 
she died, and he subsequently wedded Mary 
A. Durliam. He is now a Physician at Gre- 
nada, Mississippi; Thomas P., subject; Mary 
E. was educated at Delaware, Ohio, and now 
lives at home with her aged mother. For 
further information see township history. 

JOHNSON MANN, farmer; P. O., Pulas- 
kiville; only son of John and Christian (Han- 
ger) Mann; was born in Missouri, Nov. 25, 
1845, At 17 he took charge of the home- 
stead, and became the chief support of the 
family. In October, 187G, there was a divis- 
ion of the estate, and he purchased the inter- 
est of the other heirs, and now owns eighty 
acres. He erected his present neat and con- 
venient frame residence in 1875, on perhaps 
the highest point in Franklin Tp. The view 
from this point is grand, but especially to the 
south one oan see for miles, and it is magnifi- 
cent in the extreme. He united his fortunes 
with Laura L. McBride, of Williamsport, Jan. 
1, 1872. She is the only daughter of Samuel 
and Lovina (Mitchell) McBride, born in Ash- 
land Co., Ohio, Nov. 23, 1852. One son has 
blessed this marriage — Ralph, born Aug. 28, 
187G. Samuel McBride, the father of Mrs. 
Mann, was born on the 8th day of May, 1817, 
in Newberry, Lycoming Co., Pa. His parents 
were poor but respectable, his father being a 
shoemaker; he died when Samuel was nine 
years old, and he went to live with an uncle, 
a very strict Presbyterian, three years. At 
the age of twelve he went to live with Wil- 
liam Bowen, who treated him very badly, so 
that he only remained some two years. When 
14, he was bound out to learn the tailor's 
trade with Samuel Toner, serving under his 
instructions six years and three months. In 
1837 he went to Elmira, New York, where he 
staid till January; then went to Bath of the 
same State, working there till May, 1838. He 
next formed a })artnership witli Toner, his 
former guardian, which lasted one year. At 
the expiration of that time he went to Lock- 



■v^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



789 



haven, Clinton Co., Pa., and started in for 
himself, working almost day and night for 
months — sometimes twenty out of twenty- 
four hours. He prospered, and soon bought 
a lot, and placed a neat house on it, and sent 
for his mother and sister. There they lived 
happily together for two years, when in an 
evil day he embarked in the mercantile busi- 
ness, with Thomas Simmons as partner, who 
proved to be unworthy of confidence. A 
failure followed which swept away his 
home and destroyed the happiness of his 
hearth. He made a visit to Ohio in 
1845, and returned to his native State, 
where he remained until the fall of 1846, 
w^hen he came to Ohio, and for somo time 
lived with his brother-in-law; he came to the 
village of Williamsport in February, 1847, 
boarding with Ely Mitchell, who soon after sold 
out, and our sul^ject Avent to board with his 
brother, Martin Mitchell; it was here that he 
met and loved his daughter, Lovina, and they 
were wed September 5, 1848, and they at once 
removed to Sullivan, Ashland Co., Ohio; here 
they were very happv in mutual labor and 
love; in the fall of 1856 Mr. McBride ex- 
changed his property in Sullivan for property 
in Williamsport, where he removed in Sep- 
tember of that year, and on the fifteenth of 
November the partner of his joys and griefs 
fell asleep in death, leaving him a little 
daughter but four 3'ears old. He visited va- 
rious places for some time, hoping to repair his 
health and forget his great sorrow amid change 
of scene. In October, 1860, he married Ra- 
chel Finley, of Gilead Tp.; he kept grocery 
some two years in Williamsport, then traveled 
for the wholesale grocery house of V. T. 
Hills, of r^elaware, Ohio, about eighteen 
months. He died of consumption at Clear- 
field Co., Penn., December 17, 1864; one 
son also blessed this union — Frank B., born 
August ;i, 1849; died May 29, 1853. John 
Mann, Father of Johnson, was born in Bed- 
ford Co., Pennsylvania, July 31, 1802; he re- 
ceived a fair education in his youth; he united 
in marriage with Christena Hanger January 
5, 1826; she was a nativeof the same State, 
born March 5, 1804; he came to Congress 
Tp. in 1834, and settled on a quarter- section 
of wild land; he cleared up a portion of it 
and put out an orchard ; but .brief was the 
enjoyment of his hard earned home; he was 



one of those who bailed Robert and Sanniel 
Jeffries, and when they broke it left him 
and his little family without support; so, bid- 
ding farewell to the scenes of his toil and 
misfortune, he, with his family, emigrated 
across the Father of Waters to Missouri, set- 
tling on the Platte purchase-about 1844. 
They bought a pre-emption right on one hun- 
dred and sixty acres, near Savannah, where 
they lived some two and a half years; they 
returned to Ohio and bought the eighty 
where our subject lives in the spring of 1847, 
where he resided until his death, September 
28, 1860; his faithful wife survived until Octo- 
ber 13,1876; they were both consistent and 
devoted Christians; he was an earnest worker 
in the New School Baptist Church, at Pulaski- 
ville; he discharged the duties of Justice of the 
Peace some fifteen years with dignity and in- 
tegrity. They raised to manhood and woman- 
hood one son and seven daughters — Rebecca, 
Mrs. Milton Peoples, of this township; Mar- 
garet, Mrs. John Rhodabaugh, of Congress 
Tp.; Sarah A., Mrs. Marion Peoples, of this 
township; Louisa, Mrs. Milton Hart, of Pu- 
laskiville; Rachel, Mrs. Newton Shaw, of this 
township; Mary E., Mrs. Frank Livingston, 
of Pulaskiville; Johnson, subject; Jane, Mrs. 
Lafayette Gati s, of this township; three 
children also died young — Melvina, Abner 
and Andrew .1. 

JOSEPH MELLOTT, farmer; P. O., An- 
drews. The subject of this sketch is a son 
of Amos and Sarah (Truex) Mellott ; born 
in Congress Tp., on the 7th day of Sept., 
1841. His youth was spent on the farm; in 
the meantime he obtained a fair education in 
the common schools. He tilled his father's 
farm for a share of the products until he was 
thirty. He united in marriage with Mary S. 
Cook on the 7th of Nov., 1872. She is a 
daughter of Rev. Stephen Cook (see sketch), 
born Oct. 27, 1850. After marriage Mr. Mel- 
lott farmed his father's place some two years, 
when he purchased the thirty-two acres where 
Dr. S. M. Cook now lives, where he resided 
two years; he then sold that property and 
piu'chased land just east of W. P. Cook's, 
where he lived two years. He exchanged 
that place for the present one of thirty acres, 
to which he moved in Feb., 1879. Two sons 
have blessed this union — Roy, born Apr. 19, 
1874, and Stephen Webb, Sept. 18,' 1877. 









:l^ 



(90 



FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 



Mr. Mellott and his estimahle lady are both 
consistent and earnest Christians, having unit- 
ed with the Disciples in early life. 

PERRY MANN, farmer; P. O., Chester- 
ville; he is the fourth son of Joseph and Sarah 
(Lawhead) Mann; he was horn in this town- 
ship, Oct. 2, 18!"20; his parents were both na- 
tives of Pennsylvania; his mother was born 
in January, 1785, and Joseph Mann was born 
April 13, 1785, in Bedford Co., of the Key- 
stone State. He received a good education 
and taught school in his native State. In 
about the year 1811, he came alone to Ohio, 
to select a home in the wilderness for his little 
family. He entered IGO acres where Mr. Bock- 
over lives, just west of W. P. Cook's, in this 
township. But the war which followed de- 
tained the family in Pennsylvania until April, 
1815, when he resolved to bid adieu to the 
scenes of his youth, and accordingly, his 
household goods and a family of six small 
children were carefully stored within the 
limits of a two-horse wagon, and after a jour- 
ney of nearly three weeks, they arrived at 
what is known as the " Jersey Settlement," 
where he rented a house for some months, 
until a cabin could be reared on his own wild 
domain. They remained here about ten 
months, and he employed men to underbrush 
twenty acres and erect a cabin on his quarter 
section. The following winter he taugrht 
school in the old log school-house in that 
vicinity. Early in the Spring of 1816, they 
settled in this township, where they cleared 
up a large farm. They raised a family of 
fourteen children, all living at this date but 
one — Absolom, who married Emily Scribner, 
of Delaware Co., is farmer of this township; 
Louisa, now Mrs. William P. Cook, of this 
township; Leah, widow of Levi Hart, of Perry 
Tp.; Polly, deceased, leaves seven children; 
Jehu, married Susan Helm, is now farming 
near Bedford, Iowa; Sally Ajin, born in 
March, 1815, and was six weeks old when the 
family started to Ohio; she is the widow of 
Daniel Lovett, and resides in Iowa. The re- 
maining children were born in Ohio — Joseph, 
f;irmer, in Williams Co., Ohio; Perry, sub- 
ject of this sketch; Ezra, married a Miss Mor- 
rison, and is a physician in Fulton Co., Ohio; 
Luther, married Mary Schuman, is farming in 
Richland Co., Ohio; David is a minister and 
editor at New London, Ohio; Rachel, widow 



of Azariah Ayres, of this township; Susan- 
nah, now Mrs. George Cook, of Michigan; 
Andrew J. married a Miss Iden, and lives in 
Fredericktown, Ohio. The family moved in 
the cabin be ore the floor was in. The hum 
of spinning-wheel, and the measured beat of 
the loom, made the music of the year, while 
cloth, to be fashioned into garments of the 
rough " tow linen," and homespun woolens, 
was made by busy fingers, when the factory 
and sewing-machine were things unknown in 
this new land of ours. To add to the trials 
and privations of " pioneer life," Joseph 
Mann, Sr., became a stockholder in the Owl 
Creek Bank, of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and when 
the failure came, he was assessed many times 
the amount of the original investment, to pay 
the liabilities of the institution. Joseph Mann 
walked back to Bedford Co., Penn., a 
distance of about five hundred miles, and re- 
turned the same way. He was chosen Justice 
of the Peace for nine years, and his life was 
one of unswerving integrity, lofty purpose, 
coupled with an energy that was a stranger 
to failure. We will now trace the fortunes of 
Perry Mann. He lived with his father on the 
farm until twenty-three. He then united his 
fortunes with Mary J. Daily. This marriage 
was celebrated Feb. 28, 1843. She is a 
daughter of Abraham and Rebecca (McNay) 
Daily; was born March 30, 1824, in Adams 
Co., Penn. The family came to Ches- 
terville, Ohio, in 183G, and Mr. Daily fol- 
lowed the pursuit of tailor. They had a fam- 
ily of three children — Mary J., Margaret and 
John. After marriage, our subject lived on 
his father's farm until 1850, when he pur- 
chased a thirty-two acre lot near William P. 
Cook's, where he lived about twelve years; 
then purchased his present home of fifty-two 
acres. He has erected handsome and commo- 
dious buildings on the same. Perry Mann 
has a family of six children living, and two 
dead — Ettie R., Elnora, Leonidas S , Willian) 
B., Joseph C, Rebecca A., and Minnie D. 
Elnora died Nov. 24, 1871, at the age of 20; 
an infant also died. Leonidas S.* Mann is a 
Physician of Homeopathic School at Cleve- 
land; is now practicing with success at Rich- 
mond, Indiana. Mr. ]\Iann and his estimable 
lady are both active members of the Disciple 
Church; they appreciate the educational in- 
fluence of a Christian home, and have sur- 



rz 



*^- 




K* 



rounded their family with such means of cul- 
ture and refinement as make it worthy of that 
sacred name. 

JONATHAN W. OLIN, farmer; P. O., 
Chesterville; he is the oldest son of Jonathan 
and Amy (Johnson) Olin, and was born Jan. 
10, 1798, in Bennington Co., Vt.; his father 
was a native of Rhode Island and came to 
Vermont about 1783, where he united in 
marriage with Penelope Harrington, Dec. 14, 
1786; by this union five children were born 
— John, Anna, Archibald, Mary and Amy; 
his wife, Penelope, died Aug. 3, 1795, and he 
married Amy Johnson Feb. 14, 1790, by 
whom he raised nine children — Penelope, 
Jonathan W., Elizabeth, John J., Sarah, Re- 
becca, Aurelia, Albert and Lydia. In 1836 
the father, mother and three children settled 
in this township; the father died June 25, 
1851, and the mother April 29, 1847. Jona- 
than worked in a tanyard when a boy; at the 
age of 19 he went to Northern New York to 
chop in the dense forests on Black River; he 
weighed 180 pounds when he began, but after 
working in the snow up to his arm-pits and 
enduring the hardships incident to the lum- 
bermen, for six months, he only weighed 128 
pounds; he received a common school educa- 
tion, and after reaching his majority he worked 
for his father six years; with the wages he 
bought land in Vermont; he married Laura 
Green in July, 1821, by whom fovir children 
were born — Sarah Ann, .lennet, Brytta and 
Mary; his wife, liaura, died May 12, 1 8.30; 
he then married Hannah Olin March 8, 1831. 
Two children — Dyer and William — were 
the fruit of this union. Hannah Olin passed 
away Aug. 31, 1858, and he married Martha 
E.Blackford, in Dec, 1858; she was a daugh- 
ter of Michael and Helah (Powlison) Blackford, 
born Jan. 30, 1829, in Sussex Co., N. J.; her 
parents came to Franklin Tp. in 1836, where 
they raised a family of nine children — .Tohn, 
Charlotte, Lovina, (who fell from the wagon 
when on their journey to this country and was 
crushed beneath the wheels,) Martha E., Isaac, 
William, Abby J., Phineas and Lovina 2d. 
Mr. Olin came in March, 1837, and purchased 
60 acres of his present farm, and after put- 
ting in some crops upon it, he returned to the 
" Green Mountain State " for his family, in 
June; they came in the fall, and settled on 
the site previously purchased, where he has 



lived ever since; he now owns 480 acres of 
land, a monument to his own labor and man- 
agement. He has represented the interests of 
the township as Trustee and in other positions; 
he cast his first vote for Andrew Jackson and 
sustains the same party principles still; his 
oldest son, Dyer, served under Grant three 
years, and was wounded at the battle of Pitts- 
burg Landing. 

EVAN W. POWELL, farmer ; P. O., Mt. 
Gilead. Among the influential self-made men 
who settled in this township from the " Old 
Dominion," the above named gentleman is 
worthy of more than a passing notice ; he is 
the second son of Peyton and Permelia (Fox) 
Powell, born in Loudoun Co., Va., March 15, 
1822 ; he spent his youth on a farm, and at 
twenty-three had the oversight of a plantation 
for two years. In the fall of 1847 he came to 
Ohio, and ere long was engaged to teach school 
in Congress Tp., of this county ; he accepted 
the position with some misgivings about his 
qualifications, but by hard study his labors 
Avere crowned with good success. The wages 
at that time attained the modest sum of ten 
dollars per month and board; he next engaged 
to work on a farm some six month at the same 
wages, and during that fall cast his first vote 
for General Taylor, having been disfranchised 
before by the " property test,'' in his native 
State; he then returned to Virginia where he 
taught subscription school; having some pupils 
whose attainments were equal to his, he 
worked on bravely, sometimes until two o'clock 
at night, to keep ahead of them, thus catching 
the spirit of the true teacher; with his matter 
ever fresh in his mind, he took his pupils 
through without their ever suspecting the trial 
it cost. In 1849 he attended the boarding 
school of Franklin Taylor, during the spring 
and summer, and continued to teach until 
1851. He united his fortunes with Miss Eliza- 
beth Everett, Sept. 20, 1849 ; she is a daughter 
of Eli and Nancy (Davis) Everett, born in 
Harrison Co., Ind., March 21, 1827; her father 
was a surveyor and settled in the Hoosier 
State very early. In the spring of 1851 Mr. 
Powell set out for Ohio with his family, ai-riv- 
ing May 2, at Williamsport ; he at once began 
looking for a home ; he visited Indiana, but 
soon returned and located on the preseiit place, 
which then consisted of eighty acres ; in June 
he purchased it of Elijah Whistler, who had 



f^ 



792 



FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 



settled there some seven years before, and 
made small improvements. Mr. Powell has 
since added seventy-three acres to his first 
purchase and erected substantial and elegant 
buildings on the same ; his estate now in- 
cludcs about one hundred atid thirty acres 
of tine farming lands, on the south branch 
of Owl Creek, also valuable timber lands. 
Mr. Powell is the father of thirteen children, 
nine of whom are living — Mary E., born Oct. 
2G, 1850, married William Virtue, a carpeif- 
ter of this township; Louis K., Feb. G, 1852; 
graduated at the Otterbein University in 
1875; he read law with Olds & Dickey, and 
was admitted to the Bar, in 1878; he is at 
j)r('S('nt Mayor of Mount Gilead, and School 
Kxaniiner; is a young man of brilliant promise, 
and the partner of Thomas Dalrymple, attor- 
ney-at-law; Ora Virginia, born June 1, 1853; 
now- Mrs. James McCammon, of Gilead Tp.; 
Margaret P., Oct. 4, 1854, married John Rus- 
S(>11, Treasurer of Morrow Co.; Charles R., 
March 5, 1856; Walter P., Dec. 5, 1857; 
Frank, Aug. 12, 1859, died Aug. 27, 1861; 
infant daughter; Frank E., Apr. 17, 1862; 
Evan W., Dec. 29, 1863, died Oct. 2, 1865; 
George W., born December 3, 1865, died 
March 7, 1867; Thaddeus S., May 16, 1867; 
Anna B., March 4, 1871. The home of our 
subject he has striven to beautify with the 
culture and refinement of the age, and the 
high social standing and moral worth of his 
family attest the wisdom of such a course. 
Mr. Powell early united with the United 
Brethren in Christ, and is now Trustee of the 
Williamsport Ciiurch. He was a Whig in the 
days of old "Rough and Ready," and joined 
the Republican ])arty at its organization. His 
parents were both natives of Virginia. His 
father followed the trade of blacksmith, and 
served in the war of 1812; in later years he 
was a tiller of the soil. He departed this life 
during the late civil war, and his companion 
followed him in 1867; both had reached the 
lime allotted to man of three-score-years-and 
ten. Ten children were born to them — Wil- 
liam, Amy, Elizabeth, Evan W., Margaret, 
George, Charles, Thomas, Gurlev and Harriet. 
THEODORE PITTMAX, farmer; P. O., 
Pulaskiville; son of Abednego and Aifa 
(Slaugh) Pittman, was born in this township, 
March 11, 1858; he obtained a common school 
education in the Pulaskiville schools; he has 



lived on the old homestead, just east of the 
village, all his life; he is a practical farmer, 
and with his brother, Abednego Pittman, Jr., 
rented the liome place of 160 acres, in 1879, 
where they now successfully carry on farm 
operations. The father, Abednego Pittman, 
oldest son of Benjamin and Sarah (Stevens) 
Pittman, was born in Bedford Co., Pa., Feb. 
16, 1804. His father was a farmer, and the 
father of seven children, by the first marriage 
— Abednego, Joseph, Sarah, William, Thomas 
Rebecca and Margaret. They all emigrated 
to this township in the spring of 1812, but 
Joseph, who died in Pennsylvania. Abednego, 
being a lad of some 8 years old, walked all the 
way from Pennsylvania, a distance of nearly 
500 miles. They employed a surveyor to 
find their land; cutting their way through the 
unbroken forest, they settled on a quarter 
section, two miles from any white man's cabin. 
Abednego left home when 10 years old, and 
worked at clearing land, by the day and acre, 
for about twelve years, when he returned to 
Pennsylvania, and engaged in digging iron 
ore for five years. On the 6th day of Decem- 
ber, 1832, He married Sarah Boyce. She 
was born in Pennsylvania, Jan. 2, 1816. Of 
this marriage six children were born — but two 
are living — William, born Feb. 11, 1834, and 
Hannah M., Sept. 2, 1838, while Thomas, 
Sarah, Joseph and Mary are dead. The wife 
and mother died, and he united in marriage 
with Affa Slaugh, Oct. 2, 1846. She is a 
daughter of Jeremiah and Anna (Hile) Slaugh, 
born in Northumberland Co., Pa., March 25, 
1820. Of this union nine children were born 
— Miram, Emanuel, Harriet, Benjamin, Lucel- 
ia, Cecelia, Theodore, Abednego and AnnaS., 
of which four are dead — Emanuel, Miratn, 
Lucella and Benjamin. Mr. Pittman has 160 
acres of land, well improved, and adorned 
with good and substantial buildings, and all is 
the fruit of his own labor; he had few advan- 
tages in youth, but of later years takes a deep 
interest in education, holding at presnt a per- 
petual scholarship of the Dennison Universi- 
ty. He has held several officers of trust in the 
townshi]), which he discharged faithfully. He 
was a very skillful hunter, and in his younger 
da3'S spent much time hunting in the forest, 
often killing as high as thirty and forty deer 
in a season. He voted the Democratic ticket 
since the days of " Old Hickory " until late, 



:k: 



■l^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



793 



when ho changed his support to the Republi- 
can ))artv. 

ROLLIN M. POND, deceased; fanner; 
P. O., Chesterville; was the oldest son of 
Abel and Maria (Batenian) Pond; was born 
Sept. 4, IS^O, on the Pond farm, of this town- 
ship. His father settled the place in a very 
early day, beginning without money enough 
to buy an ax; he raised three children — Rol- 
lin M., Monson and Ruth E. One daughter, 
Florilla C, died at the age of 5 years. Rollin 
M. passed his early life on the farm, with such 
advantages as the cabin school-house had to 
give, until his marriage with Sarah A. Olin, 
Nov. 8, 1842, to whom were born two daugh- 
ters — Chloe A. and Laura M. Pond. His 
wife, Sarah A., died Aug. 26, 1858; April 17, 
1859, he married Martha Styer, who was born 
Dec. 13, 1822, in Luzerne Co., Penn.; she is 
the second child in a family of eleven — Abram, 
Martha, Esther, Joseph T., Charles, Henry, 
William, Catharine, Mary J., Eliza and 
George. Her parents were Joseph and Rach- 
el (Kedney) Styer, who left the " Key Stone " 
State in 1824, and settled first in Fairfield 
Co., O., where they remained three years, then 
lived in Berkshire Tp. eight years, when the 
family settled permanently in Trenton Tp., 
Delaware Co., until his death. The aged 
mother came to live with her daughter, Mrs. 
Pond; gliding quietly down the Stream of Time, 
she passed to her rest, March 12, 1880. Rol- 
lin M. Pond died May 5, 1876, leaving a wife 
and three children to mourn his loss. He 
left an estate of 215 acres, with large and 
commodious buildings upon it, furnishing a 
home and support for Mrs. Pond and her chil- 
dren — Eva E., Ruth E. and George M. Both 
families believed in the faith and doctrines of 
the Universalist Church. 

FRANCIS M. RUSSELL, farmer; P. O., 
Mt. Gilead. Francis M. Russell, is the son of 
Charles and Margaret (Ewers) Russell, and 
was born Oct. 14, 1820, in Loudoun Co., Virgi- 
nia. The father was a native of the same 
Co., and in his youth learned the blacksmith 
trade. He was a soldier in the war of 1812; 
was in Baltimore when it was bombarded by 
the British and remembers seeing Washington, 
D. C, burning during the same war. In 1830 
he settled in Belmont Co. O., and two years 
afterward came to Gilead Tp., where he 
bought 508 acres, buying part of it, however. 



in 1831. His wife bore him ten children — 
Francis M., Robert T., William L., Sarah 
E., Barton, Jasper, Mary A., Burr, Charles P., 
and John, liurr 2nd, Rachel, and one other 
died in childhood. Our subject's grandpa- 
rents, Robert and Mary (Leedom) Russell, 
were born April 24, 1753, in Wales, and 
Oct. 25, 1759 in Ireland, respectively, 
and were married Jan. 19, 1779. The 
husband had 12000 in Continental curren- 
cy, and the wife had $1 in silver, and 
the wife had more money than the husband. 
These grandparents had the following chil- 
dren — Letitia, Ann, Samuel, Mary, Martha, 
Rebecca, Charles, Elizabeth, Sarah and John. 
The subject of this sketch got his early school- 
ing in the old school-house near the site of 
Mt. Gilead, where, on the first day, the boys 
attempted to impose on the new scholar, 
Francis, but after four of them had been 
soundly thrashed, there was no further trouble. 
At the age of 22 he learned the carpenter 
trade of Harrison Clawson, of Newark, Ohio, 
a business he followed five years. On the 
8th of October, 1846, he married Rose Ann, 
daughter of James and Margaret (Clutner) 
Richeson. His wife is a native of Washing- 
ton Co., Md., and Avas born Feb. 3, 1827. 
Our subject, shortly after his marriage, lived 
on Hog Run, in Licking Co., where he ran a 
saw mill. At the end of six years he came 
to Franklin Tp., in 1853, and settled on 168 
acres of land; 16 acres were cleared, and 
were surrounded by a brush fence. He now 
has about 110 acres cleared, upon which are 
commodious and substantial buildings. He 
has three children living — .John G., born Aug. 
9, 1847; Mary, April 9, 1854, and Charles D., 
May 22, 1858. John G. is the present County 
Treasurer. Our subject has occupied many 
positions of trust in his township, serving with 
fidelity and with satisfaction to the citizens. 
He voted the Democratic ticket until 1860, 
casting his first vote for James K. Polk; he is 
also a Universalist. He is one of the most 
prominent citizens of the county, and is al- 
ways enthusiastic in public enterprises for the 
advancement of humanity. 

JAMES SCHANCK, dealer in horses; Pu- 
laskiville. The subject of this sketch was born 
in Tompkins Co., N. Y., Apr. 2, 1818. He was 
raised on a farm, and had few advantages for 
education, being three miles distant from the 



■Iv* 



£.W 



794 



FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 



school-housp. On reaching his majority he 
wont from ben oath the j)atprnal roof. He 
soon after purchased forty-oig-ht acres where 
his son Ulysses lived, and in time ad<k'd twelve 
acres more. It wag wild land, and heat once 
began clearing and improving it, working 
verv hard until he was " out of the wo(k1s." 
In about 1845 he began dealing in horses, of 
which he was always fond. His first venture 
was to lead a drove of ten or fifteen horses to 
Cleveland, where he shipped to Buffalo by 
steamboat, and then led them through to 
Toin})kins Co., N. Y. — a journey of fifteen 
days. He has handled from fifty to two hun- 
dred horses per year for thirty-five j'ears. 
During the war he furnished some five hun- 
dred horses for the Government. He has 
shipped to and sold horses in the following 
markets: New York, Patterson, Newark, 
Newton, PortJervis, Providence, Boston, Buf- 
falo, Albany, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Col- 
uml)us. He married Margaret Stevens, a 
daughter of Jacob and Nancy Stevens, of this 
township, on New Year's day, 1S40. In eleven 
months she died, leaving one child, who lived 
two months longer. In 1842 he united his 
fortunes with Rebecca Jane Stevens, of the 
same family. She was born in this township, 
June 16, 1826. Of this marriage eight chil- 
dren were born — Nancy A., born Aug. 20, 
1843; married Banner Hart, of this township; 
Ulysses, July 4, 1845, married Hatiio B. 
Hammond, and has a son and daughter — Budd 
1). and Iva M. He is a man of remarkable 
energy, fine business qualities, and a pleasant 
gentleman, who is doing a prosperous business 
with his father in shi])ping horses; .lohn B., 
born Aug. 18, 1847, died Aug. 13, 1874; James, 
born March 12, 1851, marru^d Mary E. .len- 
kins, and is now dealing in horses at Provi- 
dence, K. I., Mary, died when three years old; 
Alta, born June 6, 1858, married .fospph Lin- 
coln, of Congress Tp., Ella May, born Doc. 5, 
1861 ; Ida Belle, Nov. 25, 1865."^ Our subject is 
the youngest son of William and Mary (Hoff" 
mire) Schanck. His grandfathers, Schanck 
and Hoffinire, both came from Holland. His 
father learned the trade of a mason in New York 
("ity, anil lived for some time in Monmouth, 
N. J., and went from there to Tompkins 
Co.; N. Y, About 1831, he emigrated to 
Huron Co., Ohio, where he lived until about 
1836, when he moved to Knox Co., Ohio, 



where he resided until his death, in about 
1841. He was the father of nine children 
— William, Rebecca, Anna, Sally, John, 
Peter, Susan, James and Lydia; of these but 
threea re living. Peter, a farmer in Clinton 
Co., Mich.; Lydia, now Mrs. Samuel Peoples, 
of this township, and .lames; all the rest 
leave families. Mr. Shanck lived on what is 
known as the " Clutter Farm," from 1866 
to 1879; but the reverses of business over 
which he had no control, and for which 
he was not responsible, came, and he gave up 
all. He now lives with his son Ulysses, his 
wife having died. Hs is a man of quick per- 
ception, sound judgment, a close student of 
human nature, and upright in all his business 
transactions. Of the Stevens family, exten- 
sive mention is made in the history of this 
township. Abednego Stevens, grandfather 
of Mrs. Schanck, came to Mt. Vernon about 
1810, where he bought a large tract of land, 
and soon after entered a large body of land 
in this township; and his son Jacob, settled 
on the farm where James Lanhers now lives, 
about 1812. His wife, Nancy, walked through 
from Bedford Co., Penn. They blazed a 
road through from Mt. Vernon, while she 
walked a distance of eighteen miles and car- 
ried her child; and Jacob at one time carried 
a grist to Mt. Vernon on his back. Her hus- 
band was away much of his time at Mt. Ver- 
non, and she was made the victim of the 
treachery and malice of the Indians, being at 
home with the little ones. Her husband died 
in 1829, leaving her with six small children, 
but she managed to raise them comfortably. 
She is now living in DoKalb Co., Missouri, 
in her eighty-seventh year. For the courage 
and presence of mind in great danger, history 
should perpetuate her name, along with such 
heroines as Hannah Dustin. 

JOHN SPEAR, farmer; P. O., Pulaskivillo', 
was born Sept. 8, 1823, in Jefferson Tp., 
Richland Co., O.; is the third son of William 
and Catherine Spear. The mother's maiden 
name was Will; they raised a family of eleven 
children — Lueinda, Lorinda, Melinda, Wil- 
liam H., Lewis P., Robert C, Benjamin F., 
John, Philip, Sophrona and George W.; all 
reached the age of maturity. William Spear 
emigrated from Upper Canada to Ohio, in 
1812, where he began farming, which he fol- 
lowed some time; he then began teaching 



^" 



:T* 



'.hL^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



795 



school, and for many years continued in this 
calling. John Spear engaged in boot and 
shoeniaking at the age of 21 years, but like 
his lather, was soon called uj)ou to assume 
the position of teacher, which he filled suc- 
cessfully for many terms, working at his trade 
during vacations until the war commenced. 
After the War of the Rebellion he worked at 
shoeniaking until 1872, exclusively; since that 
time he has given his attention to farming. 
He was married Jan. 12, 1855, to Emily, 
daughter of John and Margaret (Finch) Sin- 
grey. She was born in what is now Perry 
Tp., of this county, April 22, 1830, This 
union has been blessed with three children — 
John W., Monroe W. and Rolandus C. The 
two eldest are successful teachers. Mrs. 
Spear's father came from Maryland to Ohio 
in early times, where he married Margaret 
Finch. They had a family of seven children — 
Eliza J., Charity A., Harriet R., Margaretta, 
Emily, iVlice and Jacob. Mr. Spear and his 
estimable wife are both consistent members 
in the Presbyterian Church at Waterford, in 
which he has officiated as Deacon. He has 
filled various township offices, and at present 
is Justice of the Peace. He received a com- 
mon school education, but by his own efi"orts 
has attained a culture of mind far superior to 
the schools of early days. He has voted with 
the Republican partv since its organization. 

GARRETT SELOVER, farmer; P. O., 
Chesterville; among the wealthy and influen- 
tial agriculturists of Morrow Co., the gentle- 
m.in whose name heads this sketch deserves 
more than a passing notice, as a man who has 
succeed in spite of many discouragements; 
he is the third son in a family of five children 
— James, Isaac B., Garret, John \Y. and Mary 
A.; Garrett was born Sept. 27, 1821, in 
Tompkins Co., N. Y.; his father, William Selo- 
ver, and family (except James) came to Mid- 
dlebury Tp., Knox Co., Ohio, in about 1835, 
and James, the oldest son, was married in the 
state of New York, and joined the family 
the next winter; the parents were natives of 
New Jersey, and came to New York in 
an early day. They purchased 75 acres in 
Middlebury Tp., and 17-4 in Franklin Tp.; 
both were in the green woods then. Mr. Selo- 
ver united in marriage with Elizabeth Win- 
teringer, Dec. 21, 1843, and in about 1844 
settled on 100 acres of the present site. Three 



children were the fruit of this union, all of 
whom are dead. His wife, Elizabeth, died 
Oct. 15, 1852. Nov. 8, 1853, he was married to 
Esther, a daughter of William and Grace (Lay- 
ering) Rambo; she was born June 28, 1826; 
her parents were natives of Pennsylvania and 
settled near Stephen Cook's, in 1813, where 
they raised a family of eight children — Reece 
L., Mary, Daniel, Nathan, Lamech, Tabitha, 
Eli and Esther. Eli Rambo enlisted in the 
26th Michigan Regiment, and fell at Rich- 
mond, May 11, 1864. Mr. Selover received 
a limited education, and by close attention he 
has developed his mind and amassed a hand- 
some property of 200 acres of land; he and 
wife hold a membership in the Presbyterian 
Church; his eminent success in business has 
made him a useful man in township affairs, 
and for many years he has been chosen Trus- 
tee. He has one son, Lamech R. Selover, 
who united his fortunes with Hannah J. Rog- 
ers, of Montgomery Co., Penn., Dec. 25, 1879. 
Our subject lost his sight in the fall of 1871, 
and by a painful operation, he partially recov- 
ered. 

NEWTON SHAW, farmer and breeder of 
fine sheep; P. O., Chesterville; is a grand- 
son of the first settler in Franklin Tp. 
He is the second son of David Shaw. His 
mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Harden- 
brook. He was born December 26, 1826, on 
the present place. His grandfather, Samuel 
Shaw, was . born near Carlisle, Penn. 
about 1762. He united in marriage with 
Margaret McKissick, of that State. Tn 1808, 
he purchased six hundred acres of land in 
this township of James Brady, of Greens- 
burg, Westmorland Co., Penn. Soon 
after they began the wearisome journey to 
Ohio, and for some reason stopped one year 
on the Pickaway Plains. In the summer of 
1809, they came to Franklin Tp. and 
erected the first cabin ever built within its 
present limits, near the spot where Salathiel 
Bonar lives. For two years his was the only 
white family in the township. His nearest 
neighbors were Shur and Walker, of Chester 
Tp. Indians were plentiful, but friend- 
ly. " Tom Lion," the Wyandott chief and an 
Indian named " Dowdy," slept, rolled in their 
blankets on the floor before the fire of this 
settlers' cabin. The family consisted of 
parents, the aged mother of Samuel Shaw, and 



V3/ 



:l^ 



796 



FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 



four children — D.ivid, father of our subject, 
who was about 1(1 years old when they came; 
Robert; Elizabeth, wlio married David Peo- 
ples. He came a youn^ man of IS in Decem- 
ber, 1810, and entered 100 acres of land near 
Mr. Shaw's, and was probably the second set- 
tler in Franklin. William Shaw was the 
vcmiifrest son. David Shaw, the oldest son of 
Samuel, was educated in Pennsylvania. As 
soon as there was a demand for a teacher, he 
was chosen to wield the " birch " in an old 
log schoolhouse with paper windows and slab 
seats. During the vacations, which were long, 
he cleared land at from three to five dollars 
per acre. In this way he earned enough to 
juirchase 240 acres, and possessed 400 acres 
of land. He was a good writer and a man of 
sound judgment, as an evidence of this, he 
was chosen to fill the office of Justice of the 
Peace for 23 years. He was elected Commis- 
sioner of Knox Co. before the formation of Mor- 
row. He was Colonel of a Militia Regiment. 
David Shaw was married to Elizabeth a 
daughter of Lewis and Elizabeth, (Waldron) 
Hardenbrook. The marriage occurred June 
3, 1824. The Hardenbrooks settled in this 
township in 181G, and raised a family of 
eleven children. The family of David Shaw 
numbered eight children — Harrison, a Physi- 
cian at Mt. Gilead, O.; Newton, Albert, Asher, 
Emily, Clorinda, Harriet and Ann. Newton, 
the subject of these lines, went to the district 
school in his youth until he learned the rudi- 
ments of an "English education," and con- 
tinued his studies in the Chesterville Union 
Schools ; then learned plastering and pursued 
his calling in and near Cincinnati for some 
years ; spent the winters of 185G, 1857 and 
1858 in Louisiana and Mississippi ; In 1861 
he returned to the homestead and became a 
tiller of the soil; ere long he became interested 
in the im])rovement of his flock of siieep ; in 
the spring of 1805 he purchased of Bingham 
and Dean, ten full blood Spanish Merinos, 
which he bred with success until 187G, sellngi 
sheep which were imported to several different 
Slates; in 1876 he bought eight " Registered " 
ewes from the flock of Robert Perrine of 
Washington Co., Pa.; subsequently he en- 
larged his flock by the purchase of fifteen of 
the celebrated Atwood ewes, bred by his 
successor R. J. Jones of West Cornwall, Ad- 
dison Co., Vt. ; his flock at jjresent consists of 



thirty-five ewes and a few rams all having a 
" Registered Pedigree " from flocks of pure 
blood. Mr. Shaw has given the subject of 
imj)rovement in sheep his best thought and 
careful study for nearly twenty years, and has 
reached in his present flock a happy combina- 
tion of all l^ivdt is desirable in sheep; they arc 
strong, healthy animals, with fleeces of re- 
markable fineness, density and length of wool. 
We commend this flock of noble animals to 
those who would improve their own flocks. 
Newton Shaw united his fortunes with Rachel 
Mann (see biography of Johnson Mann), Nov. 
3, 1867 ; they have one daughter — May, born 
May 5, 1874. 

J.N. TALMA^E, farmer; P. O., Chester- 
ville; is the fiftii son of John and Rhoda 
(Gardner) Talmage; was born on the old 
home farm, Feb. 14, 1830; his father is a na- 
tive of New Jersey, and settled on the old 
"Talmage Farm" in 1817, where he lived 
over a half century; he removed to Freder- 
icktown, O., where he lived only five months, 
dying Dec. 23,1867. He had engaged during 
his life in the mechanical pursuits of car- 
penter, joiner and cooper; he came to this 
country with a small capital, and enduring all 
the hardships and inconveniencies incident to 
pioneer life, he struggled until he gained a 
competence; nor was he unmindful of the 
welfare of his fellow-beings; he was one of 
the first who assisted in planting the cause of 
Methodism in the county; it might almost be 
said that he was the founder of the old Church 
at the Corners, for he not only assisted large- 
ly in building the Church here, but also at 
other places. He was a soldier in the war of 
1812; he was the father of five sons and two 
daughters — Henry G., Charles F., Jonathan 
S., Jacob O., Phebe E., John Newton, and 
Susan L. John Newton Talmage, from whom 
this narative is obtained, passed his early life 
on the old farm, attending school in the 
neighborhood until the fall of 1855, when he 
entered the Ohio Weslyan University, re- 
maining in its classical halls four terms; ""he 
then began farming in partnership with his 
father on the homestead; he continued in 
this relation until 1864, when he purchased 
170 acres; he served his country four months 
in the 136th Reg., O. N. G. He united in 
marriage with Sophia Alverson, Oct. 7, 1856, 
and five children have blessed this union — 



T^ 



.M-^ — ■- 



'.k^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



797 



Mary O., Ella jM., John Burr, Carl L. and 
Lavaun. Mrs. Talmage is a daughter of 
Thomas and Lucinda (Doolittle) Alverson; 
she was born Nov. 4, 1836, in New York 
State. Mr. Talmage and family are members 
of the Seventh Day Adventists' Church, at 
Water ford; he cast his first vote for John P. 
Hale, and has been a Republican ever since. 
We have only space here to record that Mr. 
Talmage is an earnest, cultured Christian gen- 
tleman, of broad views, strong convictions, 
and a practical man, esteemed by all. 

WILLIAM VAN BUSKIRK, farmer; P. 
O., Pulaskiville; son of John and Catherine 
(Van Cleve) Van Buskirk, was born Dec. 9, 
1798, near Hancock, Md. His parents came 
b}' a four-horse team in the fall of 1815. His 
father entered the quarter section where 
Shannon Levering lives, and lived in the 
family of Henry Sams, on the old Green home- 
stead, where William Addlesperger lives, until 
he could erect a cabin in the wilderness of 
Perry Tp.; by dint of hard labor that winter, 
they partially cleared seven acres, which they 
planted in corn, among the trees and stumps, 
in the spring of 181G. A member of this 
family was Lawrence Van Buskirk, an intel- 
ligent, large-hearted pioneer, a school-master, 
who taught the first school in what is now 
Perry Tp., near where Joshua Singrey lives, 
in 1817, at $1.50 per scholar for three months; 
his services proved so satisfactory that he 
was retained for seven terms. It was in this 
rude old log school-house, whose only floor 
was the "terra firma" that William, then a 
youth of 19, finished his education. He 
worked at home until he was 25, serving in 
the meantime, as the first Constable of Perry 
Tp. [See Township History.] He was married 
Aug. 31, 1824, to Phebe Slater, of Knox Co., 
Ohio. After marriage Mr. Van Buskirk re- 
moved to Marion Co., near Caledonia, where 
a large encampment of Delaware Indians still 
remain. In the fall of 1825 he purchased 80 
acres in the woods, and settled in Claridon 
Tp., then a large area. i\mong these back- 
woodsmen it was found at the first election 
that our subject and George Beckley were 
the only men there who could write a poll- 
book; his services were in large demand; he 
served twelve years as Justice of the Peace, 
and filled various other tovvnshipofiices. In 
1864 he sold his farm in Marion Co. to the 



Broad Gauge Railroad, and purchased 70 
acres on the present site. He raised two sons 
and two daughters — Henry, who served three 
years in the late war under Gen. Banks, and 
was in seven severe battles; John enlisted 
under Gen. Burbridge, but died of sunstroke 
early in the struggle, and Catherine and 
Esther. Mr. Van Buskirk has been a mem- 
ber of the regular Baptist Church for nearly 
sixty years, and has been Clerk at different 
times; he cast his first vote for Andrew Jack- 
son, and still remains a Democrat of the old- 
fashioned tvpe. 

YELVERTON C. WAIT, farmer; P. O., 
Chesterville; is the only son of John J, and 
Almy A, Wait, and was born Dec. 11, 1843, 
in Franklin Tp. He farmed in partnership 
with his father until 1877, when he purchased 
his present home of 204 acres of Charles 
B. Lavering. He married Lydia C. Manson, 
Aug. 25, 1865. She is the only daughter 
of William and Rhoda (Orme) Manson, and 
was born Aug. 6, 1844, in Shelby Co., 
Ohio. Her father was a native of Maine, 
and came to Ohio about 1839, where he soon 
after married Rhoda Orme of Knox Co., Ohio, 
They then removed to Darke Co., Ohio, where 
he was engaged in business for six years. 
From here he removed to Shelby Co., where 
he remained two years. He then removed to 
Allen Co.; he stayed here five years, return- 
ing to Knox Co., where he died March 22, 
1852. He was a successful Physician, and a 
practical Druggist. The late ex-Sherifi", Man- 
son, is a brother of Mrs. Lydia C. Wait. Mr. 
and Mrs. Wait have a promising family of six 
children — Florence C, William J., Cora A., 
John M., Ralph and an infant. Mr. Wait, 
like his father, is a supporter of Republican 
principles. 

JOHN JOHNSON WAIT, farmer; P. O., 
Chesterville; was a native of Vermont; he is the 
son of Yelverton and Elizabeth (01 in) Wait, 
and was born Aug. 11, 1817, in Shaftsbury, 
Bennington Co., Vt.; his father was a native of 
Rhode Island, and came in an early day with 
his parents to Vermont; he departed this life 
March 22, 1829, when John was only eleven 
years old, and from that time until he reached 
his majority he took charge of the family af- 
fairs and its support; when he was 21 years 
of age, he, in company with an uncle, came 
400 miles in a sleigh and the rest of the way 



lil. 




,t> 



ill a wat^on; reaoliiiii;^ Knox (yo., Ohio, tliey 
soon set out on foot lor Greenville, Ohio; 
from there they walked to Sandusky, Ohio; 
taking the steamer at this point they went to 
Detroit, and from there on foot to Kalamazoo, 
Mich., and from there they walked back to 
Knox Co., Ohio. At this point, Mr. Wait 
havintr spent about '^70 in an almost fruitless 
journey, finds himself almost penniless; so he 
^oes to work by the month at 1^12 per month, 
which he continued for four years. He then 
married Almy A. Corwin, a daughter of 13en- 
jamin and Mary (Patrick) Corwin. Mr. and 
Mrs. Wait were married Dec. 29, 1841, and 
they settled on the present site in 1845, then 
only fifty acres, costing $000; a large portion 
he purchased on credit, but soon, by tact and 
prudence, he paid for this, and has since 
added lot after lot, until his domain now cov- 
ers 400 acres of fine arable land. He has de- 
fied and set at naught the maxims of Franklin, 
going in debt for large sums at each purchase, 
he has by sheer force of will and indomitable 
energy paid his obligation, and improved the 
land l)y erecting good substantial buildings. 
He has taken a deep interest in the improve- 
ment of stock; he is now starting a flock from 
registered animals of the Alwood and Ham- 
mond pure Spanish Merinos; has five beauti- 
ful representatives of that famous flock direct 



from Vermont. Mr. Wait was a Democrat un- 
til the passage of the Fugitive Slave law; since 
then he has identified himself with the Re- 
publican party. They have a family of four 
children — P^mily S., Yelverton C, Cordelia P. 
and Orril D.; four others died when young; of 
those living all are married except Orril D. 
Benjamin Corwin was a cousin to the states- 
man and orator Thomas Corwin. He came to 
Clinton Tp., Knox Co., Ohio, about 1808. 
There was only one cabin in Mt. Vernon 
at that time; he sunk a tanyard here, prob- 
ably the first in Knox Co., and remaining 
here until 1811 or 12, he sold his tanyard 
at Clinton and purchased 500 acres of land 
of Joseph Smith, on the Johnstown Road; 
here he sunk another tanyard — the first in 
Franklin. The only neighbors they had 
in those days were the Blairs, Cooks, 
Manns and the Walkers; Mrs. Corwin 
would go out in a still morning to listen 
for the crowing of chickens, to learn wheth- 
er any new settlements had been made. 
He built a cabin and cleared a farm of 150 
acres. They raised a family of eleven chil- 
dren — Mrs. Almy A. Wait was born Sept. 27, 
1820, and was the sixth in the family; Jane, 
James, Cyrus, Aditha, Eliza, Almy A., Lu- 
cinda, Stephen, Mary, Hannah and Benjamin 
F. All reached manhood and womanhood. 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



Wn.LTAM ADDLESPERGER, farmer; 
P. O., ]>evering; is the second son of William 
and Caroline (Frankfetter) Addlesperger; he 
was born in Shepherdstown, Va., Dec. 25, 1821. 
The family moved from his native State when 
he was ten years old, to Greene Co., Penn. 
where he engaged in clearing for five years. 
At fifteen he came to Ohio, and lived in 
Perry Tp., Richland Co., going to school in 
the Culp District. He worked at milling, 
farming and clearing land, until he reached 
his thirtieth year. He Avas married October 
12, 1851, to Alice A. Green, daughter of 
Elder Benjamin Green; she was born on 
this place February 1, 1824. After mar- 
riage, he settled on forty acres of his present 



farm, to which he has added sixty acres 
more, which includes the old homestead of 
Benjamin Green. He erected his present el- 
egant frame residence of ten rooms, in 1876. 
He raised a family of one son and two daugh- 
ters, all living at home — Mary E., born May 
29, 1852; John, .January 1, 1854; Emma, De- 
cember 19, 1801; his wife died July 12, 1867. 
Mr. Addlesperger votes the Republican ticket, 
casting his first ballott for Henry Clay, of Ken- 
tucky; 'his parents were both natives of Vir- 
ginia; and his father followed the occupation 
of cooper; his mother died when William was 
six days old, leaving John, another son, some 
two years old. His father married Lydia Kim- 
ball, of Wheeling, Va., in 1827, where he lived 



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'k* 



about three years, then removed to Greene 
Co., Penn., in 1831, where he worked at cooper- 
ing- about five years. In the Spring of 1835, 
he came to Ohio, settling in Perry Tp., Rich- 
land Co., where he lived some three years, 
when he removed to Mt. Gilead, where he 
worked at his trade until about one year be- 
fore his death, which occurred March 11, 1867. 
He attained the age of fourscore years, and 
was a fine scholar in German and English; by 
his second marriage, he was blessed with eight 
children — Margaret, Thomas, Cobb, Susanna, 
Benjamin, Mary, Louis and Rebecca; Benja- 
min is dead, he had served as Deputy Sheriff 
of the county. Our subject began life with- 
out capital, and the meager training which 
the early schools afford, and by persevering 
toil and careful study, has surrounded his 
family with a beautiful home, where taste 
adorns, and hospitality maketh glad all comers. 
STEPHEN C. ACIKERMAN, farmer; P. 
O., Levering; son of John and Ida (Cook) 
Ackerman; was born January 11, 1830, on the 
old homestead; spent his youth on the farm 
and went to district school until he reached 
his majority. He united his fortunes with 
Elizabeth Kline, March 2, 1851; she was a 
daughter of James and Abigail (Hyle) Kline; 
was born August 30, 1832, in Middlebury Tp., 
Knox Co., Ohio. After marriage they lived 
on his father's farm one year, then purchased 
80 acres south of the present home, on which 
he dwelt eleven years, then returned to the 
homestead and lived about four years, when 
at the death of his father there was a division 
of the estate, and Stephen became possessor 
of 72 acres of the old place, on which he 
lives at present. Five children have been 
born to them — John W., Mary, who married 
Curtis Hardgrove, of Knox Co., Ohio; James 
L., who married Miriam Killen, of Waterford; 
Libbie and Leroy. Our subject and his esti- 
mable lady are members of the Disciple 
Church. His father, John Ackerman, was 
born October 22, 1805, in Bedford Co., Penn.; 
he is the oldest son of John and Amy (Bar- 
ton) Ackerman. We will now follow the for- 
tunes of John Ackerman, grandfather of Ste- 
phen C. He was born about 1700, and at the 
breaking out of the Revolutionary War, he 
enlisted and fought in all the engagements 
until the close. He was in the ■ memorable 
battles of Lundy's Lane and Bunker's Hill. 



The Colonel under whom he served was very 
severe on his troops, and denied them the 
privilege of filling their canteens with water 
as they crossed a brook on that sweltering 
June day. Many perished from thirst, with- 
out a wound on their bodies, and as Acker- 
man passed through the brook he dipped up 
water enough in his hat to preserve his own 
life. He often remarked: "That Colonel 
never walked before his command after that 
day." He was never ofi" duty with wounds or 
sickness during the war, and received a pen- 
sion of $94 dollars a year for faithful service. 
In the fall of 1810 John Ackerman, John Cook 
and William Levering came on horseback to- 
gether, and each entered a quarter section of 
land on this branch of Owl Creek. John Ac- 
kerman, being fifty years old when shown the 
land by the Surveyor, said: "I will take the 
first quarter, as I am the oldest." Cook took 
the next. It was during this brief visit that 
he employed Thomas Mitchell to erect a 
cabin on his land. It was raised by men from 
Fredericktown, six miles distant. The next 
spring he set out with his family. They 
landed at their cabin in the wilderness April 
8, 1811. He had two sons and two daughters 
— John being five years old when they ar- 
rived; Catherine, Abram and Mary. When 
the Seymour family were murdered, they were 
notified of approaching danger by " Johnny 
Appleseed," and went into the block-house 
three weeks, near Lucerne. The first crop of 
wheat which they raised to sell was cut with 
a sickle, threshed with a flail and cleaned by 
throwing it up and fanning it with a sheet. 
They hauled it to Zanesville, and sold it for 
three shillings per bushel, and with the pro- 
ceeds purchased leather at 50 cents per pound 
and salt at $3 per barrel. The grandfather 
was a great mower, and at the age of seventy- 
five he led six men until three gave out, un- 
able to go to supper. He split 100 rails in a 
day Avhen he was eighty years old. He de- 
parted this life Sept. 6, 1844, aged 83. 
Grandfather Ackerman and all his family 
were members of the Regular Baptist Church, 
and he helped to erect buildings in which 
the members worshiped. The hospitality of his 
house, and that of his son, John, was so un- 
bounded, that it was known among the breth- 
ren for two generations as the " Baptist 
Tavern." John, the father of Stephen C.^ 



■>w 



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800 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



was like his father in many respects. He 
married Ida Cook, a daughter of Rev. John 
Cook (see sketeh of Stephen Cook), and they 
always lived in the family of his father. At 
his death John received the old homestead as 
his share of the estate. He also was a devoted 
member of the Harmony Church, and kept its 
gravej'ard many j^ears. His memory was re- 
markable, and although he kept no record, 
could tell the exact location of every grave 
within its limits. They raised seven children 
to manhood and womanhood — Stephen C, 
Morgan, Rachel, Amy A., Louis B., Leander 
and James Harvey, and two died young. 
This closes a brief sketch of an old and re- 
spected family, which may look back with 
pride on its examples of sturdy, self-reliant. 
Christian manhood. 

JOSIAS BAUGHMAN, farmer; P. O., 
Shaucks. The above named gentleman is the 
representative of one of the pioneer families 
of Perry Tp. He is the third son of 
Francis W. and Mary (Beckley) Baughman, 
l)Orn in Perry Tp., Richland Co., Ohio, 
June 12, 1824. He lived with his father 
until his death, October 17, 1859. In Jan- 
uary, 1800, the estate was settled up, and 
our subject purchased one hundred and sixty 
acres of the old homestead, where he has re- 
mained ever since, making a specialty of the 
raising of horses and cattle. He supj)orted his 
aged mother until her death, January 4, 
]S76. His father, Francis W. Baughman, 
was born in York Co. Penn., Oct. 1, 
1791. He was married to Mary Beckley, 
March 28, 1816. She was a native of that 
State, born March 23, 1794. In two weeks 
after marriage they set out for Ohio in a four- 
horse covered wagon. After a wearisome 
journey of about four Aveeks, they arrived 
where Hanawalt's Mills stand at present. 
Here the grandfather of Josias had purchased 
a quarter section on which at that time of 
arrival a grist mill stood, and some improve- 
ments had been made. Being unwell on the 
journey, they tried for several miles to pur- 
chase a loaf of wheat bread but failed. They 
moved into a log house near the mill, where 
the family lived some twelve or fourteen years 
and run the mill, which acquired a good repu- 
tation, and was patronized by the settlers far 
and near. It was at first furnished with the 
characteristic " Nigger-head Burrs," but grad- 



ually improvements were made. The father 
was sick after his arrival and unable to sit up, 
but hearing that John Shauck, his old neigh- 
bor was coming, he walked to the window, 
and improved rapidly from that time until 
well. John Shauck returned to Pennsylvania 
on a visit, and the settlers being largely from 
the same locality, availed themselves of an 
op])ortunity to send letters to their friends 
more direct and with greater safety, than the 
mails of that day could offer. On the day of 
his return there was a " raising" at x\bram Het- 
ricks, and he pledged each man not to read 
his letter until the building w^as up. Francis 
W. Baughman settled on his place in this 
township about 1830, where he owned 315 
acres. He had seven children — Mary Ann died 
when five months old; Julian born April 27, 
1818; Henry born May 5, 1820; Josias (sub- 
ject). Mary died at age of 12; Lydia died at 
age of 8 years and Francis died in infancy. 
The father was a consistent and zealous mem- 
ber of the Evangelical Association. 

JACOB BUKKEBILE, farmer; P. O., 
Woodview; only son of Peter and Frances 
(Downey) Burkebile; was born in Baltimore 
Co., Md., in September, 1824; he came with 
his parents to this township when five years 
old; he went a long distance through the 
woods to school, on the Johnston Road; he 
went but a short time each year until sixteen; 
then worked for his father until twenty three; 
he united in marriage with Susanna Green, 
April 20, 1848. She is a daughter of Benja- 
min Green. They lived with his father until 
his death, which sad event occurred May 31, 
1870. He was seventy-six years old. Fran- 
ces, his wife, died April 19, 1851, aged sev- 
enty years. At the death of his father, our 
subject, being the only son and heir, became 
possessed of the homestead, of 100 acres. 
They have reared to womanhood, two daugh- 
ters — Frances, born Nov. 1, 1851, married 
Orange Baker, and lives in Congress Tp.; 
Anna Jane, born Oct. 9, 1854, married George 
Burkebile, of Pennsylvania, and lives in this 
township. His parents were natives of Balti- 
more Co., Md., where his father followed the 
double occupation of shoemaker and farmer. 
They drove a two-horse team through in about 
1828 or '29, and at the same time there came 
eight other families, who settled for the most 
part in this township. Mr. Burkebile left 



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'k. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



801 



V 



his family at Jehu Singrey's while he erected 
a hewed log house on the eighty acres which 
he had entered here, during the winter; he 
cut his road to the place, which was all in 
woods then. The family moved to their 
house in the spring of, probably, 1830, and 
that year he put out a small patch of corn 
and potatoes. From that time forth, the 
father worked at clearing and farming in 
summer, and on his bench in winter; by this 
means he employed men to clear his land; he 
was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church; he had one son and two daughters — 
Jacob, our subject; Frances, died in Mary- 
land, and Sarah, who died here. For the 
history of Mrs. Burkebile's family, see sketch 
of Enos Green. 

JASON J. COVER, Shaucks ; was the 
oldest of ten children born to Daniel and Lydia 
(Stevenson) Cover; he was born in Frederick 
Co., Md., Feb. 5, 1823. Until 13 years old 
he attended such schools as could then be af- 
forded, when coming to Seneca Co., and there 
to East Perry, in Richland Co., O., with his 
father, his assistance became necessary in the 
clearing and farming the new land. He 
stayed upon the farm some four years, when 
an opportunity of changing his business offer- 
ing, he entered the employ of Creigh & 
Shauck in his seventeenth year. He continued 
with this firm, serving beliind the counter, in 
the post office, at the warehouse, packing 
pork and caring for horses; he served in va- 
rious capacities, often working until ten or 
twelve o'clock at night, for eight dollars per 
month, turning over to his father every dollar 
of his earnings until he reached his majority. 
He then hired out to J. T. Creigh for $130 
per annum and his board, refusing an offer of 
$144 per year from another merchant; he took 
his pay in clothing, notes and accounts against 
customers. Here he remained for nine years, 
his ability commanding repeated addition to 
his yearly salary, until it reached $175 per 
year. During the five years that he worked 
as clerk for himself he laid by $650, and in 
May, 1849, was taken into the firm of D. M. 
& J. T. Creigh & Co., as partner; he received 
six per cent, upon his capital and one-fourth 
of the profits on the entire business, which 
then included a general store, business, ship- 
ping of produce, buying notes, packing pork 
and dealing in flax seed. For five years the 

<a r- 



firm did a prosperous business, and at the ex- 
piration of tlie term of partnership ho found 
himself in possession of a capital of $4,000, 
and the Creighs retiring at the head of a 
fine business. He associated his brother 
with him in business, under the name of 
J. J. Cover & Co., with a combined capital 
of $5,500; this left the firm in debt, with pay- 
ments of $1,000 an(l $2,000, to be met in an- 
nual installments, which was successfully ac- 
complished. Mr. Cover has been in active 
business ever since; save during the last year 
or two he has not paid so much attention to 
his store trade. During his active business 
career it was his custom to visit New York 
every six months to purchase goods, making 
some thirty-nine trips in all. In the fall of 
1861 his business shrewdness led him to buy 
an enormous stock of dry goods, groceries and 
hardware, so that it taxed the capacity of his 
buildings to their utmost to hold them. His 
supply lasted three years, and was closed out 
at enormous piofits, reaching 300 or 400 per 
cent. He has maintained the business of the 
early day in all its branches, save, perhaps, 
that of pork-packing, doing a trade of from 
$35,000 lo $75,000 per year, and that without 
the usual amount of friction. Business misun- 
derstandings have been rare, and though 
obliged on two or three occasions to have re- 
course to the services of a Justice of the 
Peace, he has never had a case in court. In the 
course of his business life, Mr. Cover has had 
the forming of the business character of eleven 
young' men, who are now promising business 
men on their own account, or in positions of 
wider usefulness. He always took a lively per- 
sonal interest in the young men in his employ, 
and now follows their career with all the inter- 
est of a near friend. Among these are Chris- 
tian Gauwiler, since deceased, John Schantz 
and .Jerome King, doing a prosperous business 
at Mansfield, Tolman House in the produce 
business at Cameron, Mo.; George R. Hosier, 
at Johnsville ; Samuel Wagner, at Shauck's 
Mills ; Robert I,eedy, farming in the west ; 
John W. Thenna, druggist and postmaster at 
Johnsville; John Held, of Newhouse & Held, 
and his two sons, Upton J. and Jacob K. 
These young men stayed with Mr. Cover not 
less than three years, nor any more than four, 
two of them being employed sometimes to- 
gether. He remembers them as iudustrious, 



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802 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



honest lads of fair ability; his business abilities 
have been felt elsewhere, and in the settle- 
ment of the lar<^e baid<ru])t estate of J. S. 
Trimble, when the liabilities reached a sura 
exceeding $100,000, his management was es- 
pecially creditable ; he assisted also in organ- 
i/iiig tiie First National Bank of Mt. Gilead, 
of which he has be(Mi a stockholder and direc- 
tor from the first. During the war he was 
prominent in securing volunteers to free his 
township from draft, and was employed by 
other communities to act in this capacity for 
them, paying from $120 to f 050 for substitutes. 
On Sept. 2, 1852, he married Catherine, daugh- 
ter of Jacob King (see biography) ; she was 
born Sept. 20, 1833, in Troy, Kichland Co., O. 
This union has been blessed with six children, 
five of whom are still living : Upton J., 
born Oct. 10, 1853 ; Alverda J., Oct. 20, 1855, 
died Aug. 28, 18G9, aged 13 years, 10 months 
and 8 davs; Jacob K., born Nov. 25, 1857; Lau- 
ra B., Feb. 5,18(53; Minnie R., Nov. 25, 1807; 
Katie D., Oct. 20, 1874. Of his broth- 
ers and sisters, Thomas W. married Mary 
Hess, of Columbus, and is at San Bernardino, 
Cal., engaged in raising tropical fruits; Josi- 
ah S. married Ann Wert/, and lives at the 
same place, and is engaged in the same busi- 
ness as his brother Thomas; Mary M., now 
Mrs, George Biddle, resides on the Cover 
homestead in Perry Tp.. Richland Co., O.; 
Martha E., deceased, was the wife of William 
Lewis, of Congress Tp.; Eliza J., deceased, 
was the wife of Isaac Markwood, also deceased, 
leaving a daughter, Alverda E., now residing 
with U. A. Cover; William H. H. married 
Mary, only daughter of William Corson, near 
Belleville, Richland Co., ().; he is a farmer 
and stock-dealer near Waterford, O.; Daniel 
P. married Mary A. Fowler, of Fort S«iott, 
Kan., and is now engaged in raising tropical 
fruits at Riversides, San Bernardino Co., Cal.; 
John W. married Mary Sourbrum, of Troy, 
Morrow Co., where he is farming; and Upton 
A. married Susan Lamb, retired merchant, of 
Johnsville. Thomas was one of the dis- 
coverers of the celebrated Alder Guh-h dig- 
gings, of Virginia City, Montana. Jason has 
survived all the male citizens of Johnsville 
that were here when he first came to the place, 
s me forty years ago. lie was first a Whig, 
and voting for John C Fremont, he has fol- 
lowed the fortunes of the Republicans ever 



since. He joined the United Brethren in 
Christ at the age of thirty-three, and has been 
an active member ever since, acting as trus- 
tee, leader. Sabbath-school suj)erintendent — 
and never without some official duty to dis- 
charge, ever since. His father, Rev. Daniel 
Cover, came from Frederick Co., Md., and af- 
ter sojourning in Seneca (yO., O., one year, he 
made a permanent settlement in Perry Tp., 
Richland Co., O., in IHiJO, on eighty acres of 
land, which he owned until his death. He 
was a minister of the United Brethren in 
Christ — among the first of that faith in this lo- 
cality. He preached quite extensively in what 
are now Morrow and Richland counties, 
almost every Saturday and Sunday, with- 
out remuneration. The records show that 
during his ministerial labors of about twenty 
years in this country, he helped to organize 
and bviild five churches. He died in 1855, 
mourned by a family of ten children. 

THOMAS COLES, dealer in stoves and tin- 
ware, etc., and tinner; Shaucks; son of Tho- 
mas and Mary (Symmons) Coles was; born in 
Cornwall, England, Aug. 19, 1840; he passed 
his boyhood in Launceston, and went to school 
until 12 years of age; at that time he began 
learning the tinners' trade in the shop of Mr. 
Serrill, where he served an apprenticeship of 
one year, after which he followed the trade, 
working in the same town two and a half 
years for wages; he then found employinejit 
in a tanyard until his 17th year. Aug. 12, 
1857, he embarked from the port of Plymouth 
for America, and after a voyage of thirt3'-five 
days reached Quebec, and from there went to 
Coburg, Ontario, where he served three and a 
half years under the instruction of William 
Tourjee, tinsmith, becoming a skillful and 
competent workman, he went to McGregor, 
Iowa, where he worked for some time as jour- 
neyman for Stow & Hopkins. In May, 1800, 
he went to Boscobel, Wis., where he worked 
at his trade, except one or two winters; he then 
came to .Johnsville, and found employment in 
the shop of Jacob Steffee until 1871, when he 
erected the building where Adam Lucas 
lives, and worked there until the summer of 
1874, when he built the jiresent substantial 
frame building, 22x30 feet in dimensions, two 
stories in height, with a handsonu' store-room 
and shop on the first tloor. Mr. Coles is pre- 
pared to do all kinds of tinwork, roofing and 






.}^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



803 



spouting, and keeps in his warerooins a fine as- 
sortment of stoves, pumps, hardware, tinware 
and agricultural implements, at most reasona- 
ble prices. He united his fortunes with Mary 
E. Lincoln, of Boscohel, Wis., in Feb., 1863. 
She is the daughter of Thomas and Rachel 
(Kay) Lincoln, born Dec. 18, 1845, in Iowa 
Co., Wis. Her parents came to this county 
in 1864, and live at present in Gilead Tp.; 
they have a family of seven children — Mary 
E., Ada, Azariah E., Joel K., David H., L. 
Augusta and Jessie B.; all are living. Mr. 
Coles is a P. G. member of Johnsville Lodge, 
No. 469, I. O. O. F., and C. P. in Harmony 
"Encampment, No. 174, at Belleville, Ohio; 
he began the battle of life without capital or 
aid by any one, and now, by careful manage- 
ment, he has a prosperous business, and a 
desirable home. He has only one son — Rich- 
ard E, Coles, who was born Oct. 3, 1864, in 
Boscobel, Wis. 

ASHER CRAVEN, farmer; P. O., Shaucks; 
son of John and Mary (Fisher) Craven; was 
born Oct. 8, 1828, in Perry Tp. He was 
raised on the farm, and educated in the old 
log school house situated one mile southwest 
of his present residence. The furniture was 
of the rudest kind, and his first teacher was 
Richard James. He was married to Caroline 
Phillips, Oct. 1, 1857; she is a daughter of 
Thomas and Sarah (Hetrick) Phillips; born in 
Perry Tp., Richland Co., O., Oct. 11, 1833. 
They lived on the old homestead for about 
three years, when they purchased S2^ acres 
here, and moved here in the spring of 1861, 
where they have lived up to the present. 
Three children have been born to them — 
Jacintha, born Aug. 9, 1858; John Calvin, 
died when three years old; Miles L., born 
Jan. 14, 1862. Mr. Craven votes with the 
Democratic party, and has been three times 
chosen Trustee of his township, and has twice 
assessed the township. He is a Past Grand 
member of Johnsville Lodge, No. 469, I. O. 
O. F.; member of Richland Grange, No. 252, 
in which he has served as Secretary; he owns 
200 acres of land, the product of his own 
labor and management. His father, John Cra- 
en, son of Beckly W. and Elizabeth (Carpen- 
ter) Craven, was born near Trenton, N. J., 
Oct. 3, 1797; he passed through the dangers 
of the Indian Wiir of 1812, and came with the 
family to Perry Tp. in about 1822, being at 



that time a yoiuig man of 25; he purchased 
40 acres of land on the school section, all in 
the woods. By his energy and labor he 
carved a home out of this wilderness and 
united his fortunes with Mary Fisher, by 
whom he raised a family. She was born in 
Morris Co., N. J., March 20, 1794. 

CYRUS CRAVEN, farmer; P. O., Wood- 
view; son of Beckley W. nnd Elizabeth 
(Balse) Craven. He was born in Harriscm 
Co., Ohio, near Short Creek, Nov. 15, 1816. 
The family moved on this section when he was 
only four years old, and he grew up in the 
woods, varied by occasional visits to the old 
cabin school house, situated one-half mile 
south of his home. His first teacher was Jesse 
Downer, from the mountains, and very se- 
vere. The house was illuminated by what 
sunlight could pass through its long windows 
of greased paper. The fire-place filled one 
end of the house, and the floors and furniture 
were alike made of puncheon. The teacher's 
position was not even honored by the pres- 
ence of a chair. Mr. Craven went only about 
three terms in all. He worked for .lohn 
Shauck in the saw-mill when he was 19, aiul 
broke his shoulder while turning a log. His 
father was a carpenter, and he worked with 
him at the trade until he reached his majority, 
after which he followed the same calling until 
1852, putting up several large barns in the 
neighborhood. He purchased his present 
home of fortv acres at i>10 per acre in 1850. 
He married Nancy Bell July 7, 1852. She is 
a daughter of Robert and Elizabeth (Lash) J^ell, 
born in Bellville, Ohio, May 17, 1817. Her 
grandfather came from Belmont Co., Ohio, 
about 1815, and laid out the town of Bellville 
on his farm. The great grandfather of our sidj- 
ject, Thomas Craven, came from London, 
England, in 1729; he landed at Wilmington, 
and journeyed from there to Pliiladelphia, 
and near the site ot old Philadelphia he was 
hotly pursued by wolves, and sought refuge 
by climljing a sycamore tree, where he re- 
mained all night. He settled near Princeton, 
where he taught school, and raised four sons, 
one of whom was Thomas Craven, Jr., grand- 
father of Cyrus. He came to Cincinnati, Ohio, 
about 1805, leaving Beckley W., his second 
son, in Pennsylvania. He emigrated from 
Sussex Co. of that State about 1810, intending 
to join his father at Cincinnati, Ohio; but 



"TT^ 






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804 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



when he readied llanisou Co., ( )hio, the dan- 
ger of an outbreak Ironi the Indians seemed 
to threaten imminent peril, so he stopped 
there with his family about ten years. He 
then gave up his first intention of joining his 
father, who died at Cincinnati; he came about 
J 821 or 1832 to this township, and settled on 
forty acres of scliool land, all in woods. He 
was born in Trenton, N. J,, and was a mem- 
ber of the Episco])al Church. He followed 
the occupation of carpenter. He first wedded 
Elisabeth Carpenter by whom he had five 
children — Nancy, Hiram, Martha, John and 
Sally. She died, and he afterwards married 
Elizabeth Balse. Ten children were born to 
them — Lewis, Mahala, Anson, Cyrus, Fanny, 
Eliza, Emily A., Lucinda, Becklej^ and Elias. 
The father passed away peacefully about 
1855. Cyrus, our subject, is of the true type 
of a self-made, self-educated, whole-souled 
gentleman; a fine marksman and skillful 
hunter. In early days he killed thirty-six 
deer in one fall, and the records of Crawford 
Co. show that he killed an old she-wo!f and 
her five cubs where Gallon, Ohio, now stands. 
He voted the Democratic ticket, until 1(S79, 
Avhen lit' identified himself with the National 
Keform and Greenback party. 

ALBEN COE, farmer and dealer in stocks; 
P. O., Shaucks; is the fourth son of Alben and 
Ruth (Nickols) Coe; he was born in Chester 
Tjt^ .Morrow Co., O., Nov. 21, 1834; passed 
his boyhood on the farm, and went to district 
school in winter. At twenty-two he rented 
his father's farm for two years; then purchased 
75 acres of the present place, about 1858. He 
has since added, at one time 85 and at another 
time 94 acres, until his estate now covers 254 
acres of fine farming lands. He erected a 
large house in 1879 on the site of a similar 
structure, which was built in 1874 and burned 
in 1878. His present elegant frame residence 
of ten handsomely finished rooms he erected 
in 1878. Thus has our farmer-boy, who start- 
ed in life with no capital but three dollars in 
money, two strong hands and a willing heart, 
surrounded himself and family with a beauti- 
ful home and handsome competence. He has 
been interested for some time in the raising 
of draft horses, having some very fine speci- 
mens of the Clydesdale stock. He has dealt 
in stock quite extensively for the last nine 
years. He takes an active interest in the 



Agricvdtural Society, having been a nunnbcr 
of its Jioard for six years. At the call of his 
country Mr. Coe enlisted Sept., 1861, for three 
years, in the G4th Reg., Co. C, of the O. V. I., 
commanded by Capt. Brown and Col. For- 
scythe. He participated in the fortunes of that 
regiment until it reached Stevenson, Ala., 
wIkmi he was sent home to recruit the ranks. 
During the five months in which he was 
thus engaged he look to the front at one 
time men who were assigned to the "11th" 
O. V. C, and at another time he enlisted 
eighteen men. He entered the old 9th O. 
V. C. as First Lieutenant, but was soon pro- 
moted to the office of Captain. He led his 
company in the engagements of Decatur, 
Alabama and Center Star. They started on a 
raid, and were in a continual fight with the 
Rebel, General F'orrest, for sixteen days. He 
was at the siege of Atlanta. At one time For- 
rest ditched the train in which they were rid- 
ing, and his men disengaged themselves from 
the debris and formed in line of battle on the 
opposite side of the cars, completely routing 
the Rebels. At Lawrenceburg Capt. Coe's 
company charged on the 3rd Georgia Reg., 
gaining a signal victory and killing eighteen. 
They also fought in the Charge of Waynes- 
boro, and all the engagements of that mem- 
orable "March to the Sea." He was mustered 
out Aug. 5, 1865. He was married Sept. 18, 
1856, to Rebecca H. Shauck, daughter of Eiah 
Shauck, born Jan. 31, 1834, in this township. 
Ten children have been born to them of 
which there are but five living — Alva L., 
born June 23, 1857; Laura E., July 6, 1863; 
Claude E., Sept. 3, 1868; Glenn H., Nov. 7, 
1869; Nevada, Aug. 8, 1877. Five died 
when young. Mr. Coe votes the Republican 
ticket. He has a relic of by- gone days in the 
shape of an ancient wooden clock whose his- 
tory extends back to 1780. It w^as brought 
from Pennsylvania by the Lemmon f'amil}'. 
Alben Coe, father of our subject came from 
Lancaster Co., Penn., and settled on what is 
now known as the Russell Farm; the land 
was first entered by Nathan Nichols. At the 
time of his settlement — probably about 1817, 
there was no one living on the site of Mt. 
Gilead. Allen Kelley was his nearest neigh- 
bor. Here he Ijuilt a cabin on the banks of 
the Whetstone and followed the trade of 
black-smith — no doubt the first of his craft 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKICTCHES. 



805 



in that region. He helped to cut and 
carry the logs and raise the first cabin 
ever erected in Mt. Gilead. At that time 
deer were very plenty, and one day a pack 
of dogs pursued one to the banks of the 
stream, and as it came out on the opposite 
side, Mrs. Coe struck it with a stick just back 
of the ears and killed it. The family lived in 
different parts of Morrow Co. for some 
years, then removed to Delaware Co., 
where they lived some three years. They 
settled on the farm whtire our subject lives in 
1856; where they lived two years then re- 
moved to Richland Co. where they lived 
some three years, when they settled in Gilead 
Tp., where the father died April G, 1870. 
His wife, Ruth Coe, died about 1840, and he 
subsequently wedded Mary Conway of Sparta, 
Ohio. Of the first marriage seven children 
were born — Nathan N., who married Letitia 
Blakely of Mt. Gilead. He lives there now, 
having retired from the farm. Sarah, now 
Mrs. Joseph Patton of this county; William 
married Ann Smith, and is a farmer in Gilead 
Tp.; John R. married Sarah Friend of Tipton, 
Iowa; he now lives in Nappa Co., Cal.; Marth 
J., deceased, was wife of Orange McDonald; 
Alben, subject of this sketch; Emma R. mar- 
ried William Logan of Richland Co., Ohio. 
They now live at Spring Green, Wis. 

ANSON CRAVEN, farmer; P. O., Wood- 
view; son of Beckley W. and Elizabeth 
(Balse) Craven; was born in April, 1812, in 
Washington Co., Penn. The family came to 
Ohio when he was only two years old, and 
lived in Eastern Ohio some eight years, when 
they settled on the " school section." Anson 
was about ten years old, and the family being 
in somewhat limited circumstances, his labor 
was required at home, so he had only about 
four months schooling in all; he worked by 
the month for John Shauck in the saw-mill 
for some time; he chopped in the "beech 
woods," removing all the timber at $4 per acre; 
in this way, he purchased forty acres on the 
school section, besides caring for and support- 
ing his aged parents until their deatfi; his 
present farm embraces eighty acres of good 
land, the fruit of his own labor and manage 
ment; when he was twenty-four — just in the 
prime of manhood — he cut a deep gash in his 
knee-joint, which stiffened it and made him 
a cripple for life; he now lives on the old 



homestead with throe of his sisters, a worthy 
example of sturdy, honest, self-made man- 
hood. 

Dr. a. B. DENTSON, physician; Shaucks; 
son of Benjamin and Eunice (Williams) 
Denison; was born March 9, 1837, in 
Susfjuehanna Co., Penn. He lived on a 
farm and received the rudiments of an 
English education until he was fifteen, when 
he entered a general store as clerk, where he 
remained until he reached his majority. In 
1858 he left the store and engaged in lumber- 
ing and farming for three years, at the ex- 
piration of which time he entered upon the 
study of the profession, for which nature has 
so eminently fitted him, in the office of Dr. T. 
C. Denison, of Mehoopeny, Wyoming Co., 
Penn. Here he remained one year, making 
careful preparation for the course of lectiues 
which he attended in the Medical Department 
of Michigan University, at Ann Arbor, in the 
fall of 1862. He returned to Mehoopeny, and 
practiced with success until September, 1865, 
when he came to Johnsville, and practiced 
until November of that year, at which time he 
entered the Starling Medical College at Co- 
lumbus, Ohio, where he graduated Feb. 26, 
1867. He returned to Johnsville, where he 
has built up an extensive practice in Morrow, 
Richland and Knox counties. Dr. Denison 
has gathered a fine collection of Professional 
Works, of which he is a close student. He be- 
gan life with few of this world's goods, and has 
gained a handsome competence. His success 
in practice is largely due to his comprehensive 
reading, quick perception and sound judg- 
ment. He united his fortunes with Mary .1. 
Ross, Sept. 2, 1867. She is a daughter of Ben- 
jamin Ross, of Mehoopeny, Penn. They 
have one son — Adam B., born May 29, 1868. 
The Doctor's father, Benjamin Denison, was 
a Physician; died in February, 1837, leaving 
a family of nine children — John W., now a 
Physician at Mehoopeny; Elizabeth, deceased, 
was wife of R. T. Stevens, and leaves a fam- 
ily; George M., died in 1866, in Pennsyl- 
vania; C. G., a merchant at Corning, New 
York; Eunice, now Mrs. R.T. Stevens; T. C, 
a Physician at Mehoopeny; Lewis B., died at 
the age of 18; Ann, died when young, and 
A. B., subject of these lines. Dr. Denison is 
a member of Mansfield Lodge, F. A. M.; also 
the Mt. Gilead Chapter. 



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PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



Dr, J. W. DAVIS, physician; Sliaucks; is 
the only son of John and Sarah J. (Wickor- 
shani) Davis. He was horn in Adams Co. 
Ohio, April 15, 1853. He assisted his father 
in agricultural j)ursuits, going to the public 
schools of his neighborhood until he was 
eighteen years old, when he became a clerk 
in a store at Locust Grove, where he remaiiuMl 
about two years. In the fall of 1873, he entered 
the Commercial Department of the West 
Geneva College at Logan Co. Ohio, where he 
graduated in the spring of 1874, when he 
began reading medicine in the office of Dr. J. 
L. Wright, of 13ell<'fontaine, Ohio, attending 
lectures at the College of Indiana located at 
Indianapolis; on his return he became a part- 
ner with Dr. Wright, which lasted until the fall 
of 1S75, when Dr. Davis retired to eiiter the 
P. M. College of Cincinnati, from whence he 
graduated Feb. 20, 1876 ; he first located at 
Carey, Wyandott Co., O., where he remained 
about one year, and afterwards for a brief 
j)eriud at Mexico, O.; he located in his present 
office at Johnsville, in Oct., 1877, where he 
has a good practice in Morrow and adjoining 
counties ; .June 5, 1877, he was married to 
Laura A. ^[eckIey, a daughter of Andrew and 
Mary. (Hosier) Meckley, born Jan. 16, 1859, 
in Troy Tp., of this county. Dr. Davis and 
his wife are both members of the Evangelical 
Association at Haldemans ; his parents were 
both natives of x\dams Co., O.; they were 
married Feb. 17, 1852, by Rev. Huston ; his 
mother, Sarah J. Davis, departed this life Jan. 
22, 1855, aged 20 years and 6 months, leaving 
our subject, the only child ; his father again 
married p]lizabeth Sliarp, Nov. 18, 1856; of 
this marriage seven children have been born 
— Edwin, Sarah Belle, Khoda, Mary, William, 
Milt<jn and Leonidas ; tlu^y lived in the path 
of .John JSIorgan's raid, in 1863, and the l^oc- 
tor, then a lad of ten years, was out plowing 
when three rebels came up and demanded the 
team; but our sul)ject not willing to be inter- 
rupted, said to the near horse, " get up Joe," 
but when a revolver was presented he recon- 
sidered their request, and said : " W^hoa ! 
Joe;" they took three horses, which were never 
recovered, and when his father came home 
and found them gone he was very indignant, 
and snatching his gun he follow(ul them to his 
father's porch, when two of the "raiders" 
came up, leading a valuable grey horse ; they 



asked why he had his gun and told him to go 
home ; he said he would show them, leveling 
his gun, they fled in great haste, leaving the 
horse which they were loading ; but they soon 
returned in nundjcrs, and Mr. Davis sought 
refuge in a corn field near by, which they were 
surrounding, and as he fled to the woods they 
fired seven shots at him ; some of them were 
so near that he could hear the whizzing of the 
balls ; he passed on through the woods just 
as the main army passed along ; they came so 
near that he was obliged to lie flat upon the 
ground ; in the haste with which he made 
})reparations in starting out, he filled one of 
his pockets loosely with powder, and now, as 
he lay prone in a rut tilled with water, the 
powder in his pocket became thoroughly 
saturated. 

MATTHIAS DEISCH, harness manufac- 
turer; is the son of Matthias and Anna (Ra])p) 
Deisch. The name of Matthias Deisch has 
been handed down from father to son for five 
generations. Our subject was born in the 
town of Fluorn, Wurteml)erg, Germany, Oct. 
24:, 1818; he was carefviUy educated in the 
schools of his native Kinu-doin from his sixth 
to his fourteenth year, being catechised in the 
Old Lutheran Church. His father died when 
he was fifteen years old, and he was hired out 
by his guardian to woik on a farm for one 
year; he was then apprenticed to learn har- 
ness-making, giving two and a half years' 
labor and §55 in money besides. The " boss" 
under whom he served was very exacting, 
and requiri'd his apprentice to work from four 
o'clock in the morning until ten and some- 
times one o'clock at night. He sailed from 
Bremen May 20, 1837, and after a prosperous 
voyage of seventy days, he arrived at ]Sew 
York in August; His passage cost S34; he 
remained in the metropolis only three days, 
when he went to Schenectady and found em- 
jiloyment on the Erie Canal, where he worked 
about (Mie month; he next worked on a farm 
I. ear Moorsville, New York, about two 
months; from there he next found work on 
the railroad near Catskill about six weeks; 
then he worked at his trade in Cairo some- 
thing over a year, when he went to Butler 
Co., Penn., and sojourned about eightecMi 
months; Mr. Deisch came to Belleville, Ohio, 
in th(! fall of 183!), and Sept. 19 he began 
work in the shop of Ephraim Walter, wlicre 



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BIOGR APHICAL SK P:TCHF:S. 



807 



he worked until 1842; lie was married to 
Naomi Hill, of Belleville, Dec. 3, 1840; he 
carried on a shop of his own in for some time; 
in the fall of 1843 he came to Johnsville, 
wiiere he has resided ever since, Jan. 20, 
1849, his shop burnt in the night with a total 
loss of contents and all; by his energy and 
])erscverance it was soon rebuilt. .Jan. 1, 
18G0, lie was appointed Postmaster at .Johns- 
ville, phich position he held until May 10, 
1875. At twelve o'clock, June 14, 1865, he 
left his home in America for a visit to the 
scenes of his childhood; his route lay from 
New York to Queenstown, Ireland, which 
was accomplished in eleven days; from there 
to Liverpool, London, Paris, Strasljourg, and 
reached Fluorn, his native town, at ten 
o'clock p. m., July 4. Thus our traveler, 
after an absence of twenty-eight years be- 
held his native home when his loved and 
adopted land was celebrating its independ- 
ence, and at last in glad pasans of joy, pro- 
claiming all men free and equal. After re- 
maining about six weeks to settle up his 
father's estate, he returned by the way of 
Harvre, and reached New York after an ocean 
voyage of seventeen days; he is a devoted 
member of the United Brethern in Christ, in 
which he has held the offices of Trustee, and 
is Steward at present; he has performed the 
duties of Sexton for twenty-four years. His 
wife, Naomi Deisch, was born in Frederick- 
town, Sept. 1, 1821; she died April 5, 1873. 
Six children were born to them — Martha A. 
was born Dec. 28, 1843; Amanda, Feb. 2, 1848; 
James S., Jan. 9, 1852; E. ('lark, Oct. 22,1859; 
Sarah E., Jan. 15, 1842, died Feb. 3, 1877; 
Laura A. died in infancy. Mr. Deisch was 
married to Elizabeth Starter, Oct. 1, 1875; he 
still does a thriving business at harness-mak- 
ing, and is able to furnish from his stock the 
finest and most durable kinds of work at 
most reasonable rates. 

ELAH DENNIS, farmer, and dealer in 
agricultural implements; P. O., Woodview; 
is the third son of Samuel and Catherine 
(Crack) Dennis. He was born on his present 
place, Sept. 17, 1824. He passed his youth 
here, and went to the old school house near 
where .Joshua Singrey lives. It had a large 
fire-place in one end, and was furnished with 
slat seats, desks on pins around the wall. 
His first teacher was Abram Stevens. He 



often went but two weeks during the year, on 
account of the time required for threshing out 
the grain. At nineteen he began to learn 
wagon-making with his brother in North 
Woodbury. He worked at the same business 
with Samuel Hoffman, and after learning the 
trade he formed a partnership with his broth- 
er Emanuel, which lasted some eighteen 
months, when he quit wagon-making, and took 
charge of the farm of George Rule, and 
farmed it for two years. He next went to the 
homestead, where he farmed about ten years; 
from there he removed near N. Woodbury, 
and worked in a steam saw-mill one year. 
Subsequently he bought an interest in the 
" Fish Farm," and lived on that two years. 
He next bought the 80 acres A\'here Gabriel 
Mc Williams lives, and sojourned there sdme 
two years; he then sold his farm and engaged 
in merchandising in North Woodljury for two 
years; then retired from the store and pur- 
chased the Gantz farm of 60 acres, where he 
lived ten years, when he sold, and l)oiight the 
homestead of 83 acres of Samuel Hoffman, in 
the spring of 1875. He married E]liza .J. 
Rule, Sept. 17, 1845, being just 21. She is a 
daughter of George and Mary Rule, born 
March 29, 1829, just south of Woo(ll)ury. Of 
this marriage two children have been born — 
Leander, born April 25, 1851. He has a good 
education, and has followed the occupation 
of farmer. He is now farming the home 
place in partnership with his father. He has 
a fine stock of Poland-China hogs and Short- 
horn cattle. He united his fortunes with 
Elizabeth E. Krout, Apr. 7, 1872. She is a 
daughter of Jacob and Lovina (Rale) Krout, 
born July 12, 1852, in Baltimore Co., Md. 
Leander has two children — Ora A., born May 
10, 1873; Mary A., Sept. 5, 1876. M^iry H. 
(see sketch of .John Krout.) Sanniel Dennis, 
father of our subject, was born in .Juniata, 
Md., May 3, 1787. He lived in his native 
State .34 years, dividing his attention be- 
tween the farm and the distillery. He mar- 
ried Catherine Crack, of Maryland, Apr. 12, 
1812. In the fall of 1821 they set out with a two 
horse wagon for Oliio, and owing to the in- 
clement weather and bad roads they were six 
weeks on the way. They arrived during the hol- 
idays and passed the winter with George Rule 
on the Fredericktown Road. In the spring 
he moved into the house vacated by Adam 



Is 



808 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



Lucas, where he lived till fall; in meantime 
he built a shanty on the present eio;lity, which 
he had purchased of George Kinehart, a 
brother-in-law, about 1820. They lived in 
this shanty two years without Hre-place, floors, 
door or windows. They built a fire in the 
middle of the house, and fashioned a bed and 
table by driving pins in the wall. The wolves 
would approach within two rods, and keep a 
dismal howling until almost sunrise; and the 
Red Skins would jiass through the w^oods al- 
most daily. When he arrived, he had but 
fifty cents in money, and he often worked at 
clearing all day for a bushel of corn. He 
wouhl chop in tlie woods all day and make 
shoes by fin^-light at night. He cleared fifty 
acres of his own farm and about hve acres 
each year for others, for many years. His 
cattle would often stray away, and he would 
find them five miles distant. He went to 
raisings and log-rollings seven miles distant 
in early times. He helped to cut the first 
roads that were opened through this vicinity. 
He was a consistent member of the Lutheran 
Church, and was class- leader. His faithful 
wife died Feb. 15, 1861, aged 72 years, and 
he lived with subject, who cared for him nine- 
teen years. He departed this life March 25, 
1880, aged ninety-two years, 10 months and 
20 days. His mental and physical powers 
seemed but little impaired until the last. In 
1879 he mowed the door-yard four times. H(> 
raised seven children, and one died in infan- 
cy — Eliza! )eth, now Mrs. Edward Murray of 
Marion Co., Iowa; Uriah, carpenter and stock 
dealer at North Woodbury; Emanuel, wagon- 
maker at Woodbury; Lucinda, now Mrs. 
Sanmel Hoffman of this township; Elah (sub- 
ject); Samuel, blacksmith in Nebraska; .la- 
cob, deceased; Franklin, died when eighteen 
months old. George Rule, the father of Mrs. 
Dennis, came with his family from Baltimore 
Co., Maryland, in 1828, and settled on a quar- 
ter section where Norman Merwine lives. It 
was all in woods then, and he erected a cabin 
with a puncheon floor, in which he lived for 
some time, he cleared up the farm and erected 
the present building before he left. He sold 
eight lots from his farm for the Village of 
Woodbury, and donated the one on which the 
United Brethren Church stands; he lived on 
that place until 1803, when he engaged in 
trade at different places, first at West Point, 



then Galion, Ohio, and from thence to Bour- 
bon, Ind. He now lives at Argus, Marshall 
Co., Ind. He was much respected by his fel- 
low citizens, and was chosen Justice of the 
Peace many years, he was also Assessor and 
Trustee of his township. He was one of the first 
members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church 
and held the office of Elder. He raised eight 
children to manhood and womanhood — Cathe- 
rine, now Mrs. Adam Grove of Kosciusko 
Co., Ind.; Eliza .1., wife of subject; Josiah, 
farmer, near Bourbon, Ind.; Eliza, the wife of 
our subject; Henry R., farmer in Kansas; 
Margaret, now Mrs. John Gautz of Argus, 
Ind.; Levi, farmer at Argus, Ind.; Jacob, 
farmer in this township; George lives in 
Indiana. 

ENOS GREEN, retired farmer and mer- 
chant; P. O., L'^vering, Waterford; is the 
third son of a well known and highly respected 
family — the children of Elder Benjamin 
Green. He was born on the old h(jinestead 
where William Addles])erger lives, June 14, 
1826. He went through the woods to the 
Rinehart district, a mile and three-(}uarters 
distant. Lawrence VanBuskirk, a Penn- 
sylvanian, was his first teacher in the old log 
school house. As soon as he grew up he rode 
the horses to thresh, and cleared with the men 
in the woods, living at home until twentv- 
three. He united in marriage with Rachel 
Clark May 15, 184!). She is a daughter of 
William and x\l) giil (Owen) Clark, born July 
7, 1829, in Knox, Co., O. Her parents were 
from Vermont, and the Owen family came 
very early and settled in Middleburg Tj). 
William Clark came some time later, an 
orphan. They raised two daughters, Rachel 
and Ruth, now Mrs. William Penn, of Water- 
ford. After marriage our subject farmed on 
William Clark's place some eighteen months, 
when he moved on forty acres, where his 
residence stands, on which at that time two 
acres were cleared, and a small cabin. By his 
energy and to.l Mr. Green has been eminently 
successful in business. He now owns two 
hundred acres of fine farming lands, of which 
he cleared a large portion and erected hand- 
some and substantial buildings. Rachel 
Green bore him three sons — William R., 
George O. and Levi C., who all died in youth. 
His wife Rachel departed this life Jan. 1, 
1855. He married Margaret Merwin March 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



809 



'/i2, 1857. She is a daughter oi' .John and 
Amelia (Campbell) Merwiii, born September, 
1835, in Pennsylvania. The Merwin family 
came to this county in 1839, where they have 
since lived, raising a family of eight children, 
as follows — Jacob, a farmer in Illinois; Eliza- 
beth, widow of Ira Dewitt, of Gilead Tp.; 
William, farmer in Congress Tp.; .Julia A., 
now Mrs. James Muncie, of Iowa City ; Rebecca, 
now Mrs. Peter Syphers, of Missouri; Peter, 
decease 1; Norman, of Perry Tp.; Margaret, 
wife of subject. Of the last marriage one son 
and two daughters are living; Norman D., 
born May 15, 185'J; Sarah J., born Oct. 
'■id, 18G2, married John Hough of Knox 
Co., Feb. 26, 1880; Ada, born Oct. 
25, 1869. Two died when young. Mr. 
Green formed a partnership with F. V. 
Gwen, of Wat(Mford, for the transaction of a 
general merchandise and produce business at 
that place, under the firm name of Green and 
Owen. This partnership was formed in Sept., 

1879, and the high social standing of these 
gentlemen, together with an extended ac- 
(juaintance, has brought the new firm an ex- 
tensive trade. Mr. F. V. Owen is a nephew 
of Mr. Green, and a graduate of the Ohio 
Central Normal School. He was formerly 
principal of the Schools at Waterford, and is 
now Postmaster and Justice of the Peace. 
The firm carry a large stock of dry goods, gro- 
ceries, hats, caps, boots and shoes, and every- 
thing needed by a farming community, and 
are doing a prosperous business, on the prin- 
ciple of large sales and small profits. Mr. 
Green moved his family to Waterford April, 

1880. He is a Democrat of the old-fashioned 
type, and was Trustee of his township for six 
years. He united with the Harmony Regular 
Baptist Church some twelve years ago, under 
the. administration of Elder L. B. Sherwood. 
He stands as the representative df a worthy 
family, which may point with pride to its ex- 
amples of a sturdy, self-reliant Christian man- 
hood. Elder Benjamin Green, the father of 
Enos, was born in Baltimore Co., Md., June 
15, 1778. In his A^outh he learned the tailor's 
trade, and worked for some time tn the city 
of Baltimore. He united with the Regular 
Baptists in early life, and began preaching 
when about thirty years of age. He traveled 
among the churches in the East- quite exten- 
sively. Some of his preaching tours even ex- 



tended to the brethren beyond the mountains. 
He came, with wife and two children, in the 
fall of 1817, and settled in Perry Tp. He 
entered one hundred and sixty acres of gov- 
ernment land, which cost $200, and purchased 
eighty acres of Henry Sams, which had a cab- 
in and small improvements, which cost him 
1800. Here he worked at his trade most of his 
time, employing men to clear his land. Cus- 
tom came from Mt. Vernon and other distant 
points. He engaged here in the regular work 
of the ministry, and during life had the pas- 
toral care of four churches in this State — 
Salem, Mohican, Haribony and Wayne church- 
es. He wedded Charon Caples, of Maryland, 
and five sons and four daughters were born to 
them, as follows — Isabel, widow of Abram 
Ackerman ; Robert, deceased, leaves two chil- 
dren; Susan, now Mrs. Jacob Burkebile (see 
sketch); Joseph, farmer, of this township; Al- 
ice Ann, now deceased, was wife of William 
Addlesperger (see his biography); Enos, sub- 
ject of this sketch; Jephtha, now farmer and 
stock-raiser, at Yamhdl Co., Oregon; Eliza- 
beth, was wife of the late Gilbert Owen, and 
is now wife of Benjamin Spitler, a merchant 
at Bloom ville, O.; Joshua, farmer and black- 
smith, at Bourbon Co., Kan. 

G. R. HOSLER, merchant; Shaucks (.lohns- 
ville); is the fourth son of George B. and 
Catherine (Rorbaugh) Hosier. He was born 
in this township, Oct. 3, 1834; he lived on the 
farm until 18 years old, when he went to Mt. 
Gilead as clerk in the general store of J. D. 
Rigor & Co. Severing this engagement at 
the end of a year he became salesman in the 
establishment of Cooper, Eichelberger & Co. 
of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, for two years. He then 
came home, where he remained in charge of 
the farm until 1860. Then he came to Johns- 
ville in the employ of J. J. Cover & Co., 
serving in the capacity of clerk until the 
spring of 1866, at which time he commenced 
business in the present room under the firm 
name of Hosier, Morgan & Disc. This part- 
nership lasted ten years, during which they 
did a large business. In 1876 Morgan and 
Disc retired, and Mr. Hosier continues under 
the firm name of G. R. Hosier & Sons. They 
do an extensive business in dry goods, gro- 
ceries, hats, caps, boots and shoes, and drugs; 
they also deal largely in produce. An expe- 
rience of nearly thirty years in buying and 



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PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



sollit\g <r(K>(ls, otiahlcs Mr. Hcjslcr to give sat- 
isfaction to his many (nistoincrs in both stylo 
and prices. He was inariicd to Klizahoth 
Sh^U, a dauglitcr ol Christian and Margaret 
(Weaver) Shell. She was born in Nassau, 
Germany, Sejit. 28, 1834, and came with lier 
parents, when six years old, to America, after 
a voyage of forty-two days. They settled in 
this township. Mr. Hosier has a family of 
nine children — Ella M. was born Aug. 25, 
1855;. lames N., Sept. 10, ISod, Elmira E., 
Dec. 27, 1857; T.. Roy, March :}(», 1850; Frank 
C, Dec. ;n, 18G1; Alverda J., Aug. 23, 1804; 
M. Foye, Feb. 22, 18G7; Clement I.. V., 
April 27, 1871; C. Marshall, Oct, 21, 1873. 
Our subject has been closely identified with 
the public interests of his township since he 
reached his majority; he has been Clerk eleven 
years. Assessor for thirteen years, and .Justice 
of the Peace for fifteen years; also Trustee, 
and Enumerator for 1880. In every position 
his honesty of purpose and purity of character 
has won the confidence of his fellow citi- 
zens, and ])Iaced his official life a])Ove rejiroach. 
His parents came from York Co., Penii., in 
the month of May, 1832, and made their set- 
tlement one-half mile northwest of the site 
of North Woodbury, which oidy contained 
three log huts at that time. Here his father, 
(Jeorge B. Hosier, bought sixty acres of land 
of Jacob Baker, and built a cabin. He fol- 
lowed the double occujiation of carpenter and 
cabinetmaker. And as the early pioneer, be- 
comitjg weary with tlie burden of years and 
toil, passed into that dreamless sleep that 
knows no waking, his handi-work furnished 
the burial casket, and with his four-horse 
wagon, instead of the plumed hearse of to- 
day, they wonded their sorrowful way to the 
silent cities of the dead. He was a soldier in 
the war of 1812 under Captain May and Ma- 
jor Shauck. H(; was Trustee of his township 
and an influential member of the Evangelical 
J.utlxMan Church, being one of its founders, 
and for many years D<iacon and Elder. He 
and George Itule taught singing in English 
and German, often attending these concerts on 
Sabbath barefooted. He raised six children — 
Henry, Abram, Samuel, Leah, Catherine and 
G. R. He died Sept. 23, 1803, aged 69 years, 
and the mother still lives with our subject, 
agiMl S4 years. 

.JOHN M. HELD, shoemaker; Shaucks. 



Among the successful and reliable busi- 
ness men of .fohnsville, Mr. Held deserves 
more than a passing notice. He is the son of 
.John M. and Barbara Held (her maiden name 
wasDuld); lie was born Feb. IG, 1827, in the 
town of Tuttlingen W^urtemberg, Germany. 
The laws of that country compel the attend- 
ance at school of all children from the age of 
six to fourteen; accordingly he attended the 
school in his native town eight years; on the 
the completion of his studies, Mr. Held, then a 
youth not yet fourt en, entered the shoe shop 
of Peter Kuiitz, for an apprenticeship of three 
years; here he toiled from four in the morning 
until twelve at night, boarding himself the 
first year and lodging at home during the en- 
tire period, besides paying twenty-eight dol- 
lars, all for the sake of learning a trade. At 
the end of the third year, Mr. Held was em- 
ployed for eighteen months as journeyman in 
the shop of Jacob Reichle, when the shoe- 
makers formed a combination, agreeing to cut 
down prices to ten cents for making a pair of 
sewed boots. Then he left the bench to work 
in his father's bakery until his emigration to 
this country. In the meantime, he was draft- 
ed into the army, but owing to the fact that 
his father, who had served his country under 
Napoleon Bonaparte, was getting old and 
feeble, and the support of the family resting 
largely on John M., he was exempt i'rom ser- 
vice. In 1849 he learned that a neighbor 
was going to the United States, whereupon 
he at once resolved to accompany him; ac- 
cordingly they sailed from Havre, April 11, 
1849, and after a stormy voyage of forty-three 
days, they reached New York. He found em- 
ployment at his trade in Philadelphia for two 
years. During that period he formed a mat- 
rimonial alliance with Bar])ara Miller, a 
tailoress, who was born in BoriduMin, Kingdom 
of Bavaria, on Feb. 20, 1821. She came 
across the ocean with her brother in October, 
1849, and they settled in Philadelphia. After 
marriage, each remained in the employer's 
family throusjli the day, lodging in a room 
which they rented. Some time after they re- 
moved to Mansfield, Ohio, where Mr. Held 
opened a shop of his own, but he only worked 
here eight months, removing to Johnsville in 
1852, where they rented the building now 
used as the Miracle House, which served as 
shop and dwelling. Here Mr. Held and his 



-J S) 



^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



811 



wife worked night after night during the first 
until twelve o'clock at night, she binding 
sho«!s. In 1854 he purchased the present shop 
and residence fronting on Delaware Street, 
west of Main Street, in which he has worked 
at making and repairing boots and shoes for 
twenty-six years, building up a large trade in 
every kind of wear. There you will at pres- 
ent find a full stock of every variety, and two 
competent workmen, whose long experience 
and well known skill gives a perfect guarantee 
of satisfaction, at reasonable prices. Mr. Held 
has three children — John, born Oct. 23, 1851; 
Sarah, Dec. 8, 1857; Frank, Feb. 5, 1866; 
George died when nine months old. He has 
also raised in his family a nephew — Freder- 
ick Myers, now a workman in his shop. Mr. 
Held and wife hold a membership in the Lu- 
theran Reformed Church; his business rela- 
tions have been such that he never had a suit 
in court or before a Justice. Mr. Held came 
to Johnsville with nothing but a strong will 
and skillful hands, and through his own ener- 
gy and management has attained a position 
among the substantial business men of the 
place. 

WILLIAM HUNTSMAN, farmer; P. O., 
Woodview; is the oldest son of Jonathan and 
Nancy (Wherry) Huntsman. He was born 
January !^5, 1817, on his present farm, where 
he spent his boyhood and youth amid the busy 
and exciting scenes of a half a century ago. 
To these pioneer sons learning yielded her 
scantiest gifts for brief periods in winter amid 
the confusion of an unclassified school, but 
poorly taught in most cases. Here our lad 
thumbed his English Reader and dog's eared 
spellitjg book before the blazing log heap, 
while his back was freezing. At twenty he 
began learning the carpenter trade, which he 
followed some three years. June 25, 1840, 
he united his fortunes with Catherine Bechtel, 
a daughter of Martin Bechtel. She was born 
January 2, 1819 in Pennsylvania, where her 
panMits died and she came with her brother 
to Ohio in about 1833. After marriage, Mr. 
Huntsman purchased eighty acres of his pres- 
ent home of his father to which he moved in 
June, 1840. During his residence here he 
has cleared a large portion of it, and adorned 
it with handsome and substantial buildings. 
He hasafamily of one son and four daughters — 
Nancy J., born July 14, 1844; Mary E., 



March 11, 1847; Clancy, Decendjer 6, 
1848; Lydia A., May 18, 1851; Mmerva 
C, March 9, 1855. Mr. Huntsman has 
been tendered positions of trust in his town- 
ship, having served four terms as Trustee, and 
various other offices. He early united with 
the Protestant Methodist Church, but in later 
years he united with the Evangelical Lutheran 
church of which he is now a devoted member, 
and an efficient Superintendent of the Sabbath 
School. He takes a deep interest in the tem- 
perance cause, and believes the time has come 
for prohibiting the Rum Traffic. His parents 
were natives of Pennsylvania, and came from 
Washington Co. of that State, and settled 
here in the Spring of 1816, raising his first 
cabin on the 4th of July. He had entered a 
quarter-section of land here in 1815; they had 
lived with the grandfather of our subject 
until his cabin w'as raised, when they moved 
in, without floors, doors or chinking; they went 
to Zanesville for salt and leather, and below 
Mt. Vernon for breadstufFs. The wolves 
were plenty, and their howling at night made 
sleep difficvdt at first; he would shoot off his 
gun to frighten them away. The dusky 
sons of the bow and arrow chased their 
game through the woods. His mother 
often assisted in clearing, and a" such 
times would take William, her first born, 
and lull him to sleep in a sugar trough. Eight 
children were born to them — William, sub- 
ject of this sketch; Israel married Elizabeth 
Wilhelm, and is now a carriage trimmer at 
Mansfield, O.; Josiah married Nancy Garver, 
a farmer of Richland Co.; James W. married 
Catharine Baker, lives in Richland Co.; Noah 
married Rachel Rule of Polk Co., Mo., where 
he died in 1879; Amariah C. married Mary Culp 
of Richland Co., farmer on the Old Home- 
stead; Mary J. (deceased), was wife of Peter 
Wirick (deceased); Sarah died at the age of 
twenty-two. Four of the brothers were in 
the army during the late war — .losiah, Amari- 
ah C, James W. and Noah. The father was 
one of the eleven who helped to organize this 
township in 1817, and was elected its first 
Clerk, and afterwards held the offices of Trustee 
and Treasurer. He taught school atHanawalt's 
Mills, among the first in old Perry Tp. He 
died about 1866; and his wife, mother, of our 
subject, died about 1859. William Hunts- 
man owns three hundred acres of well im- 



a 1^ 



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812 



PFRRY TOWNSHIP. 



proved land, tlie iVuit of his labor. He is 
Ijroodiiijj; a tine hord of short-horn cattle from 
a full-blooded animal; has also a fine llock of 

FRANK HALFERTY, farmer; P. O., 
Woodview; oldest son of John and Annie E. 
(Woodrow) Halforty; was born in this town- 
ship, Aug. 10, 1853; he is the representative 
of an old and honored family, whose history 
we will now trace as far as the information 
could be obtained. The great-grandfather of 
our subject, James Lowther, was born in 
Pennsylvania in the year 1771, and united in 
marriage with Margaret Filloon, Sept. 15, 
1795. She was born in Pennsylvania, April, 
177G. After marriage they settled on forty 
acres of land in Westmoreland Co., near the 
old turnpike leading from Pittsburg to Phila- 
delpliia; here he followed the occupation of 
wagon maker, by which he supported his fam- 
ily; he owned another tract of sixty acres; he 
divided his time somewhat between the wag- 
on-shop and farm, on which he reared log 
cabins. They were members of the Presby- 
terian Church, and raised a family of three 
sons and seven daughters, of which Elizabeth, 
grandmotlier of our subject, who is still living, 
was one. She was born in Westmoreland Co., 
Pa., Sept. 26, 17!)0, and united her fortunes 
with William Halferty, of the same county, 
April 12, 181-1. He was a son of Edward and 
Margaret (Fleck) Halferty, born about 1788. 
They lived in the Keystone State until about 
1822, when he emigrated, with a family of 
five children, to this tcjwnship, settling on the 
present half section, which his father had en- 
tered before. They drove a three-horse team 
and two cows, and were about two weeks on 
the road; they stopped with relatives, near 
lnde[)endence, Ohio, about six weeks, owing 
to the sickness of the children; during this 
period Mr. Halferty worked on his cabin, into 
which they moved in the fall; some five acres 
had been underbrushed, but not understand- 
ing where the boundary lines were, a })ortion 
of it proved to be on the wrong place. Their 
cal>in had puncheon floors, and paper window 
lights. At the time of their settlement only 
five families lived on the school section, and 
during the following winter, feed being so 
scarce, they took their cattle to the woods, 
cutting down elm and linn trees, on which 
they browsed. William Halferty died April 



21, 1828, leaving Mrs. Halferty with nine 
small children, the oldest being but fourteen 
years old, almost in the wilderness, with few re- 
sources, but an indomitable courage, and 
an energy that knew nothing of failure. 
She was possessed of remarkable physical 
powers, being able to pick up two bushels of 
wheat and put it on a horse. They were fa- 
vored with remarkable health, and paid no 
doctor bills in the family. They all worked 
together to clear up the farm and put out 
crops, and as the boys grew up she held them 
firmly to the principles of right. If, per- 
chance, either of the big boys did not obey 
her word, his size did not prevent her from 
administering a wholesome lesson of correc- 
tion. They cleaned wheat by fanning with a 
sheet, and went to mill at Mt. Vernon. Of 
the family five were born in Pennsylvania, 
and four in this township. James L., who 
married Mary Lamb, and she died, and he 
subsequently married Rachel Sherman, also 
deceased; he lives in Noble Co., Ind. Ed- 
ward married Henrietta Carr, and lives in 
Noble Co., Ind. Margaret, now widow of 
Martin Buchner, and lives in North Wood- 
bury; Isabel, still at home; John, father of 
our subject, (see sketch); William, died July 
28, 1875, in Noble Co., Ind., leaves wife and 
two children; Mary lives with her mother; 
Robert married Sophia Waltman, of Richland 
Co., O., now lives in Noble Co., Ind.; Jane, 
now Mrs. William lines, who lives in Noble 
Co., Ind. The father of our subject, John 
Halferty, was born in Fairfield Tp., West- 
moreland Co., Penn., Oct. 10, 1820; he was 
eighteen months old when the family came to 
Ohio in the spring of 1822. He attended the 
subscription school a short time for six win- 
ters, probably not more than nine months in 
all. June 24, 1837, he began learning the 
trade of carpenter and joiner with Daniel 
Bowman, serving an apprenticeship of two 
years; he erepted some buildings on the home 
place, and worked as journeyman for one 
year. About 1840 he employed hands and 
began building by contract, which he con- 
tinued for a period of about fourteen years, 
generally employing about three hands. He 
built several fine residences, churches and 
school-houses in this and Richland counties. 
In 1854 he })urchased forty acres of section six- 
teen and rented the homestead on which he 



Is 




BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



813 



began farm operations. His labors were at- 
tended with success, and he now owns a large in- 
terest in the homestead, and his first purchases. 
He united in marriage with Ann E. Woodrow, 
June 24, 1851. She is a daughter of .John 
and Hester (Sills) Woodrow, born in Cumber- 
land Co., Pa., Oct. 12, 1829 ; five children 
have been born to them — Frank, born Aug. 
10, 1853; Mary J., Oct. 22, 1855, married .John 
Green of this township; Martha E., born Dec. 
14, 1S61; Almeda, .Jan. 15, 1864; .John Hal- 
ferty, .Jr., April 18, 1871. Mr. Halferty is a 
mt^mber of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, 
in which he has held the office of Trustee; he 
is a member of .Johnsville Grange, No. 802 ; 
he supports the measures of the Democratic 
party, and has been elected Trustee a number 
of terms ; he has also held the positions of 
Assessor and Land-Appraiser. Thus have 
we traced through foiu" generations, the for- 
tunes of a family whose history is a part of 
the country's heritage. 

GEORGE HARMAN, blacksmith; Wood- 
view; he is the second son of .John and 
Queen Anne (Smith) Harman; born Nov. 3, 
1837, in the town of Nimburg, Kingdom of 
Bavaria, of the German Empire. When he 
was seven years old, the family sailed from 
Bremen, and after a voyage of nine weeks, 
reached Baltimore; they settled on a farm 
about seven miles from the city, where they 
lived for some time, when they removed 
to Baltimore and lived there until his parents 
died, the father in 1809, and the mother in 
18G7, leaving three sons and one daughter — 
•John, George, .Joseph and Mary. Our subject 
went to school, but in his youth he worked at 
different kinds of employment until he reached 
his eighteenth year, when he served a three- 
years' apprenticeship at blacksmith! ng with 
Abraham Oeligrath, of Middletown, Md.; he 
worked as journeyman some four years, part 
of the time in Baltimore; he united his for- 
tunes with Miss Louisa Oeligrath, Jan. 20, 
1863. She is the third daughter of Abraham 
and Amelia (Marsailles) Oeligrath; born in 
Middletown, Md., Oct. 8, 1842. Her father 
came from Prussia to America in 1834, being- 
twenty-five years old; he has followed black- 
smithing in Middletown since 1835, building 
up a good business; he was well educated in 
Prussia, and served in the army three years; 
he takes a deep interest in politics, and has 



been Justice of the Peace for many years; in 
1837, he married Amelia Marsailles. Of this 
marriage nine children were born — Amelia, 
Sarah, Louise, William, Eliiora, Rosina, 
Emma, Ferdinand and Lillian. The mother 
was born in Prussia, of French parentage, her 
father being a captain of fifty in the French 
army under Napoleon, and met and married 
her mother during one of the campaigns. 
After marriage, Mr. Harman started a shop 
of his own in Carroll Co., Md., where he 
worked about ten years; he then set out for 
Ohio, arriving at Mansfield April 15, 1873, 
where he worked some six months; in the 
following fall, he came to .Johnsville, Ohio, 
where he worked about sixteen months as the 
partner of Charles Parsons; he purchased the 
present residence and shop in North Wood- 
bury in April, 1875, where he does an exten- 
sive business in general blacksmithing and 
the manufacture of buggies and wagons of 
the most substantial and attractive varieties; 
he has but three children living — George G., 
born July 22, 1867; Ina Rosabelle, Jan. 13, 
1874; Pearl Lilian, Sept. 20, 1877. Four are 
dead— Elmer, Bertha J., J. Elwood and 
Amelia E. 

WILLIAM IRELAND, farmer; P. O., 
Shaueks. Among the "new settlers " of this 
township, the above named gentleman is 
worthy of more than a passing notice as a rep- 
resentative ex-soldier and a worthy citizen. 
He is a son of Andrew and Nancy (Goben) 
Ireland; born in Danville, Knox Co., Ohio, 
May 14, 1844. He passed his boyhood in the 
village, and assisted his father in the hotel 
until he was 15. He then engaged to work 
for his grandfather two years for two colts — 
one of which died before the time was up, and 
William, being a lad of 17, enlisted in the 
30th Regiment, Company A, Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry, under Capt. Hayes and Col. Hugh 
Ewing. This regiment formed a part of the 
illustrious 15th Army Corps. Our subject 
enlisted July 1, 1861, for three years, and 
fought in the battles of the siege of Vicks- 
burg, Jackson, Black River, Manassas Junc- 
tion, Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, 
siege of Atlanta, and with Sherman in his 
" march to the sea." He re-enlisted in 1863, 
and was honorably discharged at the close of 
the war, being mustered out at Little Rock, 
Arkansas. He was never off duty from 



JRT 



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814 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



wounds or sickness. He was taken prisoner 
at Atlanta, but escaped the same day. In the 
hxst batth^ in wliicli he fongrht at Goldshoro', a 
musket hall passed thiouirh his caitridj^e box, 
which he keeps as a trophy of his nanow es- 
cape. ( )ut of' twenty-two who enlisted in his 
r('<i;inient IVom Knox Co., he was the only one 
who returned at the close of the war. On his 
return he lived with his grandfather Ireland 
one year, when he united his fortunes with 
Sarah Cutler. Their marriao-e ceremony was 
celebrated .luly 4, ISGC. She is the only 
daughter of Robert and Esther (Evarts) Cut- 
ler, horn in Schuyler Co., 111., Oct. 15, 1842. 
Her father, Robert Cutler, was born August, 
18()S, in Wheatacre Parish, County of Nor- 
folk, Englaiid. His father was a farmer, and 
he was well educated. In 1826 he left " Mer- 
ry England" for the island of Jamaica, where 
he became a bookkeeper on the Chiswick 
estate, situated in St. Thomas, in the East, 
for about two years. He next became book- 
keeper on the Surge Island estate, and 
was promoted to the position of overseer 
at the end of a year, but he soon became 
disgusted with the negroes and the business, 
and going to Kingston, took shipping for 
New York, arriving in the spring of 1832. He 
at once journeyed to Mansfield, ()., and 
bought eighty acres of land in Richland Co. 
He then made a trip to England in 18o;5, and 
returned, settling on his land for eight years, 
when he sold out and emigrated to Iowa, and 
for three years became a squatter on land 
situated on the Des Moines river. He then 
returned to Belleville, ()., where he united in 
marriage with Esther Evarts, and they re- 
moved to Schuyler Co., 1 11., where he remained 
until 1854, wheii his wife died, leaving him 
with one child — Sarah. We will now follow 
the fortunes of our subject. At the time of 
his marriage he had only one hundred dollars 
capital. He farmed near Palmyria two years, 
making a trip to Kansas the following wint(>r. 
After his return he engaged in farming in 
Knox Co., O., some two years, then emi- 
grated with his family to Mason Co., 111., where 
he remained two years, visiting various points 
of interest in Iowa in the meantime. Then 
leaving his family in Illinois, he started with 
team and wagon, March 5, 1872, and traveled 
through Kansas and Nebraska to the Colorado 
line. He selected Jewell Co., Kan., as a 



home, where he lived the life of a pioneer in 
its truest sense. He owned 255 acres of land 
here, in which he j)lowed the first furrow ever 
plowed in the county. He sent for his family, 
and they lived four miles from any white set- 
tler. The nearest town, of a few huts, then was 
Edgar, forty-five miles distant. Foi- two years 
he went one hundred and ten miles to mill 
and for groceries, leaving his family alone. 
As the country began to settle up, he kept a 
ranch, selling the products of his farm to the 
emigrants, and giving to those who were not 
able to buy. He was Justice of the Peace 
there, and married nine couple, yet he had 
never seen any one married but himself. At 
the expiration of four years he returned to 
Knox Co., O., and settled on the present place 
of fifty-three acres, March 1, 1879; also owns 
eighty-one acres in this township, all made 
by his own labor. He is a member of Johns- 
ville Lodge, No. 4G9, I. O. O. F. Has five 
children living — Robert, born April IH, 
1867; Lewis, March 18, 1869; M. Esther, 
June 27, 1873; Ida B., Aug. 15, 1875, 
died when six months old; Charley, born Dec. 
27, 1877. Infant daughter, April 7, 1880. 

ABEL JAMES, farmer; P. O., Andrews; 
is the second son of Henry W. and Hantnih 
(Jones) James; he was born in Chester Tp., 
of this county, Sept. 8, 1819. He was eight 
years old when his father removed to the 
woods of Congress Tp., whore he was engaged 
in clearing. He went to subscription schof)l 
but a short time, his services being required 
at home for the support of a large fan.ily. At 
21 he went to Soutli B oomfield Tp., where 
he cleared land for three crops on the same, 
and at the expiration of three years he married 
Rebecca McClain, March 23, 1843. He then 
returned to his father's, taking charge of the 
farm for six years. He next removed to 
Wright Tp., Ottawa Co., Mich. Here he 
owned 83 acres in the green woods. He 
cleared 37 acres of his own land, and slashed 
53 acres into windrows for others; his skill and 
endurance enabled him to split six hundred 
rails in a day. He was here nine y»>ars 
and four months, and in the meantime his 
wife died, leaving him with four little children. 
Archibald, born Oct. 2, 1844, married Lovina 
Furston, and was in the army three years and 
wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness; he 
now lives in Muskegon Co., Michigan; 



.Tv^ 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



815 



Charity J., born Jan. 2, 1846, now Mrs. Levi 
Myers, and lives in Northern Michigan; Adel- 
bert J., born June 37, 1850; Mary, April 3, 1855, 
died when nine months old. He nnited in 
marriage with Eliza McClain, June IG, 1855. 
She is a daughter of John Harris, of South 
Bloomfield Tp., and widow of the late Evan 
McClain. Of this marriage two daughters 
were born — Rebecca, July 6, 1S57; Hannah R., 
Oct. 24, 1859, died at the age of five years and 
twenty-two days. Mr. James returned to this 
township in Septeinber, 1858, and during 
the same month he purchased the home place, 
where he has lived ever since. He united 
with the Free Will Baptist Church about 
1852, but withdrew from that church, and 
with others formed a Regular Baptist Church 
while in Michigan. He is now a member 
the Harmony Baptist Church. His father, 
Henry W. James, was born in September, 
1781, in Pemrockshire, South Wales; his 
father died when he was six years old, and 
he went to live with an uncle by the name 
of Henry David, where he was employed in 
carting coal and lime until his eighteenth 
year. In Sept., 1799, he took shipping for 
America. The ship was carried by a head 
wind far to the south, and prolonged their voy- 
age to nine weeks and three days. They land- 
ed at Philadelphia, where he engaged in saw- 
ing and dressing marble for some time; from 
there he went to Ne\v York, and tarrying but 
a short time in the city, he went to Steuben- 
ville New York, and there learned the double 
trade of miller, and millwright. He remained 
here about eight years, and owned a small 
farm. His brother. Elder David James, who 
had emigrated some fifteen monl^hs l)efore 
Henry, lived here, and they both concluded to 
emigrate to Pennsylvania. They settled in 
Alexandria Co., where Henry found employ- 
ment with a wealthy miller, by the name of 
Lowry. He united in marriage with Miss 
Hannah .Jones, Oct. 30, 1807. She was born 
in Cardiganshire, South Wales in December 
1788. She came over in 1801, after a jour- 
ney on the ocean of six weeks and three days, 
and the family settled in Alexandria Co., Pa. 
After marriage, Mr. James remained in the 
mill until 1811, except for a short period in 
1809, when he and a relative, by the name of 
Elder John D. Thomas, set out on foot for 
Ohio. They journeyed across the mountains 



and swam the Ohio river, and entered land in 
Ch(!ster Tp. While they were thus wandering 
in the wilderness of Knox Co., strange and 
sad events were transpiring at home. Before 
setting out Mr. James had moved his family, 
and household goods in the house of Mr. 
Thomas, where the two ladies lived together. 
One Sabbath they made preparations for go- 
ing to church, carefully securing the smoul- 
dering embers in the fire-place, as they sup- 
posed; but on their return from church, the 
iiouse was in flames, and everything was lost, 
including over three hundred dollars in silver, 
tor which Mr. James had sold his land in New 
York; all that remaiiied was sixty dollars, 
which he had loaned, As the silver could not 
be found in the ashes, it is supposed that the 
house was robbed, then burned to conceal the 
crime. On his return, Mr. James lal)ored 
in Pennsylvania, until the (all of 1811; 
when he, with his wife and two little 
girls, set out for Ohio, with an ox team. 
They landed at Licking Co., O. in September, 
where his brother. Elder David James, had 
preceded him some months ; they remained 
here two and a half years ; while here the 
Indians became very troublesome, and at one 
time fired at his caFjin in the night, and he 
returned their fire, aiming where he saw the 
flash of their guns, while his wife guarded the 
door with a large knife, and the Indians finally 
dispersed ; he served in the war of 1812, 
under General Meigs, he and six others being 
detailed as scouts ; they captured two hostile 
Indians, which were sent as prisoners to Dela- 
ware, O. At one time during this campaign, 
the soldiers' rations were reduced to one pint 
of meal to three men, and Mr. James came 
home nearly starved, and his wife was obliged 
to give him food in small quantities at first ; 
during his absence the wife often took her 
little ones and hid out to avoid the scalp- 
ing- knife of the savages. After the war, 
probably about the spring of 1814, he removed 
forty miles west, to the fifty acres of land 
which he had entered in 1809, in what was 
then Chester Tp., Knox Co., O.; hardly had 
surrounded his little family with a few of tlie 
necessaries of life, when the devouring element 
swept away all again. It was in 1815, when 
he lived in a log cabin whose " bat and clay" 
chimney was built up but a short distance, 
and to prevent fire from blowing across the 



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sio 



pi:rry township. 



floor, it was covered eaeli nijrlit with boards; 
oil this ])iirtieular morning he had gone to a 
log rolling, while the mother had gone to a 
neighbor's with her babe, leaving Tour little 
girls, the oldest being six, at home ; by some 
menus the clap-boards had not been removed, 
and when the children built a lire, they caught 
and comnninicated a l)la/.e to the roof ; the 
voungest child was sleeping on the bed, and 
the other three heard the roaring of the flames 
and were bewildered, not knowing what to do; 
they were leaving when they suddenly remem- 
bered their little sister ; the flames were 
creeping around the bed, when they went in 
ami dr;tgg(>d her, sleeping, from the bed, out of 
the tloor, just as the roof fell in with a crash; 
they went to the woods, sobbing and fright- 
ened ; they hid, and the little one, not con- 
scious of her great danger, went to sleep again 
near the foot of a large tree; in the meantime, 
the news of the fire was borne to the men at 
the log-rolling, and the distracted father, wild 
with grief at not finding his little ones, 
would have rushed into the flames, saying, 
" Let me find my children's bones," but they 
restrained him, and diligent search was made, 
and there was great rejoicing when the little 
wanderers were found. Men came seven 
miles to raise them a cabin, and in three weeks 
they had another house, and received many 
contributions from the large-heai ted settlers 
of that day. He attended ten log rollings 
with his ox team on ten succeeding days. 
In every community in that early da}', some 
means of grinding their grain was the most 
pressing need; hence, his services as mill- 
wright were sought far and near. In the ab- 
sence of any other material, he used the com- 
mon country stone or " Nigger Head" for 
burrs, which required great labor and patience 
to dress them. He built or repaired many of 
the earliest mills in the country, among which 
may be mentioned Joseph Coles of Delaware 
Co., Judge Young near Lucerne, Kesslers of 
Marion Co., and the Waterford Mills; also 
many others in Knox and Richland counties. 
He rented his farm and was away from his 
family most of his time. He purchased two 
lots in Mt. Gilead, and erected the first frame 
ever built in that place about 1824; he 
moved his family there in A])ril 1825, and 
took charge of Mr. Eustick's mill for two years. 
He then removed to the new land in Congress 



Tp., where he lived until March 183G, when he 
moved to the present place of eighty acres, 
where he lived out the remainder of his days. 
He was a stone mason and brick-layer, and 
built many chimneys in this country. In 
constructing mills he was often required to 
work in the water, and this, with the many 
other hardships he underwent, began to mani- 
fest itself in broken health during the last 
thirty years of his life, in which he suffered 
very much. He and his faithful wife were 
V)oth consistent and devoted members of the 
Regular Baptist Church during their lives. 
He united with the church in Wales at sixteen. 
He served the church as deacon for thirty-one 
years, to the full satisfaction of all. The com- 
panion of his joys and griefs, departed this 
life Sept. 20, 185o, and he passed away in the 
triumphs of a living faith July 2, 18G4, at the 
ripe old age of eiglity -three. On his death 
bed he said: " Though I walk through the 
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no 
evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy 
staff they cond'ort me." Twelve children were 
born to them, but two, Hein-y and John died 
young, while ten grew up to manhood and 
womanhood — Frances, widow of Hiram A. 
Hilliard, and resides in Harmony Tp.; Mary, 
widow of Thomas J. Hilliard, now resides in 
Ottawa Co., Mich.; Rachel, from whom this 
sketch was obtained, was born in Licking Co. 
0., Nov. 19, 1811. She lived in her father's 
family until his death, caring for him in his 
declining years. She has always had delicate 
health, and her father secured her a fife inter- 
est in the homestead, wliere she now lives, with 
her brother Abel. In her fifteenth year she was 
received into the Bryn Zion Baptist Church, 
by her uncle David .fames. She had been 
previously carried to the water for baptism, 
and even amid her infirmities, rejoiced in a 
Savior's love. The church met at her father's 
in Mt. Gilead, on account of her ill health, 
and five candidates received the right hand of 
fellowship. Phebe, wife of James M. Hilliard 
of Knox Co.; Anna, now Mrs. Nelson Smith, 
of Knox Co., O. David now resides in Ottawa 
Co. Mich. Abel, subject of this sketch; 
Abigail, widow of John Parks, and lives in 
Crawford Co. O.; Sanuiel, (see sketch, 
among those of Fi"'i"clin Township); Daniel T. 
farmer, of Congress Tp. 

JOHN N. KROUT, teacher; Wood 



7f 



rRT 



k^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



817 



view; is the oldest son of Jacob and Sarah L. 
(Rulo) Kront, was born Aug. 24, 1850, inYork 
Co., Penn. He lived upon a farm and went 
to the district schools of his neighborhood 
until twelve years of age when the family 
moved to North Woodbury, and upon exami- 
nation he was admitted to the higher depart- 
ment of its schools, where he studied until 
eighteen, when he assumed the duties of 
teacher. His success is attested by the fact 
that he taught thirteen terms in one school. 
He has taught twenty-tree terms in all, only 
missing one term since he began. He has 
been Principal of the Woodbury schools, 
where he was formerly a pupil. He has been 
a meml)er of the Teachers' Institute of this 
county for many years, and has served on its 
Executive Committee, with efficiency and 
ability. March IG, 1875, a large competitive 
Spelling Match was held in the Court House 
of Mt. Gilead. Mr. Krout secured the first 
prize over a hirge number of competitors — a 
large Unabridged Dictionary — as the best 
speller of the county. He has gathered quite 
a collection of valuable books. Mr. Krout is 
a member of the New School Baptist Church. 
He united his fortunes with Mary Dennis, 
Dec. 0, 1870. She is a daughter of Elah 
Dennis (see sketch); was born April 4, 1853, 
in this township. Three children have been 
l)orn to them — Emma was born May 9, 1872; 
Clinton, Oct. 15, 1874; Clara, .June 6, 1876. 
By frugality and careful manngenient Mr. 
Krout has purchased a valuable house and lot 
in Woodbury, and 80 acres of farming land 
in Kanses, all the fruit of his own labor. The 
parents of Mr. Krout are of German origin; 
his father, Jacob Krout, was born in Balti- 
more Co., Md., June 18, 1824, and his mother 
whose maiden name was Sarah L. Rule, was 
born .Ian. 20, 1827. They were united in 
marriage June 18, 1847, in Pennsylvania, 
where they lived a part of the time mitil 
March 1858, when they emigrated to Ohio, 
settling near West Point, where he lived two 
years, working at the carpenter trade in 
meantime. He then purchased a farm of 70 
acres in North Bloomfield Tp., which he cul- 
tivated until 1802. He came to North Wood- 
bury in March of that year, and engaged in 
milling for about ten years, and has since 
worked at carpentering. They have a family 
of nine children — Mary A., now widow of the 



late Rev. Thomas W. Dye of this townshij). 
She had live children — Lua E., Elzy A., 
Clement C, Zila L. and Raleigh B.; John N., 
subject of this sketch; Elizabeth E., now 
Mrs. Leander Dennis of this township; .lacob 
B., was born in Baltimore Co., Md., .July 27, 
1850. He came with his parents to this county 
in 1858. He attended the higher department of 
the school at North Woodbury, and began 
teaching at eighteen; he has taught thirteen 
terms in all, seven of which he taught in the 
same district. He removed to Keokuk, Iowa, 
where he is still engaged in teaching, and 
bids fair to stand at the head of his profession. 
Charles A., was born March 12, 18G2, in North 
Bloomfield Tp., of this county. He completed 
a course of study in the North Woodbury 
Schools; subsequently he entered the Union 
Schools of Chesterville. O., under the instruc- 
tion of Prof. William Morrow. He went to 
Keokuk, Iowa, where he began teaching at 
17 years of age, and is now bringing to a suc- 
cessful close his "third" term in the district 
where he was first employed; George F. was 
born in this county, March 31, 1859. He re- 
ceived a good education in the Graded School 
of North Woodbury. He chose the avocation 
of farming. He united his fortunes with 
Miss Ella Kelly, a daughter of Samuel Kelly, 
of Gilead Tp., where he is now employed in 
tilling the soil. The remaining memb(MS of 
the family still at home are Hiram E., Vincent 
D. and Ida F. Krout; one died in infancy. 

JACOB KING, retired farmer; \\ O., 
Shauck's (Johnsville). Among the old and 
influential citizens who settled in the vicinity 
ere this county was born, stands the worthy 
gentleman whose name heads this sketch. 
He is the son of George and Mary (Blassei) 
King; was born in York Co., Penn., Jan. 30, 
1805. He lived on the farm until he was 
sixteen, enjoying but few adv^antages for ed- 
ucation; he then worked at milling in his 
father's mill about six years. He married 
Mary Winters March 27, 1827; she was born 
in York Co., Penn., June 18, 1809. After 
marriage he rented land in York Co. for 
about two years, when he formed a desire to 
come to Ohio. He enlisted the sympathy of 
his father in the movement, which resulted in 
their selling out, and ere long two heavily 
loaded wagons were bearing the King family 
across the mountains to the Buckeye State. 



J^ 



^1: 






818 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



The family stopped witli a brother-in-law in 
NA'^ayne Co., while Jacob and his father 
came to Troy Tp., then Hichland Co., 
where they sidected three liiiiub-ed acres of 
land, on wliicli some small improvements had 
been made. Jacob hought I'^O acres of .John 
Mitchell in the s])rinir of 181^3, on which he 
built and run a saw-mill some ten or twelve 
years. Here he lived and made many im- 
provements on his farm until 18G4, when he 
sold his farm and came to Johnsville to enjoy 
the rest and (juiet which his abundant labors 
had so richly won. Here he owns four lots 
and eight acres of land south of tow-n. When 
Morrow Co. was organized, the line dividing 
Troy Tp. passed through Mr. King's farm, 
leaving his residence in the new county. He 
was a member of the first Democratic Con- 
vention, which lasted all night, and was 
solicited to be a cardidati^ for (\)minissioner, 
but declined. He has ably filled the offices of 
Trustee and Justice of the Peace a number of 
times during his residence in both counties. 
It will be seen by reference to the map of 
the county that a portion has been severed 
from the western part of Troy Tp. In this 
area Mr. King lived, and desiring to be set 
back into Richland Co., for sufficient reasons, 
he quietly raised a jietition of twel\ e men in 
his school district, and through the influence 
of Barnabas Burns, a friend of his then in 
the State Senate, two sections of Tr<jy Tp. 
were set back into Richland Co. He was 
Trustee at the time, and so neatly had the 
work been done, that they waited until about 
ten o'clock for him to open the election, not 
knowing of the change. Mr. King is a Demo- 
crat of the " old time" type — a faithful and 
efficient worker in its ranks. He raised a 
family of four children — Leah was born April 
8, 1828, in Pennsylvania; married Henry L. 
Shauck, by whom she has four children living; 
she died Sept. W, 1874; Catherine, Sept. 
■'0, 1833, now Mrs. Jason J. Cover (see 
sketch); Jane, Nov. 8, 1838, was wife of 
Charles Dise; she died March 31, 1872, leav- 
ing three sons; Jerome J., May 4, 18-12, and 
united in marriage with Mary Miller, a 
daughter of Dr. Miller, of Mansfield, Ohio, 
where Jerome is engaged in the grocery busi- 
ness at present. 

BENJAMIN KKIFER, farmer; P. O., 
Shaucks; second son of Peter and Susan 



(Meister) Keifer, was born Dec. 30, 1846, in 
this township; he lived at home until 28; he 
then united his fortunes with Louisa Portner, 
April 18, 1875. She is the oldest daughtc r 
of David and Margaret (Noward) Portner; 
born .Ian. 17, 18.52. David Portner was born 
in Switzerland about 1824, and came across 
the ocean with his parents when al)out two 
3'^ears old. His parents settled in Clinton Co., 
Penn., about 182r), where they lived until 
1833, when they moved to Troy Tp., of this 
county, on 74 acres of land. David wedded 
Margait^t Noward, Oct. 31, 1849. She was a 
daughter of George and Margaret (Radal) 
Noward. Both of her parents (grand-parents 
of Mrs. Keifer) were born in Bavaria, Ger- 
many, and came across the ocean in the same 
vessel in 1819, and settled at Lebanon, Penn., 
where they were married, and came to Troy 
Tp. in 1833. Mr. Noward was born Sept. 2, 
1799, and is now eighty-one years old, hale 
and hearty. David Partner raised six chil- 
dren — Louisa, Jacob M., Samuel S., Mary C, 
Chrissie A. and Hattie B. After marriage, 
our subject settled on the present place, 
where he rents 80 acres of his father's farm; 
he votes with the time-honored party of Jef- 
ferson and Jackson. One daughter has 
blessed this union — Emma I. Keifer; born 
Jan. 1(5, 1870. His father, Peter Keifer, son 
of David Keifer, was born Dec. 9, 1804, in 
Bavaria, Germany; he was sent to school 
about thn»e years; at the age of thirteen he 
hired out to work on a farm by the year, 
which he continvied for fourteen years; for the 
first year's work he received three dollars, and 
the highest wages received during that period 
was eighteen dollars per year; he left home 
for the United States, May 11, 1834, sailing 
from the port of Havre, and after an ocean 
voyage of six weeks, he arrived at New York 
July 14; he went by rail and steamboat to 
Philadeljihia, and from there to Lebanon Co., 
Peini., where he worketl on the farm some 
eight months; in the spring of 183,">, he joined 
his uncle, Philip Keifer, who was jomneying 
to Ohio; he walked the most of the way. 
They settled in Troy Tp., of this county. 
Although unused to choi)ping, on his arrival 
he began clearing land at from three to five 
dollars per acre; in this way he cleared some 
eighty acres for others; about 183G, he pur- 
chased twenty-five acres where his present 



•^ (£ r- 



A: 



:l^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



819 



residence stands; by his own energy and 
frugality, he now possesses the entire quarter 
section, on wliich he lias cleared sixty acres 
and erected substantial buildings; he married 
Susan Meister, April ::28, 184:4. She was born 
in Switzerland, Aug. 2^, 1812, and came over 
with her parents during the same vear as 
Mr. Keifer. Her parents settled at first in 
Wayne Co., Ohio, and afterwards removed to 
Fulton Co. Of this marriage three children 
have been born — .John, born April 23, 1845; 
Benjamin, Dec. 30, 1846; Sarah, Feb. 22, 
1853. Peter Keifer and wife are members of 
the Menonite Church, in which he holds the 
office of Deacon. 

DANIEL LEVERING, farmer; P. O., 
I^evering; is the representative of one of the 
oldest and most highly respected families in 
the township of Perry. A genealogical ac- 
count of the Levering family, embracing 193 
pages, was published in 1858, which gives an 
account of two brothers, Wigard and Gerhard 
Levering, who emigrated from Germany about 
1685 and settled in Roxborough, Philadel- 
phia Co., Pa. It is thought that their father. 
Rosier Levering, came from France, as the 
name has a French sound. This account in- 
cludes ten generations, and up to 1858 enu- 
merates 2,091 descendants of that name. 
Daniel Levering, son of Nathan and Mary 
(Kearney) Levering, was born May 9, 1833, 
on this farm, where he passed his boyhood and 
youth; attended school on the hill near by, 
about three months per year until he reached 
his majority, his first teacher being Charlotte 
Gregg. He then worked for his father until 

1857, when he took a three months' tour 
through the West, visiting various places of 
interest in Iowa and other States. He united 
in marriage with Sarah K. Iden, March 4, 

1858. She was born July 31, 1833; her pa- 
rents were both natives of Loudoun Co., Vir- 
ginia. John Iden was born in 1806, and Dor- 
cas Furr was born in 1812. They were 
married April 22, 1830, and emigrated to 
Knox Co., in 1835, where they lived three 
years, settling permanently in Congress Tp. 
of this county, where they raised a family of 
nine children — Martha J., Sarah K., George 
W., Francis M., John A., Susan E., Thomas 
T., Loyd D. and Melville M. After marriage 
Mr. Levering settled on a quarter section of 
land in Congress Tp., where he tilled the soil 



for eight years; then moved to an eighty- acre 
lot which he |)urchased in the same township; 
remaining here six and a half years, he sold 
out and purchased 130 acres of the old home- 
stead, to wliich he came in 1873. He has 
cleared aportion«of the place since then, real- 
izing 100,000 feet of walnut lumber from the 
timber removed. They have three children 
— Martha I. was horn May 8, 1859; Clint, 
Sept. 12, 1863; Addie M., April 9, 1872. 
Daniel Levering, grandfather of our subject, 
canie on horseback in 1812, and entered a half 
section of land, near the present site of Water- 
ford, O.; he then went back to Pennsylvania. 
In the spring of 1813, he and a family of seven 
children, together with William Rambo, who 
married his daughter Grace, in Pennsylvania. 
The names of the family are as follows — 
Grace, Henry, Charles Nathan, John, Noah 
and Joseph ; they drove two five-horse teams 
and four head of cattle, on the old wagon 
road from Bedford Co.. Pa., one hundred miles 
this side of Baltimore; they were twenty-one 
days performing the journey ; he purchased 
another half section of one of the Mitchells 
on his arrival, and built a grist and saw mill. 
The town of Waterford was laid out on a part 
of his land, and the post office was named 
" Levering," in honor of .John Levering, his 
son, who was the first Postmaster. The family 
settled^in the woods, and lived on corn-bread 
at first ; they sowed some buckwheat, proba- 
bly the first raised in this vicinity, and it 
attracted large numbers of wild turkeys, 
which they killed ; it was on his farm that the 
block house spoken of in the sketch of Stephen 
Cook, was built, and it was connected with 
the residence b}'^ a protected passage-way. 
Daniel Levering was born Feb. 3, 1764, in 
New Jersey, and died Dec. 31, 1820, leaving 
Nathan, the third son and father of our sub- 
ject, to settle up his large estate. We will 
now trace the fortunes of Nathan Levering. 
He was born Oct. 14, 1795; he was eighteen 
years old when he came to this State. Pos- 
sessing a fair education, obtained in the 
schools of Pennsylvania, he attended school 
two terms in the old log school house on his 
father's farm, then began teaching, which he 
soon abandoned for the more congenial em- 
ployment of farming. He received 160 acres 
of the present site from his father's estate, to 
which he added fifty acres more, clearing a 






820 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



large portion. He united in niarrirtge with 
Mary Kerney, A\n-\l 17, 1827. She was a 
daughter of William and Sarah (Mackey) 
Kerney, and was l)orn Sej)t. 4, ISOO. They 
lived in a double hewed log house just east of 
this until 1845, when Mr. Levering burnt two 
hundred thousand l)rick and built the j)resent 
substantial residenc^e of nine laroe rooms and 
a hall, using one huinired thousand briek in 
its construction. Tiie building is then^fore 
thirty-five j-ears old, yet in a state of good 
])reservation. Nathan lievering raised a 
family of eight eliildren- — Sarah A., deceased, 
was wife of .John McAnall; Mary J., now 
Mrs. Robert MotVet, of C'ungress Tp.; Esther, 
died at the age of twenty; Duuel, William 
W., now in Philadelphia: Kli/abeth, now Mrs. 
Jacob ( ). Talmag(^; Martha, now Mis. T. Mc- 
Kee; Sanuiel, difd at about twenty-five, leav- 
ing: two chihlren. Nathan Leverinp- died in 
December, 1872. He was a man of sterling 
integrity and irreproachable chara-ter; he 
was justice of the peace in this township for a 
number of years. He was delegated by this 
section to influence the legislature in behalf 
of the organization of the county at two dif- 
ferent sessions of that body. He and wife 
were members of the Hannony Pre-byterian 
C'hureh, and he assistinl in building tli« old 
log and also the frame building which stands 
at present. « 

BVRAM LEVERING, farmer; P. ()., 
Wooilview; son of Morgan and Mary (Bell) 
Leveriiig; was born .June 9, 1842, in North 
Woodbury. He spent his youth attending 
the village school, and working on the farm, 
near by, during the vacations. At 21 he had a 
good education, and began the struggle of life, 
for himself. He purchased the quarter sec- 
tion of land here, and Ix^gan farming, and 
stock raising quite extensively. At 23 he 
wooed and won the hand of Leah Ruhl daugh- 
ter of Henry H., and Catherine (Patterson) 
Ruhl. She was born Dec. 15, 1840, in this 
township. Their marriage was (celebrated 
April G, 1865. Five children have been born 
to them; four are living, and one died in in- 
faiu^y. Nora, Orpheus, Alfred H., and Hylas 
Allen. After marriage he settled on his 
present home, when; he erected an elegant 
l)rick Mansion of fifteen rooms, at a cost of 
^.")()00, in 1872. By his energy and manage- 
ment he has added another farm of IGO acres 



to his estate, and now owns some 320 acres 
of fine farming lands, with, with handsome 
and substantial buildings on the same. Mr. 
Ti(»v(Ming has given clos(» attenion t<^ the im- 
])rovement of cattle, and has at present a 
herd of 27 fine grades of the short horn stoctk. 
He was formerly interested largely in sheep. 
Mr. r^evering, wife and daughti-r, are all 
members of the Evang«dical Lutheran Church. 
His father, Morgan Levering, was the second 
son of William and Ruth (Bryson) lievering, 
(See sketch of Milton Levering). He passed 
his boyhood on the old homestead in Fraidilin 
Tp. At 21 he became a clerk in the store of 
John Markey, at BeUeville, Richland Co. O., 
where he remaiiuHl about fovu- years. He 
then came to North Woodbury when there 
was only four houses in the village. A part- 
nership was formed for general merchandise 
and produce business about 183(5, consisting 
of four partners — Morgan Levering, John 
Rule, John Markey, and Elkanah Van Bus- 
kirk. The two latter soon retired, and Rule 
and Levering continued in partnership until 
1851. They hauled away produce and goods 
with a six-horse team to the lakes, and across 
the mountains to Baltimore, and other eastern 
cities. They raised three sons— Allen, Byram 
and Robei t; two died young. The father died 
Jan. 25, 1860. 

SHANNON LEVERING, farmer; P. O., 
Levering ; son of Joseph and Elizabeth 
(Blair) lowering, was born near Waterford, 
O., March 25, 1842. He received a good 
education in the Waterford schools, and at 
21 rented his father's farm, where he con- 
tinued to farm some five years. He began 
farming on the present place in 1868, where 
he owned a one-half interest. In the fall 
of 1871 he purchased the remaining one- 
half interest of his brother Charles. He now 
owns 107 acres of fertile land, known as the 
Old Van Buskirk Property. The old brick 
house, yet in good presevation, was built about 
1825, and is a marvel of endurance against 
the " tooth of time." Mr. Li^ering unit- 
ed in marriage with Lydia Ogle, Nov. 11, 
186!). She is a daughter of John Ogle, born 
in this township Nov. 29, 1850. (See town- 
ship history for Ogle family.) Mr. Levering 
and wife are both members of the Disciple 
Church, and he is a Democrat in politics. His 
Sather, Joseph Levering, was born in Bedford 



"tt; 



tT 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



821 



Co., Pa., Nov., 1805; he was eij^ht years old 
when the family moved to Ohio, and the 
youngest one, by tlie name oi" William, hav- 
ing- died in Peiuisylvania. They came in 
1813, when the Indian troubles were most 
appalling, and the settlers rushed togeth- 
er and built a block-house, and connected 
it with the residence which is still standing 
on the liill near the village, but the block- 
house lias been removed long since. Joseph 
grew amid these stirring scenes of pioneer 
life, and went to the first schools of the settle- 
ment. According to an ancient custom, he 
being the youngest son living, he received 
the homestead of 168 acres at the death of 
his father. Tliis he cleared up and improved. 
He married Elizabeth Blair, May ^1, 1833. 
She was a daughter of William Blair, born in 
Bedford Co., Pa., May 7, 1806, and came with 
her family to Ohio in 1811. (See sketch of 
Calvin Blair.) He and his faithful wife were 
members of the Presbyterian Church; he held 
the office of Elder. He died a triumphant 
death May 26, 1871, in the sixty-sixth year 
of his age, exclaiming on his deatli-l)ed: "I 
feel that 1 am dead, and my life is hid with 
Christ in God." His wif(; soon followed him, 
passing away Aug. 26, 1877. They leave five 
children living and two dead — Edwin, at the 
age of three; Lurane, now Mrs. E. W. Brown, 
near Waterford ; Charlotte died in youth ; 
Charles, farmer, near Chesterville, O.; Shan- 
non, subject; Edward and Calvin, both farm- 
ing on the old homestead near Waterford, O. 
A. A. LUCAS, dealer in boots and shoes; 
Shaucks (.fohnsville); son of Adam and Mad- 
dalena (Emig) Lucas, was born in Perry Tp., 
Jan. 22, 1838; he lived at home on the farm 
until 22, when he was cm[)loyed one year by 
Mr. Cover; he next formed a partnersliip with 
I. N. Lewis ill the grocery business at North 
Woodbury, which lasted about one year, when 
Lewis retned, and Mr. Lucas continued for a 
number of years, keeping a post office and 
store; he worked for Levering & Rule five 
years, when he sold his property in North 
Woodbury, and moved his family to Johns- 
ville; he then purchased the right of eight 
counties in Indiana for Owen's patent fence, 
selling farm, township and cc^iuity rights for 
one year; he traded one county for a lot in 
Lulianapolis, which he still owns; he then 
acted as traveling: sales-man for H. M. Wea- 



ver & Company, selling boots and shoes, by 
sample, for one year. He open(;d his present 
siiop and store-room in the spring of 1878, 
where he keeps a full stock of boots and shoes 
of every variety of styles and prices. He unit- 
ed in marriage with Susan N. Magill, of North 
Woodbury, Aug. 25, 1864. Of this marriage 
one child was born — Arita O. His wife died 
June 8, 1865. He married Mary A. Pittman, 
of Pulaski ville, Ohio, in December of 1866. 
Two chiMren were born to them — Clement L., 
born Sept. 24, 1867, died Aug. 16, 1868; 
Alvicktus G., born .June 14, lS6!i, died Sept. 
14, 1870. Mary A., his wife, died Sept. 28, 
1870. March 26, 1872, he united his for- 
tunes with Lottie R. Edwards, of Homer, 
Ohio, with whom he has two children — Doda 
G., born Jan. 7, 1875, died April 14, 1875; 
Mamie J., born May 18, 1878. In addition to 
this record of sorrow, Mr. Lucas has had many 
accidents; when 4 years old he fell into a ket- 
tle of hot water; at 12 a horse on which he 
was riding, lell, throwing him beneath the 
feet of another horse, breaking his arm; at 
another time his arm was broken by falling 
from a sled, and his limb was broken by an 
accident, when riding in a sleigh. He is a 
member of the Baptist Church, in which he 
has held the office of Clerk for a number of 
years. Adam Lucas, father of our subject, 
was born in York Co., Pa., May 2, 1795; he 
was drafted in the army in the war of 1812, 
but being only 18, his father employed a sub- 
stitute; he worked some six years in a still- 
house; he then married Elizabeth Evets in 
1820, and in October of that year he came on 
horseback to Ohio, and entered a quarter 
section of land in this township. In the spring 
of 1821 he drove through in a wagon, being 
on the road from April 9 to May 2. They lived 
in the wagon in the woods until July 4, while 
the wolves howled around at night. He 
reared a cabin and made a small clearing, 
when his wife di(;d Dec. 30, 1821. He re- 
mained in his lonely cabin until the following- 
spring; he started back to Pennsylvania, Feb. 
11, 1822, where he arrived March 30. He 
united in marriage with Magdalena Emig, 
Nov. 9, 1823, and they started to Ohio in 
April, 1824; and again he settled in the little 
cabin where he lived for nearly half a century, 
replacing the rude domicile of 1821 with large 
and handsome buildings; in later years he 



'K* 



822 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



purchasoil another 80-acre farm, on wliich he 
lived until his retirement from active life. 
Thirto(Mi ehilclren were born to them — Re- 
becca, L(>vi, Isaac, Leah, Caroline, Elizabeth, 
Mai^dalena, Adam A., Susan, .folm, Abraham 
A., are livino-, while .facob died in Missouri, 
at the a"-e of '^o, and Charles died at 13. 

BARTON LEWIS, farmer; P. 0., Wood- 
view; is the oldest son of John and Mary 
(Ackerman) Lewis; he was born Dec. 29, 
1830, in Knox Co., O.; his father was the sec- 
ond in a family of four sons and four daugh- 
ters, who left New .Jersey for Ohio in 1S12, 
but hearing of the Indian troubles here, they 
remained one year in Pennsylvania, coming 
to what is known as the "Jersey Settlement" 
of Ivnox Co., in 1813. ft is said that a com- 
pany of these settlers, before reaching their 
destination, camped on the banks of a small 
creek, and started in the morning in search of 
the land which they had entered. They 
wandered about all day, coming at night to 
the same S])Ot; wlien James Bryant, one of 
the party, said, " Here we are at Granny 
Creek," and it retains that name to this day. 
There were but few families in Wayne Tp. 
then — the Douglass, Bonar and Biyant fami- 
lies were among the first. They fled to the 
fort at Fredericktown during the war. Two 
sisters of John Lewis could shoot a rifle with 
great accuracy and skill. The marriage cere- 
mony of John Lewis and Mary Ackerman was 
celebrated at her father's, Oct. 20, 1829. 
After marriage they removed to the old Lew- 
is farm in Jersey Settlement for two years, 
when his father died suddenly, before a suffi- 
cient title had been secured to the land. He 
j)assed about one year on Ackerman's farm, 
then entered a quarter section of land in this 
township on which he settled about 1833, in 
the woods. The steady blows of his ax»i-ang 
through the forest until the sunlight greeted 
field after field of his farm; this was a time 
when a fraternal spirit reigned supreme 
among the early settlers, and John Lewis at- 
tended the log-rolling or the raising almost 
every day for a month, every spring burning 
his (}wn brush-heaps at night, after a hard 
day's work. He raised a family of five sons, 
all of whom are living — Barton, William, 
Thomas, I. Newton and Byran. He was a 
(Uivoted member of the Old School Baptist 
Church, in which he for many years held the 



office of Deacon. He was chosen at different 
times to fill various positions of trust in tiie 
township — such as Assessor and Trustee. 
After a life of toil and hardships, he passed 
away in January, 1879, at the age of seventy- 
three; respected by all for his sterling integ- 
rity and purity of character. Barton Lewis 
grew up on the farm in Perry Tp., getting a 
limited education, until he was twenty-one, 
when he worked by the mcjnth for William 
Lewis, at $1(1 a month for four years. Subse- 
([uently he puichased land in this township 
on which he lived mitil 1873, when he pur- 
chased the present quarter section on the 
Johnstown Road. Oct. 1, 1857, he united in 
marriage with Martha Acton; she was a 
daughter of Gabriel and Catherine (Vanbus- 
kerk) Acton, and was born Feb. 4, 1838, in 
this township; she died July 13, 1874, leaving 
a family of six children — Alwilda, Milton, Or- 
rilla, Kate, Jane and Weems, all living. Mr. 
Lewis has been chosen to fill the offices of 
Assessor and Township Trustee; he was a 
member of the Old School Baptist Church for 
eight years. 

JACOB I. MH^LER, farmer; P.O., Wood- 
view; is the third son of Samuel and Elizabeth 
(Winters) Miller; he was born in New York 
Co., Penn., April 30, 1833. When he was 
five years old, the family settled in this town- 
ship, and Jacob was sent to district school 
when he could be spared at home; often he 
was required to ride horses while they were 
tramping out wheat on the barn floor for four 
weeks in winter. He was married to Sarah 
Cyphers June 5, 185G; she is a daughter of 
James and Keziah (Baughart) Cyphers; was 
born Oct. 7, 1832. Mr. Miller purchased sixty 
acres of land in Congress Tp., and lived upon 
it about four years, then sold this, and farmed 
on rented land for the next six years. He pur- 
chased his present home of 110 acres in 1860, 
and has made considerable impiovement. In 
1875 he bought the old homestead of 80 acres, 
in this township; his township has made an 
almost contiiuious draft upon him for service. 
For six years he was Trustee, and nine yearsjie 
assc^ssed the township, and is Land A])praiser 
for 1880. To these positions he has been 
callcMl almost without opposition, and his 
ability and unswerving integrity have gained 
the confi lence of all. Mr. Miller and wife 
are both active members of the Evangelical 



^^ 






']±^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL .SKETCHES. 



822 



Lutheran Chiirch, in which he is Treasurer, 
Seven children have been born to them, five 
of whom are living — Joanna, Elwood C, Wil- 
liam L., Charley C and Ardella, Clement, and 
an infant. His parents came from York Co., 
Penn., in LS.'iS, and settled on 80 acres in this 
townsliij), known as the" Miller Farm;" when 
they came, there was only a cabin and a small 
clearing, and by his energy he cleared it up 
and erected substantial buildings upon it. 
They raised a family of seven children — Aquil- 
la, Abram, .[()hn, .Jacob I., Catherine, Samuel 
and Sarah; four of whom are living; .John was 
killed in the army; Samuel Miller, the father 
of Jacob, died in Jan., 1872, and his mother is 
yet living. He was a prominent worker in 
the United Brethern Church, in which he held 
a membership until his death. He was a 
man of great industry and integrity, and was 
esteemed and revere'.l by all who knew him. 
ABRAM MILLER, farmer; P. O., Siiaucks; 
son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Winters) Mil- 
ler; was born Oct. 2o, 1828, in York Co., Pa. 
He was 10 years old when he came with his 
family to (3hio. The family settled in the 
southwestern part of Perry Tp. When a 
youth Abram learned blacksmitiiing, serving 
an apprenticeship of two years under .John 
Walker of Woodbury. After this he worked 
for wages two years, at Johnsville, when he set 
up a shop on his father's place, wherein he 
worked about one year. He united in mar- 
ringe with Miss Jane Hanawalt, Dec. 4, 1851. 
She is a daughter of .John and Susan (ICline- 
felter) Hanawalt, born in York Co., Pa., May 
13, 1828. After marriage Mr. Miller divided 
his attention between the shop and the farm 
some three years. He then removed to Troy 
Tp., Richland Co., wliere he farmed two 
years; from there to the adjoining township 
of Perry, in Richland; also farming eighty 
acres of the present place which he rented of 
Widow Lamb. In 185S he purchased this 
farm of IGO acres of fine arable land. He 
moved here in March, 1859, when; he has re- 
sided since, erecting a large barn forty by sev- 
enty-two feet; he also built a fine frame resi- 
dence of ten rooms in 1872. Mr. Miller be- 
gan with but few of this world's goods, and 
by his force of will and ceaseless energy at- 
tained a handsome property. He has taken 
much pains to improve the l)lood and charac- 
ter of his stock, raising some fine heavy 



horses; and has a fine animal of the Short 
Horn Durham stock, and pure Chester white 
hogs. Every enterprise of a moral or reli- 
gious nature receives the hearty co-operation 
of Mr. Miller. He holds a memlxirship in the 
Evangelical Lutheran Church, and has been 
trustee of his church. He is also a member of 
Johnsville Lodge, No. 469, I. O. O. F. He is 
Overseer of Richland Grange No. 250. He 
has been trustee of his township two terms; 
he has a family of five daughters and one; son 
— Alice, born Oct. 1.3, 1852, marritui Sherman 
Myers, and lives in Marion Co., Ohio; S. Ne- 
vada, born Sept. 20, 1854, married B. F. 
Thuma of Johnsville; Mary R., born July 1, 
1857, married Seymour Lindsay of Lexington; 
Janette, born Sept. 22, 1859; Emma F., June 
27, 1862; Charley L., .Jan. 3, 1866. 

GEORGE S. NEWHOUSE, merchant; P. 
()., Shaucks, (Johnsville); is the son of 
Kasper and Susan (.Jager) Newhouse; he 
was born Dec. 20, 1834, in Alldorf, Rhenish 
Bavaria. As prescribed by the laws of that 
country, he attended school seven years, al- 
most without vacation. Subsequently he 
spent about two years traveling in Prussia 
and other German States. In 1852 he passed 
down the river Rhine, taking a farewell view 
of the " Faderland." He sailed from the port 
of Havre, and after a voyage of thirty-five 
days arrived in New York City July 2, 1852. 
Thus we find our subject, a lad of seventeen, 
without a relative in this country. He chose 
the avocation of tailor, and devoted himself to 
that work in the city for about five years ex- 
cept a brief period when he made a trip to the 
Western States, visiting various points of in- 
terest; he returned to New York in the fall of 
1855, where he united his fortunes with Mary 
Smith, Sept. 30, 1855. She was born in 
Wittenbuig, Germany, Oct. 5, 1835, and came 
across the ocean in 1852, with a sister, now 
Mrs. Morris Kline, of .Johnsville. Mr. New- 
house came to this village in August, 1857, 
where he followed tailoring until the breaking 
out of the war; he entered the LInion army 
under Col. Swayne, of the 43d Regiment, O. 
V. I., Company "E," and when his term of 
service had expired he re-enlisted in the 
179th Regiment, and fought until the close of 
the war, being honorably discharged. In the 
spring of 1870 he opened a merchant tailor- 
ing establishment in Johnsville, in which he 



t 



If^ 



824 



rKKKV TOWNSHIP. 



continued until 1876, at which time he formed 
a partnership for five years with Jolni Hehl, 
under the firm name of Newliouse & Hehl, 
They carry a large assortment of dry goods, 
groceries, clotliino-, hardware, and everything 
needed by a farming connnunity. They have 
l)usincss room of forty feet l>y twenty-two, 
witli wareroom attached, Mr. Newhouse has 
maile an eminent advancement in that ancient 
and honoral)le onh'r of Free and Accepted 
Masons. He holds a meml)ershij) in ]?elle- 
ville Lodge, No. 370; Mt. Gilead Chapter, 
No. 59, and the Mansfield Uommandery of 
Knight Templars, No. 21. Has five children 
living — George W., Clifton S., Frank M., 
Dell L. and Irwin S., and two died when 
voung. 

EZEKIEL C. PEXN, farmer; P. O., Lev- 
ering; son of John and Mary (Chumldin) 
Penn; was born in Perry Tp., Richland Co., 
Ohio, June 2<i, 1S41. At eighteen he went 
to the Oliio ^\'esleyan University, at Dela- 
ware, during the spring term of 1860, and 
attended the Chesterville Union Schools that 
Bummer; he taught school in the home dis- 
trict the following spring of 18(51; in the fall 
he agaiti assumed the duties of teacher, but 
during the winter he lay aside the "birch," 
and rushed to the rescue of his imperiled 
country. He enlisted October, 1801, in the 
72d Regiment, O. V. L, Com[niny C. His 
first engagement was in th(j Battle of Shiloh, 
having previously been in a skirmish of Fri- 
day. He was just recovingfrom the; measles, 
and as he lay ou. the night of the battle, he 
was taken sick and sent home on a fiu-lough, 
in Aj)ril. He returned toCamp(^hase in Au- 
gust for examination, and was honorably dis- 
charg(!d. He united his fortinies with Sarah 
J. Winand, Oct. 2, lS(;->. She is a daughter 
of .fohn and Cynthia (Painter) VN'inand, of 
this township. She was born .fuly 3, 1841 
(see biography of John Winand). After mar- 
riage Mr. Penn settled for two and a half 
years on the homestead of his father; lived on 
a rented farm some six months, then pur- 
chased seventy-nine acres in Richland Co., 
AN'here he engaged in farming two and a half 
years. He pinchased his present home of 
eighty-two acres, and moved here Feb. 27, 
1 SOI), where they have since lived, raising a 
fiimilv of three children — Cletnent, born June 
10, 1803; John R., Feb. 24, Isr.O; Mary 



C, Feb. 19, 1876. Mr. Penn, with wife and 
sons, are members of the Seventh Day Ad- 
ventist Church, near Waterford, in which he 
holds the office of Elder. The {)arents wen; 
baptized under the preaching of Elder Wag- 
ner, at Mansfield, in October, 1871. Mr. Penn 
is a tireless worker in the Chiu'ch and Sab- 
I bath-school, and believing in education in its 
highest, noblest sense, he has surroundiul his 
family with music and books, and the hal- 
lowed influences of an enliglitencd Christian 
home. The (Jhurch to which he belotigs has 
a brief history, which we will follow. Some 
years since, Mr. Newell Grant, of Richland 
Co., became dissatisfied with the creeds with 
which he was actjuainted. He began search- 
ing for the truth and the true church; in due 
time he was put in communication with the 
Seventh Day Advent Church, at Battle 
Creek, Michigan, and found that their views 
coincided with his ow-ii. Through his influ- 
ence two ministers, Elders Vanhorn and Law- 
rence, came, and Mr. Penn heard them, and 
some of the church's literature found its way 
into his family. He investigated and studied 
two years; then began keeping the Sabbath; 
and social meetings were held here in his 
house in 1869. In April, 1872, Elder O. 
Mears, of Bowling Green, Ohio, organized the 
first church in this house, consisting of seven 
members. They met in his dwelling about 
two years, in the meantime holding meetings 
at different points in Franklin Tp. They are 
now known as the Waterford Society, and 
have built a neat and substantial frame 
church one-half mile west of Waterford, which 
was dedicated by Elder H. A. St. John, in 
January, 1874. The church has increased 
(juite rapidly, and has at jiresent a member- 
ship of forty- four, which meet every Sabbath 
for church and Sal)bath-school. John Penn, 
the father of our subject, was Ijorn in Balti- 
more Co., Maryland, May 5, 1800; his parents 
were natives of England; he learned the 
coopers' trade when a youth, and remained 
with his first employer until twenty-one. He 
then traveled in Pennsylvania and Virginia, 
roing to Loudoun Co., Va., where he married 
Maiy Chaml)lin in J824. The Chamblin fam- 
ily were from New Jersey. He soon remov<;d 
to .fcfferson Co., near Harper's Ferry, where 
they lived some eight years, when he (tame 
to Ohio with five children, settling on eighty 



:\* 



:K 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



825 



acres of alnriost new land in Perry Tp., Rich- 
j land Co., in October, 1834. The wife died in 
April, 1844, and he died March 1st, 1879. 
Nine children were born to them — Elizabeth 
— Mrs. John Verniillion, of Greene Co., Ohio; 
William, farmer near Waterford, Oiiio; Mary 
E., deceased; John, farmer of Hardin Co., 
Iowa; Deborah J., now Mrs. Gtorge Penn, 
of Iowa; Maria, now Mrs. Ovin Boggs, of 
Whitley Co., Ind.; George, farmer in Noble 
Co., Ind.; Mahlon, died in the army; Ezekiel 
C, subject. 

AMOS RULE, merchant; Woodview; is 
the third son of John and Susan (Blosser) 
Rule; was born June 2, 1832, in this township. 
He worked on the farm, and received such 
instruction as the schools of his neighborhood 
could give. In 1853, being twenty-one years 
of age, he became a clerk in the store of 
Morgan Levering at Woodberry. In the 
meantime he devoted his spare moments to 
the study of medicine. April 5, 1855, he 
united in marriage with Caroline Buchner of 
this township, and soon after emigrated to 
Nebraska, where he engaged in the practice 
of medicine for about two years, then returned 
to North Woodbury. He entei'ed into a part- 
nership with Allen Levering in the mercantile 
business. This partnership lasted about six 
vears, and during that time the first draft for 
troops was made, and it fell on both partners. 
They hired substitutes and continued busi- 
ness until Levering sold his interest to Nor- 
man Merwine, and again both Rule and Mer- 
wine were drafted on the second call, and 
escaped by paying |300 each to the volunteer 
credit fund, to secure the township's 
quota. Subsequently Mr. Merwine sold 
his interest to Robert Levering, which 
partnership lasted until 1876, when Levering 
Hitired, leaving Mr. Rule sole proprietor. 
He carries at present a full stock of dry-goods, 
groceries, hats, cajjs, boots and shoes, and in 
flhort. everything demanded by a farming 
community, at prices that favor the purchaser. 
Mr. Rule attended lectures at Stirling Medical 
College, and has been (juite successful in 
practice, but is not actively engaged at present. 
He is Post master at present, and has been 
Treasurer of Peny Tp. for 12 yeais. He has a 
familv of twelve ehildren — Benjamin F. was 
born Jan. 27, 1850; .John A., March 28, 1850; 
Allen v., Aug. li, 18G0; Anna M., Oct. 27, 



1761; Emma J., born March 25, 1863; Minnie 
B., Aug. 17, 1864; Amos M., Dec. 14, 1805; 
Ellis O. and Rosa M. (twins), Apr. 3, 1867; 
Robert R., Aug. 16, 1869; Louisa C, Feb. 
26, 1871; Isaac N., Nov. 25, 1872; Ohio M., 
a son, died at the age of five years. His fath- 
er, John Rule, was born in Baltimore Co., 
Md., Dec. 14, 179(5; his mother, Susan 131oss- 
er, was a native of York Co., I'a. Tiiey were 
married in Pennsylvania, and came by team 
to Ohio in 1828. They cut a portion of the 
road through from Mansfield, O. They set- 
tled in this township, near Woodbury, living 
in a covered wagon until they cleared a site 
and built a cabin. Their two sons, .John and 
Isaac, were small, and the father toiled in his 
clearing lone-handed. He cleared about 100 
ares of the 160 which 4ie entered two years 
before. A brother, George Rule, and others 
of the family, came with him. He became 
a ])artner with Morgan licvering in 1836, 
and this relation lasted until 1851, when 
Mr. Rule retired. Has a family of three sons 
and one daughter — John, Isaac, Amos and 
Lovina, now Mrs. Norman Merwine. He de- 
parted this life March 12, 1874, at the ripe old 
age of 77 years, esteemed and respected by 
all. 

HENRY H. RUHL, farmer; P. O., Wood- 
view. Among the successful farmers of Perry 
Tp., Mr. Ruhl deserves more than a passing 
notice ; he is the oldest son of Jacob and 
Elizabeth (Hosier) Ruhl ; he was born in 
York Co., Pa., April 14, 1808; his father died 
when he was seven years old, and as he grew 
up he worked very hard for the s!j{)port of 
the family until he was twenty-five years old. 
The mother re-married, and they eame as a 
family, in the spring of 1833. x\rriving, May 
10, they rented a house near where Jacob L 
Miller lives, and in August of that year they 
purchased 160 acres of Mr. RuhPs present 
farm, of John Bigham, for |500. The only im- 
provements made were a small cabin and seven 
acres underbrushed. The family cons-isted 
of four children — Henry H. (sul)jeet) ; Polly, 
who married John Warner, of Pa.; Rachel- 
married John Garberick ; and Jac(jl). The 
mother died about 1835 ; March 20, 1836, he 
married Catherine Patterson, a daughter of 
.lames and P^sther (Erstine) Patterson; she was 
born in York Co., Pa., Sept. 12, 1802; her 
parents afterwards removed to Maryland, from 




IFT 



;l^ 



«2»i 



ri:i;uY township. 



wliicli tlioy emigrated to Congress Tp., of this 
county, in the fall of 1825, where the entered 
eighty acres in tlie woods ; the\'' raised eight 
children to manhood and womaidiood, all of 
whom were born in the East — John, Samuel, 
Peter, William, Catherine, Elizabeth, Mary 
and NaJioy. Mr, Khul has lived on present 
place since his marriage ; he and his esteem- 
able wife, who has been a help-mate indited; 
both worked in the clearing together in early 
daN's, burning tiieir brush and log heaj)S at 
night ; Mr. Khul and his brother Jacob, went 
to thirty log-rollings one spring, and about 
that many in the fall ; he has cleared about 
one hundred acres here, and now owns three 
hundred and twenty acres, principally the 
fruits of his own labor ; Mr. Ruhl and his 
entire family are members of the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church ; he has held a meml>ership 
for forty-(Mght years, and has filled al^ly the 
various offices of Elder and Deacon ; he has 
been Trustee of this township eleven terms, 
elected fre(piently, almost without oppo- 
sition ; Mr. Ruhl has raised two daughters, 
and one died in infancy ; Catherine and 
Leah — Mrs. By ram Levering (see sketch) ; 
Catherine Ruhl was boru Sept. 10, 1S38, in this 
townsliip; at twenty-seven she married Jacob 
Rule, a son of George and Mary Rule (see 
sketch of Elah Dennis) ; her husband, Jacob 
Rule, was born Nov. 28, 1842, in Perry Tp., 
near Woodbury ; he lived on a farm until 
eighteen, then became a clerk in a store, 
for some time ; subse(|uently he worked 
on the farm by the month, about four years ; 
after his marriage with Miss Ruhl, he 
worked for T^evering and Merwine about 
eigrht months, after which he beoan farmino- 
on the lands of IL H. Ruhl, where he has 
lived ever since; ; in 1874 he purchased 
eighty acres of land. Four children have 
been born to them — Eva, born Sept. 24, 18(50; 
Henna, April 21,1872; Idella, Nov. 17, 
1874 ; Heilman H., March 2, 1880. He and 
his wife are members of the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church. 

REV. J. F. SIMONS, farmer, and dealer in 
agricultural implements; P. O., Levering; is 
the second son of Frederick and Elizalxjth 
(Hardman) Simons; he was born Oct. 28, 
182o, in 15edf(jrd Co., Penn.; he went to 
school about three months per year until six- 
teen, when he received instruction in an 



Academy in Cumberland Co., Md., for nearly 
two years; by close application, he so care- 
fully employed his advantages here that he 
responsible work of teaching, which he suc- 
cessfully followed for four terms in his native 
county, working in a tannery during vacation; 
being twenty-tlwee years of age, he was filled 
with a desire to visit the West and find a new 
and larger field for his energies; accordingly, he 
joined his utu-le, Jacob Hardman, early in the 
spring of 1848, and they arrived at McFar- 
ren's, of Perry Tp., Ri(!hland Co., Ohio, March 
I'J; he taught school that summer, and took a 
tour through Indiana, visiting various points 
of interest; he returned and taught school in 
the Lamb District the following winter; he 
married Catharine A. Wirick, Feb. 11, 1849. 
She is the second daughter of Peter and De- 
borah (Huntsman) Wirick, born in Perry Tp., 
Richland Co., on the IGthof September, 1820. 
After marriage, Mr. Simons lived on McFar- 
ren's farm one year; in the fall of 1849, he 
purchased his present farm of 80 acres, all in 
the woods then. The next year a hewed log 
house was erected where the present hand- 
some frame structure now stands. Here they 
have lived and toiled for thirty years. The 
following year after he settled, he planted a 
fine orchard and sowed six acres of wheat. 
His own labor has removed sixty acres of 
heavy timber, and erected the substantial 
buildings of the })resent. In 1856 there was 
an almost total failure of the wheat crop in 
some localities, from the ravages of the wee- 
vil, making bnnid-stuffs scarce. Mr. Simons 
hauled timber' to Mt. Vernon, for which he 
received in payment a ten-dollar bill; he pur- 
chased a barrel of flour with it in Mansfield, 
and started home; he was soon overtaken by 
merchant, who claimed the bill was counter- 
feit, and on taking the bill to the lumber deal- 
er, he denied giving it- to him, and as a conse- 
quence, Mr. Simons lost the much-needed sum ; 
he is a Democrat, and has assessed this towi# 
ship, and served on its Board of Education. 
Vor some time past he has elfected extensive 
sales of D. M. Osl)orne Company''s Agri- 
cultural Implements, in this and Ivichlandand 
Knox c(tunti(!S. lb; early united with the Dis- 
ciple (yhurch, and hasbecMi a faithful minister 
in its ranks for a number of ^^ears. His \\if(; 
and seven of the children are within the sa- 
cred fold of the same church. ElevcMi children 



^ 







^ 



have blessed this union, all living but tvpo — 
Mary E. born Dec. 24, 1849; Rebecca, 
March 24, 1851, married Frank Hathaway, and 
live at Levering Station; Deborah, July 2, 
1852, married Leander Ackerinan of Knox 
Co,; Lomirah, born Dec. 29, 1853, died Sept. 
6, 1S77; Freeman born D., Feb. 2, 1856; Lean 
der Jan. IG, 1858, married Miss Beulah Lukens 
of Ridgway, Ohio; Catliarine, born Oct. M., 
24, 18(31; Addie A., March 19, 1864; Minnie 
June 26, 1866; Vernie G., May 16, 1868, died 
Feb. 7, 1870; Mamie, Sept. 29, 1871. The 
fnther of Mr. Simons follow^ed the occupation 
of miller; spent his days in Bedford county and 
was the father of seven children — Maria, 
Mary, Elizabeth, David, Josiah F., John and 
Rebecca. Peter Wirick, the father of Mrs. Si- 
mons, is one of the few pioneers yet living whose 
vivid recollections extend back over more than 
a half century of thrilling scenes and great 
privations. To his grand- daughter. Miss Mary 
E. Simons, we are indebted for the following- 
sketch of this remarkable man's life: Peter 
Wirick, oldest son of John and Elizabeth 
Wirick, was born in Washington Co., Penn., 
on the 25th of July, 1794. His parents were 
of German descent, and reared to manhood 
and womanhood nine children. His father 
was a farmer and millwright, and left his 
native State when Peter was a small child, 
settling in Belmont Co. O. Here he learned 
to read, write and cipher, which was all they 
taught in the schools of that day. He never 
attended school after reaching his twelfth 
year. About 1806, his father again sold his 
property and removed to Guernsey Co. O., 
where he lived some six years, and being of a 
roving disposition — never satisfied — he again 
sold out and removed to Richland Co. O., and 
settled on the stream known as the Mohican. 
Here he entered land, and not being able to 
obtain the money for which he sold his former 
died to live very poor 
Their clothing, warp 
and woof, was manufactured by their own 
hands. Peter had now reached his eighteenth 
year, and had never worn aught but "home- 
spun." This was about the year 1812, and 
the almost unbroken forest abounded with 
every variety of wild game. Under these cir- 
cumstances, Peter developed a jjassion for 
hunting whi<;h seemed to be .innate, and has 
characterized him from that day to this. He 

(5^ -f ■ 



nlace, they were compel 
indeed for some time. 



being the oldest son, ranged the forest that 
the lamily might have meat while, his father 
labored in the mill, and in varicnis ways sought 
to drive the "wolf" from his door. In the 
years following 1812, the Indians gave the 
settlers much trouble. They "forted" three 
times, and under th<! command of Samuel 
Watson erected a block-house on the site of 
Belleville, which consisted then of a few 
dwellings. In this place of refuge they spent 
a greater part of the summer, and late in the 
autumn returned to their homes. On this 
twenty-third birthday he was married to 
Miss Deborah Huntsman, by squire Amariah 
Watson. She is a daughter of James and 
Catherine Huntsman. Her parents were from 
Pennsylvania, and settled on a farm in Rich- 
land Co. in an early day. (See sketch of Wil- 
liam Huntsman.) Soon after marriage Mr. 
Wirick entered land near Bellville. It was 
then a wilderness, full of deer and other wild 
game, which it was his chief delight to pursue 
and kill. Here he resided seventeen years, 
and in that time thirteen children were born 
to them — nine sons and four daughters, as fol- 
lows: James, born April 3, 1817; John, March 
29, 1818; Jacob, July 31, 1819; Peter, Oct. 
11, 1820; Mary Ann, Dec. 4, 1821; George, 
Jan. 24, 1823; William, Sept. 20,1824; Cathe- 
rine A., Sept. 16, 1826; Daniel, Feb. 8, 1828; 
Jesse, Aug. 10, 1829; Washington, May 13, 
1831; Elizabeth, in 1833; Deborah, Sept. 5, 
1834. He sold his land on the Mohican for 
$1000, and purchased his present home of 94 
acres for iii>800. Here three sons were born — 
Jeremiah, born July 16, 1836; Harrison, Nov. 
25, 1838; Ziby, Dec. 27, 1840; making sixteen 
children in all, of which eleven are living, and 
in prosperous condition in life, and have fam- 
ilies, except a son and daughter. 
The parents were members of the Disciple 
Church for many years, but drifted away, and 
at present the father's sympathies are with the 
Universalist Church; he has bcMMi a Republi- 
can since the organization of the party, and 
formerly wore the name of Whig. He was 
the finest marksman of his day, and was ever 
ready to join a hunting party and spend days 
and even weeks in the forest; he spent the 
autumn months for eighteen years in hunting, 
and killed during his life over six hundred 
deer. On one occasion Mr. Wirick was out 
hunting with a brother-in-law, John Hunts- 



828 



PFKRY TOWNSHIP. 



man, on the "Cravon" farm, when from some 
cause they became separated. Soon after 
Peter saw a hir<>e " IJuck," on which he firc'd, 
wounditi"^ it severely. He aj)])roaclied the 
animal, intending- to knife it, but found that he 
had l'or<^otten his knife. Th(> deer was very 
ati<^ry and powerful, and he could only defend 
hiinsidf by strikiny- heavy blows on its \iv;u\ with 
the mu/./le of his gun until blood flowed 
freely from its nose, but its fury increased, 
iMitil cIosin<r, they both (\dl on the snow cov- 
ered earth, then stained with the blood of man 
and beast. Strength and courage were fast 
giving way, when with mighty effort he 
caught the animal's neck and threw him on 
his side, but unfortunately with his feet to- 
ward him, giving the beast a decided advant 
age which he was not slow in using, for in 
this position he kicked and lashed his foe ter- 
ribly. To use his own words: "1 was bruised 
from the crown of n)y head to the sole of my 
feet." Keali/ing that the struggle wo ild be 
brief with such odds against him, with an al- 
most superhuman effort he thrt^vv the deer on 
its other side with its feet from him, and seiz- 
ing his neck, with one limb across his l>ody, 
he thought to destroy his sight with a ffint, 
which he usually carried in his shot-j)Ouch. 
But, alas ! no flint was there. He next 
searched for a pin or splinter of spicewood to 
accomplish the work; but the splinter was of 
little service to him. Despair was about to 
seize him, when he heard the report of his 
comrade's rifle, and his call brought him to 
the rescue. They dispatched their plucky 
antagonist by cutting his throat. Mr. W. is now 
eighty-six years old, feeble and tottering on 
the verge of the silent grav<>, wliere he must 
soon follf)w his faithful com{)anion to rest. 
She bore burdens, such as few motlu^rs have 
suffered or endured. A strong determination 
and a j)owerful constitution sustained her 
tliioiigli all. 

DOL'TOK D. M. L. SINGREY, physician 
and surgeon; Levering; second son of Jehu 
and Jane (Lemmon) Singrey, was born on his 
present farm Feb. 11, 1S:3',*; he went to school 
near where his brother Joshua lives, in the 
first school house built in Perry Tp., taught 
by Lawrence Van Huskirk, who boarded at 
his father's, and often carried our subject, a 
four-year-old pupil, to school on his back. 
As he grew up, he toiled in the clearing and 



in the field from early morn till the day's 
close, until he was 18 years old, whtni his fa- 
ther moved to JJellville, Ohio. He attended 
the schools of that j)lace until he reached his 
majority, reading medicine with Dr. Jacob 
Singrey during vacations. He then entered 
the office of Dr. James C Lee of Belleville, 
where he reviewed the whole course of study 
which he comj)leted in two and a half years. 
A series of }K»})ular lectures on medical sub- 
jects were given at Belleville during the win- 
ter of 184G. The doctor removed to the old 
homestead, where he began the practice of 
medicine in Oct. 1847, and has continued (!ver 
since, except one year and four months spent 
at Albion, Noble Co., Ind. He has a good 
practice in Morrow, Knox and Richland coun- 
ties. The doctor is a fine type of that class 
of men whom our' country delights to honor 
as "self-made" and self-educated; he has 
been a member of the Richland County Medi- 
cal Association; he has been a constant reader 
of the best books, of which he has a fine col- 
lection; he is a consistent mendjer of the 
Harmony Regular Baptist Church, having 
united with that body in September, LStJ"), in 
which he is now Trustee; he cast his first vote 
for James K. Polk in 1844, and stands with 
that time-honored party to-day. He united in 
marriage with Charlotte A. Bonar of this 
county, on the 35th of December, 185G. She 
was born in Congress Tp., April 13, 183G, a 
daughter of John Bonar. Of this marriage 
seven children were born, five of whom are 
living — Hoy L., born Nov. 20, 1857; Thom- 
as B., May 9, 1861; Lucy A., April 10, 
18G7; Fred L., Nov. 5, 1876; Ben B., Oct. 
16, 1879. Tw(j died in infancy — William 
F. and Kate. Hoy L. Singrciy resides at 
Belleville, Ohio, where he is telegraph op- 
erator on the iialtimore and Ohio R. R. 
Jehu Singrey, father of D. M. L., was born in 
Baltimore Co., Md., Aug. 16, 1779; he fol- 
lowed the trade of miller and millwright in 
his native State; he married Jane Lemmon, 
Oct. 30, 1808. After seven years of wedded 
life had passed over their heads, they wcue 
fired with a desire to see the new KIdorado 
just carved out of the great Northwest Terri- 
tory; accordingly they jouiiK^yed across the 
mountains, and alter a jouiney of twentv-two 
days reached the little cabin which his 
brother-in-law, John Shauck, had built on the 



;rv 




Mohican, near the site of Shaucks' Mills, 
September, 1S15. As Mr. Shauck had not ar- 
rived with his family, Mr. Singrey settled 
here for the winter, and in the meantime en- 
tered one hundred and sixty acres here and 
erected a house, into which they moved in the 
spring of 181G. On the mornint^ of his first 
visit to this place, he set out with gun in 
hand, and just as he reached the hill on which 
the house stands at present, he was confronted 
by three Indians, one of which g-ave a low 
whistle and waved him back with his hand, 
and looking down in the hollow, he saw three 
deer feeding, and bringing his gun to his 
shoulder, sent a ball with unerring aim 
through the heart of one of them. He soon 
removed the hide and gave the Indians half, 
and ever after that they called him the 
"White Chief." They were his nearest 
neighbors, there being a wigwam of over one 
hundred and fifty Wyandott Indians camped 
in sight of his father's house for seven con- 
secutive years. Tom Lion, the " Big Foot," 
was their Chief. The best of feeling ever 
exibted between this family and these dusky 
children of the forest, and no instance of 
treachery or depredation occurred during 
their stay. Mr. Singrey associated witli 
them until he could talk their language. The 
wife often baked for them, and exchanged 
bread for fresh meat. The wolves made sad 
havoc of his sheep during the first five years; 
hogs were killed by the bears. Jehu Singrey 
was a fine marksman; he killed wild cats, 
bears, and wolves; he killed twenty-three 
deer from September to Christmas. During 
the first two years he went to Newark and 
Mt. Vernon to buy breadstufFs. He built 
several of the first mills, working with Henry 
James. The fifth season after his arrival, more 
wheat was raised tlian could be consumed in 
the fauiily, and he took a load to Mt. Vernon, 
where Gilman Bryant, a merchant there, 
offered him twelve and a half cents per bushel 
in goods if he would empty it into the streets 
for the hogs to eat. He drove on to Zanes- 
ville, where he received fifteen cents per 
luishel in sugar, rice, salt and leather. He 
was an " old time" Democrat, casting his first 
vote for Thomas Jefferson. He was elected 
the first Justice of the Peace in Perry Tp., in 
the spring of 1817. He owned three hundred 
and twenty acres in this and Congress Tps. 



His nearest white neighbors at the time of 
settlement were Hemy Sams, on the old 
Green place, and Daniel Levering, near 
Waterford. He and his wife were l)aptized 
in the Clear Fork of the Mohican, by Elder 
Benjamin Green, by which they became 
meml)ers of the Salem Church, and oti the or- 
ganization of the Harmony Regular Baptist 
Church, became the first members of that 
body; he departed this life Apr. Ji3, 1847, aged 
07 years, 8 months and 23 days, and his faith- 
ful wife died May 9, 181}!, aged 47. Seven 
children were born to them — Elizabeth, born 
June 27, 1810, now Mrs. Dr. James C. 
Lee, of Belleville, O.; Rachel, born Sept. 7, 
1812, died Nov. 16, 1850, was wife of Elijah 
Clark, a tailor at Belleville, O.; Sarah A., 
l)orn June 11, 1814, lives at Belleville; Joshua, 
born .Ian. 15, 181G; D. M. L., Feb. 11, 1822; 
(subject) ; Alice, June 5, 182G, lives in Belle- 
ville. Christian Singrey, grandfather of our 
subject, was born near Luzerne, Switzerland, 
on the 27th of Sept., 1723. He came to 
America about 174G, landing at Philadelphia, 
and settled in the Colony of Pennsylvania, 
where he remained some time, when a passion 
for a little lady whom he had known and 
loved in his native land became his master 
and he returned to claim her. Elizabeth 
Ingold was but thirteen years of age, but 
their love laughed at obstacles, and they were 
wed, and hastening back to the Colony with 
his young bride, he never lost his residence 
there. Having been seven years in the Col- 
ony of Pennsylvania, he took out naturaliza- 
tion papers, dated Sept. 27, 1753, bearing the 
Great Seal of the Crown of Great Britian, "on 
whose dominion the sun never sets." This 
ancient and yellow document is still in the 
possession of the Doctor, as is also his lancet 
over one hundred and fifty years old. There 
were five sons and three daughters born of 
this marriao-e, of which Jehu was the seventh 
child. Christian Singrey was a zealous 
patriot, and loaned nearly half a bushel of 
gold and silver coin to the Continental Con- 
gress, and received in payment their issue of 
paper money, which was almost worthless; he 
was an Army Surgeon in the Revolution under 
General Washington, and had his head-quar- 
ters at BaltiuKjre. .lehu Singrey, James 
McClure and Peter Wirick cut the road from 
Lexington through Kelley's Corners, in the 



■^: 



830 



PERKY TOWNSHIP. 



winter of 1816. The Leininoti family came 
froiii In^lnnd in the person of Joliii I^oiumon, 
t^fcat-jrraiMirathei- of oui' subject; hesctUcd in 
Baltimore Co., Mu., and married, raising a 
tamily of seven ehileren, of vvhieh Alexis' 
I -eniujon, orandfatiier of our subject, was one. 
lie wedded Kaoliael Starisberry, a sister of 
General Stansberry, of Hevolutionarv fame. 
Eight daui;hters were born to them, of which 
Jane, mother of our subject, was the seventh 
child. 

JOSHUA SINGREY, farmer; P. O., Dar- 
inoton; oldest son of Jehu and .lane (Lem- 
mon( Singrey; was born near the site of 
Shauck's Mills, on the l")tli of Jan., ISIG. His 
youthl'id ])oii-fires were tlie brush-lieaps of tlie 
clearing. He put his hand to the plow al- 
most as soon as he covdd reach the handles, 
and has never looked back or forsaken the 
calling of an honest yeoman. He was intro- 
duced to the beauties and mysteries of the al- 
phabet in the old log school -house which 
stood on the site of his own garden. Here 
Lawrence Van Buskirk gathere(i his little flock, 
day after day, as they came through the woods, 
into a rude domicile, whose onlv floor was the 
rich soil. The grateful sunlight, promoter 
of growth and beauty, struggled through the 
windows of paper, aided by the use of grease. 
Here, before the great fire-place, with its " cat 
and clay" chimney, he learned to read, write 
and cipher. He united in marriage with Miss 
Eliza Fike, May 10, 1840. She was a daugh- 
ter of Jacob and Nancy (Ullery) Fike, born 
in Bedford Co., Penn., March 31, 1820. 
Joshua lived under the paternal roof until his 
father's death; at which time he purchased 
eighty acres of the old homestead — his pres- 
sent home. Here he has tilled the soil all 
his life, except three years, when he worked 
at saddle and harness-making in Belleville, O. 
About IHGG he cut down an ash-tree on the 
farm, which had been deadened about ten 
years before; and on splitting it open they 
found the unmistakable marks of a former 
girdling which had healed over. He and oth- 
ers counted the year-ring growths outside of 
the first incisions, and they numbered one 
hundred and seventy-three, which, since 1856, 
would make nearly two hundred years since the 
cutting was done by an implement fashioned 
by the " Pale Face. " Here is a problem for 
for the historian. Who did it? When a lit- 



tle boy the Indians often stole upon him soft- 
ly, when they would startle with a thrilling 
war-hoop, which seemed to give them great 
delight, Joshua and his sister were often 
sent in searc^h of the cows, when they wan- 
dered away, sometimes two miles distant 
through the woods. At such times, when 
they lost the direction of home, the cows 
would lead them safely along, although they 
saw wolves. Mr Singrey has a family of six 
children living, and two dead — Benton, born 
April 14, 1841, married Martha BiMinet, of 
Marshal Co., Ind; Jehu, born Jan. 23, 1S43 — 
he has been thirteen years in the Far West, 
and is probably dead; James L., born May 
13, 1845; John, Sept. 12 1840, married Eliz- 
abeth Berget, of this towhship; R. Jane, 
born Aug. 4, 1858 — now Mrs. James Van 
Buskirk, of Knox Co., O, Rachel E., born 
March 27, 1851, married Lemmon Hettrick, 
of Marion Co., O.; Ruth A., born Dec. 27, 
1854; Mary A^, Sept. 11, 1852, died at the 
age of 19 years, seven months and fifteen davs. 
MOSES SHAUCK, selling buggies; 
Shaucks (Johnsville);' is the representative of 
an old and highly respected family in Perry 
Tp.; he is the second son of Elah and Bar- 
bara (Haldeman) Shauck. He was born in 
this township, Jan. 0, 1837; his youth was ab- 
sorbed with the labors on the farm just east 
of Johnsville. At the age of nineteen he en- 
tered the Otterbein University, at Westerville, 
O., and was an in attendance during the years 
of 1856, 1857, 1858 and 1861, giving *his at- 
tention to the farm during vacations. He re- 
sponded to the call of his country, enlisting 
in the 43d O. V. I. as member of the regimen- 
tal band, and participated in the battle of 
Pittsburo- Landinj):. He was dischari>ed in 
September, 1862, when he returned to his na- 
tive village and engaged in the milling lousi- 
ness four years, except a period of 4 months, 
when he went to defend tiie Nation's Capitol 
as Captain of a company in the 13(5th Regi- 
ment O. N. G. Subseipiently he purchased 
1574^ acres of land in Perry Tp. — a portion of 
the old homestead on which he lived until the 
spring of 1880, wIkmi he moved to his present 
residence in .Johnsville. He united m mar- 
riage with Kesia Hewitt, December 11, 1862; 
seven children have been born to them — 
Lenore was born Oct. 22, 1863; Avalie, Mav 
7, 1866; Edna, Oct. 5, 1868; Edgar A., Aug. 



^'. 



-^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



831 



8, 1870; Mary, May 16, 1874; Hewitt, Jan. 
G, 1878; Vida, Jan. 34, 1880. John Shauck, 
grandfather of Moses, came from York Co., 
Penn., in a fonr-horse wagon in the spring of 
18IG. They settled on the Mohican, near 
where Shauck's mills stand, in a cabin which 
he had built previously. He and Abram Het- 
rick had made a visit in about 1814 or 1815, 
and .John Shauck had entered section " 5," 
and erected tlie cabin above mentioned; they 
followed the Jfi(b'an trail to this point. John 
Shauck was a Major in the Pennsylvania Mili- 
tia and a Diiector of the Farmers' Bank at 
Mansfield. He was one of eleven who organ- 
ized Perry Tp., in 1816. He kept the first 
Post Office and gave the present office its 
name, but the town was named for John 
'Ely, who laid out the eastern half. Grand- 
father Shauck had two sons and one 
daughter — Elah, Mary A. and John Jr. We 
will now trace the fortunes of Elah Shauck, 
the eldest son of John Shauck, and father of 
our subject. He was born in York Co., Penn., 
about 1808, and was therefore about eight 
years old when the family came to Perry Tp. 
He always lived with and cared for his parents 
until their death; he managed his father's 
farm, and built the present grist-mills in 1844; 
he married Barbara Haldeman, who was born 
in Lancaster Co., Penn., and came with her 
family to this county but a few ^^ears after 
the Shaucks. Of this marriage nine children 
were born — Jacob H., Rebecca H., Moses, 
Jeriel, John A., Sarah, Martha D., Mary A. 
and Ermina, five of whom are living; his 
wife, Barbara Shauck departed this life Jan. 
16, 1862, and he married liucy W. Hess of Col- 
umbus, .Jan. 21, 1863, by whom he has one 
daughter living, Corrilla; he was one of the 
pillars of the United Brethren Church, and 
has held its various offices; he was Superin- 
tendent of the Sabbath School and an untir- 
ing worker in its ranks; all the enterprises 
of the Church received his earnest support; 
he was a trustee of Otterbein University; 
also of the Brethren's Printing House at 
Dayton, when it most needed aid. He was 
one of the first free soilers of this local- 
ity, and kept perhaps the oidy " Station " 
on the Under-ground Railroad in this town- 
ship, helping many a poor fugitive on 
his way to freedom, and keeping all who 
came. He owned two hundred acres of land 



here, and eleven hundred acres in Iowa. 
HENRY C. SHAUCK, farmer; P. O. 
Shaucks (Johnsville), is the oldest son of, 
William H. and Mary A. Shauck ; he was 
born near Johnsville, July 11, 1830 ; he lived 
in his father's family initil twenty-three, in 
the meantime, gaining a fair education in the 
Johnsville schools ; lie united his fortunes 
with Sarah A. Hetrick, Sept. 6, 1853. She is 
a daughter of Jacob and Lydia (Winters) 
Hetrirk; was born in Troy Tp., Richland Co., 
O., March 25, 1835. After marriage Mr. 
Shauck farmed about three years on his father's 
farm, then purchased seventy-six acres of the 
present place, where he has lived ever since; 
he has added to his first purchase one hundred 
and ten acres of the old homestead ; Mr. 
Shauck has three sons livino-and one daughter 
dead. Arthur was born .Tune 19, 1854, mar- 
ried Nettie Shenefield, and has two children; 
Florence M. was born May 30, 1858, and died 
July 12, 1861 ; Charlie was born .July 22, 
1860 ; Samuel Irwin, July 9, 1868. Mr. 
Shauck is a Republican in politics; his father, 
William H. Shavick, was born in Pennsylvania, 
Dec. 27, 1794 ; he was a soldier in the war 
of 1812, and pursued the calling of mill- 
wright ; he came from York Co., of the Key- 
stone State, in about 1816, being about 
twenty-two years of age, and entered 160 
acres of land, clearing a portion of it. 
He devoted himself to building mills for some 
years, erecting three saw mills, a woolen mill 
and several grist mills in this vicinity. He 
sold his first purchase of land to Garver and 
Baldwin, and purchased 160 acres here of 
parties in the east about 1833; and in 1834, he 
laid out on his land that portion of Johnsville 
lying west of Main street, while Joiin Ely laid 
out the eastern half. They then drew cuts to 
see who should name the village, and John 
Ely being the successful one it was named 
Johnsville instead of " Williamsport." He 
made two or three trips on foot to Pennsyl- 
vania, and owned four hundred and sixty- 
seven acres of land here, and six hundred and 
forty acres in Missouri and Iowa. He was a 
member of the New School Baptist Church. 
He married Mary A., only daughter of John 
Shauck (see sketch of Moses Shauck). Four- 
teen children were born to them. Catharine, 
now Mrs. William Dwyer, who lives near 
Johnsville O.; Henry C, subject of this 






832 



PERKY TOWNSHIP. 



sketch; Rebecca, now Mrs. John Knox, of 
Westerville, ().; Sarah, (lied in youth; Frank- 
lin B. married Kinnui Paiicost, and lives in 
Galion; Kli/aheth, now Mrs. William Smith, 
near Lexiii<4t<)n, ().; Elah, died in youth; 
.Iidia A., now Mrs. Samuel Fonts, of Wester- 
ville, ().; Mary A., now Mrs. John White, of 
Shilo, ().; Barbara K., now Mrs. Jacob A. 
Wceidaiid, of Westerville, O.; John L. mar- 
ried Miss.Iosie MuMillen, and lives near Hush- 
ville, Ind.; Albert B. married Miss Aiuia 
Miller, and is prineipal of the schools at Day- 
ton, ().; Ali-e died in youth; William L. 
lives in Indianajiolis, Ind.; William H. 
Shauek, the father, died Aug-. 1, ISG'-i. 

l.rCV W. SHALX'K, retired; Sliaucks; is 
the daughter of Daniel and Sarah (Gor(h>n) 
Hess, born near Columbus, Ohio Feb. 7, 1824;, 
she passed her youth on the farm, and went 
to the common school until IG years of age, 
when she attended the Academy at Delaware, 
Ohio, then under charge of Prof. MacElroy, 
three terms. The next year she went to the 
school at Granville, Ohio, under the auspices 
of the Episcopal Church, wliert? she remained 
one year. She was mariied to Elah Sliauek, 
Jan. 21, 18G3. Of this maniage two children 
were born — Corrilla, born June 13, 18G7, 
and Daniel, who died in infancy. Of the early 
history of the Hess family it is known th.t 
BalserHess, grandfather of our subject, came 
from Hesse Kassel, Germany, in an early day, 
and settled in the land of Penn, where he 
married Eva Hensel, of Bedford Co., Pa.; 
he was a farmer by occupation, and came 
with his family, by team, to Ohio, cutting 
his way to a point on the river near where 
Columbus stands at present; he lived in a 
wagon until they erected a cabin on the 
)>anks of the Olentangy. There were only a 
few houses at Frankleton, and none where 
Columbus stands. This was about ITOG — 
ere Ohio was a State. They ])assed through 
the excitement of the Indian war of 1812, and 
fled to " Block House " at Frankleton, at the 
time of " Drake Scare." At 35 years of age, 
Daniel Hess, father of our subject, married 
Sarah Gordon, who also came from Bedford 
Co. when she was only 2 or 3 years old, and 
settled with her family at P^'rankleton. Seven 
children were born of this marriage — Lucy 
W., Amanda, Daniel, Philemon, Mary A. and 
Horatio, are living, and Calvin A. is dead. 



The present handsome brick resid 'nee of Mr. 
Shauek was built in 1831, and has stood the 
storms and "silent tooth of time "for half a 
centurv — a marvel of preservation. 

JOHN W. THUMA, druggist; Shaucks 
(Johnsville); is the eldest son of Simon 
and Eliza (Shuler) Thuma. He was born 
in Perry Tp., Richland ('o., ()., .March 1, 
1846; passed his boyhood on the farm one 
mile east of Johnsville, and attem'ed the vil- 
lage school until he was eighteen, when he 
entered the United States service in the 
"13Gth" Ohio National Guards, spending 
nearly four months. He returned and began 
teaching school, in which calling he con- 
tinued five terms with success, hi the spring 
of 18GG he entered the Otterbein University 
at Westerville, O. He united in marriage 
with Emma Bull, Oct. 29, 18G8. She is a 
daughter of Ephraim and Elizabeth (Ride- 
nour) Bull; was born in Washington Tp., 
Richland Co., Nov. 27, 1844. Her father 
was a native of Maryland, and her mother 
was from Pennsylvania, and both came to 
Richland Co. in an early day, where they 
were married about 1830, and seven children 
were born to them — Dc'lilah, Martin, William, 
Susan, Carrie, Emma and Elizabeth. Her 
father was a farmer, and the family were 
members of the Lutheran Church. Our sub- 
ject began his mercantile career as clerk in 
the employ of J. J. Cover & Co. in the spring 
of 18G8. He remained in their store until 
1872, when he bought a large stock of pure 
drugs and erected his present large and com- 
modious business room, in which he keeps at 
present a full stock of drugs, groceries, books, 
stationery, fancy and toilet articles and wall 
paper at very reasonable prices. Mi-. Thuma 
has been Postmaster here since about 1875. 
He is an extensive reader, and is well in- 
formed on all current topics. He brings to 
his business an excjuisiti^ taste, coml)ined 
with eminent business (pialifications. He has 
three children — Cora E., was born Dec. 2J), 
18G'J; Olney B., Oct. 10, 1872; Lockie E., 
March 14, 1875. His parents were natives of 
Cumberland Co., Pa. The father came on 
foot in about 1835, being eighteen years of 
age. He settled near Hagerstown, O., where 
he followed the trade of blacksmith. In about 
1S4G he purchased 150 acres near Johnsville, 
where he raised five children — Esther V., 



e) 



r^ 



^1: 



>> 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



833 



John W., William O., David E. and B. 
Franklin. 

.JOHN WINAND, Jr.; farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O., Levering; only son of John 
Winand, Sr. His mother's maiden name 
was Mary M. Howard; he was born in 
Hopewell Tp., York Co., Penn,, April 5, 1821; 
he worked on the farm in summer, and went 
to school to his father in winter, whereby he 
received an education that strengthened mind 
and toughened muscle. He learned both the 
English and German languages. His father 
settled on a portion of his present estate 
when John was fifteen years old, and he went 
to school in the old Pioneer School House in 
the Gulp District. He worked under the pa- 
ternal direction until his twenty-second year. 
On the sixth of April 1843, he married Miss 
Cynthia Painter of Perry Tp., Richland Co., 
O., where she was born July 2, 1824, hence 
was nineteen years old at her marriage with 
Mr. Winand. She went to the same school 
with him in the old log school house, with one 
long window on each side, and slab seats with- 
out backs. In those days when help was 
scarce, she worked on the farm helping to 
clear, hoe corn, when not stepping to the mu- 
sic of the wheel's low hum, or plying with deft 
fingers the flying shuttle, as she wove the 
woollen, linen and carpet. She is a daughter 
of John and Rachel (Red) Painter, being the 
sixth child in a family of twelve children, nine 
of whom are living as follows — Hamilton, a 
farmer in East Perry Tp.; Mary, widow of 
Jerry Huntsman, now of Noble Co., Ind.; 
Lydia, widow of Jerry Rule of this county; 
Susan, Mrs. Adam Rule of North Bloomfield 
Tp.; George, farmer in Richland county; 
Cynthia, wife of subject; Rachel, Mrs. George 
Hines of Noble Co., Ind; Armindia, Mrs. Jo- 
seph Lukens of Iowa; Charity, Mrs. William 
Lukens of Knox Co., O. John Painter, her 
father, was a native of Virginia, and came to 
Perry township about 1812, where he entered 
one hundred and sixty acres of land in the 
green woods, his nearest neighbor being three 
miles distant; he followed the Indian trail to 
the site of Fredericktown, and cut his way to 
the spot which was soon to be converted into a 
pioneer home. They lived in the wagon un- 
til a cabin was reared moving in ere it was 
furnished with doors or windows. Often the 
father was obliged to go to such distance for 



provisions'that he could not return the same 
day, and the terror-stricken wife was left alone 
with her babe, which she dared not leave, 
even to hunt the cow. The little family 
sought safety in a block-house near Frede- 
ricktown during the war of 1812. The father 
toiled almost incessantly in those days, fight- 
ing the wolf from the door in more senses 
than one; his sturdy ax cleared over one hun- 
dred acres of his farm. We will now trace 
the fortunes of our subject: he tilled his 
father's farm of eighty acres, from 1843 to 
1850, when he purchased it, and being the only 
son living, he became the support of his aged 
parents which he performed generously and 
well, until their demise some twenty years 
from that time. In those, days Mr. Winand 
and his faithful wife worked early and late 
until the fair fields smiled, and the little cabin 
gave place to a substantial frame dwelling in 
1861, where they lived until 1873. In that 
year he moved on his present place, which is 
adorned by a handsome frame residence of 
nine rooms and a large barn, sixty-one by 
thirty-five feet in dimensions; his present 
estate covers an area of two hundred and 
eighty acres, comprising rich farming lands, 
rolling meadows and beautiful sugar groves. 
Of late years sheep-raising has been the spe- 
cial employment of Mr. Winand, and he now 
has a fine flock of two hundred and fifty; he is 
an old-time Democrat, casting his first ballot 
for James K. Polk, and now holds the office 
of Township Trustee; he has six children liv- 
ing — Sarah J., now Mrs. E. C. Penn (see his- 
tory); William H,, born July 24, 1849, married 
Matilda Ruby, lives in Waterford; Silas F., 
born May 29, 1853, married Candis Fawlin, 
lives in this township; Mary J., born March, 
18, 1856, married Thomas Williams of this 
township; John C, born Jan. 7, 1859, at home; 
Chancey A., born Nov. 2, 1867, at home; four 
sons died when young — George B., infant; 
Charles H. and Leroy M. John Winand, Sr., 
was born in Pennsylvania on the 18th of 
Sept., 1789; he was well educated in English 
and German, and taught school quite exten- 
sively; he came to Ohio when the country 
was new, and bought 80 acres of land, for 
which he paid $500; he had three children — 
John, our subject; Mary A, and William; the 
latter died at the age of three years. John 
Winand, Sr., departed this life April 7, 1870, 



'k^ 



834 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



ajred 81 years, (5 months and 19 days, and his 
wife died in March, 1873. Two ancient relics 
are kept in the family of Mr. Winand — an an- 
cient wooden clock, over one hundred years 
old, owned by John Winand, grandfather of 
our subject, and a German Bible, printed in 

irro. 

ENOCH WAGNER, retired farmer; V. O., 
Shaucks ; son of Matthias and Nancy (Delong-) 
Waijnej ; he was born in Harrison Co., O., 
.lanuary :^7, IS'^G ; he lived on a farm near 
New Philadelphia, and attended the common 
school until his seventeenth year, when he 
went to learn boot and shoe making with 
Charles Antrus of Uhrickville, O., with whom 
he served two years, receiving $30 the first 
year and §40 the second year, as wages, 
besides learning the trade ; being now a 
trusty workman, he continued in the same 
village one year; from 1845 to 1850 he worked 
for brief periods at the following places 
— Shelby, Lexington, Indianapolis and Cedar 
Co., la., when he returned, settling on a 
farm near Uhrickville, O., where he con- 
tinued working at his trade until 18G4 ; 
during the winter of that year he purchased 
his present place of thirty-eight acres, on 
which he has lived ever since ; he at present 
rents his fields, and gives his attention 
to the raising of stock, especially short- 
horn cattle, of which he has some very fine 
specimens ; he has also been successfully en- 
gaged in bee culture for some time ; he was 
formerly a Democrat, but has voted the 
llepublican ticket since the days of Pierce ; 
he married Sarah Wirick, in June, 1867; she 
is a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Hetrick) 
Wirick, born in this township, March 21, 
1830; her father was a native of Guernsey 
Co., O., and her mother of York Co., Pa.; 
both came to this vicinity in an early day, and 
after marriage, settled near King Corners, 
where they raised a family of six children — 
Sarah, David, Valentine, Catherine, Rosanna 
•and Rachel. Mr. Wagner's father lived and 
died in Tuscarawas Co., O., raising a family 
of ten children — Sarah, Isaac, Nancy, George, 
Jolui, Enoch, Jefferson, James, Harrison and 
Matthias. 

SAMUEL WAGNER, miller; Schaucks; son 
of John and Christiana (Keifer) Wagner; he 
was born in this tcnvnship June 17, 184'2;he 
lived on the farm one mile west of Johnsville 



until nineteen years old, when he became a 
clerk in the store of J. J, Cover & Co., some 
eighteen months. In 1802 he went to Ontario, 
where he found employment as clerk in a 
store at New Hamburg; he remained until 
the spring of 18GG. In the meantime he 
wooed and won the hand of Lavina Morley, 
a daughter of George and Hannah (Hall) 
Morley, She was born in Wilmot Tp., Wa- 
terloo Co., Ontario, Jan. 23, 1845. On his re- 
turn to Johnsville, Mr. Wagner engaged in 
merchandising, in partnership with liis brother 
for a period of ten years, under the firm name 
of W^agner & Brother; retiring from the 
from the store in 1876, they became sole pro- 
prietors of Shaucks' mills, in which they had 
purchased a third interest in 1873, an addi- 
tional third in 1874, and the entire property 
in 1876. The firm owns a grist and saw-mill, 
two dwellings, with eight acres of land, the 
business block occupied by Newhouse & 
Held, and a dwelling in the southern part of 
town. The large grist-mill on the Mohican 
was built in 1844; it now has adequate steam 
power, and all modern improvements; it has 
three run of buhrs, and an ample capacity 
for merchandise and storage purposes; the 
custom work is in charge of a competent mil- 
ler of twenty-five years' experience. Mr. 
Wagner owns his present handsome brick 
residence of seven rooms, which he built in 
1877; he has four children living — George J., 
born December 15, 1866; Anna C. died at 
the age of five; Clarence L. was born Decem- 
ber the 6th, 187-1; Charles R., April 26, 1877; 
Ivor E., February 16, 1879; his father, John 
Wagner, was born in the Kingdom of Bava- 
ria, May, 1800; he learned the trade of cab- 
inet-making in Germany. In 1837 he emi- 
grated with a family of three children to the 
United States; one child died on the ocean; 
they arrived in New York in July; they came 
by way of Buffalo, Sandusky City and Mans- 
field — settled first an thirty-five acres in this 
township. He had nine children; five are 
living — Valentine, farmer in this township; 
Elizabeth, widow of Elah Zigler; John K., 
partner with subject; Samuel, (subject) Hen- 
ry lives in this township. Subject has been 
a member of the Johnsville School Board. 

C. YOUNG, harness-maker and saddler; 
Shaucks. Among the intelligent and public- 
spirited citizens of Johnsville, it is fitting and 






^'. 



±1^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



835 



proper that we here make mention of the 
gentleman whose name heads this sketch, as 
a man who has aided largely in building up 
the business interests and industries ol" the 
place. He is a native of Auerbach, Germany, 
born Jan. 20, 183)3; he was carefully educated 
in the schools of his native town until four- 
teen years of age, when his father, Peter 
Young, who was a harness-maker, placed him 
in his shop to learn the trade; he remained 
six years, becoming a skillful workman in ev- 
ery branch of the business. As the " Father- 
land " did not at that time furnish very remun- 
erative employment for her mechanics, our 
subject being twenty-one years of aa-e, deter- 
mined to come to America. Accordingly, he 
embarked from. Bremen, March 1, 1854, and 
after a stormy voyage of eighty-three days, 
in which he experienced severe sea-sickness 
of ten days' duration, and on Easter Sunday 
a storm that threatened destruction to the 
good ship, they reached New York City May 
2-4, 1854. Mr. Young worked in a provision 
store in this metropolis of the New World for 
about four months; then came to Findlay, O., 
where he worked some three years in the 
harness-shop of Mr. Meffet, afterwards work- 
ing for some time in his own shop. He came 
to Johnsville about January, 1863, where he 
found employment one year in the shop of J. 
H. Shearer, after which he began business in 
his present shop. At the call made for troops 



to guard the Nation's capitol, he responded, 
and served about four months in the 13(j Reg- 
iment O. N. G., at the close of which he re- 
enlisted in the 179 O. V. I., and was honor- 
ably discharged at the close of the war, when 
he returned to Johnsville, where he has since 
done a prosperous business in the manufac- 
ture and sale of harness and saddles. He 
now employs three skillful workmen, who turn 
out every variety of most elegant and durable 
work, whose popularity is attested by his large 
sales and a constantly increasing demand. 
He united his fortunes with Louisa Lieb of 
Findlay, O., Sept. 26, 1856; she is a native of 
Wurtemburg, Germany; she was born June 
4, 1835, and came to Ohio in 1854 during the 
same month, but not in the same ship in which 
Mr. Young came. Thirteen children have 
been born to them, all living but one — Avigust 
E. was born July 15, 185?; Sophia, Oct. 10, 
1858; George J., June 21, 1860; Joseph P., 
March 14, 1862; Charley C. and Eliza L. 
(twins), January 30, 1864; Anna H., April 
11, 1866; Mary H., April 9, 1868; Frank F., 
Oct. 14, 1870; Sarah J., Nov. 10, 1872; Mag- 
gie, Sept. 7, 1873; Elmore, Feb. 27, 1875, died 
Aug. 1875; William, born Sei)t. .30, 1876. Mr. 
Young is a member of the School Board, and 
takes a deep interest in the education of the 
young. He and wife are active members of 
the Baptist Church. 



TROY TOWNSHIP. 



WILLIAM BIXLER, farmer; P. O., 
Shaucks. The subject of this sketch was born 
March 25, 1807, in Frederick, now Carroll Co., 
Md. His father, Benjamin Bixler, was born 
in Adams Co., Penn., and raised in the State 
of Maryland, which was the birth-place of his 
wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth 
Stone. His father was a farmer, and a preach- 
er by profession. He traveled on a circuit 
for several years in early life, and afterward 
was a local minister; he was a member of the 
Evangelical Association. He emigrated to 
Ohio in 1833, and settled on g, farm in this 
township, where he passed the rest of his life. 



and died in 1863. William commenced for 
himself when of age, by farming on the home- 
stead, which has been his only residence since 
coming to this State. He was married March 
28, 1838, to Julia A., daughter of Francis W., 
and Mary (Beckley) Baue,hman. She was 
born April 27, 1818, in Richland Co. Her 
parents were among the first settlers, coming 
here in 1816; her father was a miller, and 
ran a mill for fourteen years in Richland Co., 
when he retired to a farm on which he died in 
1858. They had eight children, four now 
living — Henry, Mary A., Sarah A. and John. 
The boys are married; the youngest is living 




■i^ 



on the old homestead. Both are members of 
the Evangelical Association. He owns over 
200 acres land with good improvements. 

DAVID R. BENDER, farmer; P. O., Steam 
Corners; was born in what is now Morrow Co., 
Nov. 13, 1S41. He is the fifth child of George 
and Elizabeth (Roath) Bender, and passed his 
life under the parental roof until the com- 
mencement of the war, when he was among 
the first to respond to his "country's call," 
enlisting in Company C, 15th Regiment, 
O. V. I., and was gone near four years, Shiloh, 
Yazoo Pass and Vicksburg being among the 
battles in which he was engaged. He was 
transferred to the Veteran Corps at Indian- 
apolis and guarded prisoners for a short time, 
when he was placed on General Hovey's 
escort. Has since been a farmer except for 
five years he owned a half interest in a saw 
mill, doing custom work and dealing in logs 
and lumber. He was married Sept. 8, 1808, 
to Anna N., daughter of Jacob and Judith 
Stull. She was born Feb. 12, 1848, in Rich- 
land Co. They have had four children — Min- 
nie M., Wilbur S., Elnora and C. Cooknian; 
both are members of the Evangelical Asso- 
ciation. 

ELIZABETH BENDER, farmer; P. O., 
Steam Corners; was born April 12, 1807, in 
Indiana Co., Penn., and is the second of a 
family of four children, and the only one now 
living. Her father, Adam Reath, was born 
in Ireland, and emigrated to this country in 
1801, and was a weaver by trade, and soon 
after his arrival he was married to Polly Dorr, 
of Chester Co., Penn. Thoy soon moved to 
Indiana Co., and then to Pittsburg, where his 
wife died in 1814, when he moved to Cumber- 
land Co., where he was married to Peggy 
Campbell; and in 1840 he emigrated to this 
State, where he was killed on the following 
Christmas by a runaway horse. Elizabeth 
was married June 14, 1832, to George Ben- 
der, son of John and Barbara Bender, who 
was born Sept. 1, 1799, in Cumberland Co., 
Penn.; he was a farmer by occupation, and in 
1840, moved to Ohio, making a permanent 
settlement in what is now Morrow Co., where 
cleared his farm, and lived on it till his death 
in 1868. They had ten children, seven are 
now living — Polly, Margaret, Elizabeth, David 
R., George W., Sarah J. and James. All but 
the youngest are married. Mr. Bender was a 



member of the German Reformed Church, 
and she belongs to the U. P. Church at Lex- 
ington. 

WILLIAM A. FERGUSON, farmer and 
stock-raiser; P. O., Shaucks; the youngest 
and only surviving member of a family of 
seven children, was born July 30, 1858, in 
Morrow Co., Ohio. His father, William R. 
Ferguson, familiarly known as "'Squire Fer- 
guson," was born and raised in Cumberland 
Co., Pa., and his mother, Mary M. (Morrow) 
Ferguson, was born and raised in Franklin 
Co., Pa. His father was a farmer, and came 
to this State in 1845, settling on the farm on 
which his son now lives; this he cleared and 
improved as fast as possible, and for some 
time before his death, was one of the leading 
men in the county, being a successful wool- 
grower and dealer; he died in the spring of 
1874. William received a good education, 
and when 18, commenced traveling; he visit- 
ed various places in the East, and went 
through the Western States and territories to 
recuperate his failing health. He taught 
music for some time in Utah, and returned to 
his native State, substantially benefited by his 
travels. He was married Sept. 9, 1879, to 
Emma J., daughter of Henry L. and Leah 
Shauck, who was born Jan. 6, 1860, in Rich- 
land Co. He owns a large farm, good build- 
injxs and improvements, and has as fine grades 
of sheep as can be found in the county. He 
has so far been identified with the Republi- 
can party. 

GEOIIGE W. HERSHNER, carpenter and 
farmer; P. O., Steam Corners; is among the 
most prominent and influential men of this 
Co., and the second of a family of eight chil- 
dren, and was born Oct. 12, 1833, in what is 
now Morrow Co. His father, Andrew Hersh- 
ner, was born in York Co., Penn., and raised 
in Baltimore Co., Md. His mother, whose 
maiden name was Mary A. Murray, was born 
and raised in Maryland. His father emi- 
grated to this State in 1828, and soon after 
entered eighty acres of Government land, on 
which he now lives. George went to learn 
the carpenter trade when seventeen, and has 
made that his chief occupation since. He owns 
a good farm, but seems inclined to work at 
his trade and let the boys tend the farm. The 
people have unljouiuled faith in his good 
judgment and integrity, which is attested by 




t^ 



the fact that he is now serving his fourth term 
as Justice of the Peace, and second as Com- 
missioner ot" Morrow Co., and has also been 
1 ownship Clerk for some ten years. He was 
married, Jan. 1, 1857, to Louisa, daughter of 
John and Mary (Kunkelman) Fernsler, who 
was born Oct. 12, 1832, in Lebanon Co., 
i^enn., and came to this State near 1850, and 
died, .lune 7, 1862, leaving three children- 
John L., Andrew F. and Daniel A. The 
eldest two are living in Oregon— one is a 
minister, and the other teaching school and 
attending college. He was again married, 
May 4, 1865, to Emma C, daughter of 
^.^'""^1 ^"^.^*^y Markward, who was born 
i^eb. 26, 184o, in Cumberland Co., Penn and 
came to Richland Co. in 1852. Two child- 
ren have been born— Samuel Arthur and Marv 
Cora. -^ 

JACOB HALDEMAN, farmer and minis- 
TI^\ .'' ^^^^^ Corners; was born July 23 
181b, in Lancaster Co., Penn.; his parents 
were natives of that county; his father's name 
was Jacob Haldeman, and his mothers maiden 
name was Mary Minech. His father was a 
carpenter, and in 1817 he emigrated to this 
State, living in Fredericktown, Knox Co., for 
more than a year, when he moved to what is 
now Morrow Co., and entered a half section 
of government land. He worked on the farm 
when not busy at his trade, and toward the 
close of his life paid his whole attention to the 
farm. He died in 1870. Jacob learned the 
trade with his father, and worked at it most 
the time for several years; he began for him- 
self when twenty-six years old, by settlino- on 
a portion of the old homestead, which" he 
cleared and improved till 1864, when he sold 
It and moved to where he now lives. He uni- 
ted with the church in early life, and in 1858 he 
commenced preaching. He traveled on a cir- 
cuit for three years, and has since been a local 
preacher m the Evangelical Association, to 
which all his father's family belonged. He was 
married Dec. 27, 1841, to Mary A., daughter of 
Cxeorge and Magdalene Cook; she was born 
March 18, 1821, in Lancaster Co., Penn.; by 
this union nine children were born; fonrare liv- 

r?~ w^'^^T ^'^•' ^^'"''^' ^•' Franklin H. and 
John VV.; the two oldest are married. All 
the family are members of the Evano-elical 
Association. ° 

J. CHAMBERS HUNTER, farmer; P. O., 



Corsica; is the fourth of a family of ten chil- 
tll' ^"^l-f^^'^""' in Hichland Co., Dec. 25, 
Inr' ,H'^,^''>^'-' William Hunter, was born 
in Center Co., Penn.; and while in his boy- 
hood came to Fairheld Co., O., where he 
learned the tanner's trade. When twenty 
years old he came to Richland Co., and en"- 
tered government land; he was ever after a 
farmer and died in 1852. Mr. Hunter com- 
menced lor himself when twenty-four years 
old, and always followed farmino-. He was 
married Sept. 25, 1855, to Reb^ecca J., a 
daughter of John and Mary Doak. She was 
born Nov. 16, 1832, in 4aver Co., Penn! 
He was a Democrat before the war, but has 
since been identified with the Re].ublican pai- 

SAMUEL KESLER, farmer; P. O., Steam 
Corners; was born in Lebanon, Pean., Dec. 5, 
182^. His parents were natives of that State 
His lather's name was Samuel, and his mother's 
maiden name was Catharine Saunders. His 
lather was a farmer, and emigrated to this 
State in 1833, locating on the farm on which 
Samuel now lives. He cleared it with the 
help of his sons, and lived on it till his death 
m 1871. Samuel lived under the parental 
roof until his marriage, when he commenced 
lor himself. He was married Sept. 18 1851 
to Mary A., daughter of William and Maria 
Brockey, who Avas born April 4, 1826, in Pa 
and came to Ohio in 1835. They had two 
children, but both died in their infancy. Mr. 
Kesler has always lived on the old farm ex- 
cept ten years, that he owned a saw-mill near 
by. He owns over one hundred acres of land 
with good buildings and improvements. 

ANDREW MECKLEY, farmer; P. O., 
Steam Corners; is the second of a family of 
si^x children, and was born Nov. 11, 1834, in 
York Co., Penn. His parents were natives 
of that county; his father's name was David 
and his mother's maiden name was Mary Kes- 
ler. His father was a farmer, and emiWated 
to this State in 1848, settling on the farm on 
which Andrew now lives; he died in 1868 
Andrew farmed ;Ct first in this county, and then" 
for five years each in Crawford and Richland 
counties; when his father died, he bouo-ht 
the old homestead; he was married June ^26, 
18o6, to Mary, daughter of Henry and Rebec- 
ca (Rone) HassIer,who was born May 21 1837 
in what is now Morrow Co. Her parents 






838 



TROY TOWNSHIP. 



were early settlers, and entered the farm on 
which Edwaril Meckley now lives; they have 
had five children, thr(H> ol" whom are living — 
I^aura A., Edward L). anel Knima ()., the eld- 
est of whom is married. He has been Trns- 
tee and Assessor four years, and Land Ap- 
])raiser in 1S80. ]Joth are members of the 
Evanjrelical AssociaticMi. 

THOMAS POr.ANJ), farmer; P. O., Lex- 
ington; was born ]^ec. 10, ISIG, in Franklin 
Co., Penn.; his parents were natives of that 
State — his father, John Poland of Franklin 
Co., and his motiier, Rachel (Cookston) Po- 
land of Adams Co. His father was a farmer 
by occupation, and in 1832 he moved to Pich- 
land Co., where he lived four years. He then 
bought eighty acres of "school land" in this 
county, on which he lived for more than thirty 
vears, when he sold it and moved to Indiana. 
At the age of 17, Thomas c<mimenced work- 
ing at the carpenter trade which he followed 
for thirty years. AVhen 19 he walked to the 
city of Baltimore and returned as far as Penn- 
sylvania, where he worked during the sum- 
mer, and then came home. He was the first 
man in this part of the county to pack and 
ship apples; he was engage 1 in the produci^ 
business several years, an^. in the lumber 
trade some five years, during which he owned 
a portable saw-mill a short time. In all these 
ventures he has been eminently successful, 
being now worth near twenty-four thousand 
dollars. He is a membei- of the I. O. O. F., 
and a charter member of the Patrons of Hus- 
bandry, of which he is a lecturer; he also 
helped organize a Mutual Fire Insurance 
Com})any, and is one of the Directors. He was 
married in July, 1838, to Mary, daughter of 
Lewis and Catharine Grimes. She was born 
Jan. 18, 1815, in Lancaster Co., Pa. To 
them eight children were born; six are living 
— Simon, Mary A., Alexander, Hannah J., 
Thomas J. and W.Scott. All are married, and 
the oldest three sons served in the late war. 

FREDERICK STULL, saw-mill and farm- 
er; P. ()., Steam Corners; is the seventh of a 
family of twelve children, and was born April 
2i, 1833, in Cambary Co., Pa. His father, 
George Stull, was born in Bedford Co., and 
from there he came to Cambary (Jo., where 
he lived till 18-1:3, when he removed to Clari- 
an Co., and resided there till his death; he 
was a farmer. Frederick learned the trade of 



a mason, when 17, which has been his chief 
occupation, and in 1800 he removed to where 
he now lives; he owns a half interest in a saw- 
mill at Buckhorn, beside the one at Steam 
Corners, and also does custom work, and 
deals (juite extensively in logs and lumber; 
he also owns forty acres of land, on which he 
lives at present. He is a member of the I. O. 
O. F., and a charter member of the Patrons of 
Husbandry, and is also a member of the Evan- 
gelical Association. He was married in 1855 
to Mary A., daughter of George an<l Bar- 
bara Sheakly, by whom he had five children; 
two are living — Solomon P. and Georire P. 
The mother died during the war. Two years 
after, \n' was married to Sarah Re<linger, who 
died March (J, 1878, leaving one child — Hetty 
A., one having died in infancy. 

ALBERT K. SHAUCK, merchant; Steam 
Corners; was born May 17, 1854, in Richland 
Co., O. His parents, Henry L. and Leah 
(King) Shauck, were natives of Pennsyl- 
vania. They came here during childhood, 
and passed their youthful days in arduous 
toil; his father assisted in clearing up the 
homestead, and afterward a farm of his 
own, which he has improved and rendered 
attractive as well as valuable. Albert had 
a good common school education, and sp(Mit 
several terms at Lexington, before he was 
twenty years old. At that age he com- 
menced teaching school, and has followed it 
since with unusual success; he has taught at 
Lexington and Blooming Grove; he has also 
given considerable attention to music, having 
studied at Oberlin, and several terms at Mans- 
field under that able instructor, Prof. McGen- 
nis; he has taught music for several years, to 
which he is much devoted. In the fall of 
1879, he went into mercantile business at 
Steam Corners, luider the firm name of Shaucks 
& Maxwell. They commenced with an entire- 
ly new stock, consisting of dry goods, grocer- 
ies, boots and shoes, hats and caps, hardware, 
notions, etc., which they exchange for country 
produce; they are doing a good business. 
Mr. Shauck has been Postmaster since Octo- 
ber, 1879. He was married Dec. 29, 1870, to 
Jennie 1)., daughter of George J. and Betsey 
(Cockley) Maxwell, who was born Dec. 20, 
1850, in Richland Co. They have one child, 
named Eustace. Both are members of the 
United Brethren Church. . 






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